Another of the Reeves' Mysteries

One of the recurring mysteries of Reeves' research is John Reeves who is first found in Granville County, North Carolina living among the descendants of William Reeves who died there in 1751. The Reeves Review II as well as other internet sources list John as a son of this William Reeves but he is not listed in William's will which even lists family members who were essentially excluded from receiving any legacy. 

Grave of Thompson Reeves

The Reeves Review also assumed that the John Reeves who is found in Pendleton, South Carolina in the later part of the 18th century is the same John Reeves found in Granville County in the 1755 tax lists with a son Thomas. The John Reeves of Pendleton, SC appears to be far too young from age estimates in census records to have been the John of the 1755 tax lists. This John Reeves appears as an adult in Granville tax lists of the 1780's living in the same area with Jonathan Reeves, the son of Malachi, and usually in a residence close to John Hooker, Jonathan's father-in-law. Burgess Reeves, son of William Reeves of Granville, left North Carolina at approximately the same time that John Reeves did for they are both recorded in the 1790 census of Pendleton District, South Carolina. John Reeves is listed in that census with 1 male over 16, 5 males under 16 and 4 females. 

Again in Pendleton District, the census of 1800 lists John Reeves' household as: Males - 4 under 10; 2 10-15; 2 16-25; 1 over 45 (total of 8 sons); Females - 1 under 10; 1 10-15; 1 16-25; 1 26-44. Little is known of John's wife other than her given name Sarah. In an 1804 Pendleton SC Deed from John Reeves to Benjamin Fuller, Sarah Reeves relinquished her dower rights.  There is also a family bible that belonged to Frederick Reeves listing his father as John and mother as Sarah.

By 1809, John Reeves is recorded as a Taxpayer of Jackson County, Georgia. Undocumented family lore tells that John Reeves was killed by indians after migrating to Georgia.  John Reeves died before Sept. of 1818 for Burgess Reeves and Andrew Boyd were granted letters of administration in Jackson County, Georgia for the estate of John Reeves on 7 Sep 1818.

By the 1820 census in Gwinnett County, Georgia, eight Reeves male individuals are found - John Reeves, 26-44; Frederick Reeves, 26-44; Jonathan Reeves, 26-44; Loftin Reeves, 26-44; Malachi Reeves, 26-44; Isaac Reeves, 16-25; Burgess Reeves, 16-25; and Thompson Reeves, 16-25. After 1850 when census records include place of birth, the older of these individuals list their birth place as North Carolina while the younger list South Carolina. It may be mere coincidence that eight Reeves' males left South Carolina before 1820 and eight Reeves' males arrived in Gwinnett County, Georgia before that date, but the records of both Pendleton, South Carolina and Gwinnett, Georgia need to be researched in the most minute detail in order to either rule out or establish a connection between these Reeves. 

Fanny Reeves who married Andrew Boyd in Jackson County, Georgia in 1811 is likely one of John Reeves' daughters as they are found in the same neighborhood of Gwinnett County in 1820 only a few households from John, Burgess and Jonathan Reeves.  Additionally Andrew had been an administrator of John Reeves' estate as well.

Descendants of these eight proposed sons of John Reeves who have participated in the Reeves DNA Project have all been placed in DNA Group 3 with other descendants of William Reeves of Granville confirming a family connection.

  (Photo by "Bud" for FindAGrave.)

John Reeves, Revolutionary War Soldier

When John Reeves of Madison County, Missouri gave a pension statement (#R8684) in 1833 concerning his revolutionary war service, he stated that he was born in Frederick County, Virginia in 1760. Around 1765 when John was 5 years old his father moved the family to the area of Guilford County, North Carolina.

No record has been found to identify John Reeves’ father. Whether his Frederick County, Virginia origins point to a connection to the family of Henry Reeves is unknown, but Henry Reeves, Jr.’s grandson Thomas Reeves, Jr. was recorded living in Frederick County in the middle of the 18th century.

His pension statement also relates that he joined the revolutionary forces in Burke County, North Carolina. He volunteered in the company of a Captain Thomas Price and at the time lived near the state line separating North and South Carolina. He recalled that Captain Price's company was in the battle of King's Mountain, but he was not, having been sent down the Broad River to deliver a message to another company in preparation for the battle.

After the battle of King’s Mountain, he was stationed for about 12 months at several forts in the area of the state line between North and South Carolina which were built and manned to protect the inhabitants from the Indians and Tories. Following that service, he joined a volunteer company of militia raised by Captain John Miller of Rutherford County, North Carolina, which marched against the Cherokee Indians in Tennessee.

John's pension statement records that he married Rachel Barnes in South Carolina on the 1st of May 1796. They lived in South Carolina for a few years after their marriage before moving west to Madison County, Missouri around 1803.

Although they may have had others, the known children of John and Rachel Barnes Reeves were Hiram born 1799, John born 1804, Isaac born 1811, Mary, Levina and Caswell born 1815. Other than Hiram who was born in South Carolina, census records record the other children as having been born after the family’s move to Missouri.

John’s wife, Rachel, gave testimony in her request for a widow’s pension that John died on the 30th of April 1834 in Madison County, Missouri.

Interestingly, the family of Thornberry Reeves of Green County, Kentucky also settled in Madison County, Missouri sometime after 1830. Thornberry was the son of another John Reeves who died in Green County, Kentucky in 1854. This Reeves’ family is represented in the Reeves DNA Project and placed in Group 9 matching another participant who descends from Henry Reeves of Old Rappahannock, Virginia. As with so many Reeves' family lines, participation in the DNA Project by descendants of John Reeves of Madison County, Missouri could be of great help in establishing earlier family connections.


John Reeves Revolutionary War Pension Statement is available at Southern Campaign.