The Rives (Ryves) of Damory Court

Blandford Forum

In 1929, James Rives Childs of Lynchburg, Virginia published Reliques of the Rives (Ryves): being historical and genealogical notes of the ancient family Ryves of County Dorset. This book has been a mainstay for Reeves researchers; however, only a small portion of today’s Reeves’ families descend from this lineage. This Reeves (Rives) family is represented in Group 8 of the Reeves DNA Project which currently has twenty-five members with matching Y-DNA verifying their kinship.

Gravestone Inscription of
Robert Ryves

The Dorset family of Ryves descends from one Robert Ryves of Blandford County, Dorset, England who is the first of the name in England of whom there is record. He was born about 1490 and died 11 February 1551. Although the old church of Blandford Forum was destroyed by fire in 1731, an officer in the King’s Army in 1644 made notes describing the tomb of Robert Ryves. His grandson, Sir John Ryves, born 1536, in a petition stated that King Henry VIII had granted the premises of the manor of Milton County, Dorset to Robert Ryves in 1546.

Many family history books written and published long before the current level of access to historical documents contain abundant misinformation because they relied heavily on proximity as a source of family connections. Childs spend a great amount of time researching Reliques and the book appears to be factual except for a few errors that seem based upon data submitted by Reeves descendants, not the work of Childs himself.

At the time in 1929 when Reliques of the Rives (Ryves) was first published, Childs believed that the immigrant ancestor of this family was William Ryves who was a titheable in Surry County, Virginia in 1684 and 1695. After much further scrutiny and mounting inferential evidence in support of the theory, in 1957, James Rives Childs wrote an amendment to the book which was published in the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography.

During the years after the first publiation, Childs felt that based upon his subsequent research along with additions and corrections shared by others that the immigrant was more likely Timothy Ryves, born 1625, the son of Timothy and Mary Ryves of Oxford. Timothy Rieve or Rives' estate was recorded in the Charles City County Order Book for 1687-1695. He was the father of George, Robert, John, and Timothy Rives, of Virginia.

Recently a Reeves colleague who descends from this family shared a link to this book that contains many interesting tidbits that may be of interest to other members of DNA Group 8 and others of the Rives or Reeves family descending from this lineage.

A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain By Bernard Burke · pub. 1900

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 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.

John Durdan Reeves

Another of the continuing mysteries of Reeves' research is the ancestry of John Durdan Reeves whose Revolutionary War pension statement given in Surry County, North Carolina on the 12th of February 1833 states that he was born in Halifax County, North Carolina in 1759. Much research by many Reeves' researchers has failed to discover his parents.

John D. Reeves married Sarah Locke Elwell around 1788 in Cumberland County, North Carolina where several other Reeves individuals are recorded but no documentation of a family connection has yet been found. There are, however, deeds that establish a connection between John Lock and Nathaniel Reeves such as the 1785 deed for 3 tracts of land in Bladen County. Nathaniel Reeves' will only names three daughters which would appear to prove that he was not John Durdan's father, but may have been an uncle or other family member.

Other Reeves of Cumberland County such as Zachariah are also recorded as having been residents of Halifax County as children. Zachariah Reeves gave a statement in 1826 supporting the Revolutionary War pension application of Sherwood Fort in which he states that they were boys together in Halifax County, North Carolina.The 1778 Halifax County will of Micajah Rawls left legacies to his half brothers John and Jesse Reves. It appears from this will that John Durdan Reeves' father had married a Rawls widow who was the mother of John and Jesse Reeves, but currently no records have been found in Halifax County that identify either his father or mother.

Children of John Durdan Reeves and Sarah Locke Elwell were Richard Elwell Reeves, Micajah Reeves, Elizabeth Reeves, John Reeves, Sarah Locke Reeves, Hannah Reeves and Jesse Franklin Reeves.

Several descendants of John Durdan Reeves have participated in the Reeves DNA Project and were placed in DNA Group 6. Currently relationships to other Reeves' lineages in that group do not appear to be close enough to help identify John's father.


(Photos of 1866 letter by Richard Elwell Reeves courtesy of Billy Fred Reeves, descendant of John Durdan Reeves.)

William Reeves Mariner

William Reeves, a mariner of "Black Island in New England" (this is probably Block Island, Rhode Island), sells a barke (a type of boat) in Surry County Virginia in 1664. The purchaser, William Thomson, agrees to pay 5000 pounds of tobacco to Maurice Rose/Case who presumably holds a mortgage on the boat. The George Jordan who witnessed the document is likely George Jordan of Four Mile Tree in Surry County. Documentation exists stating that George Jordan imported William Thompson to Virginia.

This transaction is transcribed in Surry County VA Records, 1664-1671, Book II and appears exactly as written.

Know men by these presents that I William Revees Marriner of black Island in New England have bargained and sould unto Wm THOMSON of Surrey Couty in Virginia, Minister, a certain barke whereof I have beene Master Called ye,, beginning for which I confes my selfe fully Contented and paid to sd. THOMSON his ordr. His heirs or assigns to have posses and enjoy ye. Barke aforementioned with, all and singular her appurtenances from any hindrance lett or mollestation what soe ever of any owners pte. Owner or whoe soe ever shall p:tend an intrest therein I (sic) witnes whereof ye, sd. Wm. REEVES have for me my heirs execurs. This third day of August Anno 1664 sett my hand and seale. The Condition of yis. Obligation of saile is such that whereas ye sd Wm THOMSON standeth bound unto Maurice CASE? (ROSE?) of Charles Citty County in Virginia in ye, some of 5000 pounds of tobb. And caske payable this next Ensueing Crop Now if ye, sd Wm, Reeve shall save deffend & keep harmles & Indempnified ye sd. Wm THOMSON from ye, aforsed. Bond as alsoe his heirs Execurs. then this pr:sent sale to be void & of None effect or else itt shall stand & be in full force & vertue, the Marke & Seale of Wm Reeves (#) seale red wax. Sealed Signed & delivered in pr:sence of us Geo. JORDON James MILLS. Record. 20th. Mar. 64, Test Geo. WATKIN CL. Records.

Who is this man? Did he stay in Virginia? Or perhaps he returned there at a later date to appear in later records of Surry County. I have never seen him in anyone's genealogy research; however, it would be a worthwhile pursuit to look for New England records of this man as well as additional Virginia records.