A Few More Reeve(s) Signatures

The signatures of today's post are from various Reeves' individuals of several different surname variations and lineages. The excerpts of these pictured documents have come from collections of original documents scanned from archived records in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. Over the last decade numerous collections of scanned original documents, not copies of pages from deed and will books that were written by county clerks, but documents written by or at the least signed by the parties executing the documents. Collections by Family Search, the Library of Virginia and other sites have put these documents online helping family researchers to make great advances in genealogy. These scans of original documents have also allowed us to see the actual signatures of our ancestors which is a tremendous help in differentiating between all the Reeves of the same given name.

Will of William Reaves of Wayne County NC
also includes signature of William Reaves, Juner as witness

The document on the left is from a scanned copy of the original 1790 will of William Reaves, Sr. of Wayne County, North Carolina. The document includes the signature of William Reaves, Sr. as well as the signature of his son William, Jr. as one of the witnesses. The origins of this family who appeared in now extinct Old Dobbs County in the late 1750s have been a mystery but recent DNA tests of several descendants from this family have now established that their DNA matches that of descendants of William Reeves who died in Granville County in 1751.

Promissory Note by H. I. (Hezekiah) Reeves

On the right is a promissory note given by Hezekiah I. Reeves of Fauquier County, Virginia to William H. Tilley in 1819 which was the basis of a Chancery Case brought by Wm H. Tilley against Hezekiah Reeves, William and Daniel Thornberry. Hezekiah may have been a member of the Reeves family of Charles County, Maryland which is just across the Potomac River from Prince William County, Virginia where Hezekiah is also recorded. His signature is quite unique and should help to identify him. Sadly, there have been no participants from this lineage or other Reeves of southern Maryland in the DNA project which would greatly benefit Reeves' research.

Thomas Reeves' Signature as Witness

The witnesses to the above document include Thomas Reeves of Augusta, Virginia, previously of Spotsylvania County. The document is found in an Augusta County chancery case entitled Brewer Reeves vs. Aaron Hughes whose first pleadings are dated 1792. The witnesses signatures appear to be original as they are not similar to the body of the document which was written by a clerk or attorney with excellent penmanship - note the surname Reeves as written by the clerk is far more skillfully written than that of Tho. Reeves' signature. Brewer Reeves of this case was identified in other court documents as the brother of Thomas Reeves.

Signature by Edward Reavis on
1752 Northampton County NC Will

Edward Reavis is first found in Henrico County, Virginia, later migrating to northeastern North Carolina. He clearly wrote his name as Reavis differentiating it from the various other individuals of that area of North Carolina who used the Reeves and Reaves variations of the surname. Descendants of Edward Reavis are also totally different genetically to other inhabitants of Northampton and Halifax counties based upon DNA testing.

Signature of William Reeve, Soldier of the Revolution
on his 1833 RW Pension Application

Affidavit and Signature of James W. Reeve
son of William Reeve above

In April of 1833 William Reeve gave a statement in support of his application for a Revolutionary War pension. Appearing in court in Abbeville, South Carolina he gave a declaration regarding his service. He stated that he had entered the service in the summer of 1776 in Prince William County, Virginia as a drafted militia man serving in troops commanded by Colonel Henry Lee. That initial tour was followed by several others under different commanders.

William Reeve was originally from Prince William County, Virginia where his father, grandfather and other extended family consistently used the Reeve surname variation. However, within a few generations most of his descendants began to use the more common Reeves surname.

More Reeves' Signatures

As I have continued to collect scans of original documents primarily for their signatures, I have numerous signatures for the Reeves (Reves) families of Wake County, North Carolina and Grayson County, Virginia/Ashe County, North Carolina. These families share matching Y-Chromosome DNA but currently no paper trail has been located to explain the connection. Currently proximity is one of the few commonalities, both William Reeves and a George Reeves who appears to be the same individual who settled in the New River area around 1767 were recorded in the deed and court records of Orange and Johnston Counties circa 1760. The other major commonality is that the male members of these families were all literate and consistently signed their names as REVES, not with the double "E" used by later generations.

Included here are various documents signed by William Reeves of Wake County NC and his sons as well as the sons of George Reeves of Grayson County VA.

Signature of William Reves (c1740-1821) of Wake County, North Carolina from his answers to interrogatories in depositions taken in the court case of David Daniel vs. the executors of Woodson Daniel.

The signature above is that of Peter Reves, son of William Reeves (Reves) of Wake County NC. Peter, along with his brother Charles, moved a short distance into Halifax County, Virginia around 1800. This acknowledgement signed by Peter Reves in 1851 is part of an application by Elizabeth Brown Neal for a Revolutionary War pension based upon her husband Thomas Neal's service. Elizabeth Neal's statement was made to Peter who was the Chairman of the Halifax (VA) County Court.

Madison County, Kentucky consent for the marriage of his daughter Elizabeth signed by Jeremiah Reves, one of the younger sons of William Reeves. Elizabeth Reves married a Jefferson Reves whose identity is unknown. Jefferson was likely a cousin of Elizabeth's, possibly the son by that name of her uncle John Reves of Wake County NC who disappeared from the records there around 1837.

Above document is the 1802 Madison County, Kentucky marriage bond for George Reves, the son of William Reeves of Wake County NC, to Elizabeth "Betsy" Wilkerson.

1811 Note to James Cox for $133.00 signed by Jesse Reves of Ashe County, North Carolina, another son of George Reeves of Grayson County, Virginia.

1809 Power of Attorney by George Reves, Jr., son of George Reeves of Grayson County VA, to Robert H. Burton to act on his behalf in a court case in the Ashe County Superior Court.

Bond by William Reves, son of George Reeves of Grayson County, Virginia, and his son-in-law Allen Burton for John Reves, Jr. and William's wife Ann Reves. This court case, Landreth vs. William Reves, was filed around 1813 and was still active as late as 1822. The John Reves, Jr. named in this bond is most likely the son of William Reves of Ashe who was born circa 1795. It was a common practice in early America to differentiate between individuals of the same name by identifying the younger person as Junior not necessarily because the individual named as Senior was their parent.

Although the above is not a scan of the original document, the signatures as published appear to be taken from scans of the original document. The signature of Wm Reves on this 1761 Orange County, North Carolina deed would undoubtably be that of William Reeves, Sr., the probable father of both William Reeves of Wake County and George Reeves of Grayson.

There are many more documents signed by these individuals and others as well as later generations using the Reves spelling of the surname but eventually most of the family began to use the more common Reeves variation of the name. As yet I have been unable to find other Reeves' families who spelled their name in the same manner. It would be a great help in locating the family's origins if we can eventually find others using the Reves name.

Collecting Reeves' Signatures

As everyone who has researched the various Reeves families knows, the Reeves, Reaves, Rives and Reavis all had a affinity for the name William. Trying to definitely identify each individual can be challenging so I have begun to collect the signatures of any William Reeves that I happen upon.

After several years of watching for a document with an original signature by my ancestor, William Reeves of Wake County, North Carolina, I recently found one in the probate file for the estate of Woodson Daniel. Wake County Militia Capt. Woodson Daniel named his lifelong neighbor and friend, William Reeves, as one of the executors of his will. The probate file of Woodson's estate contains a 1798 suit filed by one of the heirs against the estate and its executors which required that depositions be taken. The three page deposition by William Reeves also bears his signature.

He signed his name, spelling it Reves as did all of his sons. Interestingly the descendants of George Reeves of Grayson County, Virginia whose DNA matches that of William Reeves of Wake County's descendants also signed their names with the Reves spelling.



The signature of James Reeves' son William of Guilford County who was confused with William Reeves of Wake County by the Reeves Review was found on the 1791 will of John Rhodes of Guilford County. John Rhodes named him as his son-in-law and an executor of his will.



Even when the individual makes a mark rather than signing their name, the mark can also be distinctive and help to identify the correct person. William Reeves who died in Granville County, North Carorlina in 1751 didn't use the normal X for a mark but initialed his will in a unique manner.



The signature below is that of a witness to the 1817 York County, South Carolina will of Robert Ellis. The exact William Reeves who witnessed this will is unknown since there were at least three living in York County at the time. William Reeves, Sr., his son William, Jr. and another, as yet unidentified, William Reeves whose name was normally written with the suffix Esqr. indicating that he was probably a justice of the local court.



William Reavis whose will was written in Northampton County, North Carolina in 1784 signed his name clearly making the distinction between the name variations Reeves, Reaves and Reavis.



It's obvious from this small group of signatures how unique each is, not just the way the characters were formed but the spellings of their names. As FamilySearch.org makes more and more original records available, hopefully we can add many more original signatures to the collection that will further differentiate the multitude of William Reeves, and George Reeves, and countless others.