Settlers in Kansas Territory

After the death of their father, Terrell and Gaston Reves settled in the new Kansas Territory as soon as it was opened for settlement. Their father William was one of the sons of George Reeves (Reves) of Grayson County, Virginia. William and his extended family had left Ashe County, North Carolina around 1822 and after a time in Indiana, eventually settled in Carroll County, Arkansas by about 1840. There William and these sons along with their brothers Lenoir and John were recorded in census and tax records. After William's death sometime between 1840 and 1850, various members of the family are recorded on the tax lists of Independence County, Arkansas throughout the 1850's along with another brother, William H. Reves, who was a Baptist minister.

Excerpt from 1866 Map of Kansas

Gaston Reves along with his oldest sons Albert and Moses (Mack) were listed on the tax lists of Independence County in 1854 which was the final record for members of Gaston's family in Arkansas. The History of Verdigris Township in Historical Atlas of Wilson County Kansas records that "Gaston Reeves and his son Max (sic Mack) took claims in the spring of 1857".

Terrell Reeves was recorded on the 1856 tax lists of Independence County which apparently preceded his migration to Kansas for the history of Greenwood County, Kansas lists the Pleasant Grove township as being established in 1856 by Terrill Reeves.

In those early years of Kansas' history, besides indian attacks, there was also great political unrest involving guerrilla warfare as the debate over the expansion of slavery led to violence in Kansas. The bad weather, bad crops and destruction of crops and property by the opposing forces often offset the sense of prosperity that had fueled the rush of settlers to the newly opened territory. A large number of settlers left the territory after the bitter winter of 1856 and many experienced starvation effecting themselves and their animals caused by a severe drought in 1860.

Bill for coffin of Gaston Reves son of Terrell

The records do not reveal the causes of their deaths, but over the next five years, Terrell and three of his sons as well as his brother Gaston and his oldest son Albert were deceased. Terrell and his 21 year old son Gaston both died on the 4th of May, 1859 but the probate documents give no clue as to the cause. Although no probate documents have been discovered for his brother Gaston, all of his children were orphans living in the home of A. Venard, a probate court judge in Greenwood County in the 1860 census. Over the next decade the majority of the rest of the children from both families had also died.

Although I never doubted that pioneer life was hard and extremely dangerous, researching the story of these young families and their westward migration which ended so soon after their arrival in southeastern Kansas Territory has both surprised and saddened me. Even as my various families migrated out of Virginia and North Carolina into the wilderness that existed in early Kentucky, Tennessee and other newly formed states, I had just never discovered such hardship and death.


See post in this blog about William Reeves of Grayson County, Virginia and Ashe County, North Carolina

The Wayfarer - William Reeves of Ashe County

William, the son of George Reeves of Grayson County, Virginia, and most of his children left Ashe County, North Carolina shortly after 1820. Based upon estimates of his age from census, he would have been around 55 years old at the time. He was a justice of the Ashe County court and appears to have been prominent in the community, but for whatever reason, he left North Carolina and ventured to the new state of Indiana. By 1822, William was listed on the Lawrence County, Indiana poll tax list. Once William left North Carolina and began to migrate westward, he seems never to have stopped moving.

1829 Indiana Land Grant
to William Reves

In the years preceding William's departure from the New River area of Virginia & North Carolina, his father had died in 1811 as well as his brother George Reeves, Jr. George Reeves, Jr. was killed by his brother-in-law William Tolliver, husband of sister Susanna Reeves. The trial was held in Wilkes County and there are various theories but the actual cause of the incident still remains unknown. Beginning around 1813, there was another court case, Landreth vs. Reves, which continued over a lengthy period with documents in the court records as late as 1822 in regard to it. There are numerous documents in the Ashe County Civil Action Court files regarding this case although there is no clear explanation of the events that precipitated the court case. From various documents, John Landreth states that he had been accused of perjury by William Reves although there is no exact explanation of the nature of the accusation. It would appear from these documents that the entire extended Reeves' family, even William's wife Anne Terrell Reeves, became involved in a fracas which resulted in the issuance of a summons. Oddly, members of both the Tolliver and Landreth families also migrated to the same area of Indiana in the 1820's.

1816 Bond by William Reves and
Allen Burton for John and Ann Reves

Whether the unpleasantness of the death of his father, the murder of his brother or the Landreth court case played a role in William Reeves' decision to leave Ashe County is unknown, but following these events, the family began the first of their migrations. They settled in the area of Greene & Lawrence Counties where they remained until sometime before 1840 when they are found in the census of Carroll County, Arkansas.

From: History of Greene County, Indiana, pub. 1870 by J. Ward, Worthington, Indiana - As taken from the official records, and compiled from authentic recollections by pioneer settlers. Chapter XV - Beech Creek Township: Among other pioneers whose name deserves a place in the history of the township, may be mentioned...William and Noah Reeves...Pg 47 - William Reeves and his boys first settled the farm now owned by Edward Walker.

Between Indiana and Arkansas, the Reeves' family must have spent some time in Missouri probably in the area of Washington County. William's son Albert married there in 1837. Lenoir (Noah) Reeves was also living in Missouri briefly for several of his children were born there before he ventured briefly to Arkansas, Iowa and Nebraska then eventually to Oregon, dying there in 1888. Both Albert and Timothy settled in the area of Iron and Butler Counties in Missouri.

Missouri Reeves Emmons
daughter of Timothy Reeves

By the Census of 1840 for Carroll County, Arkansas, William along with his sons John, Terrel and Gaston Reeves are listed. The 1840 tax list for Carroll County lists Lenoir, William, Terrel and John Reeves. They, along with Gaston, are also listed in the 1841 tax lists for Carroll County. Located near the headwaters of the Buffalo River in Van Buren Township in Carroll County there is a Reeves' Creek which is said to have been named for this Reeves' family.

The 1841 tax list appears to be the last historical record of William Reeves. Several family trees list a date of death of 1854 in Missouri but no documentation can be found in support of that theory. It is likely that William, and his wife Anne as well, died in Carroll County between 1840 and 1850 when most of his sons are found in the census of Independence County, Arkansas.

Descendants of William Reeves' brothers Jesse and John have participated in the Reeves DNA Project and been placed in Group 6. A descendant of George Reeves, Jr.'s son Enoch, also a participant in the Reeves DNA Project, has been placed in Group 14 with a descendant of George Reeves whose paternity is currently unknown but may be the son of Jesse. Whether these are NPEs (non paternity events) is unknown and more extensive research is needed to resolve this mystery. Hopefully at some future time, descendants of William Reeves will participate in DNA studies, either Y Chromosome DNA or the new autosomal DNA projects that are now available and help to clarify this lineage.

Other posts in this blog pertaining to the family of George Reeves of Grayson County, Virginia:

George Reeves of Grayson County, Virginia
Who really are the descendants of Henry Reeves?
Col. Timothy Reeves, CSA
The Reeves' Gang
Episode 2 - More of the Reeves Gang
Pewter John Reeves Stamper

An Arkansas Reeves' Mystery Solved

When I originally came across the biography of a William Reeves of Montgomery County, Arkansas in Goodspeed's Biographical & Historical Memoirs of Western Arkansas, published in 1891, I had no idea which Reeves' family this particular William Reeves descended from. I saved the biography among all the copious Reeves' data I collect thinking that at some point his ancestry might be identified. And surprisingly, I recently found William in the probate records of the estate of William Reeves, Jr. who died in Smith County, Tennessee circa 1855. His mother died before 1842 when William Reeves, Jr. married again to Jemima Downing in neighboring Allen County, Kentucky.

William C. Reeves of Montgomery County, Arkansas was not the small child indicated by the Goodspeed biography for the 1850 census records his presence in his father's household at age 12. His father died sometime before February 1855 when his estate was being probated in the Smith County, Tennessee Court. The subject of this sketch is recorded in those court minutes as having sold his portion of his father's estate to his father's sister, Elizabeth and her husband Horace Oliver and his cousin Rhoda Reeves and her husband Richard C. Sanders. This estate was not finally settled until sometime circa 1870.

The grandfather of William C. Reeves was another William Reeves whose 1837 will was probated in Smith County in January of 1839. He had given a statement for his brother Daniel Reeves in support of Daniel's Revolutionary War pension application. The statements in that pension application record the father of William and Daniel Reeves as John Reeves of South Carolina. According to William's statement they lived in an area he described as above Camden (probably Lancaster County).

From Goodspeed's biography, William was a resident of Montgomery County in Arkansas's Quachita Mountains by 1859. On 14 Feb 1863, he enlisted as a corporal in Company A, Arkansas 1st Infantry Regiment of the U.S. Army which operated in Missouri, Indian Territory and Arkansas. He was promoted to Full Sergeant prior to being discharged.

In 1868 he was appointed sheriff of Montgomery County. After his term as sheriff, he homesteaded eighty acres of land adjacent a small branch of the Mazarn Creek. The Reeves-Melson house which he had built around 1882 is still standing and is a historic site. There is also a Reeves' Creek in this area which is presumably named for him.

William C. Reeves died on April 15th, 1920 in Womble, Montgomery County, Arkansas.


The following is the biography as published by Goodspeed but descendants should beware for numerous inaccuracies are found in the biography when compared to the historical records of this family ~

William REEVES The entire life of this gentlemen has been one unmarked by any unusual occurrence outside of the chosen channels to which he has so diligently applied himself, and although he was born in Smith County, Tenn., in 1839, he has been a resident of Montgomery County, Ark., since 1859, and has identified himself with every interest of his adopted county and State. His parents, Dr. William and Ruth (Campbell) Reeves, were born in North Carolina, but afterwards became residents of Smith County, Tenn., the father dying when William was a small boy, and his mother when he was nine years old. He was the youngest of two sons and one daughter born to them: John (deceased), and Mary J. (wife of Thomas Green), being the other two members of the family. William was reared by an uncle, Moses Reeves, of Smith County, until he was ten years of age, when he began doing for himself, working on a wood boat on the Cumberland River for several years, afterwards turning his attention to farming. He was married in 1850, to Miss Emily Jones, and the same year came to Montgomery County, and lived on the south fork of the Caddo River, where he has a fine farm of 368 acres. For about seven years he was engaged in merchandising at Black Springs, but has since devoted his attention to farming, a calling for which he is naturally adapted. In February, 1863, he became a member of Company A, First Arkansas Infantry, and operated in Missouri, Indian Territory and Arkansas. He organized Company I, of the second Kansas troops, but afterwards took part in the engagement at Jenkins' Ferry, besides several others. In 1868 he received the appointment of sheriff of Montgomery County, a position he has satisfied for four years. He is a demitted member of Crystal Ridge Lodge, of the A.F. & A.M., and for some time has been an earnest member of the Christian Church.

Photo of Reeves-Melson house from Arkansas Historic Preservation Program.

Busting Myths about William Steel Reeves

Page from James Robertson bible

William Steel Reeves was born in Pendleton District, South Carolina on 9 March 1794, the son of George Reeves Jr and Mary Polly Steele (surname unproven). His birthdate is recorded in the James Robertson bible.

William Steel Reeves married Nancy Totty in Hickman County Tennessee in 1816. He moved to Crawford County, Arkansas before 1836 and stayed for several years before moving to Grayson County, Texas before 1850.

William Steel Reeves died on 7 June 1872 and is buried in the Georgetown Cemetery in Pottsboro, Grayson County, Texas.

It is in a book called "The History of Grayson County, Texas" where at least two myths about William seem to have gotten their start.

In this book, William's descendant Geraldine Coe wrote the section on the history of the William Steel Reeves family which begins thusly:

My great great grandfather was born March 9, 1794 in Pendleton District South Carolina. His ancestors came from Ireland to S.C. in 1792. He was orphaned at age 3 and his uncle raised him in Nashville, Tennessee.  

In this short excerpt, two myths appear:

Myth #1 -  the family "came from Ireland to S. C. in 1792." They did not. See William Steel Reeves' lineage in the ancestry tree: Reliques of the Rives -- Group 8 DNA.

Myth #2 -- "he was orphaned at age 3 and his uncle raised him in Nashville, Tennessee." This is not true either. His mother died when he was very young, but his father George Reeves Jr remarried quickly to Mary O'Barr while still living in Pendleton, South Carolina." The family later moved to middle Tennessee where William is found in the 1820 census of Hickman County.

Sadly this book is found in libraries all over the country and continues to serve to perpetuate these myths. It never seems to work to put too much faith in genealogy books as so many rely on family lore and unfounded conjecture rather than research and documentary evidence. You must still verify, verify, and verify again.

On the trail of another George Reeves

Recently I came across the 1816 will of a George Reeves in Wilson County, Tennessee. The will only named two children - Jeremiah who was described as his youngest son and a daughter Susanah. Curiosity as to who this George Reeves was set off another search.

Within a short time, Jeremiah was found to be Jeremiah Turner Reeves who later migrated to Madison County, Arkansas and died there in 1862. Census showed Jeremiah was born in Virginia, a fact which soon led to Patrick County, Virginia where Anny, daughter of George Reeves, had married James Turner in 1796. Ann and James Turner also migrated to Wilson County, Tennessee.

Marriage records of Patrick County found online produced two more marriages that recorded George Reeves as the father of the brides - Lucy Reeves to William Witt on 24 Feb 1799 and Jane Reeves to James Williams on 12 Dec 1813. Another Patrick County marriage that did not specifically name George as the father was that of Polly Reeves to Nicholas Thomas on 14 Mar 1808. Polly was apparently widowed very soon after her marriage and was found in Wilson County by 1816 where she was remarried to John F. McDaniel.

George Reeves' daughter Susanah died in 1823 and although she died intestate, the probate records of Wilson County include an inventory and estate sale. In those documents, her brother Jeremiah is listed as administrator. Her brother-in-law John F. McDaniel along with Burwell Reeves who is possibly another brother are both named in the inventory as owing debts to Susanah. The sale of Susanah's estate names Jeremiah, Burwell, John F. McDaniel and Frances Turner, Susanah's niece (daughter of Ann and James Turner), among others, as buyers.

The family of George Reeves has begun to take shape but more historical records are needed to document his other sons. It is very likely that John Reeves who married Hannah Perigo in Patrick County and later migrated to Campbell County, Tennessee is a son of George Reeves in addition to Thomas, Charles and Josiah Reeves who are named in court orders and/or marriages there. More extensive marriage records have been ordered and may soon resolve some of these questions.

The final question is - who were George Reeves' parents? Could he be the son of Frederick Rives of Franklin County, Virginia? James Rives Childs when writing Reliques of the Ryves believed that George may have died around 1806 because he executed a Power of Attorney to his brother Burwell at that time. Did George Rives (Reeves?) die, or did he just move away to Tennessee? Or, could he be a descendant of Henry Reeves of Essex County, Virginia whose descendants are known to have been located a little further north in the Shenandoah Valley from Augusta to Frederick counties? Hopefully, searching the extant deed and court records of Franklin, Henry and Patrick counties of Virginia will someday produce the answer.


(Photo of Jeremiah T. Reeves' gravestone by Gary & Nancy Clampitt for Find A Grave.)

Another Mystery: William C Reeves of Independence County Arkansas

The family of Jordan Reeves Jr appeared in Independence County in 1825. William C Reeves first appears there in 1834, so I would naturally want to determine whether he is of the Jordan Reeves clan. I have found little to nothing to connect him -- his origins remain unknown.

Records for William C Reeves in Independence County are sparse. This much is known:

He first appears in an 1834 Arkansas tax list in Black River Township, Independence County.

The next record of him is his marriage to Martha Ann Tucker on 31 July 1836 in Independence County, Arkansas. Entries in marriage records are variously spelled as Rives, Reeves, and Reves. The marriage was announced in the Arkansas Gazette on August 23, 1836, per arkansasties.com:

MARRIED,
In Independence county, on the 31st ult. by Hon. Wm. Arnold, Capt. Wm. C. Reans [sic], to Miss Martha Ann Tucker, daughter of Peyton Tucker, Esq.

The title "Capt" would seem to imply military service.

William had died by the April 1840 term of the Independence County probate court when the administrator of his estate, Peyton Tucker, petitioned the court to discharge his duties as executor, having found assets totaling $84. The same petition states that William C Reaves left a widow and one child.

His widow Martha Reeves appears in the 1840 census age 20-29 with one male < 5, one male 15-19, one female 10-14. The two older children are not likely to be Martha's. Their parents are unknown.

Oddly, the 1850 census records identify a daughter Sarah A Reeves, born about 1838, and living with her mother who is remarried to William Hooper. No male child has been found. Sarah A Reeves, born about 1838 in Arkansas, married Adam Allen on 23 Feb 1860.

While William Reeves and Jordan Reeves both lived in Black River Township at the same time, it was a large area and we know that proximity is no indicator of a relationship. William Reeves mother-in-law (step-mother of Martha Tucker) was a Magness and Jordan Reeves was married to a Magness. However, in that period, it would have hard not to have a Magness connection, especially in that sparsely populated area.

Another Soldier of the Revolution

On the 20th of September, 1819 in the District of West Tennessee, Samuel Reeves, a resident of Lincoln County, made a declaration regarding his Revolutionary War service. Samuel stated that he was sixty-six years old at that time making his year of birth 1753. He did not indicate where he was born or give any information regarding his parents but did state that he enlisted in May of 1775 in Surry County, North Carolina.

Samuel's statement in support of his pension states that he enlisted for a term of two years and six months in a company commanded by Captain Joseph Philips in the Regiment commanded by Colonel Thomas Polk of the North Carolina line. He recounted being in the battles of Brandywine and Germantown, serving until November of 1777 when he was discharged in New Jersey or Pennsylvania. His statement of 1819 states he was discharged in New Jersey while the 1826 statement gives Pennsylvania as the location.

The pension file also includes statements by both his wife, Susannah Brack Reeves, and her sister, Patsy Brack Worfe, giving details of his marriage to Susannah in Wake County, North Carolina on the 20th of November 1785.

Samuel is listed in the 1790 census of Granville County, North Carolina living in a household adjacent to Samuel Brack who was presumably Susannah's father.

Although Samuel's parents are unknown, he was named as executor of the 1803 will of his sister Elizabeth's husband Benjamin Coates recorded in Iredell County, North Carolina Will Book 1, Page 82. Another sister, Lucretia Reeves, was the wife of George Allen, Jr. and the marriage is said to be recorded in a family bible as detailed in The Allens of the Southern States.

There is no definitive listing of the children of Samuel and Susannah Reeves although a son, Malachi, is named in the Revolutionary War pension statement. A William Reeves also gave a statement for that pension application and is believed to be another son which is consistent with the ages of children in census records but no relationship is stated.

Although proximity is certainly not proof of a family connection, Allen Reeves and Samuel R. Reeves who are also found in Lincoln County at the same time that the Samuel Reeves' family was living there, are believed to be his sons. An Isaac Reeves was also living in the same community at that time but again, there is no proof of a connection. Isaac moved on to Lawrence County, Alabama and died in Itawamba County, Mississippi in August of 1858.

Samuel's son, Malachi Reeves, his wife Sinah Swanner and their family migrated to Carroll County, Arkansas, as did some of the children of Samuel R. Reeves whose wife, Nancy, is listed as a widow in the 1860 Lincoln County, Tennessee census.

The widow's pension of Susannah Brack Reeves gives Samuel's date of death as the 12th of October 1834.

There don't appear to be any participants in the Reeves DNA Project from this lineage which would be a great help in determining from which Reeves' family they descend.


Transcription of the pension statements of Samuel Reeves are available at Southern Campaign Revolutionary War Pension Statements & Rosters.

Reeves in the Secret Peace Society

From The Arkansas Historical Quarterly, VOl. XVII, Spring > 1958, No. 1, page 82. Edited by Ted Worley.

• In the mountain counties of North Arkansas in the fall of 1861 secret organizations were formed for self-protection and apparently to resist Confederate authority. Total membership in the organizations was estimated at 1700 and was concentrated in Searcy, Marion, Carroll, Izard, Fulton, and Van Buren Counties. In these counties, and perhaps in several others, the local units of the Arkansas Peace Society were quickly suppressed by extra-legal citizens' committees acting with the county militia units and with justice of the peace courts. Many of the arrested members were forced into Confederate service either by local citizens' committees or by the state military board at Little Rock. Some were tried for treason in Confederate circuit court and acquitted. Many of those forced into Confederate service deserted and joined the Federal army.

• Only a part of the records relating to the Peace Society survived, but they are sufficient to show the scope and the nature of the organization. Surviving documents contain the names of 240 members and suspected members. Of these 181 were located in the United States census manuscript schedules, 1860. An analysis of that record revealed that of the 181, 115 were born in Tennessee, 13 in North Carolina, and 11 in Arkansas. The leadership of the movement was also predominantly Southern-born. Six preachers among the leaders seemed to have been especially influential. The brotherhood was indigenous, composed of mountaineers who had no intention of going to war on either side and who wanted to be left alone. There could of course be no neutrality, and the members were forced to take sides.

Brothers, Peter, Asa, and Rev Joshua Reeves were among members of the Secret Peace Society in Searcy County, AR.

Rounded up by the Searcy County militia in November 1861, eighty-seven members of the Secret Peace Society were marched in chains to Little Rock where, given a choice of serving in the Confederate Army or hanging, most chose to serve. Among those on the forced march was Joshua Reeves. Like most, he served in the 18th Arkansas Infantry. According to his Confederate civil war records, he was captured on July 9, 1863 at Port Hudson LA and released three days later. The file contains no further entries. It is perhaps fitting, if not prophetic, that Joshua named a daughter born in 1859 “Union.”

Peter, Asa, and Joshua Reeves, with their father Peter Reeves Sr and other family members, migrated to Searcy County Arkansas from Wayne County Tennessee. They arrived in Arkansas in time to appear in the 1840 federal census in Searcy County. By 1860, all three brothers were living in Tomahawk Township, in Searcy County.

Peter died in 1865, but Joshua and Asa survived the war by many years.

Read more about the Peace Society here:

Enclyclopedia of Arkansas

Couchgenweb Part I
Couchgenweb Part II

Arkansas civil war sequicentennial

The Reeves of Christian County, Kentucky: Part 3

There was still another Reeves line in early Christian County Kentucky: Miles Reeves is first seen in records there in the 1810 Federal Census with two males under 10, two males 16-25, one male over 45 (Miles Reaves), two females under 10, one female 10-15, and one female over 45 (his wife Ann). He has not been found in any 1790 or 1800 census anywhere. His origins are unknown.

The Reeves found in the 1800 Christian Co Kentucky census, James, John, Martha, William, and William Jr. (see Part 2 of the Christian County Kentucky Reeves post), do not have any apparent ties to Miles nor do James Reeves of the 1810 census and James and Thomas of the 1830 census.

Miles’s birth date and birth location are not known; however, based on the 1810 census age, he was likely born by 1765. His children, according to census records were born in both North and South Carolina, with the youngest born in Kentucky in 1812.

The first record we have on Miles Reves is when in Lancaster County, South Carolina, on 8 March 1788, he received a wolf bounty. So far, no records have been found between this time and his appearance in Kentucky more than twenty years later.

Records of Miles’s eldest son Joseph suggest the family was in Christian County by 1809 when Joseph first appears in a tax list.

Miles died in 1821. His will establishes the names of his children: Joseph Reaves, Sally Griffey, John Reaves, Elizabeth Thweatt, Miles Reaves, Ruth Reaves, Robert Reaves, Milberry Reaves, and William Reaves.

After Miles’s widow Anne died between 1841 and 1843, Miles’s estate was inventoried and settled. The estate settlement document establishes that John Reaves had died, leaving as orphans Mahala, Clinton, and a third child who was not named. The same document also states that Miles Jr is deceased, leaving orphans William R Reeves and Chapman Reeves. Chapman Reeves is often attributed to a different father in online trees, but he was actually Miles Jr's son.

Some of Miles Reeves's descendants believe that he was a son of Jordan Reeves Sr, who is of the Reeves Group 8 DNA line. DNA analysis has shown that this is not the case; one of Miles’s descendants has tested with DNA that closely matches Hatchers and Burtons and which does not match any other Reeves who have participated in the Reeves DNA project.

A relationship to Jordan Reeves was presumed on minimal information.

• Miles’s 1844 estate sale included a slave named Jordan, but Jordan was born ten years after Miles died.

• Several sons of Miles Reeves came to Independence County Arkansas (one in 1837 and two about 1844/1845) as did Jordan Reeves Jr who was in Independence County by 1825. There is a large time gap between Jordan Jr’s arrival and the arrivals of Miles’s sons. They lived in different parts of the county, and no records have turned up linking Jordan Jr to any of Miles’s sons. Proximity is no indicator of a relationship in this case.

• One mysterious item that contributed to the Miles-Jordan myth is a crumbling 1905 appointment notebook belonging to Dr. Marshall Calloway Reves of Searcy County Arkansas, a great-grandson of Miles Reeves. The notebook claims that Miles’s father was Jordan Reeves who had two sons: Miles and Joel; no other of Jordan's numerous sons, including Jordan Jr, were named. No documentary evidence has ever been found linking Miles to Jordan Reeves Jr or Jordan Reeves Sr, nor is it known how accurate the transcription of the notebook is. No other "Jordan Reeves" have ever been identified.
  

Many descendents of Miles Reeves used the spelling Reves while others stayed with Reeves. Miles's surname is variously spelled Reeves, Reaves, Rives, and Reves depending on the document.

The Hatcher/Burton DNA results indicate that research into these surnames might be fruitful.

Many thanks to Margaret Harlow who provided a great deal of research on Miles Reeves.

The Reeves of Christian County, Kentucky: Part 2

County of Christian, Kentucky Historical and Biographical edited by William Henry Perrin and published in 1884 also names James Reeves as one of the earliest settlers to Christian County. James is recorded in Christian County in the 1800 Second Census of Kentucky in addition to John Reeves, Martha Reeves (widow of Brewer), William Reeves and William Reeves, Jr.

There is no documentation that connects James to the other Reeves in the Christian County census of 1800 other than the fact that both James Reeves and a John Reeves were recorded in the 1790 census of Greenville, South Carolina. Whether this is the same John Reeves is unknown, but it is documented that James Reeves resided in South Carolina before moving to Kentucky. James had married Nancy Goodwin, daughter of Jesse Goodwin of Pendleton District, before 1800 in South Carolina. Jesse Goodwin also migrated to the area of Christian and Trigg counties of Kentucky at the same time. When Jesse Goodwin wrote his will in 1841, Nancy Goodwin Reeves was deceased but he named all of the children of James and Nancy Reeves. Those children were Susan, Jesse Goodwin, William, Samuel, Urias, Elizabeth, Leah, Lettie, Nancy and Bethel (Chester).

James Reeves was half Cherokee according to family Dawes depositions taken in 1896. The fact that there was native american ancestry recorded in both the families of James and William Reeves might suggest a possible connection but certainly nothing definite.

Before 1820, James and his family had moved to Gallatin/Saline counties in Illinois but didn't stay there long and by around 1830 most of the family had moved on to Obion, Tennessee. Hiram, James and Samuel Reeves, sons of Frederick Reeves of York, South Carolina and formerly of Granville, North Carolina, were also living in Obion by this time so once again there is the challenge of keeping the two lineages separate when researching the Reeves in that county. Reportedly by around 1850, James Reeves migrated further west to Fort Smith, Arkansas where he appears to have died but the location and date of his death are unknown.

The 1800 census lists both William Reeves and William Reeves, Jr. in Christian County. It's unknown whether the term "Jr." indicates that individual was the son of the other, or as was common at that time, the Jr. was just used to differentiate between an older and a younger person of the same name. There are currently no clues as to the identity of the elder William Reeves but the individual listed as William Reeves, Jr. appears to be William Reeves who, with wife Susan Hunter, lived in Christian County briefly around the turn of the 19th century.

The little that is known of William Reeves and Susan Hunter comes from a Dawes' application made by their grandson Larkin C. "Lake" Wilson around 1896-1898. That application states that Susan Hunter was a full-blood Cherokee. According to this application, Susan Hunter came from "...Cherokee Nation East of the Mississippi." The only clue to their previous residence before arriving in Kentucky is North Carolina based upon the place of birth listed in census records for their presumed oldest son, James. It is unknown when and where William and Susan died but by 1828, James Reeves is found living in Hempstead County, Arkansas and there is no further record for his parents.

Jane Reeves who married John B. Wilson and Henry G. Reeves are documented as children of William and Susan Hunter Reeves in the Dawes' application filed by Lake Wilson. Other presumed children are James, Rebecca, Green B. and Clarinda Reeves. A descendant of Green B. Reeves has participated in the Reeves DNA Project and matched the descendant of an Ambrose Reeves who died in Arkansas around 1855. There is almost no information available regarding Ambrose Reeves but in the 1900 census, his son William Carroll Reeves gives his father's birthplace as Tennessee. It might be possible that there is a connection to Reeves living in Obion, Tennessee, but I have been unable to document it.

Interestingly former president Bill Clinton is a descendant of William Reeves and Susan Hunter through their daughter Jane Reeves and her husband, John B. Wilson.

Participation in the Reeves DNA Project by more of the male descendants of these lines would be a great benefit in resolving their identities.

Coming next, in Part 3 of this series Carolyn will investigate Miles Reeves who migrated from the Carolinas to Christian County arriving a few years after these Reeves' families. Some of Miles' descendants also moved on to Arkansas, settling in Independence County.



(Information regarding these Reeves' families includes the research of Kathy Wilburne for the family of James Reeves and Will Johnson, professional genealogist, for the research of William Reeves.)

Bass Reeves, U S Marshal

I was researching the novel True Grit by Charles Portis for a book club presentation, when I started reading articles about real U S Marshals who served when Judge Parker and the Western District of Arkansas had jurisdiction over Indian Territory in the 1870s and 1880s. In one of my google searches, the name Bass Reeves caught my eye. Bass Reeves could have been a prototype for Rooster Cogburn. At 6'2" and 180 pounds, he could shoot a pistol with either hand. 

He populated the Fort Smith federal jail with the desperate criminals he captured, including the notorious Seminole Greenleaf, who was on the lam for eighteen years. Once tried for shooting his trail cook, Bass Reeves was acquitted and went on to bust up a horse stealing ring, capturing 19 horse thieves at one time.  During his 32 years as a federal peace officer, he arrested more than 3000 felons and shot and killed fourteen outlaws in defending his life while making arrests. Bass Reeves was one of the first African-Americans (perhaps the first) to receive a commission as a Deputy U S Marshal west of the Mississippi River. 

He was born a slave in 1838 in Crawford County, Arkansas. Moving to Grayson County, Texas in 1846 with his owners, the William Steel Reeves family.  Bass Reeves ultimately became a fugitive slave, taking refuge amongst the Creeks and Seminoles in Indian Territory. After the civil war he returned to Crawford County with a wife and several children where he farmed and served as a scout and guide for U S Marshals going into Indian Territory. In 1875, he was hired by the Parker court in Fort Smith as a commissioned deputy U S Marshal. 

Read more about Bass Reeves at: The Encyclopedia of Arkansas Bass Reeves - Wikipedia Or if you wish, watch a movie made about his life: Bass Reeves at IMdb

Teressa Jane Reeves Henderson

Long ago, in Little Rock, I had the not so common privilege of actually knowing my great-grandmother. I called her Gambau; my mother and her siblings called her Mamau Henderson. She was born Teressa Jane Reeves in 1879 in Newark, Independence County, Arkansas, a great-granddaughter of Jordan Reeves Jr and Mary Magness, early settlers of that location.

Physically, Tressie was a tiny person. I surpassed her in height by the time I was ten years old. I was fascinated by her pierced earlobes, which hung nearly to her shoulders (or so I thought) from decades of wearing heavy earrings. She swept her long white hair up in a bun that she wore on top of her head. In every picture I've ever seen of her, starting with this one as a young mother, until she died at age 79, her hairstyle was the same, her hair color being the indicator of time passing. A sturdy farm woman, she wore throughout her life the same calico cotton dresses made of feedsacks with button front, inset midriff or belt, and flared skirt ending just above her ankles. I have no doubt that she made those dresses herself, the sewing gene being deeply ingrained in me and my maternal line.

In 1896, Tressie married Johnny C Henderson, a man of diminutive stature, only slightly taller than she was. and had five children, four of whom survived to adulthood. Breaking with tradition, none of her children bore family names: Eula, Opal (a boy), Maudie (my grandmother), Beuna, and Rene (a boy), all names not used (thankfully) before or since in the family.

In this five generation picture taken in 1939, Tressie is second from the left. Tressie died in Little Rock in 1959. The child is my cousin Johnny.

Perils of Proximity

Have you ever been tempted to assume that families with the same surname were related because they lived near each other? Well, you might want to think again before making assumptions about family relationships based on proximity.

The 1850 Federal Census for Independence County, Arkansas illustrates this pitfall very well. There were no less than 64 individuals with the surname Reeves, Reaves, or Reves, living in 11 households in the predominately rural county in 1850. Four households consisted of descendants of Jordan Reeves Jr (born about 1773 in North Carolina), four of descendants of William Reeves (born 1766 in Grayson County Virginia), and three of descendants of Miles Reeves (born about 1760-70, birth state unknown).

For years, the descendants of Miles Reeves assumed that he was a son of Jordan Reeves Sr (born 1747 in North Carolina), based on very little evidence other than the migration of his sons between 1837 and 1846 to Independence County where Jordan Reeves Jr had moved in 1825. Because of this assumption, investigation of the origins of Miles Reeves languished.

DNA analysis ultimately proved that the sons of Miles Reeves were not related to Jordan Reeves. Likewise, the William Reeves descendants are not related to either Miles Reeves’ or Jordan Reeves’ lines. Descendants of Jordan Reeves have tested in DNA Group 8 in the Reeves DNA Project while descendants of William Reeves' brothers Jesse and John have tested in Group 6. A Miles Reeves descendant who had his DNA tested did not match anyone in the DNA project.

Documentary evidence supports the DNA findings. No connections among the three families have been found other than the fact that they all lived in the same county for several years.

Similar situations abound in Reeves genealogy. Though today the surname “Reeves” is the 358th most common surname in the US, it seems sometimes that Reeves were everywhere in colonial America.

If you are researching a Reeves line, consider finding male descendants to do the Y-DNA testing. It could help narrow your research to specific families. And you will find cousins you never knew you had.