Maybe John Darden, not Reeves

1791 Deed
Cumberland NC

One of my friends who is also a Reeves' researcher has been searching for more historical information on his ancestor, John Durden Reeves, for many years without success.  John D. Reeves is known to have been born in Halifax County, North Carolina on the 30th of May in 1759 based upon the statement in his Revolutionary War pension application of 1833.

The 1778 Halifax County Will of Micajah Rawls left bequests to his half brothers John and Jesse Reeves indicating John D.'s mother had at some point been married to a Rawls individual in addition to the Reeves after whom John & Jesse were named.  Sadly, even after much research, no further information could be found to explain that connection.

After the Revolutionary War, John Durden Reeves is recorded in Cumberland County,  North Carolina where he married Sarah Locke Elwell as evidenced by the 1791 deed disposing of property inherited by heirs of his father-in-law Richard Elwell.  By 1800, John D. Reeves and family had migrated to Surry County,  North Carolina where they were recorded in the census of that year.

Three descendants of John D. Reeves through two of his sons are found in a group at Family Tree DNA based upon their matching Y-DNA results.  There is a fourth member of that DNA group whose known earliest Reeves' ancestor was born in Derbyshire, England in 1855 and immigrated to the U.S. in 1882; however, that match indicates a much more distant common ancestor.  After many years, no other Reeves' matches have ever appeared to provide any clue as to John's family history although there were numerous matches to other surnames, several of which were the surname "Darden".

Researchers from this line have even explored various possible immigration theories, one of which is that he may have been part of the Monmouth Rebellion in England and was transported but thus far nothing has been found to confirm that theory.

In an effort to learn more about any possible connections to these individuals of other surnames, my friend upgraded his Y-DNA test to the highest level of Y-111.  His only match at that level is a person with the surname "Darden".  He also found additional Darden matches at the 67 marker level of the Y-DNA tests.  The ancestors of the individual matching at 111 markers were also found in Halifax County, North Carolina around the time of the American Revolution.  Additionally, their descendants also migrated to the area west of Nashville, Tennessee where John Durdan Reeves' descendants settled in the 19th century.

The spelling of John D. Reeves middle name has been variously listed as Durden, Durdan, Dearden in addition to Darden, but it now appears that Darden is probably the correct variation and may have been the original surname of the family.  Hopefully someday my friend will learn much more about his newly discovered Darden ancestors.

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Post published with the permission of Billy Fred Reeves.