New Data for Reeves Family of Grayson County

The Library of Virginia's Chancery Case Index continues to add more scanned documents for additional counties.  This week I discovered a 236 page Wythe County chancery case which is based upon probate records of the 1821 suit Benjamin Austin et al vs the Administrators of George Reeves, Sr. of Grayson County, Virginia.  The Wythe County index also includes two other cases pertaining to this Reeves' family, the 1815 "Matthew Dickey vs the Admins of George Reaves" (sic) and the 1833 case "George Reeves ETC vs James Cox ETC".

All three of these cases appear to have initially been a result of slaves inherited by the descendants of Timothy Terrell which were left to him in his father John Terrell's will.  Timothy's daughters Anne and Obedience married William and Jesse Reeves, sons of George Reeves, Sr.  The 1833 case gives a great amount of biographical information on Timothy Terrell which I had never seen documented previously.  He is believed to have been killed by Indians but I had never seen  proof; however, this 1833 case does that.  He had migrated to the area of Nashville, Tennessee during the early settlement of that area where he was killed by Indians in 1779 and this 1833 document provides proof of that information.

After Timothy Terrell's death, his widow returned to North Carolina where in 1783, she married James Cox.  At Elizabeth Terrell Cox's death, Timothy Terrell's property remained in the possession of James Cox which is the source of this legal action. The suit was filed by George Reeves, son of Jesse Reeves and Obedience "Biddy" Terrell Reeves and included as plaintiffs all of the children of Biddy Terrell Reeves as well as William and Anne Terrell Reeves.

Valentine Collins Note

The 1821 suit initially mentioned here is based primarily on the extant documents regarding the estate of George Reeves, Sr.  He died intestate, leaving no will, so this estate file includes the inventory of his estate and records of sales of his property and names all of his heirs in addition to numerous copies of notes to be paid to the estate.  

Included within those notes there is even an early note circa 1807 assigned by George Reeves to Valentine Collins which was witnessed by his nephew Jeremiah Reeves, son of William Reeves of Wake County, North Carolina.  Jeremiah had migrated west of Grayson County into eastern Kentucky by that time along with his father.

These wonderful extant files can contain countless gems of important biographical information.  I have examined each of the 236 pages of the 1821 chancery case but it requires much more scrutiny to know if there are other tidbits of family data in these pages.  One item I have already found is a court document which provided the approximate date of death of Jane Burton Reeves.  There are numerous dates of death entries online but I had never found a valid source.  A Jane Reeves is listed on the Grayson County tax lists through 1816 which I believe could have been George Reeves Sr.'s widow but Jane Osborne Reeves, the widow of deceased George Reeves, Jr. did not remarry until 1818 and those tax lists may have been listing her instead.  Within the 1821 chancery case, a copy of a statement for George Reeves, Sr.'s account contains a court order which details the death of George's widow before 1 April 1813 when the sale of the property she had received as her dower was recorded.  Another document in that file explains that all of Jane Burton Reeves' personal property was given to her daughters to be divided among them.

Court Order with date before which Jane Burton Reeves died.

These three chancery cases may be able to provide much more needed information about the family of George Reeves with the necessary research.  For anyone related to this family, it would be to your advantage to spend some time searching the Library of Virginia's Chancery Case Index.  I've found some great information there.

Charlotte Reeves Robertson

Pioneer woman extraordinaire and future heroine of Fort Nashborough, Charlotte Reeves was born in Northampton, North Carolina in 1751 and moved with her family to Johnston (now Wake) County North Carolina by about 1763. There, she married James Robertson in 1768. In 1771, Charlotte and James along with several other families left Wake County for the Watauga Settlements in what is now eastern Tennessee. It is believed that Charlotte’s parents and siblings (including my ancestor Jordan Reeves), some of James Robertson’s siblings, and his uncle Charles Robertson either accompanied Charlotte and James or followed them very quickly.

The Watauga villages where James and Charlotte Robertson settled rested on lands leased from the Cherokee. A truce with the Cherokee was short-lived and land agreements were revoked. Life was difficult and dangerous. By 1779, James Robertson was ready to move west. While James Robertson led some of the men to the Cumberland settlements, where Nashville is now located, John Donelson led the so-called Donelson flotilla to the same location via the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers. The women and children (including Charlotte and four of her children) and some of the men were aboard the flatboats that made the nearly 1000 mile journey in winter. During the perilous voyage Charlotte Reeves distinguished herself by fighting off Indian attackers and working the oars with the men.

Once in the Cumberland settlements, Charlotte, James, and their children lived in Fort Nashborough, which was one of several forts housing settlers for protection from Indian attacks.

Charlotte Robertson is celebrated as the heroine of the Battle of the Bluffs which was fought at Fort Nashborough in 1781. When Indians attacked the fort, she realized that they were positioned between the fort’s men, who were out in the woods, and the fort. She unleashed the hounds, creating great confusion among the Indian attackers. This diversion allowed time for the men to return safely to the fort. One of Charlotte’s sons was killed by Indians during this battle. In all, two of her sons were killed by Indians while another was scalped but recovered.

The city of Charlotte, Tennessee, and Charlotte Pike in Nashville are named for Charlotte Robertson, who lived in Middle Tennessee until her death in 1843 at the age of ninety-two. She is buried in Nashville's City Cemetery.

For more information see TN Encyclopedia and other sources.

Charlotte Reeves was the daughter of George Reeves, born 1716, and his wife Mary Jordan. She is of the Rives line documented in Reliques of the Rives James Rives Childs. Descendants of this line have tested as DNA Group 8 in the Reeves DNA Project.