Maybe John Darden, not Reeves

1791 Deed
Cumberland NC

One of my friends who is also a Reeves' researcher has been searching for more historical information on his ancestor, John Durden Reeves, for many years without success.  John D. Reeves is known to have been born in Halifax County, North Carolina on the 30th of May in 1759 based upon the statement in his Revolutionary War pension application of 1833.

The 1778 Halifax County Will of Micajah Rawls left bequests to his half brothers John and Jesse Reeves indicating John D.'s mother had at some point been married to a Rawls individual in addition to the Reeves after whom John & Jesse were named.  Sadly, even after much research, no further information could be found to explain that connection.

After the Revolutionary War, John Durden Reeves is recorded in Cumberland County,  North Carolina where he married Sarah Locke Elwell as evidenced by the 1791 deed disposing of property inherited by heirs of his father-in-law Richard Elwell.  By 1800, John D. Reeves and family had migrated to Surry County,  North Carolina where they were recorded in the census of that year.

Three descendants of John D. Reeves through two of his sons are found in a group at Family Tree DNA based upon their matching Y-DNA results.  There is a fourth member of that DNA group whose known earliest Reeves' ancestor was born in Derbyshire, England in 1855 and immigrated to the U.S. in 1882; however, that match indicates a much more distant common ancestor.  After many years, no other Reeves' matches have ever appeared to provide any clue as to John's family history although there were numerous matches to other surnames, several of which were the surname "Darden".

Researchers from this line have even explored various possible immigration theories, one of which is that he may have been part of the Monmouth Rebellion in England and was transported but thus far nothing has been found to confirm that theory.

In an effort to learn more about any possible connections to these individuals of other surnames, my friend upgraded his Y-DNA test to the highest level of Y-111.  His only match at that level is a person with the surname "Darden".  He also found additional Darden matches at the 67 marker level of the Y-DNA tests.  The ancestors of the individual matching at 111 markers were also found in Halifax County, North Carolina around the time of the American Revolution.  Additionally, their descendants also migrated to the area west of Nashville, Tennessee where John Durdan Reeves' descendants settled in the 19th century.

The spelling of John D. Reeves middle name has been variously listed as Durden, Durdan, Dearden in addition to Darden, but it now appears that Darden is probably the correct variation and may have been the original surname of the family.  Hopefully someday my friend will learn much more about his newly discovered Darden ancestors.

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Post published with the permission of Billy Fred Reeves.

The Mystery of Ameriah Reeves

 The mystery of Ameriah Reeves begins with Burlington County, New Jersey records of the family of Walter Reeve. Jonathan Reeve and his wife, the previously widowed Mrs. Hannah Wilson Budd, had a son Ameriah Reeve, born 27 July 1738. Other recorded connections between these Reeve(s) and Budd families create some confusion due to the presence of an Azeriah Reeves in that family; however it is doubtful that he was the same individual since he had a son, John, born before 1750 indicating he must have been substantially older than Amariah born 1738.

Salem County New Jersey records list the marriage of Ameriah Reeves to Susanna Hays, on 4 October 1762.

1783 Revolutionary War Voucher

After his disappearance from New Jersey records, an Ameriah Reeves first appears in the records of Orange County, North Carolina in 1774.  (Note - his name is listed variously as Ameriah or Amariah.) He is named among individuals recorded in a poll taken at an "Election for Delegates to represent the County of Orange" agreeable to a Resolve of Congress dated 28th of Nov 1776.  Over the next twenty years, he is recorded in various court transactions until his disappearance from the county after August of 1791.

1779 Tax
Orange County

In 1776, he is listed on the roster of officers and private soldiers detached from the first or Southern Battalion of Militia of Orange County, North Carolina under the command of Col. Ambrose Ramsey to march against hostile indians during the American Revolution. On 20 August 1783, Amariah submitted a Revolutionary War claim and was paid £12.  

Ameriah Reeves is recorded as an Orange County taxpayer in 1779 where he was taxed on 400 acres although the record of a deed to that 400 acre tract has not been located to date.  Orange County records from 1781 record that Ameriah lived on Stagg's Creek at that time.  In August of 1783 Amariah Reeves was granted a license to keep an ordinary at his dwelling house.

On the 19th of August 1791 Henry Jacobs was accused of making an assault upon Susannah, wife of Amariah Reeves. He pled not guilty. John Lynch was accused of assaulting Amariah on the same day. [[C.R. 073.326.1]. An extensive search of the court records of Orange County has thus far failed to produce more details in regard to this altercation.

In Claims of British Merchants after the Revolutionary War arranged by Counties, abstracted by Ransom McBride (from: British Records Collection appearing in the NC Genealogical Society Journal February 1985 31, Volume XI, No 1), William Cummings of Hillsboro made a statement concerning Amariah that he removed to Tennessee, 16 or 17 years prior, and is now dead. while he lived in Orange he had some property, was an honest man industrious and lived well.

Amariah is known to have migrated from North Carolina to Tennessee. The appearance of an Ameriah Reeves on the 1796 tax lists of Grayson County, Virginia may suggest that he paused his migration westward by spending a brief time in the New River area. However, there is nothing to document a connection between the Amariah Reaves of Orange County in the 1770s and Amariah Reeves found in Grayson County in 1796 beyond his removal from Orange County and later residence in Tennessee.

Currently the only record located for him in Tennessee is an advertisement dated 15 October 1807 in “The Impartial Review and Cumberland Repository”. In that, J. Dorris of Robertson Co., TN, advertised that he had lost a note on Amariah Reaves that had been given to Elijah Ferguson and assigned to Dorris by Benjamin Ferguson.

At the risk of repeating myself, once again, I'm thinking how wonderful it would be if a descendant of Ameriah Reeves of Orange County, North Carolina came forward to participate in Y-DNA testing and solve this riddle.

Heirs of Obedience "Biddie" Terrell Reeves

The children of Jesse Reeves (spelled as Reves by he and his male relatives) and Elizabeth Obedience Terrell of Grayson County, Virginia and later Ashe County, North Carolina have up until now been undocumented. Jesse Reeves names most of his older sons in his 1833 will but only two of his daughters by Biddie Terrell. None of his children with his second wife, Mary Bowers, were named. There has been much misinformation promoted about Jesse's children. The identity of the correct mother of each group of children was also questionable.

Several years ago in the course of transcribing Ashe County NC deeds by various members of the Reeves' family, I came upon an 1833 Power of Attorney by Jesse's son John Reves. In that POA, John requested that his cousin Enoch Reves appear on his behalf at a court in Wythe District, State of Virginia, where a case by he and the rest of the heirs of Biddy Reves was to be presented in court. When I read this POA, I realized that those court records would provide details of the heirs of Jesse Reves born during his marriage to Obedience Terrell Reves. At that point, I began to search for the records of that case.

The Library of Virginia had been diligently adding Chancery Cases to their online site but at the time they had not scanned either Wythe or Grayson county cases and put them online. Over the next few years I checked back periodically and was pleasantly surprised sometime during the last year, when I found they had been added. This case involves a suit filed by Jesse Reves' son George to recover legacies due the heirs of Timothy Terrell from his father John Terrell.

This Chancery Case revealed a previously unknown son of Jesse Reves, William, along with two daughters. There had been much speculation regarding the gravestone for Nancy Reeves in the Jesse Reeves cemetery in Ashe County. A theory had circulated that this was an early wife of Jesse but these documents found her to be Nancy who married Terrell Bledsoe and both are mentioned in numerous family documents and court records. Another daughter Hannah Reeves, speculated as another daughter of Jesse's brother William was revealed to be Jesse's daughter who had married John Burton and eventually migrated to Indiana where other Burton and Reeves' family members had settled.

A record dated 26 May 1829 discovered in Grayson County Court Orders Vol. 2 (1820-1829) on page 596 in a case styled George Reeves, Plts, Against William Terrell, Defts, names Hannah Reeves, wife of John Burton, Betsy Reeves, wife of William Cox and Nancy Reeves, who was deceased after having intermarried with Terel (sic) Bledsoe.

Several years of research of the various extant records of Grayson and Ashe counties have documented that the children of Jesse Reeves and Elizabeth Obedience Terrell were: Nancy who married Terrell Bledsoe, William, George who married Elizabeth Doughton, Hannah who married John M. Burton, Jane who married Robert Baker, Elizabeth who married William Cox, John Reeves who married Cynthia Baker and Eli Reeves.

This 61 page Chancery Case and the supporting records in Grayson County's court orders have been a great bonus to research of this family and served to rectify several incorrect theories that have become prevalent on the internet. The Library of Virginia is doing a great service in making these Chancery Cases available to Virginia researchers.

A complete listing of the currently documented descendants of George Reeves, Sr. of Grayson County, Virginia can be found at The Reeves Project.

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.

Y-DNA Needed for These Reeves Families

During the years since the inception of the Reeves Y-DNA Project countless mysteries have been solved. As rewarding as that is, we still have many Reeves families for whom we have no clue as their origins and to which other Reeves' populations they may be related. Y-DNA testing by the following families would make additional great strides forward in Reeves' genealogical research.

Georgia

Little is known about the origins of Sidney King Reeves. It was recently discovered that in 1824 he was a young apprentice to tailor Charles Fowler in Raleigh. The Reeves and Reavis families of Wake County, North Carolina are fairly well documented and Sidney does not belong to either of them so he was presumably from the surrounding area. After settling in Pike County, Georgia, he had several sons and we hope left sufficient male descendants to provide Y-DNA for testing. A recent blog post concerning Sidney can provide more information, see The Elusive Sidney King Reeves.

Maine

Jonathan Reeves' recent blog post James Reeves of Maine summarizes the details currently known of James Reeves' life. At this time, there are no participants in the Reeves Y-DNA Project descending from this Reeves' lineage.

Massachusetts

John Reeves of Essex and Middlesex counties in Massachusetts. John may be the John Reeves who is recorded as coming to New England from London on the Christian in 1635 however, there is a small discrepancy in dates of birth of the two individuals. John is documented as having one son, William, who may have left descendants who could provide Y-DNA testing and information on his origins and related Reeves.

Thomas Reeves originally settled in Massachusetts but by the next generation his son Thomas had relocated to Southampton, Long Island, New York with descendants later settling in Salem, New Jersey. Much research was done by a descendant, Mrs. Emma M. Reeves (not to be confused with Emma Barrett Reeves of the Reeves Review), who self published a great amount of information for this clan. Y-DNA from members of this family would be invaluable in separating all the disparate Reeve or Reeves lineages in Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey.

New Jersey

The Salem County, New Jersey Reeve clan descending from Mark Reeve is also not represented in the Reeves Y-DNA Project. Branches of this family will be found in Camden/Gloucester Counties and in Arkansas. Y-DNA testing by male Reeve descendants would provide needed information as to their origins and any connections to other Reeve family who also migrated to the American colonies.

North Carolina

The Benjamin Reeves recorded in early Rowan County is the individual most likely to be the son Benjamin named in the 1751 will of William Reeves in Granville County, North Carolina. This Benjamin Reeves is recorded on the 1762 and 1766 tax lists of Rowan County around the time William's son James and his family were listed there. He was a soldier of the Revolution and received a grant of 1000 acres in Davidson County, Tennessee which he assigned to James Cole in 1789. By the 1800 census, the Benjamin Reeves in Rowan County appears to be a different individual for he was age 26-44 and too young to be the son of William Reeves of Granville although he may have been the earlier Benjamin's son. The younger Benjamin is found later in Montgomery County. DNA from descendants of either Benjamin Reeves of Rowan or Montgomery counties would be extremely valuable to Reeves genealogy.

One descendant of Edward Reeves of Bladen County has tested but the DNA does not match any of the other Reeves' clans. Additional testers from this line would be a great benefit to Reeves' research besides to the descendant who has already tested.

George Reeves, Sr. of Orange County was first documented in that area in 1772 when he was the grantee in a deed from Ruffin McNair for 200 acres on New Hope Creek. Most of George Reeves' sons remained in the Orange County area although one, James, migrated to Hancock County, Indiana. DNA from male members of this lineage would be helpful in identifying all the different Reeves' lineages found in the Orange County area prior to 1800.

John Reeves also of Orange County is another mystery. Although John is only documented as having one son Thomas who had several sons and hopefully left many Reeves' male heirs. Their DNA would be helpful in understanding the diverse Reeves' lineages of early Orange County. After John's death, Thomas migrated to Ray County, Missouri where he died.

South Carolina

Drury Reaves who died in Darlington in 1792 may be the Drury Reaves recorded in the deed indexes of Old Dobbs County, North Carolina throughout the 1760's. There are no further clues to his origins and Y-DNA testing of any male descendants could prove extremely rewarding.

Ewel Reeves of Greenville County may have descended from John Reeves who migrated to Christian County, Kentucky before 1800 since the name Ewel was common in that family who has close family connections to Greenville SC. There is currently no information that provides clues to Ewel's origins other than his given name and proximity. It would be a great benefit to have someone from Ewel's family test.

John Reeves of the Colleten/Dorchester area. John was born in London in 1745 and died in Reevesville, Dorchester, South Carolina in 1798. His 3 sons left numerous descendants in South Carolina and Mississippi who can hopefully provide ample DNA testers to learn more about this lineage.

John Reeves of Union County. John's origins are currently unknown and the Y-DNA of descendants of his sons could provide answers to the mystery.

Lazarus Reeves served as a Revolutionary soldier in a South Carolina regiment however his RW pension statement provides no biographical information that can identify his origins. He later moved to Pike County, Mississippi where he was mentioned in a history of Pike County pioneer families. Lazarus had several sons who may have left enough male Reeves descendants to test and furnish more information on this lineage.

Virginia

George Reeves originally of Henry and Patrick Counties in Virginia left there around 1816 and after migrating to Wilson County, Tennessee died in 1817. His descendants were found in Wilson and Campbell counties of Tennessee, in Missouri initially settling along the Missouri River and in Madison County, Arkansas. George's origins and family lineage are unknown which Y-DNA testing by his descendants could resolve as well as prove his connections to his probable sons who migrated further west.

George Reaves of Halifax County in later years was referred to as Sr. indicating he had a son George in addition to sons Asher Reaves, Daniel Reaves and Elijah Reaves, Sr.. George Reaves, Jr. was born about 1790 but disappeared from the Halifax County, Virginia records after becoming an adult. George Reaves, Sr.'s other sons had several sons and presumably left enough male Reaves descendants to provide ample candidates to test in order to identify this family line and others related to it. Asher left Virginia a few years after the American Revolution and migrated to Greene County, Ohio. Daniel remained in Virginia and his children were found in Halifax and Pittsylvania counties after his death. Elijah and his two sons continued to live in Halifax County, Virginia. Y-DNA testing by descendants of George Reaves, Sr. would be invaluable to Reeves research. Another detailed post about George Reaves, Sr. and his wife Martha "Patsy" Epps is available at this blog - The Rest of the Story.

Surprises thru DNA

Recently several descendants of Hardy Reaves of Duplin County, North Carolina have completed Y-DNA tests. It had always been supposed that Hardy was in some way related to the family of William Reaves who died in Wayne County in 1793 since they were in close proximity and both lineages used the spelling "Reaves". Although William named no son Hardy in his 1790 will, there was always the chance that Hardy could have been a brother or nephew.

When the results of the first descendant to test were posted at Family Tree DNA, they came as a complete shock. Rather than matching DNA Group 3 members where the descendants of William Reaves of Wayne County are found, they matched DNA Group 8. Group 8 is comprised of descendants of Timothy Rives an early resident of Virginia. That family is covered in the book ''Reliques of the Rives'' by James Rives Childs in which the author traces Timothy's lineage back to Robert Ryves of Randleston and Damory Court in Blandford Forum, England.

The earliest residents of this area of North Carolina appear to have been recorded in Dobbs County which was formed in 1758 from Johnston County. In 1779 the western part of Dobbs County became Wayne County. In 1791 Dobbs County was divided by the North Carolina legislature into Glasgow County which was later renamed Greene County and Lenoir County, after which Dobbs County ceased to exist. Sadly, the records of these counties were destroyed by fire on 15 October 1873 after having been moved to the Lenoir County Courthouse. This loss of records has adversely impacted research of the Reaves families of both Wayne and Duplin Counties. The only Dobbs County records that survived the fire were an original grantee deed index and some early tax records.

Thanks to those extant records we do know that there were several Reeves/Reaves living in Dobbs County by sometime between April 1757 and April 1758 when a William Reaves and a Thomas Reaves were recorded in that index. In the index of April 1765 to April 1769 a Drury Reaves and Timothy Reaves are recorded. Timothy Reaves is currently unidentified but Drury may have been from the DNA Group 8 family since the name Drury is used repeatedly in that lineage. Drury Reeves/Reaves migrated further south to Darlington, South Carolina where he died intestate in 1792.

Duplin County was formed in 1750 from New Hanover County and is located just to the south of Wayne County and adjacent to Dobbs County on it's southwestern side. Hardy Reaves is first recorded in Duplin County on the 17th of October, 1770 when a summons was issued by the sheriff of Duplin County to value a horse which was the property of Hardy Reaves. The document states this was in the course of a sute (sic suit) by Stephen Herring. The horse was valued at twenty pounds and the reverse side of the summons has been signed with Hardy Reaves mark on that same date. The document was the only thing found in what was recorded as an estate file for Hardy Reaves.
It is unclear exactly which Hardy Reaves this document pertains to and there appear to be two different individuals by that name in early Duplin County. In the 1790 census, there are two Hardy Reaves recorded in Duplin County. One Hardy Reaves is listed with a household consisting of 4 Males over 16, 4 Males under 16 and 5 Females on page 44 of the census listing of James Kenan. Another Hardy Reeves is listed on page 40 of that same census listing with a household containing 2 Males over 16, 3 Males under 16 and 5 females. Since the total persons in the households differ, presumably there were two Hardy Reaves living in fairly close proximity in Duplin County but this could also be the result of errors by census enumerators. One of these Hardy Reaves is undoubtedly the parent of the next generation Hardy Reaves born 1785.

Hardy Reaves who is the documented ancestor of the individuals who have tested matching DNA Group 8 was born circa 1785 and died before January 1862 in Duplin County where probate records record the identities of his nine (9) children. Hopefully current research of this family will eventually be able to establish a connection to the Rives family of the southside of Virginia and document that relationship.

The Elusive Sidney King Reeves

One of the many Reeves' mysteries is to which family Sidney King Reeves belongs. He appeared in Pike County, Georgia on the 1830 census after marrying Sarah Caroline Nicholson in Walton County in 1829. Numerous incorrect theories have circulated regarding his lineage, one of which places him among the children of William Reeves of Guilford County, North Carolina who died in Wilkes County, Georgia in 1816. The will of William Reeves disproves that theory since he is not listed among the children named in William's 1816 will. His descendants and other Reeves' researchers have tried unsuccessfully to find his origins, but the only clue to his life before his appearance in Georgia is the fact that in every census, his place of birth is recorded as North Carolina.

The Raleigh Register pub. 25 Jun 1824

Jonathan Reeves, one of my colleagues at The Reeves Project, recently happened upon the pictured newspaper ad when searching historical papers. Although The Raleigh Register published articles pertaining to news and individuals throughout North Carolina, a Charles Fowler was a resident of Wake County at this time which indicates the location was undoubtedly Raleigh. On 6 Jan 1826 and again on 13 Jan 1826, another related newspaper, the Weekly Raleigh Register published a listing of letters remaining in the post office at Raleigh on the 1st of January 1826 and in both editions Sidney Reeves was listed.

After finding the probable location of Sidney King Reeves home and presumably his family as well, I've spent much of the last week searching the records of Wake County as well as the adjacent counties. My own Reeves family had been there and in the counties from which it was formed since at least 1746. Being familiar with Wake County and families with a variation of the Reeves/Reaves/Reavis surname I knew that after the migration of my 4th great grandfather, William Reeves, and all but one of his sons by 1803 Sidney was not a descendant of that family. The only son remaining in Wake was John Reeves who died in 1824 and all of his children are recorded in probate documents and property divisions. That left the Reavis family who descend from Isaac and Samuel Reavis, sons of William Reavis who died in Northampton County. The sons of both Isaac and Samuel are well documented so we can be sure that Sidney K. Reeves was not part of that lineage.

The only other Reeves family residing in Wake County in the early part of the 19th century descends from Revolutionary Soldier Frederick Reeves (originally Rives) and his wife Elizabeth. An 1843 statement made by their son Hartwell Reeves, born 1 March 1783, when he petitioned to draw pension benefits of his father's service after the death of his mother in 1837 gives some limited information regarding this family. The only surviving son of Frederick Reeves, Hartwell, appears to have been a lifelong resident of Wake County and purchased a lot in Raleigh in 1809. Hartwell and his sons Henderson and Alpheus were all tradesmen. The 1850 census of Wake County lists each of them as shoe makers. This might be significant in that Sidney K. Reeves was apprenticed to a tailor to learn a trade.

Hartwell Reeves is known to have had at least three wives beginning with a marriage in Wake County to Christian Sugg in 1811. However, he would have been an adult in 1804 and could have married around that time, possibly fathering a child in 1806. No marriage record has been found prior to 1811, but sadly the 1810 and 1820 census of Wake County are not extant to verify whether he did in fact have a male child born circa 1806.

To date, no Reeves male descending from the lineage of Sidney King Reeves has participated in the Reeves Y-DNA Project which could provide verification of the Reeves family to which Sidney King Reeves belonged. The above mentioned family of Frederick Reeves as well as that of his brother Richard Reaves who lived in Franklin County adjacent to Wake are the most likely candidates for the family to which Sidney belongs. Richard Reeves (Reaves) and his second wife Mary had 3 male children born 1800-1810 per the 1810 census but only two of them have currently been identified.

Frederick and Richard Reeves were sons of William Rives of Surry County, Virginia who died 1778 in Bute County, North Carolina. That lineage is documented among the participants of the Reeves Y-DNA Project found in DNA Group 8 who appear to descend from the Ryves family of Dorset in England.

1777 Tavern Menu

In the course of searching an Orange County, North Carolina book of unindexed court minutes page by page, I happened upon this menu. In 1777 the court orders are full of countless entries that were a product of the colonies' Declaration of Independence and the resulting Revolution. New county officials had to be appointed, lists of individuals who had failed to take an oath of allegiance to the new country documented and countless other orders which resulted from the change in the colonies' government affiliation.

Amongst all the very serious entries pertaining to our separation from Great Britain, the court order book also included this menu and price list that had been approved by the Orange County Court which I thought should be shared.

Just Supposin' Again

Since I wrote the post Just Supposin' several months ago, I found a little more documentation that serves to support my theory that the George Reeves who died in Wake County in 1778 could have been the missing member by that name of the family of Henry Reeves of Essex County, Virginia. In that post I shared my recent thoughts that he could be the link that connects John Reeves of Taylor County, Kentucky whose descendants are Y-DNA matches to known descendants of Henry Reeves through John Reeves of Augusta County, Virginia. John was a son of Thomas Reeves, Sr. initially of Essex County who died in Spotsylvania County in 1760. Thomas was a son of Henry Reeves, Jr. and grandson of Henry Reeves in addition to being the father of the missing George Reeves detailed in this post.

I became aware of this George Reeves in Wake County when I happened upon a 1778 court order apprenticing his children Mary and John to residents in the county. Based upon proximity, the surname Reeves and the fact that the individuals his children were apprenticed to, Woodson Daniel and Reuben Allen, were both close associates of my ancestor William Reeves, I wrongly assumed he must have belonged to that family.

September 1778 Court
[213]-75
Ordered that Mary Reeves orphan of George Reeves deced. be bound unto Reuben Allen unto She come to age at this time being Eight Years of Age.
Ordered that John Reeves orphan of George Reeves deced. be bound an Apprentice unto Woodson Daniel untill he come to the Age of twenty one Years being about this time the Age of three Years.

Although at the time it did seem strange that these children would have been apprenticed to neighbors rather than cared for by family members and that no tidbits of information linking John and Mary Reeves, orphans of this George, to the family of William Reeves of Wake County had ever been found. It also became increasingly more apparent that it was George Reeves of Grayson County, due to both genetic and documentary evidence in Orange and Johnston counties who was a member of the William Reeves' family, not the George Reeves who died in 1778.

Excerpt from Markam Map of Early Orange County Grants

The primary impediment to my suppositions that this George Reeves could be the missing son of Thomas Reeves, Sr. from Spotsylvania County, Virginia was the fact that there seemed to be no reason for his sudden appearance in north central North Carolina. However, remembering that his first cousin Elizabeth Gatewood had married Peter Copeland who was believed to have been born in North Carolina, I felt that could have been a factor in George Reeves' appearance there after his father's death since Elizabeth and Peter were said to have moved back to North Carolina a few years after their marriage. After writing the first post and sharing this theory, I decided to do more research in the area of Wake County.

In the course of that new effort to research this theory, I happened to notice that Peter Copeland was listed as one of the early property owners in Orange County, North Carolina. This area of the upper Neuse River basin had initially been part of Craven County, then Orange County from around 1752 until the early 1760's when it became part of Johnston County and then back to Wake County at its inception in 1771. See excerpt of the Markham Map of eastern Orange County above with Peter Copland's land along the Eno River noted. This is the immediate area where William Reeves settled in 1746 and both of the individuals with whom George Reeves' orphans were apprenticed were located. Reuben Allen's tract is located a little to the south of Peter Copeland's tract while Woodson Daniel's property was on the north side of the Neuse River which is not included in this map but was also in close proximity.

Peter Copeland had been living in Henry County, Virginia for several years when he sold this property in 1779 based upon an Orange County deed of 25 March 1779 which is one of three deeds by Peter Copeland recorded in Deed Book B, pages 65-70.

Orange County NC, Deed Book B, pg. 70

As valuable as this information is, it still does not constitute proof that the George Reeves who died in Wake County in 1778 was the son of Thomas Reeves, Sr. of Essex and Spotsylvania counties in Virginia but it does add to the inferential data that suggests this connection. Surely with continued research, further tidbits can be found to add to the accumulation of additional evidence.

The Gatewood Girls

Patience Reeves was a daughter of Henry Reeves, Jr. of Essex County, Virginia and is named as a legatee in his 1728 will. By the time Henry wrote his will, Patience was married to Richard Gatewood for Henry mentions a debt of £14 owed him by his son-in-law Richard Gatewood in that will. Richard and Patience Reeves Gatewood had four daughters as documented in the probate records of Essex County - Elizabeth, Sarah, Patience and Ann.

By November of 1745 both Richard and Patience Gatewood were deceased. Their daughter Ann Gatewood was also deceased and her portion of their estates was divided among the three surviving daughters.

Elizabeth and Sarah appear to have not reached age 21 by the time Patience Reeves Gatewood died for both were appointed guardians to oversee their estates. No guardian was appointed for daughter Patience who was either age 21 by this time or possibly married.

Over the course of the next decade as the daughters of Patience Reeves Gatewood married, they and their families all left the Essex County area and by 1767 sons-in-laws Peter Copeland, husband of Elizabeth Gatewood, and Waters Dunn, husband of Sarah Gatewood, are listed on the tithables list of Pittsylvania County. Joseph Farguson who married Patience Gatewood also settled in Pittsylvania County where he is recorded as a juror in June Court 1767 [Court Records Book 1 p55] and having taken the Oath for Constable in Pittsylvania County at the same court in 1767.

When the 1753 will of Patience's brother George Reeves was written, her daughter Elizabeth was named as Elizabeth Copeland, one of the legatees, and her husband Peter Copeland was appointed as one of the executors of the will. Elizabeth and Peter Copeland reportedly lived for a time in Caroline County, Virginia after their marriage, then moved to North Carolina for a brief time where Peter is listed on the 1767 tax lists of Cumberland County. That same year, they returned to Virginia where by July Peter Copeland was listed as a tithable in Pittsylvania County. Peter was one of the first Justices of the Peace for Pittsylvania County and lived in that portion of the county which later became Henry. Peter and Elizabeth Copeland are recorded repeatedly in the deed records of Henry County over the subsequent years with the last mention of Elizabeth Copeland in 1780. In a deed dated the 20th of April, 1780 Elizabeth is mentioned as being unable to travel to and from the court to sign a dower release. The deed records statements by witnesses that Elizabeth did relinquish her right of dower to the one thousand acre tract being conveyed by Peter Copeland in that deed. Elizabeth and Peter Copeland both appear to have been deceased by 1790 when Charles Copland of Richmond City, Virginia as executor of Peter Copland was settling his estate.

Patience Gatewood was also a legatee in her uncle George Reeves 1753 Spotsylvania County will. In that will she is named as Patience Gatewood and it is believed that she was first married to an unknown Gatewood who was the father of daughter Ann Frazier Gatewood. A 1779 agreement recorded in Henry County documents that Patience Gatewood Farguson was the mother of Ann Frazier Gatewood. There is currently no documentation as to whether any children were born to Joseph Farguson and Patience Gatewood which indicates that much more research is needed of the records of Pittsylvania and Henry counties in Virginia.

The marriage of Sarah Gatewood to Waters Dunn apparently did not take place prior to the death of her mother, Patience, for she is named Gatewood in Patience's will; however, the marriage must have taken place shortly thereafter since their oldest child was born around 1746. Waters Dunn was also associated with the family by the time Patience's will was being probated for he gave a security bond for the guardian appointed to represent Elizabeth Gatewood. Within the next decade Sarah and Waters Dunn moved their family to Pittsylvania county along with her sisters Elizabeth and Patience and their families. Each of these families were located in the area of Pittsylvania County that became Henry County after it's formation. Waters Dunn, Waters Dunn, Jr. William Dunn and Richard Dunn are each listed on the 1778 tax lists of Henry County. Sarah Gatewood Dunn appears to have died around 1785 for Waters Dunn remarried to Ann Farguson in 1786. Waters Dunn along with all of their children migrated to Georgia after Sarah's death. Waters Dunn, Sr. died in Columbia County, Georgia in 1803 and the children of Sarah and Waters Dunn are documented in his will.

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

New Data on George Reeves of Grayson County

Blue Ridge Vista in Grayson County

After searching for a decade for the source of a very old 1999 post on the Reeves Genealogy.com forum regarding the statements by a Mrs. Helen Trent Hobbs in regard to the origins of George Reeves who settled in Grayson County, Virginia in 1767 I have finally found the answer. An Ancestry post to the page of a distant Reeves' cousin contained a portion of the statement with a clue as to the name of the book and its author. The statements were from a letter written by 86 year old George W. Reeves of Ashe County, son of John Reeves, which were included in a 1951 volume published by LeRoy Reeves, a descendant of Edward Reeves of Bladen County, North Carolina.

The book is entitled Ancestral Sketches - Ancestry of William P. and Peter M. Reeves and contains a wealth of information regarding early Reeves families in North Carolina. It is a great shame that LeRoy Reeves did not have access to the historical records currently available and the added blessing of Y-DNA results. He has done an excellent job in researching these families and attempting to find possible familial relationships. The passage quoted from George W. Reeves' letter contained the following:

In December, 1897* (sic) George W. Reeves of Jefferson, Ashe County, North Carolina, then almost 86 years of age, wrote: "My grandfather's name was George Reeves whose birthplace I am unable to give, but was principally raised in eastern North Carolina. He was born about the year 1704 or 1705 (sic) and came from Neuse River, N.C., to New River, Grayson County, Virginia, about the year 1725 (sic) bringing his wife with him. They had born to them seven daughters and four sons, the youngest of which was John Reeves who was my father. When my grandfather came to Virginia no others of the Reeves family came with him, but my recollection is that he left others of the Reeves family in eastern N. C. whose names I am unable to give. But well remember my father had two cousins, William Reeves and Jeremiah Reeves, who visited my father since my recollection. I also remember that my grandfather's family frequently visited their relatives in eastern N. C, and I am sure that my grandfather left brothers and sisters in that part of the state...My grandmother's maiden name was Jane Burton."

Finding the source of these statements by George W. Reeves has been a complete thrill and further confirms the family connection between William Reeves of Wake County, North Carolina and George Reeves of Grayson County, Virginia that was discovered when descendants of both participated in the Reeves Y-DNA Project. It also should put to rest any lingering belief in the debunked theory (see posts in this blog) that the wife of George Reeves of Grayson County was a daughter of Joshua Epps of Halifax County, Virginia since George W. Reeves was obviously knowledgeable of the fact that his grandmother was Jane Burton.

I also found the remembered visit by his father's cousins, William and Jeremiah, of particular interest since two of the younger sons of William Reeves, Jr. of Wake County, North Carolina, by those names had migrated to Madison County, Kentucky with their father which would have been in relative close proximity. Any trip they would have made back to their previous home in Wake County would have taken them through the New River area of Virginia.

LeRoy Reeves speculated in his book on possible connections between George, William and Edward Reeves of Bladen based upon their arrival in the eastern portion of North Carolina at about the same time. He collected a tremendous amount of census and land records for the early Reeves of North Carolina but by not being privy to Y-DNA the majority of his proposed connections have been proven to be unfounded and to have been primarily based solely on proximity. The Reeves Y-DNA Project has no record that any descendants of Edward Reeves of Bladen County have ever participated so we aren't able to confirm any family connections. For the sake of adding more authenticity to Reeves genealogy, we'll have to hope that eventually some of those Bladen County NC Reeves' male descendants decide to participate in the DNA project.

In the meantime, I'll just continue to bask in the joy of finding the published information from George W. Reeves' letter.

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* Note that the date the letter was written appears to be in error since George W. Reeves died in October of 1896 according to the inscription on his gravestone pictured at Find A Grave. George W. Reeves was born in April of 1812 and he would have been almost 86 in December of 1895, not 1897 which appears to have been a transcription error.

UPDATE:  Since this post was originally published, two descendants of Edward Reeves of Bladen County, North Carolina have now participated in the Reeves' DNA Project.  Neither is a match to other Reeves in North Carolina and they are the first members the new DNA Group Nbr. 22 at FtDNA. 

   

Another Episode of the Epps Wife Fantasy

Over the course of the last few years several sources have been promoting a cockamamie theory that the wife of George Reeves (Reves) of Grayson County, Virginia was not from the Burton family, but instead a daughter of Joshua Epps of Halifax County, Virginia. Without proper research, the fact that there is a 1793 deed involving the heirs of John Epps, father of Joshua, and in that deed a George Reaves of Wilkes County, North Carolina is named among the legatees, the wife of George Reeves of Grayson County is now purported to be this Epps granddaughter. Out of this one lone deed an entire alternate theory of George Reeves of Grayson County's family has been disseminated across the internet.

George Rives (Reaves) Warrant No. 638
Wilkes County, North Carolina

A post to this blog in May of 2014 concerning this family details the research of several Reeves family researchers and lists all of the known facts concerning George Reaves who married Martha "Patty" Epps. Since Family Search has been adding more documents to their online offerings which include Virginia data, new information has recently come to light so it seemed a good time to share them and add to the accurate information regarding George and Martha Epps Reaves.

It was previously known that in October of 1778 George Reaves purchased a 100 acre tract on Court House Branch in Halifax County, Virginia from Luke Williams, but a recently found deed from October of 1779 finds the same 100 acres being sold back to Luke Williams by George Reaves and Martha, his wife. This transaction coincides with the issuance in 1780 of Warrant No. 638 for 200 acres on Little Cub Creek in Wilkes County, North Carolina.

It is noteworthy that the survey below of this 200 acres on Little Cub Creek shows that Moses Epps, son of Joshua Epps and brother of Martha Epps Reeves was listed as a chain carrier.

Hopefully at some point this premise will no longer be promoted as a viable family connection to the Reeves family of Grayson, Virginia and Ashe, North Carolina.

Other posts in this blog on the Epps wife theory:
The rest of the story...( of the Epps wife theory)
Wilkes County's George Reeves Mystery
New Data on George Reeves of Grayson