New Data for Reeves Family of Grayson County

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

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

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

Valentine Collins Note

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

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

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

Court Order with date before which Jane Burton Reeves died.

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

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.

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.

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.

Update on the Reeves of Wayne County Tennessee

DNA testing is helping to unravel yet another Reeves mystery. Over a year ago, I wrote a post titled Yet Another George Reeves.  At the end of the post, I opined that DNA testing might help identify this mystery George of  Wayne County.

I’ve long been interested in the numerous Reeves families of Wayne County, Tennessee. Most of my paternal ancestors came from Wayne County, Tennessee, but my Reeves line is maternal. I was very curious – were my mother’s relatives living next door to my father’s ancestors 100 years or more before my parents met in Arkansas? And there were so many Reeves there -- surely they couldn’t possibly all be the same line. Most of them came out of nowhere and moved on elsewhere, but a combination of paper trails and DNA testing is starting to bring them into a sharper focus.

One such Reeves is George W Reeves who sold land on Hardin’s Creek in Wayne County, Tennessee in 1833 as "George Reeves of Hickman County, Kentucky." I found him in the 1830 Wayne County census and then in 1840 in Hickman County, Kentucky and in 1850 in Ballard County, Kentucky.  I was able to identify his first wife as Nancy Elizabeth McClure as well as their children and his second wife as Mary Polly Boone.

Then the trail went cold until my Reeves cousin Laverne got her results from the Family Finder test.  Laverne’s test confirmed, as she always knew, that she is part of the Reeves Group 8 DNA family.  But among her matches was a real gem of a find:  two descendants of "George W Reeves of Hickman Kentucky.”

Having identified his line, I knew a little better where to look for more traces of him.  I found his wife’s family, the McClures, living in Humphreys County Tennessee near several Reeves dwellings including that of Jordan Reeves . Further supporting the family relationship, these McClures migrated to Wayne County with George and Nancy and then on to Kentucky. And finally, an 1820 census record of a George Reeves in Perry County TN that had long stumped Group 8 Reeves researchers fits the family structure of our now less mysterious George W Reeves.

We still don’t know who George W Reeves’ father was, but he could very well be one of the Reeves men who migrated to Humphreys and Hickman County Tennessee between 1808 and 1816/17, sons and grandsons of George Reeves and Mary Jordan. 

Updated to add: I now also have a DNA match to a descendent of George W Reeves and Nancy McClure.

Sarah Reeves Dickey of Leon County, Texas

Although no document has yet been found stating absolutely that Sarah Virginia Reeves was the daughter of Avery Reeves of Franklin County, Tennessee, there is ample evidence to support the belief. Several posts to this blog have listed the various records that have been found pertaining to Avery Reeves. Just as his parents are still undocumented, so are his children but it is fairly certain that William Reeves, Jonathan Reeves, Nancy Reeves who married William Claiborne Handley, Sarah Reeves who married James C. Dickey and Hance Henderson Reeves of Franklin County, Tennessee are some of those children.

In 1850 before they left for Texas, the household of James C. Dickey is recorded in Franklin County in the census of that year. Sometime after the birth of their youngest child, Claiborne in 1854, James and Sarah left Tennessee for the state of Texas which had been annexed to the United States in 1845. They're found in Leon County, Texas in the 1860 census. During the early years following Texas' annexation, it was an extremely popular destination for settlers migrating from the eastern United States and east Texas counties were filled with families from Kentucky and Tennessee.

On a recent visit to east Texas, we spent a pleasant fall afternoon locating the Pleasant Grove Cemetery where most of the members of the Dickey family are buried. It is east of the small town of Leona in Leon County on Farm Road 1119 close to the area where Leon and Madison counties join just west of the Trinity River. The area is said to have once been called the "Dickey community". It probably hasn't changed substantially since these early pioneers arrived and is still not heavily populated.

Most of the older sons of James and Sarah Dickey served in Texas Regiments of the Confederacy and returned to Leon County following the end of the Civil War.

Both James and Sarah Dickey were deceased by 1885, but many of their descendants still live in this area of east Texas where they settled back in 1855.

More Curious Things

In a previous post from February of 2012, I reprinted the biography of John Reeves who was born in Mason County, Kentucky in 1802 and died in Brown County, Ohio. There were several curious statements in his biography published in a history of Brown County in 1884. That biography names an Isaac and Margaret Reeves as the parents of John's father, James Reeves which introduced the possibility that James Reeves might have been the son of Isaac Reeves and his wife Margery of Wilkes County, North Carolina.

1798 Marriage Bond for
Sarah Reeves and William Holton

James Reeves was listed in the 1790 census of Wilkes County, North Carolina with 1 male over 16, 1 male under 16 and 3 females which would indicate that had married around 1780 in North Carolina. Sarah Holton's father is believed to have been Alexander Holton and there was an Alex Holton recorded in the 1790 census of Wilkes County but in no subsequent census there.

It had previously been believed that the James Reeves who settled in Wayne County, Tennessee was the son of Isaac Reeves of Wilkes County because a few years after James arrived there, Isaac's son Peter migrated to Wayne County. But based upon the data from the 1790 census, it is unlikely that the James Reeves of Wayne County, with wife Rachel was the son of Isaac and Margery Reeves. James Reeves of Wayne County would have been born after 1776 according to the 1820 census and far too young to have been the father of the 1790 Wilkes County household. That Wayne County census lists James Reeves' household as 1 male ‹10, 1 male 26-44, 2 females ‹10, 1 female 10-15 and 1 female 26-44. In the 1830 census Rachel's age is given as 40-49 or born 1781 to 1790 indicating she could not have been the mother of the children listed in the 1790 census when she would have been approximately 9 years old. Rachel's household in the 1830 census of 1 male ‹5, 2 males 5-9, 1 male 10-15, 1 female 10-14, 1 female 15-19, 1 female 40-49 and 2 slaves is far more consistent with the household of the younger James Reeves of the 1820 census.

No marriage record has been found for James Reeves and Sarah Holton, but recently in the Kentucky County Marriage records at Family Search, I found a 1798 Madison County marriage bond for Sarah Reeves and William Holton with James Reeves as bondsman. When I initially found the document, my first thought was that it pertained to the marriage of James Reeves and Sarah Holton, but then realized that James Reeves was bondsman, not the groom. In comparing the signature of the James Reeves from this marriage bond to that of James of Wilkes County on the marriage bond of his sister, Bettie, to John Wilson in 1784 for which he was bondsman, the signatures are very similar. The signature from the Wilkes County document is not as clear as that of the Kentucky document because the pen or quill was making large ink smudges which makes a comparison of the name "Reeves" more difficult, but the given name "James" is very much like the Madison County signature. There were several unidentified daughters listed in Isaac Reeves, Sr.'s household in the 1790 census of Wilkes County. Could this Sarah Reeves who married William Holton be James' sister? And William Holton possibly be the brother of Sarah Holton?

Another curious bit of information found regarding this family pertains to Lazarus Reeve, son of Isaac B. Reeve, who left Wilkes County around 1815 and by 1820 had settled in Morgan County, Illinois. In every census from 1850 to 1880, Lazarus Reeve gives his place of birth as Kentucky, yet his father is recorded in the 1800 census of Wilkes County, North Carolina. One undocumented reference to Lazarus Reeve online gave his place of birth as Madison County, Kentucky. This raises a question as to whether Isaac B. Reeve may have moved to Kentucky in the late 1790's when his brother James did but returned to Wilkes County before 1800 and did not permanently leave there until after 1815 when he migrated to Morgan County, Illinois.

These bits of information provide more questions than answers to the mystery of the origins of James Reeves of Mason County, Kentucky. As we continue to search the extant records of Wilkes County, North Carolina in addition to Kentucky and Illinois, hopefully we will eventually find answers.

Reeves' Migration to the Louisiana Purchase

The French had ceded the vast Louisiana territory that lay west of the Misssissippi River to Spain before it became the property of France again and was purchased by the United States in 1803. The French had made few settlements in Louisiana, primarily establishing trading posts from which trappers and hunters explored the wilderness. Spanish authorities, however, encouraged migration. They offered land grants to all who could prove they had cleared and improved the land with the intention of making permanent settlement.

This migration was accelerated by the arrival of Daniel Boone in Missouri in 1795. He established a claim in St. Charles county and within a few years signed an agreement with the Spanish authorities to bring one hundred families from Kentucky and Virginia to Upper Louisiana.

John Reeves, Revolutionary War soldier, who was subject of a previous post left South Carolina within a few years of his 1796 marriage to Rachel Barnes and was present in the area south of the Missouri River that became Madison County, Missouri by around 1801. On 26 Dec 1833, he gave a statement in regard to the land claim of Benjamin Pettit, Jr. where he was recorded as saying that he was well acquainted with Benjamin Pettit, Jr. the original claimant; that he (Benjamin Pettit, Jr.) came to this country, then the province of Upper Louisiana, in the year 1802 or 1803. John Reeves is also documented as making a statement that in 1804 on account of the Osage Indians, the inhabitants were driven together for a common defense, and that they raised a common crop in that year.

In the course of recent research of the Reeves of Patrick County, Virginia, I found that after the removal of all that family from Virginia around 1820, two of the presumed sons of George Reeves of Patrick County, had migrated to Missouri after leaving Virginia. Thomas Reeves and his brother Josiah were present in Franklin County, Missouri shortly after leaving Virginia.

The State Historical Society of Missouri gives the following information regarding the Harrison-Reeves Bloomery in Crawford County: Thicketty Creek, in the northeastern part of the county close to the Washington County line, three miles south of Bourbon. It is the second earliest record of the mining and smelting of iron ore in Missouri. It was probably erected in 1819 or 1820 by William Harrison, one of the earliest settlers of Crawford County, and Josiah Reeves, with Thomas Reeves as forgeman. Early bloomeries in Missouri usually consisted of a forge which resembled a smith's forge and a furnace. This crude furnace, known as Harrison's Furnace, Harrison's Forge, Harrison's Bloomery, or Harrison's Iron Works, continued in operation for several years.

Around the same time the Reeves of Patrick County settled in Franklin and Crawford Counties, two of the sons of Samuel Reeves of Rowan County left North Carolina and by 1830 were recorded in the census of St. Francois County, Missouri. Bennet Abner Reeves and his brother William were then listed in the 1840 census of Cape Girardeau, County. The Bureau of Land Management issued land warrant #2707 for 40 acres in Cape Girardeau County on 20 Jan 1827 to Bennet A. Reeves as well as another warrant #5740 for 40 acres in the same county on 1 Aug 1838.

In Crawford County by 1840, Josiah Reeves and his descendants were joined by Jesse Jefferson Reeves of Buncombe County, North Carolina, who was probably a son of James Reeves. Jesse J. Reeves' sisters, Mary and Sarah, who had married into the Eaton family, also migrated to the area of Missouri south of the Missouri River.

Reeves' families were not only settling in the Missouri River area of the Louisiana Purchase, others like Jordan Reeves were migrating across the Mississippi River into Arkansas. Jordan had settled in Independence County, Arkansas by 1825 and numerous other Reeves' families followed within a very few years.

The Reeves of Patrick County, Virginia

In the course of writing a previous post regarding the George Reeves who died in Wilson County, Tennessee in 1816, it became apparent that this was the same George Reeves who is found in the early records of Patrick County, Virginia from around the time of its inception in 1791.

George Reeves' Wilson County will names only his youngest son Jeremiah and daughter Susannah, making no mention of the older children. Research of Patrick County, Virginia marriage records establish most of George's daughters from the records of his consent to their marriages; however, his sons were apparently all of age and no consent was required. From the tax and deed records of Patrick County, it appears that in addition to Jeremiah, George's children included sons Thomas, Josiah, John and Charles. Daughters Ann who married James Turner, Lucy who married William Witt, and Jane who married James Williams are documented by George Reeves' consents in the Patrick County marriage records. Another daughter Polly was apparently old enough not to require consent to her 1808 marriage to Nicholas Thomas but after his death is found in Wilson County, Tennessee with other family members and as "Polly Thomas" married John F. McDaniel there in 1816.

By the time the 1820 census was taken in Patrick County, all of these Reeves individuals had left the area and are no longer found in any of the records. John Reeves and his wife Hannah Pedigo who had married in 1807 left for Campbell County, Tennessee shortly after 1811 and begin to appear in the census there in 1830. Charles Reeves' last appearance in the Patrick County records was in October, 1816 when he married Elizabeth Lackey and on the 2nd of November 1816, Josiah (sometimes listed as Joseph) & Constandestion Reeves executed a deed to John Mize for the property which had been conveyed to Josiah by his father. The last record in Patrick County of any member of this family is a deed executed by Thomas Reeves on 10 November 1819 (DB5:244).

The youngest son, Charles, apparently settled in White County, Tennessee soon after leaving Virginia. It was there that his wife Elizabeth died in 1821. He is found there in other records throughout the 1830's and may be the Charles Reeves recorded in the 1840 census of Warren County, Tennessee.

I very recently happened upon records in Franklin and Crawford Counties of Missouri for a Thomas and Josiah Reeves who appear to be the individuals who migrated from Patrick County, Virginia. Thomas Reeves and William Harrison, described as of Washington County, Missouri, received a land patent for 80 acres in Crawford County on the 20th of May in 1824. Thomas and Josiah Reeves are both recorded in Franklin County, Missouri in the 1830 census. Thomas must have died between 1830 and 1840 for he is not recorded in any other census. Josiah lived in Crawford County and is recorded there in the 1840 and 1850 census, dying sometime after 1860 when he was recorded in that census in the home of a son, R. B. Reeves, in Texas County, Missouri.


(Photo of Harrison Cemetery marker by P. L. Greenlee for FindaGrave.)

An Arkansas Reeves' Mystery Solved

When I originally came across the biography of a William Reeves of Montgomery County, Arkansas in Goodspeed's Biographical & Historical Memoirs of Western Arkansas, published in 1891, I had no idea which Reeves' family this particular William Reeves descended from. I saved the biography among all the copious Reeves' data I collect thinking that at some point his ancestry might be identified. And surprisingly, I recently found William in the probate records of the estate of William Reeves, Jr. who died in Smith County, Tennessee circa 1855. His mother died before 1842 when William Reeves, Jr. married again to Jemima Downing in neighboring Allen County, Kentucky.

William C. Reeves of Montgomery County, Arkansas was not the small child indicated by the Goodspeed biography for the 1850 census records his presence in his father's household at age 12. His father died sometime before February 1855 when his estate was being probated in the Smith County, Tennessee Court. The subject of this sketch is recorded in those court minutes as having sold his portion of his father's estate to his father's sister, Elizabeth and her husband Horace Oliver and his cousin Rhoda Reeves and her husband Richard C. Sanders. This estate was not finally settled until sometime circa 1870.

The grandfather of William C. Reeves was another William Reeves whose 1837 will was probated in Smith County in January of 1839. He had given a statement for his brother Daniel Reeves in support of Daniel's Revolutionary War pension application. The statements in that pension application record the father of William and Daniel Reeves as John Reeves of South Carolina. According to William's statement they lived in an area he described as above Camden (probably Lancaster County).

From Goodspeed's biography, William was a resident of Montgomery County in Arkansas's Quachita Mountains by 1859. On 14 Feb 1863, he enlisted as a corporal in Company A, Arkansas 1st Infantry Regiment of the U.S. Army which operated in Missouri, Indian Territory and Arkansas. He was promoted to Full Sergeant prior to being discharged.

In 1868 he was appointed sheriff of Montgomery County. After his term as sheriff, he homesteaded eighty acres of land adjacent a small branch of the Mazarn Creek. The Reeves-Melson house which he had built around 1882 is still standing and is a historic site. There is also a Reeves' Creek in this area which is presumably named for him.

William C. Reeves died on April 15th, 1920 in Womble, Montgomery County, Arkansas.


The following is the biography as published by Goodspeed but descendants should beware for numerous inaccuracies are found in the biography when compared to the historical records of this family ~

William REEVES The entire life of this gentlemen has been one unmarked by any unusual occurrence outside of the chosen channels to which he has so diligently applied himself, and although he was born in Smith County, Tenn., in 1839, he has been a resident of Montgomery County, Ark., since 1859, and has identified himself with every interest of his adopted county and State. His parents, Dr. William and Ruth (Campbell) Reeves, were born in North Carolina, but afterwards became residents of Smith County, Tenn., the father dying when William was a small boy, and his mother when he was nine years old. He was the youngest of two sons and one daughter born to them: John (deceased), and Mary J. (wife of Thomas Green), being the other two members of the family. William was reared by an uncle, Moses Reeves, of Smith County, until he was ten years of age, when he began doing for himself, working on a wood boat on the Cumberland River for several years, afterwards turning his attention to farming. He was married in 1850, to Miss Emily Jones, and the same year came to Montgomery County, and lived on the south fork of the Caddo River, where he has a fine farm of 368 acres. For about seven years he was engaged in merchandising at Black Springs, but has since devoted his attention to farming, a calling for which he is naturally adapted. In February, 1863, he became a member of Company A, First Arkansas Infantry, and operated in Missouri, Indian Territory and Arkansas. He organized Company I, of the second Kansas troops, but afterwards took part in the engagement at Jenkins' Ferry, besides several others. In 1868 he received the appointment of sheriff of Montgomery County, a position he has satisfied for four years. He is a demitted member of Crystal Ridge Lodge, of the A.F. & A.M., and for some time has been an earnest member of the Christian Church.

Photo of Reeves-Melson house from Arkansas Historic Preservation Program.

Busting Myths about William Steel Reeves

Page from James Robertson bible

William Steel Reeves was born in Pendleton District, South Carolina on 9 March 1794, the son of George Reeves Jr and Mary Polly Steele (surname unproven). His birthdate is recorded in the James Robertson bible.

William Steel Reeves married Nancy Totty in Hickman County Tennessee in 1816. He moved to Crawford County, Arkansas before 1836 and stayed for several years before moving to Grayson County, Texas before 1850.

William Steel Reeves died on 7 June 1872 and is buried in the Georgetown Cemetery in Pottsboro, Grayson County, Texas.

It is in a book called "The History of Grayson County, Texas" where at least two myths about William seem to have gotten their start.

In this book, William's descendant Geraldine Coe wrote the section on the history of the William Steel Reeves family which begins thusly:

My great great grandfather was born March 9, 1794 in Pendleton District South Carolina. His ancestors came from Ireland to S.C. in 1792. He was orphaned at age 3 and his uncle raised him in Nashville, Tennessee.  

In this short excerpt, two myths appear:

Myth #1 -  the family "came from Ireland to S. C. in 1792." They did not. See William Steel Reeves' lineage in the ancestry tree: Reliques of the Rives -- Group 8 DNA.

Myth #2 -- "he was orphaned at age 3 and his uncle raised him in Nashville, Tennessee." This is not true either. His mother died when he was very young, but his father George Reeves Jr remarried quickly to Mary O'Barr while still living in Pendleton, South Carolina." The family later moved to middle Tennessee where William is found in the 1820 census of Hickman County.

Sadly this book is found in libraries all over the country and continues to serve to perpetuate these myths. It never seems to work to put too much faith in genealogy books as so many rely on family lore and unfounded conjecture rather than research and documentary evidence. You must still verify, verify, and verify again.

Middle Tennessee: 18th Century Melting Pot

The stories of Tennessee’s earliest white settlers are well known such as the attacks by native Americans on the first stations or forts built in the Cumberland settlements. After the revolution, North Carolina soldiers were given bounty land grants along the Cumberland River in Tennessee while grants to soldiers of the Virginia line were just to the north in Logan County, Kentucky. Ramsey’s Annals of Tennessee written in 1853 chronicles the struggle to settle the early Cumberland settlements. James Robertson and his wife Charlotte Reeves are famously a part of that history. Charlotte is credited with saving Fort Nashborough by turning the hounds loose in order to distract the attacking Indians and allow the men time to return to the fort from the fields where they were working.

In the course of researching several Reeves’ families who migrated into Tennessee in the early part of the 19th century, I was surprised to find such a large influx of diverse families who were recorded there by the 1830 census.

The only Reeves’ individuals listed in the census of the Cumberland Settlements 1770 to 1790 (taken from various source documents found in the records of Sumner and Davidson counties) are Charlotte Reeves Robertson and a William Reeves who is presumably Charlotte’s brother. This William Reeves is listed as arriving with the Donelson flotilla and may have accompanied Charlotte as she and other wives made the perilous trip west in flatboats on the Cumberland River. If this was William Reeves the brother of Charlotte, he did not remain long for within a short time, he is again recorded in the Watauga settlement of North Carolina. It was approximately 20 years before Charlotte's brother William made a permanent move to Tennessee. Charlotte's nephew Jordan Reeves, Jr. is also recorded in Davidson County prior to 1800 and in tax lists of Wilson County between 1800 and 1810.


A Moses Reeves, listed as having been born in Virginia in 1768, married Sarah Gibson in Greene County on 5 Nov 1796 and is recorded on the tax lists in Blount County in 1800 and Greene County in 1805. Moses and his family remained in Greene County where he is listed as deceased on the 1850 Federal Census and Mortality Schedule. A William Reeves is also included on the 1805 Greene County tax lists. Two individuals descending from Moses and from William Reeves have participated in the Reeves DNA Project but their DNA does not match any of the other 14 groups currently identified. By the 1810 census, John Reeves and Hooker Reeves, both aged 26-44, are recorded in Wilson County. They were both also named as early settlers to Wilson County in Goodspeed’s history of that area.

The 1820 census records the surge of Reeves’ families who had migrated into middle Tennessee.

James, Jonathan, Reuben and William Reeves are listed in Hickman County. The DNA of descendants of several of these individuals confirm that they also descend from the Rives family of Surry County, Virginia from which Charlotte Reeves Robertson descends and have been placed in DNA Group 8.

In Perry County, just west of Hickman, George and John Reeves are found in the 1820 census living next door to each other. There also appears to be another John Reeves of the same approximate age living in Perry County in 1820.

Jeremiah Turner Reeves is recorded in the 1820 census of Wilson County. He was the son of George Reeves who had migrated to Tennessee from Patrick County, Virginia. George Reeves died in Wilson County in 1816 leaving a will naming Jeremiah and his sister Susannah. Other children of George Reeves have been identified from the marriage records of Patrick County.

In Franklin County, Avery Reeves a descendant of William Reeves of Granville, North Carolina, is found as early as the 1812 tax lists along with an Abner Reeves. Avery's lineage has been established by DNA of a descendant who is a participant in the Reeves DNA Project and placed in Group 3. Maulden Reeves, son of Burgess Reeves of Pendleton County, South Carolina, is found there in deed records by 1818 and recorded in the 1820 census in addition to an unidentified Edward Reeves. Maulden also descends from William Reeves of Granville NC.

William Reeves who was living in Smith County by 1820 gave a deposition for the revolutionary war pension application of his brother, Daniel Reeves of Davidson County. William’s son John is also listed in the 1820 census of Smith County. According to Daniel’s revolutionary war pension statement their father was a John Reeves of South Carolina, probably living in Lancaster County. This family appears to be descended from the Reeves family of Prince William County, Virginia although more participants are needed in the Reeves DNA Project to definitely confirm the lineage.

The flood gates had opened by 1830 and within the next few years the Reeves living in Tennessee are too numerous to mention here. In addition to the families already mentioned, they included descendants of Isaac Reeves, Sr. of Wilkes County, North Carolina living in Wayne County, Willis Reeves and his children of Orange County, North Carolina were in Fayette County, and descendants of Edward Reeves of Bladen County, North Carolina are recorded in Washington County along with countless other Reeves' families throughout Tennessee.

The search for Avery Reeves continues…

In a previous post I mentioned the theory that Avery Reeves was the son of Jonathan Reeves and Nancy Hooker of Granville and Wake counties of North Carolina. Not only Avery’s parents are a mystery but his wife and children are as well.

The 1790 census of Wake County lists a Jonathan Reeves with 2 Males over 16, 5 Males under 16 and 4 Females. Jonathan Reeves is undoubtably the same Jonathan who was first listed as a tithe of Malachi Reeves in Granville County in 1762. In 1769, he married Nancy Hooker in Granville County and during the 1780’s is listed on the tax lists of Beaver Dam Creek in southern Granville County just north of the Neuse River. By the 1790 census he is living on the south side of the Neuse River in the Fish Dam community of Wake County along with his presumed brother-in-law Richard Banks. Richard Banks married Karenhapuch Hooker on 16 Jun 1774 in Granville County after the death of his first wife, Ruth Hooker, who was probably another daughter of John Hooker.

The first record of Avery is on 15 Sep 1795 when he was bondsman for the marriage of Ruth Reeves, believed to be his sister, and John Sanders in Wake County. Avery arrived in Franklin County, Tennessee before 1812 when he is listed in the tax lists there. In Franklin County, John Sanders was a neighboring property owner, his land being adjacent to Avery’s in deed records.

Prior to his arrival in Franklin County, Avery lived briefly in York County, South Carolina where he is recorded in the 1810 census. Avery is found in that census living in the Rich Hill community among other descendants of Malachi Reeves of Granville.

Recently, when transcribing a Franklin County deed of Avery Reeves, I noticed that one of the witnesses was Hance McWhorter. I found this especially interesting since one of Avery’s presumed sons was Hance Henderson Reeves. An internet search for Hance McWhorter revealed that he was the son of Hance McWhorter, Sr. Additionally, I found that Hance, Jr.'s sister Mary had married a John Henderson in York County, South Carolina and one of their sons was Hance Henderson.

Rebecca, the youngest daughter of Hance McWhorter, Sr. was supposedly born circa 1775 in South Carolina. There currently seems to be no credible documentation available regarding Rebecca's spouse and she was known to have still been single in 1800 about the time Avery would have arrived in South Carolina. There is a documented connection between Rebecca McWhorter and the Reeves' family in York County, South Carolina for Rebecca was a witness in Nov of 1800 when John Henderson (her brother-in-law) was plaintiff in a suit against Wiley, William and William Reeves, Sr.

Interestingly, the death of a Rebecca Reeves, age 85 and born 1775 in South Carolina, is recorded in the U.S. Federal Census Mortality Schedules Index in Franklin County, Tennessee in Sept. 1860.

Much more research is needed to prove Avery’s parents as well as his spouses and children, but based upon current research and a vast amount of circumstantial data, the following are believed to be some of the children of Avery Reeves:

William Reeves, b. 1795 in North Carolina, d. 1862 in Franklin, Tennessee

Jonathan Reeves, b. circa 1801

Nancy Reeves, b. 1804 in South Carolina, d. 1857 in Franklin, Tennessee, m. William Claiborne Handly

Sarah Virginia Reeves, b. 1810 in South Carolina, d. 1878 in Leon County, Texas, m. James G. Dickey

Hance Henderson Reeves, b. 1814 in Tennessee, d. 1861 in Franklin County, Tennessee, m. Amanda Bean

Check back – I’ve only just begun to search the records of Franklin County and have lots more documents to find. Hopefully some of them will produce more information about this family.


(Photo of Nancy Reeves Handly's gravestone by Patti Campbell of Estill Springs, TN for Find A Grave.)

Uncle Tommy Reeves of Malden, Missouri

Thomas Bird Reeves settled in Dunklin County, Missouri in 1859. He was the son of William T. Reeves (originally spelled Reves) and Michal* Hoskins of Halifax County, Virginia born on the 26th February, 1819. In 1829, his father died leaving a widow and seven children.

Thomas Bird Reeves

After William’s death, Michal Hoskins Reeves took her seven children and migrated west into Tennessee along with her family where her father, Thomas C. Hoskins died around July of 1839 in Rutherford County, Tennessee.

It was in Rutherford County that Thomas Bird Reeves married Louisa E. Ford in 1848. The extended Reeves’ family then moved on to Gibson County in northwestern Tennessee where several of his sisters married as did his brother Peter May Reeves.

By the census of 1860, Thomas and his family were recorded in the census of Dunklin County, Missouri. The majority of his extended family remained in Milan, Gibson County, Tennessee, where his mother Michal Hoskins Reeves died in 1878. Thomas Bird Reeves lived in Dunklin County, Missouri for the next forty years where his children and grandchildren grew up and married. According to his biography published in The History of Dunklin County, Missouri - "Uncle Tommie, as he is affectionately called, owned and occupied one of the first business houses in Malden but has been principally a farmer." Some years after Thomas moved across the Mississippi River into Missouri, his brother Peter migrated to Greene County, Arkansas which is just across the state line from Dunklin County.

Obituary of Thomas Bird Reeves published in the Weatherford Democrat of Parker County, Texas on the 9th January, 1896:

Thos. B. Reeves died last Sunday morning, Jan. 5th, near Greenwood, aged 76 years, of general debility or paralysis. He was sick only about 36 hours. He moved to this county from Missouri last November. He has been a member of the Missionary Baptist church since 1862. He was a member of the Cotton Hill lodge No. 306, I.O.O.F. of Missouri since 1874. His remains were interred in the Greenwood cemetery Monday, under the auspices of the Odd Fellows of this city. Rev. Mr. Tenison of the Greenwood settlement preached the funeral discourse in the house of the deceased’s son, where Mr. Reeves died.

The above photo contains members of Thomas Bird Reeves family - (Back Row) Tom Sipes, Belle Keedy Stevens holding Herbert Stevens Jr, Charles F. Moore; (Front Row) Louisa E. Ford Reeves, widow of Thomas Bird Reeves, Minnie Stevens Sipes holding Rosina Sipes, Lou Reeves Moore, Bernice Stevens and Clara Stevens.

My own grandfather, William Hubbard Reeves, was born in Ballard County, Kentucky and also migrated across the Mississippi River into New Madrid County, Missouri as an adult. I often wonder if he might have been aware that he was closely related to these Reeves’ cousins who lived just a few counties away.

---

* Although Thomas Bird Reeves' mother's name is spelled many different ways, i.e. Michell, Michael, and various other variations, I happened upon a document in the Chancery Court Cases at the Library of Virginia relative to the probate of her deceased husband's estate that had an original signature where she clearly signed her name as "Michal Reves".


(Many, many thanks to Sarah McEachern for the photos of Thomas Bird Reeves and his family.)

On the trail of another George Reeves

Recently I came across the 1816 will of a George Reeves in Wilson County, Tennessee. The will only named two children - Jeremiah who was described as his youngest son and a daughter Susanah. Curiosity as to who this George Reeves was set off another search.

Within a short time, Jeremiah was found to be Jeremiah Turner Reeves who later migrated to Madison County, Arkansas and died there in 1862. Census showed Jeremiah was born in Virginia, a fact which soon led to Patrick County, Virginia where Anny, daughter of George Reeves, had married James Turner in 1796. Ann and James Turner also migrated to Wilson County, Tennessee.

Marriage records of Patrick County found online produced two more marriages that recorded George Reeves as the father of the brides - Lucy Reeves to William Witt on 24 Feb 1799 and Jane Reeves to James Williams on 12 Dec 1813. Another Patrick County marriage that did not specifically name George as the father was that of Polly Reeves to Nicholas Thomas on 14 Mar 1808. Polly was apparently widowed very soon after her marriage and was found in Wilson County by 1816 where she was remarried to John F. McDaniel.

George Reeves' daughter Susanah died in 1823 and although she died intestate, the probate records of Wilson County include an inventory and estate sale. In those documents, her brother Jeremiah is listed as administrator. Her brother-in-law John F. McDaniel along with Burwell Reeves who is possibly another brother are both named in the inventory as owing debts to Susanah. The sale of Susanah's estate names Jeremiah, Burwell, John F. McDaniel and Frances Turner, Susanah's niece (daughter of Ann and James Turner), among others, as buyers.

The family of George Reeves has begun to take shape but more historical records are needed to document his other sons. It is very likely that John Reeves who married Hannah Perigo in Patrick County and later migrated to Campbell County, Tennessee is a son of George Reeves in addition to Thomas, Charles and Josiah Reeves who are named in court orders and/or marriages there. More extensive marriage records have been ordered and may soon resolve some of these questions.

The final question is - who were George Reeves' parents? Could he be the son of Frederick Rives of Franklin County, Virginia? James Rives Childs when writing Reliques of the Ryves believed that George may have died around 1806 because he executed a Power of Attorney to his brother Burwell at that time. Did George Rives (Reeves?) die, or did he just move away to Tennessee? Or, could he be a descendant of Henry Reeves of Essex County, Virginia whose descendants are known to have been located a little further north in the Shenandoah Valley from Augusta to Frederick counties? Hopefully, searching the extant deed and court records of Franklin, Henry and Patrick counties of Virginia will someday produce the answer.


(Photo of Jeremiah T. Reeves' gravestone by Gary & Nancy Clampitt for Find A Grave.)

Another Soldier of the Revolution

On the 20th of September, 1819 in the District of West Tennessee, Samuel Reeves, a resident of Lincoln County, made a declaration regarding his Revolutionary War service. Samuel stated that he was sixty-six years old at that time making his year of birth 1753. He did not indicate where he was born or give any information regarding his parents but did state that he enlisted in May of 1775 in Surry County, North Carolina.

Samuel's statement in support of his pension states that he enlisted for a term of two years and six months in a company commanded by Captain Joseph Philips in the Regiment commanded by Colonel Thomas Polk of the North Carolina line. He recounted being in the battles of Brandywine and Germantown, serving until November of 1777 when he was discharged in New Jersey or Pennsylvania. His statement of 1819 states he was discharged in New Jersey while the 1826 statement gives Pennsylvania as the location.

The pension file also includes statements by both his wife, Susannah Brack Reeves, and her sister, Patsy Brack Worfe, giving details of his marriage to Susannah in Wake County, North Carolina on the 20th of November 1785.

Samuel is listed in the 1790 census of Granville County, North Carolina living in a household adjacent to Samuel Brack who was presumably Susannah's father.

Although Samuel's parents are unknown, he was named as executor of the 1803 will of his sister Elizabeth's husband Benjamin Coates recorded in Iredell County, North Carolina Will Book 1, Page 82. Another sister, Lucretia Reeves, was the wife of George Allen, Jr. and the marriage is said to be recorded in a family bible as detailed in The Allens of the Southern States.

There is no definitive listing of the children of Samuel and Susannah Reeves although a son, Malachi, is named in the Revolutionary War pension statement. A William Reeves also gave a statement for that pension application and is believed to be another son which is consistent with the ages of children in census records but no relationship is stated.

Although proximity is certainly not proof of a family connection, Allen Reeves and Samuel R. Reeves who are also found in Lincoln County at the same time that the Samuel Reeves' family was living there, are believed to be his sons. An Isaac Reeves was also living in the same community at that time but again, there is no proof of a connection. Isaac moved on to Lawrence County, Alabama and died in Itawamba County, Mississippi in August of 1858.

Samuel's son, Malachi Reeves, his wife Sinah Swanner and their family migrated to Carroll County, Arkansas, as did some of the children of Samuel R. Reeves whose wife, Nancy, is listed as a widow in the 1860 Lincoln County, Tennessee census.

The widow's pension of Susannah Brack Reeves gives Samuel's date of death as the 12th of October 1834.

There don't appear to be any participants in the Reeves DNA Project from this lineage which would be a great help in determining from which Reeves' family they descend.


Transcription of the pension statements of Samuel Reeves are available at Southern Campaign Revolutionary War Pension Statements & Rosters.

The Reeves of Christian County, Kentucky: Part 2

County of Christian, Kentucky Historical and Biographical edited by William Henry Perrin and published in 1884 also names James Reeves as one of the earliest settlers to Christian County. James is recorded in Christian County in the 1800 Second Census of Kentucky in addition to John Reeves, Martha Reeves (widow of Brewer), William Reeves and William Reeves, Jr.

There is no documentation that connects James to the other Reeves in the Christian County census of 1800 other than the fact that both James Reeves and a John Reeves were recorded in the 1790 census of Greenville, South Carolina. Whether this is the same John Reeves is unknown, but it is documented that James Reeves resided in South Carolina before moving to Kentucky. James had married Nancy Goodwin, daughter of Jesse Goodwin of Pendleton District, before 1800 in South Carolina. Jesse Goodwin also migrated to the area of Christian and Trigg counties of Kentucky at the same time. When Jesse Goodwin wrote his will in 1841, Nancy Goodwin Reeves was deceased but he named all of the children of James and Nancy Reeves. Those children were Susan, Jesse Goodwin, William, Samuel, Urias, Elizabeth, Leah, Lettie, Nancy and Bethel (Chester).

James Reeves was half Cherokee according to family Dawes depositions taken in 1896. The fact that there was native american ancestry recorded in both the families of James and William Reeves might suggest a possible connection but certainly nothing definite.

Before 1820, James and his family had moved to Gallatin/Saline counties in Illinois but didn't stay there long and by around 1830 most of the family had moved on to Obion, Tennessee. Hiram, James and Samuel Reeves, sons of Frederick Reeves of York, South Carolina and formerly of Granville, North Carolina, were also living in Obion by this time so once again there is the challenge of keeping the two lineages separate when researching the Reeves in that county. Reportedly by around 1850, James Reeves migrated further west to Fort Smith, Arkansas where he appears to have died but the location and date of his death are unknown.

The 1800 census lists both William Reeves and William Reeves, Jr. in Christian County. It's unknown whether the term "Jr." indicates that individual was the son of the other, or as was common at that time, the Jr. was just used to differentiate between an older and a younger person of the same name. There are currently no clues as to the identity of the elder William Reeves but the individual listed as William Reeves, Jr. appears to be William Reeves who, with wife Susan Hunter, lived in Christian County briefly around the turn of the 19th century.

The little that is known of William Reeves and Susan Hunter comes from a Dawes' application made by their grandson Larkin C. "Lake" Wilson around 1896-1898. That application states that Susan Hunter was a full-blood Cherokee. According to this application, Susan Hunter came from "...Cherokee Nation East of the Mississippi." The only clue to their previous residence before arriving in Kentucky is North Carolina based upon the place of birth listed in census records for their presumed oldest son, James. It is unknown when and where William and Susan died but by 1828, James Reeves is found living in Hempstead County, Arkansas and there is no further record for his parents.

Jane Reeves who married John B. Wilson and Henry G. Reeves are documented as children of William and Susan Hunter Reeves in the Dawes' application filed by Lake Wilson. Other presumed children are James, Rebecca, Green B. and Clarinda Reeves. A descendant of Green B. Reeves has participated in the Reeves DNA Project and matched the descendant of an Ambrose Reeves who died in Arkansas around 1855. There is almost no information available regarding Ambrose Reeves but in the 1900 census, his son William Carroll Reeves gives his father's birthplace as Tennessee. It might be possible that there is a connection to Reeves living in Obion, Tennessee, but I have been unable to document it.

Interestingly former president Bill Clinton is a descendant of William Reeves and Susan Hunter through their daughter Jane Reeves and her husband, John B. Wilson.

Participation in the Reeves DNA Project by more of the male descendants of these lines would be a great benefit in resolving their identities.

Coming next, in Part 3 of this series Carolyn will investigate Miles Reeves who migrated from the Carolinas to Christian County arriving a few years after these Reeves' families. Some of Miles' descendants also moved on to Arkansas, settling in Independence County.



(Information regarding these Reeves' families includes the research of Kathy Wilburne for the family of James Reeves and Will Johnson, professional genealogist, for the research of William Reeves.)