Saturday, December 17, 2011

Hanging of a Loyalist Named Reeves

The History of Watauga County, North Carolina contains a story of a Reeves who was associated with the Tory band led by Captain William Riddle in the New River area of North Carolina and Virginia. Since the Reeves family of Grayson County, Virginia/Ashe County, North Carolina are closely related to my own Reeves based upon DNA evidence, whenever I happen upon this story, I have to wonder whether this Reeves belongs to my family. 

Perkins house where Col. Cleveland was captured.
Perkins House
The story goes as follows - Col. Benjamin Cleveland of the Wilkes County Militia was captured on the 22nd of April, 1781, while on a visit to his tenant, Jesse Duncan, at the lower end of the Old Fields by Captain William Riddle's Tories. They had stolen horses from Duncan's barn the night before and led them up the south fork of New River into a laurel thicket just above a house about a mile away. Cleveland was ambushed and captured, then taken up New River to the mouth of Elk Creek, and then to "what has since been known as Riddle's Knob", some fourteen miles from Old Fields and in Watauga County. 

There they camped for the night but had been followed by young Daniel Cutbirth and a youth named Walters along with Jesse Duncan, John Shirley, William Calloway, Samuel McQueen and Benjamin Greer. Joseph Calloway mounted a horse and rode to notify Benjamin Cleveland's brother, Captain Robert Cleveland, on Lewis' Fork of the Yadkin. Five of these in advance of Robert's party fired on Riddle's gang at the Wolf's Den early the next morning. With the arrival of Capt. Cleveland, one of the Tories was wounded and the rest escaped, including Riddle's wife Happy. There is still a tradition in the neighborhood of the Wolf's Den that Ben Greer killed or wounded Riddle at that place soon after Cleveland's rescue, one version saying that Riddle was only wounded and then taken to Wilkes and hanged.
Wolf's Den
The Wolf's Den

 
Soon after Cleveland's rescue, Riddle and his men made a night raid into the Yadkin Valley, where, on King's Creek, they captured two of Cleveland's soldiers, David and John Witherspoon taking them into the mountain region on the Watauga River in what is now Watauga County, There both were sentenced to be shot, when it was proposed that if they would take the oath of allegiance to the king, go to their home and return with "the O'Neal mare — a noble animal" and join Riddle's band, their lives would be spared. The Witherspoons agreed to this and returned with not only the mare, but with Col. Ben Herndon and a party also, when they captured Riddle, Reeves and Goss, "killing and dispersing the others." 

The American Revolution in North Carolina also recounts another version of the rescue of Col. Cleveland as recorded in the 1832 pension statement of Ishmael Titus. The captured Tories were taken to Wilkesboro, court-martialed and executed on the hill adjoining the village on an oak which was said to still be standing in 1881. Other reports indicate that the oak was behind the Wilkes County Courthouse. 

There are various stories recorded of those executed but most agree that it was Capt. Riddle, Reeves and Goss with some versions also including either one or two sons of Riddle. I have yet to find any documentation of the identity of the Reeves individual who was hung with Capt. Riddle at Wilkesboro. If any records of the court martial held at Wilkesboro are extant it might be possible to someday know exactly to which Reeves' family he belongs.

Source: The History of Watauga County, North Carolina by John Preston Author, pub. 1915. Photos from New River Notes

6 comments:

  1. I have been working on my husbands genealogy- I honestly backed into this!!!!
    I think my husbands family was related to all these people... I saw a CHARITY REEVES in his geology---- and Then I read riddle's sister's name was... CHARITY
    MY HUSBAND's 5th grandfather was hung w WILLIAM RIDDLE
    his name was ZACHARIAH GOSS & his wife was ANN RIDDLE...
    Obviously- some were loyalists and some were patrots- I'm starting to realize they made their decision on what they had to lose! Or how much!

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  2. Melissa,
    Thanks for your comment. I imagine the Charity Reeves in your husband's genealogy is descended from George Reeves, Sr. of Grayson County, VA because the name Charity was used numerous times in that family. My Reeves are related to that family based upon matching DNA. I'm glad to know the name of the Goss in this story, now I wish we could identify the Reeves.

    Beverly

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  3. The Tory oak did stand behind the old Wilkes county court house. It began to rot many years ago, and the town tried to keep it alive by even putting cement in it I believe. It finally had to be cut down prob 15 to 20 or more years ago. I remember that old tree from my childhood.

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  4. Thanks for your comment Becky. I still periodically try to find more information about that incident, etc. And currently a descendant of Zachariah Goss and an unidentified Reeves and I are anxiously awaiting the Y-DNA results of one of her Reeves' cousins who she encouraged to test. Depending on what new information we find from the results, another post on this topic may be necessary.

    Beverly

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  5. Hi Beverly,

    I found it interesting the Riddle/Riddell along with Reeves and Goss. I haven't documented alot on our Riddell/Reeves yet, but family lore has it we descend from George Reeves/Rives b1730 Prince William, VA d1778 Prince William, VA and he married Jane Riddell 1730-1790. Jane is dau of James Riddell 1703-1770 and Mary mnu Neale Reeves 1700-1760. I think our George is son of William Cabel Reeves/Rives Jr 1680 Surry, VA - 1751 Granville, NC and Margaret Burgess 1678-1751. Our descendant is thru George's son Jonathan Reeves 1762-1837 who md Anna Land b1780??. They had a dau Nancy Land Reeves b1799 TN or NC - d aft 1860 in Benton, TN who married James Pleasant Mullinax/Mulliniks b1798 Greenville, SC - 1851, Henderson, TN. Have James P and Nancy Land Reeves Mullinax and descendants well documented in our tree. Haven't gone back on their ancestors to confirm. I looked thru several articles and did some searching but couldn't figure out how our Reeves fits into any of the categories - but given the Riddell/Reeves they could likely fit somehow into these persons just not sure..!! I'll get to this section of ancestors at some point! I haven't documented any of the Reeves or Riddell dna matches into the tree. I use my dad Bill Truster dna to research as he was born 1930. I know there are thru lines matches (right wrong or otherwise!!) to George and Jane Riddell Reeves/Rives. Would love your theory for the group we might fall into based on all the research!
    Beverly

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    Replies
    1. These are actually two different Reeve(s) lineages with connections to different Riddells. And I'm sorry but neither of these families are related to Willliam Reeves who died in Granville NC in 1751 whose descendants are found in DNA Group 3 of the Reeves DNA Project.

      The Reeves with the connection to Goss and Riddell are found in DNA Group 6A and are another completely different lineage. Those Reeves as well as that Riddell family were first identified in the Neuse River basin of eastern North Carolina. See George Reeves at The Reeves Project - https://thereevesproject.org/data/tiki-index.php?page=Reeves_George_Sr_3168

      The third George Reeve was the son of John Reeve of Prince William County VA. Someone (without any documentation) had suggested that George Reeve's wife was a Riddell but new research suggests that her maiden name was Durham. The connection to the Riddell family in that area was actually through the wife of George's son revolutionary soldier William Reeve who migrated from northern VA to South Carolina after the Revolution and later to Georgia where he died. William's wife is documented as the child of James White whose wife Jane's maiden name was previously believed to be Riddell, recent research indicates that she was the daughter of Noah Riddell which is the source of that surname as used by their descendants. See the Research Notes on William's father George's page at The Reeves Project - https://thereevesproject.org/data/tiki-index.php?page=Reeve_George_3633

      I hope all this helps. Reeves really liked the name George and used it A LOT which causes great confusion.

      Good luck,
      Beverly

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