Sarah Reeves Dickey of Leon County, Texas

Although no document has yet been found stating absolutely that Sarah Virginia Reeves was the daughter of Avery Reeves of Franklin County, Tennessee, there is ample evidence to support the belief. Several posts to this blog have listed the various records that have been found pertaining to Avery Reeves. Just as his parents are still undocumented, so are his children but it is fairly certain that William Reeves, Jonathan Reeves, Nancy Reeves who married William Claiborne Handley, Sarah Reeves who married James C. Dickey and Hance Henderson Reeves of Franklin County, Tennessee are some of those children.

In 1850 before they left for Texas, the household of James C. Dickey is recorded in Franklin County in the census of that year. Sometime after the birth of their youngest child, Claiborne in 1854, James and Sarah left Tennessee for the state of Texas which had been annexed to the United States in 1845. They're found in Leon County, Texas in the 1860 census. During the early years following Texas' annexation, it was an extremely popular destination for settlers migrating from the eastern United States and east Texas counties were filled with families from Kentucky and Tennessee.

On a recent visit to east Texas, we spent a pleasant fall afternoon locating the Pleasant Grove Cemetery where most of the members of the Dickey family are buried. It is east of the small town of Leona in Leon County on Farm Road 1119 close to the area where Leon and Madison counties join just west of the Trinity River. The area is said to have once been called the "Dickey community". It probably hasn't changed substantially since these early pioneers arrived and is still not heavily populated.

Most of the older sons of James and Sarah Dickey served in Texas Regiments of the Confederacy and returned to Leon County following the end of the Civil War.

Both James and Sarah Dickey were deceased by 1885, but many of their descendants still live in this area of east Texas where they settled back in 1855.

The Reeves of Patrick County, Virginia

In the course of writing a previous post regarding the George Reeves who died in Wilson County, Tennessee in 1816, it became apparent that this was the same George Reeves who is found in the early records of Patrick County, Virginia from around the time of its inception in 1791.

George Reeves' Wilson County will names only his youngest son Jeremiah and daughter Susannah, making no mention of the older children. Research of Patrick County, Virginia marriage records establish most of George's daughters from the records of his consent to their marriages; however, his sons were apparently all of age and no consent was required. From the tax and deed records of Patrick County, it appears that in addition to Jeremiah, George's children included sons Thomas, Josiah, John and Charles. Daughters Ann who married James Turner, Lucy who married William Witt, and Jane who married James Williams are documented by George Reeves' consents in the Patrick County marriage records. Another daughter Polly was apparently old enough not to require consent to her 1808 marriage to Nicholas Thomas but after his death is found in Wilson County, Tennessee with other family members and as "Polly Thomas" married John F. McDaniel there in 1816.

By the time the 1820 census was taken in Patrick County, all of these Reeves individuals had left the area and are no longer found in any of the records. John Reeves and his wife Hannah Pedigo who had married in 1807 left for Campbell County, Tennessee shortly after 1811 and begin to appear in the census there in 1830. Charles Reeves' last appearance in the Patrick County records was in October, 1816 when he married Elizabeth Lackey and on the 2nd of November 1816, Josiah (sometimes listed as Joseph) & Constandestion Reeves executed a deed to John Mize for the property which had been conveyed to Josiah by his father. The last record in Patrick County of any member of this family is a deed executed by Thomas Reeves on 10 November 1819 (DB5:244).

The youngest son, Charles, apparently settled in White County, Tennessee soon after leaving Virginia. It was there that his wife Elizabeth died in 1821. He is found there in other records throughout the 1830's and may be the Charles Reeves recorded in the 1840 census of Warren County, Tennessee.

I very recently happened upon records in Franklin and Crawford Counties of Missouri for a Thomas and Josiah Reeves who appear to be the individuals who migrated from Patrick County, Virginia. Thomas Reeves and William Harrison, described as of Washington County, Missouri, received a land patent for 80 acres in Crawford County on the 20th of May in 1824. Thomas and Josiah Reeves are both recorded in Franklin County, Missouri in the 1830 census. Thomas must have died between 1830 and 1840 for he is not recorded in any other census. Josiah lived in Crawford County and is recorded there in the 1840 and 1850 census, dying sometime after 1860 when he was recorded in that census in the home of a son, R. B. Reeves, in Texas County, Missouri.


(Photo of Harrison Cemetery marker by P. L. Greenlee for FindaGrave.)

Middle Tennessee: 18th Century Melting Pot

The stories of Tennessee’s earliest white settlers are well known such as the attacks by native Americans on the first stations or forts built in the Cumberland settlements. After the revolution, North Carolina soldiers were given bounty land grants along the Cumberland River in Tennessee while grants to soldiers of the Virginia line were just to the north in Logan County, Kentucky. Ramsey’s Annals of Tennessee written in 1853 chronicles the struggle to settle the early Cumberland settlements. James Robertson and his wife Charlotte Reeves are famously a part of that history. Charlotte is credited with saving Fort Nashborough by turning the hounds loose in order to distract the attacking Indians and allow the men time to return to the fort from the fields where they were working.

In the course of researching several Reeves’ families who migrated into Tennessee in the early part of the 19th century, I was surprised to find such a large influx of diverse families who were recorded there by the 1830 census.

The only Reeves’ individuals listed in the census of the Cumberland Settlements 1770 to 1790 (taken from various source documents found in the records of Sumner and Davidson counties) are Charlotte Reeves Robertson and a William Reeves who is presumably Charlotte’s brother. This William Reeves is listed as arriving with the Donelson flotilla and may have accompanied Charlotte as she and other wives made the perilous trip west in flatboats on the Cumberland River. If this was William Reeves the brother of Charlotte, he did not remain long for within a short time, he is again recorded in the Watauga settlement of North Carolina. It was approximately 20 years before Charlotte's brother William made a permanent move to Tennessee. Charlotte's nephew Jordan Reeves, Jr. is also recorded in Davidson County prior to 1800 and in tax lists of Wilson County between 1800 and 1810.


A Moses Reeves, listed as having been born in Virginia in 1768, married Sarah Gibson in Greene County on 5 Nov 1796 and is recorded on the tax lists in Blount County in 1800 and Greene County in 1805. Moses and his family remained in Greene County where he is listed as deceased on the 1850 Federal Census and Mortality Schedule. A William Reeves is also included on the 1805 Greene County tax lists. Two individuals descending from Moses and from William Reeves have participated in the Reeves DNA Project but their DNA does not match any of the other 14 groups currently identified. By the 1810 census, John Reeves and Hooker Reeves, both aged 26-44, are recorded in Wilson County. They were both also named as early settlers to Wilson County in Goodspeed’s history of that area.

The 1820 census records the surge of Reeves’ families who had migrated into middle Tennessee.

James, Jonathan, Reuben and William Reeves are listed in Hickman County. The DNA of descendants of several of these individuals confirm that they also descend from the Rives family of Surry County, Virginia from which Charlotte Reeves Robertson descends and have been placed in DNA Group 8.

In Perry County, just west of Hickman, George and John Reeves are found in the 1820 census living next door to each other. There also appears to be another John Reeves of the same approximate age living in Perry County in 1820.

Jeremiah Turner Reeves is recorded in the 1820 census of Wilson County. He was the son of George Reeves who had migrated to Tennessee from Patrick County, Virginia. George Reeves died in Wilson County in 1816 leaving a will naming Jeremiah and his sister Susannah. Other children of George Reeves have been identified from the marriage records of Patrick County.

In Franklin County, Avery Reeves a descendant of William Reeves of Granville, North Carolina, is found as early as the 1812 tax lists along with an Abner Reeves. Avery's lineage has been established by DNA of a descendant who is a participant in the Reeves DNA Project and placed in Group 3. Maulden Reeves, son of Burgess Reeves of Pendleton County, South Carolina, is found there in deed records by 1818 and recorded in the 1820 census in addition to an unidentified Edward Reeves. Maulden also descends from William Reeves of Granville NC.

William Reeves who was living in Smith County by 1820 gave a deposition for the revolutionary war pension application of his brother, Daniel Reeves of Davidson County. William’s son John is also listed in the 1820 census of Smith County. According to Daniel’s revolutionary war pension statement their father was a John Reeves of South Carolina, probably living in Lancaster County. This family appears to be descended from the Reeves family of Prince William County, Virginia although more participants are needed in the Reeves DNA Project to definitely confirm the lineage.

The flood gates had opened by 1830 and within the next few years the Reeves living in Tennessee are too numerous to mention here. In addition to the families already mentioned, they included descendants of Isaac Reeves, Sr. of Wilkes County, North Carolina living in Wayne County, Willis Reeves and his children of Orange County, North Carolina were in Fayette County, and descendants of Edward Reeves of Bladen County, North Carolina are recorded in Washington County along with countless other Reeves' families throughout Tennessee.

The search for Avery Reeves continues…

In a previous post I mentioned the theory that Avery Reeves was the son of Jonathan Reeves and Nancy Hooker of Granville and Wake counties of North Carolina. Not only Avery’s parents are a mystery but his wife and children are as well.

The 1790 census of Wake County lists a Jonathan Reeves with 2 Males over 16, 5 Males under 16 and 4 Females. Jonathan Reeves is undoubtably the same Jonathan who was first listed as a tithe of Malachi Reeves in Granville County in 1762. In 1769, he married Nancy Hooker in Granville County and during the 1780’s is listed on the tax lists of Beaver Dam Creek in southern Granville County just north of the Neuse River. By the 1790 census he is living on the south side of the Neuse River in the Fish Dam community of Wake County along with his presumed brother-in-law Richard Banks. Richard Banks married Karenhapuch Hooker on 16 Jun 1774 in Granville County after the death of his first wife, Ruth Hooker, who was probably another daughter of John Hooker.

The first record of Avery is on 15 Sep 1795 when he was bondsman for the marriage of Ruth Reeves, believed to be his sister, and John Sanders in Wake County. Avery arrived in Franklin County, Tennessee before 1812 when he is listed in the tax lists there. In Franklin County, John Sanders was a neighboring property owner, his land being adjacent to Avery’s in deed records.

Prior to his arrival in Franklin County, Avery lived briefly in York County, South Carolina where he is recorded in the 1810 census. Avery is found in that census living in the Rich Hill community among other descendants of Malachi Reeves of Granville.

Recently, when transcribing a Franklin County deed of Avery Reeves, I noticed that one of the witnesses was Hance McWhorter. I found this especially interesting since one of Avery’s presumed sons was Hance Henderson Reeves. An internet search for Hance McWhorter revealed that he was the son of Hance McWhorter, Sr. Additionally, I found that Hance, Jr.'s sister Mary had married a John Henderson in York County, South Carolina and one of their sons was Hance Henderson.

Rebecca, the youngest daughter of Hance McWhorter, Sr. was supposedly born circa 1775 in South Carolina. There currently seems to be no credible documentation available regarding Rebecca's spouse and she was known to have still been single in 1800 about the time Avery would have arrived in South Carolina. There is a documented connection between Rebecca McWhorter and the Reeves' family in York County, South Carolina for Rebecca was a witness in Nov of 1800 when John Henderson (her brother-in-law) was plaintiff in a suit against Wiley, William and William Reeves, Sr.

Interestingly, the death of a Rebecca Reeves, age 85 and born 1775 in South Carolina, is recorded in the U.S. Federal Census Mortality Schedules Index in Franklin County, Tennessee in Sept. 1860.

Much more research is needed to prove Avery’s parents as well as his spouses and children, but based upon current research and a vast amount of circumstantial data, the following are believed to be some of the children of Avery Reeves:

William Reeves, b. 1795 in North Carolina, d. 1862 in Franklin, Tennessee

Jonathan Reeves, b. circa 1801

Nancy Reeves, b. 1804 in South Carolina, d. 1857 in Franklin, Tennessee, m. William Claiborne Handly

Sarah Virginia Reeves, b. 1810 in South Carolina, d. 1878 in Leon County, Texas, m. James G. Dickey

Hance Henderson Reeves, b. 1814 in Tennessee, d. 1861 in Franklin County, Tennessee, m. Amanda Bean

Check back – I’ve only just begun to search the records of Franklin County and have lots more documents to find. Hopefully some of them will produce more information about this family.


(Photo of Nancy Reeves Handly's gravestone by Patti Campbell of Estill Springs, TN for Find A Grave.)

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.)

Vanished

A Jonathan Reeves is listed on the 1790 Wake County census as head of a household that consists of 2-5-4-0-0-11 (2 males over 16, 5 males under 16, 4 females and 11 head of cattle). The 1793 Wake County tax list shows him with 200 acres and 2 white poles. He was living in an area close to the family of William Reeves in the neighborhood of the Fish Dam on the Neuse River, but is not a member of that family since neither he nor his heirs are mentioned in the probate records for William Reeves recorded in Madison County, Kentucky in 1821.

He is undoubtably the son of Malachi Reeves for he had been listed as a tithe of Malachi's in the 1769 Granville County NC Tax records. After his marriage to Nancy Hooker in Granville County in 1769, he was listed as a taxpayer in the Tabbs Creek area along with his father in 1771, then in the 1780's he is found on the tax lists of the Beaverdam Creek District of southern Granville County just a few miles north of the Fishdam area of Wake County.


Jonathan Reeves died sometime in late 1797 or early 1798 for an estate sale and settlement of the estate is recorded in the Wake County probate records, Will Book 4 at Page 114, in March of 1798. There are no guardian records in the Wake County probate records for underage children of Jonathan Reeves after his death which would indicate that his children were all over the age of fourteen. His widow and children appear to have left Wake County shortly after his death because there is no hint of them in the 1800 census.

The three daughters and six sons of Jonathan Reeves appear to have simply vanished, leaving Wake County and blending into the countless unidentified Reeves of the southern United States in the early 19th century. The marriage records of Wake County through the 1790's provide few clues, but when Ruth Reeves married John Sanders there on 15 Sep 1795, Avery Reeves was bondsman for the marriage. Neither Ruth nor Avery are members of the other Reeves or Reavis families located in Wake County at that time.

After a short stay in York County, South Carolina around 1810 where other members of the Reeves' family of Granville County had migrated, Avery Reeves is found in Franklin County, Tennessee in the 1820 and 1830 census. John Sanders who married Ruth Reeves, probable sister of Avery, had also migrated to Franklin County and is only a few households from Avery Reeves in the 1830 census. Avery apparently died between 1830 and 1840 for there is no mention of him in any records after that time.

The census records above list Avery with several sons although no documentation has currently been found to positively identify them. Hance Henderson Reeves who is found in Franklin County census starting in 1840 is very likely his son as is William Reeves who is shown in census as being born in North Carolina in 1795. A descendant of Hance Henderson Reeves has been placed in DNA Group 3 of the Reeves DNA Project which identifies him as being of the same lineage as the Reeves of Granville County, North Carolina.

If Avery and Ruth Reeves are in fact children of Jonathan's, that still leaves two daughters and five sons who have yet to be identified. When you happen upon a mysterious Reeves whose origins you just can't find, don't forget to explore the records of this family, they might just be one of the missing children of Jonathan and Nancy Hooker Reeves.


(Photo of William Reeves' gravestone by Terri for Findagrave.)