The Fish Dam Road

A few years ago I became aware of the research in Orange County, North Carolina to locate what remains of the Fish Dam Road, a foot trail that began in the 1600's connecting two Indian villages, one on the Neuse and one on the Eno River.  The Indian village on the Neuse used the shallow water of the river to make a giant fish trap causing the road to it to be known as the Fish Dam Road.  The Fish Dam itself no longer exists since the creation of the Falls of the Neuse Lake.

I found the project really interesting and even more so when I discovered that one section of the road appears to have crossed land owned by my ancestor William Reeves.  

My ancestor, William Reves (later generations used the more common Reeves surname) had settled in 1746 on land along the Neuse River in what was at that time, Johnston County, North Carolina.  By the 1750's the land was part of Orange County, then back to Johnston, eventually to Wake County at its inception in 1771 and now part of Durham.

When I recently discovered that the website telling the story of the Fish Dam Road, previously part of the Eno River Association's site, was no longer easily  accessible, I made a point to find what was left of that information and save it.   I then decided to share it here so it won't ever be completely lost.

The following information is contained in the Eno River Associations' Fish Dam Road sites: 

Section 5: Ellerbee Creek to Fish Dam Ford on Neuse River

By David Southern

THOMAS HOLLOWAY, JOHN ALSTON, WILLIAM REEVES, SAMUEL PEAKE, THOMAS HINES, BENJAMIN ALLEN, REUBEN ALLEN, THOMAS TOMLINSON, JUDITH MATTHEWS, HENRY McCULLOH and possibly JOHN SHERRON as well.

The above grants are conjectural for having the Fish Dam Road within their boundaries. See Markham’s land grant map for Wake county... 

In the early part of the 20th century, Allan Byron Markham, a Durham County native born in 1896, out of an interest in the history of his family and related families was inspired to plot the metes and bounds of their neighboring lands in the area where his family had settled.  In the 1940's, this work involved frequent trips to the Office of the Secretary of State in Raleigh and recording notes in long hand in that office and deed vaults all over that area.  By the 1970's his research included more than 1800 grants.  His two plats of early grants in Orange and Wake counties were still available a decade ago when on a trip to Durham searching for my Reeves' family history, I purchased a copy of each map from Mr. Markham's son.  These maps are invaluable when researching families in Orange, Wake, Durham and Chatham counties and I am forever grateful that I stopped by Mr. Markham's son's house that day.  On the map below I have noted a red star on the grant of each landowner whose property is mentioned in Section 5 of the Fish Dam Road.

Orange County was formed in 1752 and the seat of Hillsborough was founded in 1754 on land where the Great Indian Trading Path crossed the Eno River.  It was first owned, surveyed and mapped by William Churton, a surveyor for Earl Granville.

Hillsborough was an earlier Piedmont colonial town where court was held, and was the scene of some pre-Revolutionary War tensions.  The War of the Regulation had its epicenter there.  Hillsborough was also used as the home of the North Carolina state legislature during the American Revolution.

Orange County played an important role in the settling of early North Carolina and was one of the most populous areas by the 1750's.  In researching the area, I am always amazed at how many families moved through this area as they made their way to other areas of the country.

Sources:
History of the Fish Dam Road

1870 Fendol Bevers Map of Wake County

Eno River Association  Map of the Fish Dam Road by Joe Liles

Reeves Rancher Dies of Covid-19

This morning I came across an article in the Texas Tribune about Raymond Reeves who recently died at the age of 91 in the Texas Panhandle. Whenever I happen upon a gravestone, photo or other interesting information about a previously unknown Reeves' individual, I usually look to see if we have recorded them or their family in The Reeves Project. Finding no Raymond Reeves born in 1929 in Texas, I decided to do a little research to learn more about his ancestry.

Raymond Reeves

After a little sleuthing, I traced Raymond's family from Texas back to Alabama, then Georgia and found his earliest known ancestor to be John Reeves who died in Craven County, North Carolina in 1790.

Raymond descends from John Reeves' son Jesse Tinion Reeves of Hancock County, Georgia. A lot of research has been done to find John Reeves' origins and his father appears to be John Reeves of St. Mary's County, Maryland who migrated to North Carolina circa 1760.  Although there is currently no documentation of the relationship, the Y-DNA of a descendant of John Reeves matches that of other descendants of that Reeves' family.

Read the article which tells much about this Texas rancher's interesting life at The Texas Tribune

Thanks to the Texas Tribune for the photo above.

A Few More Colonial Early Reeves' Families

In 2017 I wrote a post for this blog, "Early Reeves' Families of Colonial America". That post was a detailed list of known Reeves' families of completely different lineages who were present in the U.S. before the Revolution when it was under British rule. At The Reeves Project over the course of the last few years, we've identified a few more families who were present in those days of colonial rule so this post is to identify them and pinpoint their initial locations.

A - The primary Reeves' presence in Maine from some years prior to the Revolution until the 20th century descended from James Reeves. After his marriage in 1767 James settled in Jefferson, Maine and is recorded as serving in the Revolutionary army a few years later. Descendants of James Reeves are recorded as living in the area of Jefferson, Maine as late as the twentieth century. The post, James Reeves of Maine, provides more information about him.

B - John Reeves of Essex County, Massachusetts appears to possibly have been the individual of that name who arrived in New England from London on the ship Christian in 1635. John's son William left numerous heirs in the Salem, Massachusetts area but currently none from that lineage have participated in the Reeves DNA Project at Family Tree DNA so there are no known links to other Reeves' families.

C - Thomas Reeves of Roxbury, Massachusetts came from Salisbury, Wiltshire, Great Britain. He sailed from Southampton, England, in the "Beves" (sic Bevis) in 1638 and died in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1650. His son Thomas Reeves later migrated to Southampton, Long Island, where his descendants are recorded.

D - The date of Robert Reeve's arrival in the American colonies is currently unknown but he married here circa 1660 and his estate was probated in Hartford County, Connecticut in 1681.

E - John Reeves, son of Azeriah Reeves, was born about 1750 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. He married Mrs. Rebecca Gaskill Huber in Burlington, New Jersey in 1770 and by around 1800, they and most of their children migrated to Mason County, Kentucky. This is another large Reeves' family with many descendants but for whom there is no evidence that any members of this family have participated in Y-DNA testing to help identify the exact Reeves' extended family to whom they belong.

F - Walter Reeve came to West Jersey sometime prior to 1682. His origins are unknown although much has been published about Walter and his family. Walter prospered in the Burlington area of New Jersey owning two plantations at his death and left many descendants there.

G - The records of Fenwick's Colony of New Jersey contain many mentions of Mark Reeve. He came to the colony as a servant of Edward Champneys, arriving in Salem on 23 Jun 1675 on the ship Griffin. Although both Mark Reeve and Walter Reeve (F above) arrived in New Jersey around the same time, there appears to be no family connection between them.

H - Among the several Reeves' families recorded in Halifax County, Virginia was George Reaves who extensive research has determined was born circa 1727 in Virginia's Northern Neck and is first found in the records of Prince William County along with his mother and step-father. George Reaves and family moved from Halifax to Wilkes County, North Carolina during the Revolution but returned to Halifax County around 1794 where George died circa 1816. No one from this family has taken part in Y-DNA testing so any relationship to other established Reeves' families is unknown. One of several posts in this blog concerning this George Reaves can be found in this post detailing the in-depth research of George and his family - The Rest of the Story.

I - For many years it was assumed that Hardy Reaves who is first recorded in Duplin County, North Carolina around 1770 was surely a member of the Reaves family of Wayne County, North Carolina. Although William Reaves of Wayne County named no son Hardy in his 1793 will, based upon proximity alone, it was believed that Hardy was part of that family. However, recent Y-DNA testing has completely disproven that theory. When descendants of Hardy Reaves participated in Y-DNA testing, it was discovered that they match the Rives family of southern Virginia as identified in the book Reliques of the Rives (Ryves). The exact member of that family from whom Hardy descends is still unknown, but DNA has established that he does belong to that family.

J - Miles Reeves (Reves) is first documented in Lancaster County, South Carolina when on 8 Mar 1788 he collected a bounty for killing a wolf, although it is believed that he had originally come from North Carolina. In later census records, several of his children are recorded as having been born in North Carolina. He and his family migrated from South Carolina to Christian County, Kentucky where Miles died after which several of his children migrated further westward into Arkansas. Several descendants of Miles Reeves have participated in Y-DNA testing but it has not solved the mystery of his origins, instead adding more to the conundrum. Rather than matching any known Reeves' lineages, they match members of the Hatcher-Burton family. The DNA has shown a close relationship to a man who is descended from Reuben Hatcher, born 1770 in South Carolina. Hopefully at some future time, this mystery can be resolved by finding the place these families intersect.

K - George W. Reeves who died in Ballard County, Kentucky is believed to have come from Chester County, South Carolina although various other records such as census and children's death records give other locations, i.e. Tennessee or Georgia. He arrived in the area of Kentucky's Jackson Purchase by 1840 where he is recorded in the census of Hickman County. There are currently no records indicating what extended Reeves family George was related to and none of his descendants have participated in Y-DNA testing, but hopefully at some point someone will test and provide some clarity. UPDATE - Additional research indicates that George W. Reeves is very probably the son of Jordan Reeves, Sr. son of George Reeves of Brunswick County, Virginia who migrated first into northern North Carolina, then South Carolina, and died in Davidson County, Tennessee in 1803.

For more extensive information for the earliest docu-

mented Reeves' families in the American colonies, see 

Part 1 of "Early Reeves' Families of Colonial America" 

for the legend identifying Reeves' populations in the various locations on the map at right.

The Reeves Project also provides more extensive information on these families.

William Reeves & Mahala Goss

According to the 1860 census of Lee County, Virginia, William Reeves was born in Ashe County, North Carolina in 1824. The Reeves' family of Ashe County as well as Grayson County, Virginia are well documented and with one or two exceptions of individuals found there briefly in marriage records, appear to all descend from George Reeves, Sr. who settled on the Peach Bottom Tract of Grayson County in 1767. Much research of Grayson and Ashe has failed to locate any Reeves' family descending from George Reeves, Sr. to which this William Reeves might belong. His parentage is currently a complete mystery.

Ashe County, North Carolina

William married Mahala Goss shortly before 1850 for they were recorded in the 1850 census of Bennett Bayou, Fulton County, Arkansas with one year old Mary Ann. On the previous page in that census, the next residence in Bennett Bayou is a Jesse Reeves born 1822 but there is nothing to connect the two families other than a child with the surname Murphy in each household.

Census records record the birth of Mahala, at times called Hallie, in 1831 in Lee County, Virginia and that is where the family is next recorded in the 1860 census.  In the 1860 census of the Western District of Lee County, William, Mahala, Mary, another daughter listed only as M. S., Andrew Johnson "Jonce" and William Shelby Reeves are  listed.

Andrew Johnson
"Jonce" Reeves

The last record of William and Mahala Reeves is in Cumberland County, Tennessee in the 1870 census and by then Julia Ann, Rebecca Jane and Lucinda Reeves have been added to the family.  The last records of William Reeves  are two entries for land dated 7 Mar 1873.  One entry for 400 acres is located on Devil Creek and the other for 650 acres is on Meadow Creek, both are in Cumberland County.  

Several undocumented theories are that Mahala died by 1878, possibly in an institution, but there is nothing to support that theory.  Whether William Reeves was also deceased is unknown but he disappears from Cumberland County and the lives of his children before 1880.  

By 1880 the children had disbursed and were living in various homes where they appear to have been working for the families with whom they are listed.  In the 1880 census, Mary Ann "Polly" had married John Washington Welch and Andrew J. "Jonce" was living in their household and working for his brother-in-law in Cumberland County.  William Shelby Reeves (listed as Shelby) was living in a boarding house in Union County, Kentucky along with other young men listed as laborers.  12 year old Lucinda was listed as a servant in the household of farmer J. H. Officer in Putnam County; 16 year old Rebecca Jane is listed as Jane Reeves  keeping house in the household of Henry Watson in Overton, Tennessee; and 18 year old Julia is listed as house keeping in the residence of a Benjamin Watson also in Overton County. 

Much research has been done on this family in North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee but at this point, there are no viable theories as to William Reeves' family origins.  However, Mahala is believed to be the daughter of John Goss and Abigail Osborne of Ashe County.  John Goss was the son of Zachariah Goss who is recorded as being hung as a tory by Colonel Benjamin Cleveland in Wilkes County, North Carolina in 1781.

The history of the New River area of North Carolina and southern Virginia records the tale of at least 3 Tory loyalists who were hung by Colonel Benjamin Cleveland in 1781.  There are numerous variations of the story online although none seem to have detailed documented information.  The 2011 post Hanging of a Loyalist named Reeves can be found on this blog where I provided all the information I was able to find about this story.  The 3 loyalists who were hung were Capt. William Riddle, Zachariah Goss and an as yet unidentified Reeves individual. 

For some time I have been puzzled as to whether this Reeves was a member of my own family who are connected with the Reeves family of George Reeves, Sr. of Grayson County as proven by Y-DNA, but to date, nothing has been found to document a connection.  Since there appear to be so many connections between William Reeves and Mahala Goss to the Goss and Reeves' families of Ashe and Grayson counties it seems a plausible theory that there is a connection to their family.

Anyone reading this post who descends from William and Mahala Goss Reeves and would like to help unravel the mystery, please consider taking a Y-DNA test at Family Tree DNA and joining the Reeves DNA Project.  Y-DNA testing requires a male with the Reeves surname since Y-DNA is passed through the male line unchanged for countless generations with the exception of an occasional random mutation.  Y-DNA is far more accurate for this purpose and provides results within about 6 weeks to accurately identify the Reeves lineage from which you descend. 

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Thanks to William & Hallie's descendant Heather for the use of the above photo of her ancestor Andrew Johnson "Jonce" Reeves.

The Mystery of Jane Reaves

A deed from page 185 of Deed Book 6 (April 1758 to April 1765) is recorded in the index of that book from Dobbs County, North Carolina. The index lists the grantor as Jane Reaves and grantee Charles Miller. The female name Jane has been questioned in transcriptions of this index and it has been theorized that the name may have actually been James.

In 1779 Wayne County was formed from the western portion of Dobbs and in 1791, most of the remainder of Dobbs was divided into Glasgow which is now Greene, and Lenoir Counties. Dobbs County then ceased to exist and its records along with those of early Johnston and other counties formed from Johnston - Wayne, Greene and Lenoir were placed at the Courthouse in Lenoir County. In 1878, a Courthouse fire in Kinston destroyed the Lenoir County Courthouse and almost all of these records. The only record that survived for Dobbs County was the original deed Grantee Index. Due to the loss of the deeds themselves, there has been no way to study the original deed to determine whether the name of the grantor was Jane, James or some other variation.

However, a recently discovered deed dated the 8th of November 1763 which is excerpted above, was found in the early unindexed deed books of Duplin County in Deed Book 1 at pages 359 and 360. This deed is from William Richeson to Jane Reaves for a tract of 200 acres. Sadly, no watercourses are named and the only landmark listed is by "John Young's path". The deed does mention that the property was originally granted to Patrick Stewart by patton (sic patent) dated the 29th of September, 1750.

A published history discovered for the Stewart family who came to North Carolina from Perthshire in Scotland better describes the location of the tract Jane Reaves bought from later owner William Richeson. This history states "On Sep. 29, 1750, Patrick (Stewart) was granted 200 acres on John Young's path between Six Runs and Goshen swamp in Sampson [then in Duplin] County." This information places the property between the Black River and the Northeast Cape Fear River. It also decreases the possibility that Jane was part of the family of William Reaves who was initially recorded in Dobbs County but in the part that became Wayne County and his tracts of land were just to the south of Seven Springs.

We still can't positively identify Jane Reaves, but this deed has certainly added much more information than just the brief mention in the Old Dobbs County deed index. Jane may have been a spinster or she could have been the widowed mother of Hardy Reaves who was a resident of Duplin County by 1770. Descendants of Hardy Reaves are still found in the Mt. Olive area close to the location of Jane's 200 acres. If Jane had a family connection to the Richeson family it is also of interest that a Hardy Richeson was found in a deed in this same area of Duplin County. We can only hope that sometime soon more extant records come to light in Duplin County that will resolve the mystery of Jane Reaves.