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.

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.

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.

Reuben Reeves of Maury County, Tennessee

Reuben Reeves who appeared in Maury County, Tennessee shortly after 1800 has been something of a mystery. He was believed to be the Reuben Reeves who was recorded in the 1790 and 1800 census in the Cheraws District in South Carolina. His first wife, the mother of his oldest seven children, is unidentified and was deceased before 1808 when he married Hannah Cooper in Sumner County, Tennessee. He and Hannah had three more children before his death in 1817.

Maury County TN Deed Book L, p. 384

Searching the probate records of Maury County has produced no significant records identifying Reuben's children. The only probate documents in his estate file were an inventory of his estate and records of the sale of that personal property. However, Family Search has recently begun to add deed records to their online catalog which has finally established the members of Reuben's family. A deed wherein the heirs of Reuben Reeves sold their portions of a 140 acre tract on the south side of the Duck River to son Elijah Reeves is recorded in Maury County in January of 1825. That deed identifies all seven of Reuben's older children as well as the husbands of the married daughters.

Maury County TN Deed Book P, pg. 380

To further help determine Reuben's origins, the Y-DNA test of a descendant of a George Washington Rives born in Tennessee in 1811 has matched the participants of Group 10 of the Reeves DNA Project. Prior to the discovery of these two Maury County deeds, this George Washington Rives was a mystery. The above deeds name the sole surviving heir of Reuben's son Joel as Washington Reeves in the first deed, then in the second deed regarding Joel Reeves' estate, his name is shown as George W. Reeves.

Currently DNA Group 10 is comprised of descendants of George Reeve and his brother John of Prince William County, Virginia. Three of George Reeve's sons left PWC shortly before the start of the Revolutionary War with British Mercantile Accounts (attempts by British merchants after the Revolution to collect monies owed them from before the Revolution) showing that they appear to have migrated to South Carolina and one to Georgia. John Reeve and his brother Moses are found in the Old Camden District, later Lancaster County while Thomas Reeve appears to be the individual who was initially in Chester County SC before moving into Washington and Columbia counties of Georgia where he is recorded by 1784.

John Reeve, brother of George above, was the grandfather of Revolutionary War soldier William Reeve who initially settled in Abbeville District after the Revolution, before migrating to DeKalb County, Georgia where he died in 1842. William Reeve left numerous descendants in South Carolina and Georgia. His descendants who have participated in the Reeves DNA Project have all matched the members of DNA Group 10 descending from George Reeve above.

There is still much research to be done to document the descendants of John, Moses and Thomas Reeve but DNA continues to clarify the family lineage as more members of this family test.

A Tale of Adventuring in Chowan Country

Actual historical documents that detail the history of early settlers to the American colonies always fascinate me and the story told by one Thomas Osman in a deposition for a court case in Southold Town, Long Island in 1658 is particularly interesting. The Reeve families who settled in Long Island, New York are mentioned in the 1658 deposition that was transcribed as follows:

A copy of the transcription of the deposition was included in the Southold Town 1636-1939 Commemorative Book. The book noted that the original of the deposition was in the possession of a member of the local Long Island Historical Society. That individual died in 1944 and the location of the original deposition is unknown, if in fact it does still exist. In 1969 the 50 page Study of the 1658 and 1686 Depositions of Thomas Osman compiled by Wesley L. Baker was published chronicling the search by Baker and other individuals for the original document.

According to English emigration records, in 1635 a Thomas Reeve, age 24, sailed from London for St. Christopher, in the West Indies along with William Salmon, 25, and Thomas Terrill, 18.

Thomas Osman's deposition tells the story of his journey in 1636, along with a group which included James Reeve and his father-in-law William Purrier, from the "Summer Isles" in the Caribbean to the Chowan Country in what is now North Carolina for the purpose of distilling "spirits of resin" for the production of turpentine. After arriving in the Chowan country, they found that the area abounded with other parties of Englishmen with similar plans. One of the parties they met while there who had also come from the Summer Isles included a Thomas Reeve who has been described in some accounts as the brother of James Reeve. Because of the excessive competition in North Carolina they set sail up the coast to the Hashamomock Neck in Long Island, New York where one of the party already owned land.

Both Thomas Reeve and James Reeve lived on Long Island for the rest of their lives and raised their families there. Thomas appears to have died sometime around 1665 when he ceased to be listed in land records and a "widow Reeve" appeared. James Reeve died in 1698 leaving a will which was probated in Southold, Long Island.

Although the Study of the 1658 and 1686 Depositions of Thomas Osman did not conclude that Thomas and James Reeve were related based upon available evidence in 1969, recent DNA results for a descendant of James Reeve match several descendants of Thomas Reeve which establishes that they probably were brothers as previously believed.

A Few More Reeve(s) Signatures

The signatures of today's post are from various Reeves' individuals of several different surname variations and lineages. The excerpts of these pictured documents have come from collections of original documents scanned from archived records in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. Over the last decade numerous collections of scanned original documents, not copies of pages from deed and will books that were written by county clerks, but documents written by or at the least signed by the parties executing the documents. Collections by Family Search, the Library of Virginia and other sites have put these documents online helping family researchers to make great advances in genealogy. These scans of original documents have also allowed us to see the actual signatures of our ancestors which is a tremendous help in differentiating between all the Reeves of the same given name.

Will of William Reaves of Wayne County NC
also includes signature of William Reaves, Juner as witness

The document on the left is from a scanned copy of the original 1790 will of William Reaves, Sr. of Wayne County, North Carolina. The document includes the signature of William Reaves, Sr. as well as the signature of his son William, Jr. as one of the witnesses. The origins of this family who appeared in now extinct Old Dobbs County in the late 1750s have been a mystery but recent DNA tests of several descendants from this family have now established that their DNA matches that of descendants of William Reeves who died in Granville County in 1751.

Promissory Note by H. I. (Hezekiah) Reeves

On the right is a promissory note given by Hezekiah I. Reeves of Fauquier County, Virginia to William H. Tilley in 1819 which was the basis of a Chancery Case brought by Wm H. Tilley against Hezekiah Reeves, William and Daniel Thornberry. Hezekiah may have been a member of the Reeves family of Charles County, Maryland which is just across the Potomac River from Prince William County, Virginia where Hezekiah is also recorded. His signature is quite unique and should help to identify him. Sadly, there have been no participants from this lineage or other Reeves of southern Maryland in the DNA project which would greatly benefit Reeves' research.

Thomas Reeves' Signature as Witness

The witnesses to the above document include Thomas Reeves of Augusta, Virginia, previously of Spotsylvania County. The document is found in an Augusta County chancery case entitled Brewer Reeves vs. Aaron Hughes whose first pleadings are dated 1792. The witnesses signatures appear to be original as they are not similar to the body of the document which was written by a clerk or attorney with excellent penmanship - note the surname Reeves as written by the clerk is far more skillfully written than that of Tho. Reeves' signature. Brewer Reeves of this case was identified in other court documents as the brother of Thomas Reeves.

Signature by Edward Reavis on
1752 Northampton County NC Will

Edward Reavis is first found in Henrico County, Virginia, later migrating to northeastern North Carolina. He clearly wrote his name as Reavis differentiating it from the various other individuals of that area of North Carolina who used the Reeves and Reaves variations of the surname. Descendants of Edward Reavis are also totally different genetically to other inhabitants of Northampton and Halifax counties based upon DNA testing.

Signature of William Reeve, Soldier of the Revolution
on his 1833 RW Pension Application

Affidavit and Signature of James W. Reeve
son of William Reeve above

In April of 1833 William Reeve gave a statement in support of his application for a Revolutionary War pension. Appearing in court in Abbeville, South Carolina he gave a declaration regarding his service. He stated that he had entered the service in the summer of 1776 in Prince William County, Virginia as a drafted militia man serving in troops commanded by Colonel Henry Lee. That initial tour was followed by several others under different commanders.

William Reeve was originally from Prince William County, Virginia where his father, grandfather and other extended family consistently used the Reeve surname variation. However, within a few generations most of his descendants began to use the more common Reeves surname.

A Surprising Connection

Some time ago, I discovered a John Reeves, Revolutionary soldier of Columbia, Georgia that I was previously unfamiliar with and added a post here with what information was available. Shortly after writing that post, I noticed the grave of Nannie Hazel Reeve in the cemetery at Boerne, Texas and wrote another post about this mysterious Reeve family who came to Texas around 1880.

In the course of doing some research to learn more about the family of Nannie Hazel Reeve, I found that her grandfather Randolph Reeve had come to Texas by 1880 where he died in 1891 in Blanco County. Prior to the family's arrival in Texas, they were living in Grant Parish, Louisiana at the time of the 1870 census and in the 1860 census were recorded in Rapides Parish.

Randolph Reeve married Clementine Ewell in Amite County, Mississippi on the 17th of May, 1846 and they were living there in the 1850 census. Their three children - John R., Mary Elizabeth and William Thomas Reeve were born in Amite County.

Also living in Amite County from around 1830 was a John Reeve, born 1789 in Georgia. John appeared to be a likely candidate for the father of Randolph Reeve so I began to search the probate records of Amite County. Probate documents show that John Reeve died on the 20th of February 1867 and there are numerous petitions and filings in regard to his very large estate. A last will and testament is eluded to numerous times but doesn't appear to be extant in the records. Amite County only has two will books that do not appear to be complete.

John Reeve's third wife Elizabeth Dunn appears to have died before 1860 and the probate documents state that John Reeve had no family. The only legatees named are the heirs of his deceased sisters and those of a half-brother and half-sister. As I began to read the documents, I immediately recognized the names as being the heirs of John Reeves who died in Columbia County, Georgia in 1833 - Susannah Baggett, Sarah Englett (Inglett), Rebecca Hardin and Thomas Reeve. Thomas was named as a half-brother and a half-sister, Polly Hardin was also named.

The Amite County MS census of 1830 lists John Reeve's household as including 2 males under 5 years old, 1 male 5-9 and one female under 5. Did all of these children die before 1867? The missing will might have contained explanations regarding his children but the probate books do not. A Thomas Reeve, born 1822, and found in Amite in 1850 was very likely his son but he can't be found in records after 1850 so he may have been deceased before 1867, possibly dying in the Civil War. But Randolph was not deceased in 1867.

It is currently not possible to define it, but there must be some connection between John and Randolph Reeve even though he is mentioned nowhere in the probate records. In 1850, John Reeve's next neighbor was William Ewell, Randolph's wife Clementine's brother. William Ewell was also an executor of John Reeve's will. Could it be that Randolph was John's son and a disagreement caused their relationship to be severed and Randolph was excepted from receiving any legacies from the estate? Unless the will of John Reeve is eventually found, the questions of Randolph's parentage may never be resolved.

UPDATE: In the course of further research of this family, it seems more probable that Randolph was the child of Spencer Reeves who was also living in Columbia County, Georgia at the time of Randolph's birth and had several sons who are as yet unidentified. The 1820 census of Columbia County, Georgia lists Spencer Reeves' household with 4 males ‹10, 1 male ›45, 1 female 10-15, 1 female 16-25 and 1 female 26-44. There are also several instances of the use of the name Randolph among Spencer's descendants. Spencer was likely a brother to John Reeves, but there is currently nothing to support that theory other than proximity.


(Gravestone photo by Wendy Johnson for FindaGrave.)

A Mysterious Reeve Family in Texas

On a recent visit to the Boerne City Cemetery just north of San Antonio in Kendall County, Texas, I happened upon the grave of Nannie Hazel Reeve. She died at just 28 years old. There doesn't seem to be a Texas Death Record for Nannie so the cause of her death is unknown.

Nannie Hazel
REEVE
Born Jan. 18, 1888
Died July 9, 1916

A search of the 1900 census records, found that Nannie was the daughter of William Thomas and Martha Reeve who were living in neighboring Comal County at that time. William Thomas Reeve was born in Mississippi in 1850, the son of Randolph Reeve and Clementine Ewell. According to the inscription on Randolph Reeve's gravestone, he was born on 2 Dec 1819 in Wilkes County, Georgia. The family was listed in the 1850 census of Amite, Mississippi:


Randolph Reeve moved from Mississippi into Louisiana where he is found in Rapides Parish in 1860 and Grant in 1870. From there he migrated into Texas and is recorded in Comal County in the 1880 census. He died in Blanco County, Texas on 26 Jul 1891.

I've currently been unable to find a documented link to Randolph's parents but he may prove to be the son of a John Reeve, born 1789 in Georgia. From around 1820 John Reeve is recorded in Amite, Mississippi. He married Elizabeth Andrews there on May 20, 1823. Elizabeth was probably a second wife for, based upon census records, it appears that John had two small children, Randolph born 1820 and Thomas born in 1822, prior to his marriage to Elizabeth. To further link John Reeve to Randolph, in the 1850 census William Ewell, brother of Clementine, is his next neighbor.

The Role of the Reeve

The office of sheriff owes its origins to the Anglo-Saxon system of local self government, where the "shire reeve" was the chief of a group of several hundred families. The whole realm was parted and divided into shires with the reeve of the shire being the chief officer to the King within that shire. The Sheriff assumed a particular role under Alfred the Great for the maintenance of law and order in each county.

Each of the towns divided into groups of ten families, called tithings. Each tithing elected a leader called a tithingman. The next level of government was a group of ten tithings (or 100 families), and this group elected its own chief. The Anglo-Saxon word for chief was gerefa, later shortened to reeve.

During the next two centuries, groups of hundreds banded together to form a new, higher unit of government called the shire. The shire was the forerunner of the modern county. Each shire had a chief (reeve) as well, and the more powerful official became known as a shire-reeve. The word shire-reeve became the modern English word sheriff — the chief of the county.

Where originally in Anglo-Saxon England the reeve was a senior official with local responsibilities under the king, after the Norman conquest, it was an office held by a man of lower rank appointed as manager of a manor and overseer of the peasants. In this later role, historian H. R. Loyn observes, "he is the earliest English specialist in estate management."

In some manors the reeve was appointed by the lord of the manor, but in others he was elected by the peasants, subject or not to a right of veto by the lord. It depended on the custom of the manor, but there was an increasing tendency for election to be favoured. No doubt an elected reeve was more willingly obeyed and sometimes the peasants generally would be made financially liable if an elected reeve defaulted.

He oversaw the work performed by peasants as an obligation to the lord of the manor on the estate. He was also responsible for many aspects of the finances of the manor such as the sale of produce, collection of monies and payment of accounts. He was usually himself a peasant and was subject to the steward, but the steward might not always be resident on the manor and would not usually concern himself with day to day working. The reeve was chosen once a year, generally at Michaelmas, but a good man who carried out his duties efficiently and was trusted by the lord and the peasants was likely to stay in office more or less permanently. By the 14th century the reeve was often a permanent officer of the manor.