What became of William Reeves, Jr. of Granville?

For many years it was believed that William, son of William Reeves who died in Granville County in 1751 and patriarch of the Reeves of DNA Group 3, was the same individual who migrated to York, South Carolina around 1790 dying there in 1821. The idea that he lived to 1821 in itself is questionable since Bertie County NC records establish that he would have been born before about 1714 since he witnessed a deed in 1728/29. A 1728/29 deed from Ralph Mason to his father William Reeves was witnessed by William Jr. and since the age requirement to witness a deed was age 14 for a male (12 for a female) he must have been born before 1714/15. Additionally, he disappeared from the records of Granville County after, as William Reeves of Edgecombe, conveying 522 acres in Granville County to his brother Malachi on 29 May 1753.

The William Reeves who appears in subsequent records of Granville County would have been his nephew William, son of Malachi. Malachi's son William appears as his tithe on the 1755 tax lists of Granville County and again in 1762. In subsequent years William is listed in his own right as an adult in Granville records. Y-DNA of numerous descendants of this William Reeves and wife Elizabeth who later migrated to York, SC establish that he was from the Reeves lineage found in DNA Group 3.

Over the last few years several descendants of William Reaves of Wayne County, North Carolina have also proven to be descended from the Granville Reeves family based upon their Y-DNA results. Accordingly it can be assumed that they descend from William Reeves, Jr. The only other sons of William Reeves of Granville whose descendants, if any, are unaccounted for are sons Benjamin and Isaac. Benjamin may be the Benjamin Reeves who settled in Rowan County at about the same time his brother James Reeves and sons are listed on the tax lists of Rowan County. James' family was in a part of Rowan County that became Guilford where they are found subsequent to the 1770s and Benjamin continued to live in Rowan in the area that became Montgomery County. Isaac, once believed to be the Isaac Reeves who settled in Wilkes County, North Carolina in the 1770s, has proven to be from a completely different Reeves' lineage thanks to the Y-DNA of some of his descendants who are found in DNA Group 6C. Isaac, son of William Reeves of Granville, lived in a portion of Orange County adjoining Granville which was separated from Orange and became Caswell County. He appears to have left that area settling in Randolph County based upon a 1781 deed filed in Caswell County. This leaves William Reeves, Jr. as the most likely individual to be the patriarch of the Reaves family of Wayne County.

The loss of the records of extinct Dobbs County, North Carolina has been a great impediment to North Carolina genealogy. After Dobbs County ceased to exist in 1791, its records along with the early records of Johnston, Wayne, Greene, and Lenoir Counties were lost in a courthouse fire. In 1878, a Courthouse fire in Kinston destroyed almost all these records except the original Dobbs County grantee index. For some time it has been believed that William Reeves, Jr. is the individual of that name listed in the index of Deed Book 5 at page 638 in a deed from Andrew Bass to William Reeves dated between April 1757 and April 1758. The Andrew Bass family continued to be involved with William Reeves in area deeds as evidenced by a deed listed in the Dobbs deed index for Book 8, April 1769 to April 1771, where on page 241 William Reaves conveyed property to Andrew Bass, Jr and on page 247 Andrew Bass, Jr in turn conveyed land to William Reaves. The location of the property involved in these transactions is unknown since the only record is the index. Again on 2 Mar 1771 William Reeves witnessed an Andrew Bass "of Dobbs County" deed recorded in Duplin County Deed Book 3 at page 382-383.

Based on the loss of those Dobbs County records, it is beneficial that the earliest records of Duplin County are extant and contain many deeds by these same individuals recorded in Dobbs County. In many cases they are even identified as "of Dobbs County" in the deeds. These earliest deed books Volumes 1 through 4 are unindexed and require some extra effort to search but can be worth the time spent perusing them page by page on a rainy day.

On the 28th of February 1757 in Duplin County, a William Reaves who is possibly this individual witnessed a deed from Richard Odom to Nicholas Major [DB 2 p398-399]. He is also most likely the William "Reives" to whom Matthew Pridgen conveyed 100 acres on Jumping Run Creek in Duplin County on the 18th of August 1760 [DB 3 p80-81]. On 27 Jan 1764 a William Reeves signed as the seller on an ambiguous deed that is written as Thomas Carrell to Jesse Carrell with the notation "signer William Reeves". The deed conveys 100 acres on Jumping Run in Duplin County and is probably the tract purchased from Matthew Pridgen in 1760 [DB 1 p391-382]. Note: according to North Carolina records, Jumping Run Creek is located due south of Seven Springs on the north side of the NE Cape Fear River.

This is possibly the William Reeves recorded in the 1790 census of Dobbs County. The household only included one male and one female appearing to be an older couple although they could have been a young couple, newly married; however, there is no one in the area who fits that description based upon age. In 1791 the county was divided to make Glasgow (later named Greene) and Lenoir counties and Dobbs County ceased to exist.

Previous research has produced a reasonable belief that Hardy, the wife of William Reeves, Jr., was the daughter "Hardy" named in Charles Merritt's 1718 Chowan County will. Charles Merritt was a neighbor and associate of the William Reeves' family in Chowan County. Hardy is listed as the wife of William Reeves, Jr. in numerous deeds of Bertie and Edgecombe counties where they were residents until the 1740's when they were found in Granville County. It is noteworthy that members of this Merritt family also moved into Dublin County in the 1750s and 60s.

No records have yet been located that give the names of the children of William Reeves, Jr. William and Hardy surely had children after their marriage which took place around 1730 based on deed records that name Hardy as his wife. The William Reaves who appeared in Dobbs County in the 1760s and died in Wayne County in 1793 is probably their son. It seems unlikely that this younger William Reaves who died in 1793 is William Jr. Most of the children named in his 1790 will were born in the 1770s and would have been far too young for children born to Hardy although it does not definitely rule out a second wife.

There are still numerous questions to be answered regarding this family but little by little we learn more about William Reeves, Jr.

New Data on George Reeves of Grayson County

Blue Ridge Vista in Grayson County

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

---

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

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

   

The Wayfarer - William Reeves of Ashe County

William, the son of George Reeves of Grayson County, Virginia, and most of his children left Ashe County, North Carolina shortly after 1820. Based upon estimates of his age from census, he would have been around 55 years old at the time. He was a justice of the Ashe County court and appears to have been prominent in the community, but for whatever reason, he left North Carolina and ventured to the new state of Indiana. By 1822, William was listed on the Lawrence County, Indiana poll tax list. Once William left North Carolina and began to migrate westward, he seems never to have stopped moving.

1829 Indiana Land Grant
to William Reves

In the years preceding William's departure from the New River area of Virginia & North Carolina, his father had died in 1811 as well as his brother George Reeves, Jr. George Reeves, Jr. was killed by his brother-in-law William Tolliver, husband of sister Susanna Reeves. The trial was held in Wilkes County and there are various theories but the actual cause of the incident still remains unknown. Beginning around 1813, there was another court case, Landreth vs. Reves, which continued over a lengthy period with documents in the court records as late as 1822 in regard to it. There are numerous documents in the Ashe County Civil Action Court files regarding this case although there is no clear explanation of the events that precipitated the court case. From various documents, John Landreth states that he had been accused of perjury by William Reves although there is no exact explanation of the nature of the accusation. It would appear from these documents that the entire extended Reeves' family, even William's wife Anne Terrell Reeves, became involved in a fracas which resulted in the issuance of a summons. Oddly, members of both the Tolliver and Landreth families also migrated to the same area of Indiana in the 1820's.

1816 Bond by William Reves and
Allen Burton for John and Ann Reves

Whether the unpleasantness of the death of his father, the murder of his brother or the Landreth court case played a role in William Reeves' decision to leave Ashe County is unknown, but following these events, the family began the first of their migrations. They settled in the area of Greene & Lawrence Counties where they remained until sometime before 1840 when they are found in the census of Carroll County, Arkansas.

From: History of Greene County, Indiana, pub. 1870 by J. Ward, Worthington, Indiana - As taken from the official records, and compiled from authentic recollections by pioneer settlers. Chapter XV - Beech Creek Township: Among other pioneers whose name deserves a place in the history of the township, may be mentioned...William and Noah Reeves...Pg 47 - William Reeves and his boys first settled the farm now owned by Edward Walker.

Between Indiana and Arkansas, the Reeves' family must have spent some time in Missouri probably in the area of Washington County. William's son Albert married there in 1837. Lenoir (Noah) Reeves was also living in Missouri briefly for several of his children were born there before he ventured briefly to Arkansas, Iowa and Nebraska then eventually to Oregon, dying there in 1888. Both Albert and Timothy settled in the area of Iron and Butler Counties in Missouri.

Missouri Reeves Emmons
daughter of Timothy Reeves

By the Census of 1840 for Carroll County, Arkansas, William along with his sons John, Terrel and Gaston Reeves are listed. The 1840 tax list for Carroll County lists Lenoir, William, Terrel and John Reeves. They, along with Gaston, are also listed in the 1841 tax lists for Carroll County. Located near the headwaters of the Buffalo River in Van Buren Township in Carroll County there is a Reeves' Creek which is said to have been named for this Reeves' family.

The 1841 tax list appears to be the last historical record of William Reeves. Several family trees list a date of death of 1854 in Missouri but no documentation can be found in support of that theory. It is likely that William, and his wife Anne as well, died in Carroll County between 1840 and 1850 when most of his sons are found in the census of Independence County, Arkansas.

Descendants of William Reeves' brothers Jesse and John have participated in the Reeves DNA Project and been placed in Group 6. A descendant of George Reeves, Jr.'s son Enoch, also a participant in the Reeves DNA Project, has been placed in Group 14 with a descendant of George Reeves whose paternity is currently unknown but may be the son of Jesse. Whether these are NPEs (non paternity events) is unknown and more extensive research is needed to resolve this mystery. Hopefully at some future time, descendants of William Reeves will participate in DNA studies, either Y Chromosome DNA or the new autosomal DNA projects that are now available and help to clarify this lineage.

Other posts in this blog pertaining to the family of George Reeves of Grayson County, Virginia:

George Reeves of Grayson County, Virginia
Who really are the descendants of Henry Reeves?
Col. Timothy Reeves, CSA
The Reeves' Gang
Episode 2 - More of the Reeves Gang
Pewter John Reeves Stamper

A Multitude of Myths

There is probably no other Reeves' family about whom there are more unfounded myths reverberating around the world wide web than that of William Reeves who died in Granville County, North Carolina in 1751. Whether all of these myths and the associated misinformation were solely the products of The Reeves Review, is unknown. Many of them can be traced to that publication but may have been submitted to Mrs. Emma Reeves by others and are not based upon her own research.


William Reeves is recorded in the area of Chowan County, North Carolina prior to 1720. He had lived in Chowan, Bertie and Edgecombe counties, dying in Granville County in 1751. His descendants spread to Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Texas and countless other states across the United States. The participants included in Group 3 of the Reeves DNA Project are descended from this family. The following are just a few of the incorrect beliefs associated with this family.

Myth #1
That William Reeves name was William Rives, William Cabell Rives or William Cabell Reeves - Nowhere in the historical documentation of this individual's life is there any record of a middle name or initial, much less the middle name Cabell. William Cabell Rives (1793-1868) was an American lawyer, politician and diplomat from Albemarle County, Virginia. He represented Virginia in both the U.S. House and Senate and also served as the U.S. minister to France. That family is a completely different DNA lineage and is not related to the Reeves family of Granville, North Carolina.

Myth #2
That William Reeves who died in Granville County, North Carolina was descended from the Rives family of Dorset in Great Britain - Descendants of the Rives family of Surry County, Virginia as detailed in the book Reliques of the Ryves descend from that family and are a different DNA lineage (DNA Group 8) of the Reeves DNA Project. See Ancestry tree for that family who descend from Timothy Rives (1625-1692).

Myth #3
That William Reeves' wives were Martha Wylie and Margaret Burgess - There are no available documents in marriage, probate, or land records that support these names with the exception of the given name Margaret. Margaret was named as William Reeves' wife in his will but there is nothing to indicate her maiden name. The name Burgess seems to have been applied simply because it was used as a given name for her son, Burgess Reeves, born 1746. The surname Wylie speculated as the name of his first wife, is presumably based upon the use of the given name Wylie in succeeding generations of this Reeves' family.

Myth #4
That Isaac Reeves of Wilkes County, North Carolina was the son, Isaac, named in William Reeves 1751 will - Based upon the DNA of Isaac Reeves' descendants, there is no family connection between these families. Descendants of Isaac Reeves are represented in DNA Group 6 of the Reeves DNA project. It is far more likely that the Isaac Reeves who lived in Caswell County from its inception in the 1770's until around 1781 when he is described in a Caswell County deed as "of Randolph County" was the son of William Reeves named in his will. However, even that has not been proven but is a more reasonable assumption.

Myth #5
That Samuel Reeves of Rowan County, North Carolina was "Isaac Samuel Reeves" and the son of William Reeves - Samuel Reeves of Rowan County was the son of Thomas Reeves and Mary Murphy of Charles County, Maryland. This is substantiated by birth records in Maryland, the published history of Rowan County, and other documents that connect Samuel Reeves of Rowan County to other Maryland family members.

Myth #6
That William Reeves who died in York County, South Carolina in 1821 was William Reeves, Jr., son of William Reeves who died in Granville County in 1751 - The son of William Reeves would have been approximately 110 years old in 1821, having been born around 1710. The only William Reeves living in Granville County throughout the years 1755 to around 1790 when he moved to South Carolina was the son of Malachi Reeves. William is listed as a tithe of Malachi's in Granville County tax records beginning in 1755.

Myth #7
That William Reeves with wife Hannah Smith who died in Wilkes County, Georgia in 1816 was the son of William Reeves' grandson Malachi Reeves - There is no record that Malachi and Fortune Reeves had a child William and NO record in Guilford County, North Carolina of his existence. William Reeves, the son of James Reeves and brother of Malachi was the William Reeves who died in Wilkes County in 1816. His wife is identified as Hannah in several Guilford County deeds as early as 1784. James Reeves' son William was incorrectly identified as the William Reeves who died in Madison County, Kentucky in 1821. That William Reeves is a different DNA lineage (DNA Group 6) and is documented in the records of Wake County, North Carolina as not having been a member of this family. As for Hannah Smith, it was a William RIVES that she married in Mecklenburg County in 1820 (4 years after the William Reeves of Wilkes County's death). See copy of marriage license at right (note his signature is Rives).

And the most outrageous myth of all, Fortune Rhodes, deserved it's very own post. See A Reeves Fiction - Fortune Rhodes.

As lengthy as this post is, it is only the tip of the iceberg for there are many more fictions regarding this family in numerous sources. With the availability of DNA testing and original probate documents online, we can only hope that these myths will eventually begin to fade from the mainstream of Reeves' genealogy.

Margaret aka Margaret Burgess

Margaret, named as his wife in the 1751 will of William Reeves of Granville County, North Carolina is repeatedly shown as Margaret Burgess, yet always without a source for the maiden name Burgess. Very little is known of Margaret other than what is available from William Reeves' will and the Granville County court record of Jun 1754 binding her daughter Eliza to William Howlet.

William Reeves’ will, written on August 2, 1751, states “I give & bequeth to my wife Margarett Reeves one Shilling Sterling in lieu of her Dower of thirds”. The will contains no explanation of his reasons for leaving no bequest other than one shilling to the widow instead of the customary one third of the estate. On the 3rd of December 1751 when the will was presented in court, it was recorded against the objections of the widow, Margaret.

On 7 June 1754, Eliz'a Reeves, "supposed to be the child of Margaret Reeves," was living "at George Andersons" in Granville County when she was bound to William Howlet until she was eighteen years of age [Granville County Bastardy Bonds].

In Granville County on 16 January 1771, Patience the base born child of Eliz'a Reeves, was bound as an apprentice to Valentine White until 21 years, to become a spinster [Granville County Bastardy Bonds]. A Granville County bond of 19 December 1796 records the marriage of Patience to Augustine Anderson.

A new North Carolina tax law enacted in 1749 described taxables as all and every White Person, Male, of the Age of Sixteen Years, and upwards, all Negroes, Mulattoes, Mustees Male or Female, and all Persons of Mixt Blood, to the Fourth Generation, of the Age of Twelve Years, and upwards, and all white Persons intermarrying with any Negro, mulatto, or Mustee, or other Person of mixt Blood,...shall be deemed Taxables...[Leary & Stirewalt, North Carolina Research, Genealogy and Local History, chapter 13]. Thus, free African American and Native American households can be identified by the taxation of their female family members over 12 years of age.

In 1712 all fifteen members of the Anderson and Richards families were freed and given 640 acres in Norfolk County, Virginia, by the will of John Fulcher. In an effort to "prevent their correspondence with other slaves" Fulcher's executor, Lewis Conner, by a deed dated 20 March 1712/3, swapped their land in Norfolk County with land on Welshes Creek in Chowan County, North Carolina [Chowan DB B#1:109].

It is unknown whether George Anderson was Native American, black or mulatto but in the Granville tax lists his entire family is routinely listed as "other free persons" and includes the females of the household as in the 1754 tax list of Robert Harris - Anderson, George and his wife and son Jerh: and Daughter Kate 0 4.

William Reeves was recorded as early as February of 1718 in Chowan County, North Carolina where he and his son-in-law Robert Hicks were said to have been traders among the indian tribes in addition to being property owners. Accordingly it is not unreasonable to believe that his first wife, as well as Margaret who is believed to be a second wife, could have been Native American and therefore considered "mixed-race".

Malachi and James were two of the older sons of William Reeves and their mother is generally believed to be William Reeves' first wife. Malachi Reeves was a "Black" taxable in the 1752 Granville County tax list of Jonathan White [CR 044.701.19]. He was a white tithable with his sons William and Jonathan, John Allin, and one slave in Samuel Benton's list for Fishing Creek in 1762 [NCGSJ XIII:25]. Additionally, Malachi's brother James Reeves was also a "black" taxable with his son James Reeves and "negro" Mary Anderson in the 1758 Granville County list of Nathaniel Harris.

Hopefully someone will eventually be able to determine just exactly who Margaret Reeves was, and if there is any validity to the use of the maiden name of Burgess.

A Reeves' Fiction - Fortune Rhodes

The myth that William Reeves, the son of James Reeves of Guilford County, North Carolina, married a "Fortune Rhodes" seems to have begun with Reliques of the Rives (Ryves) by James Rives Childs and published in 1929. In Reliques Part II Appendix A on Page 704, William Reeves, ID 4212, is listed as marrying Fortune, daughter of John Rhodes.

When the Reeves Review II by Mrs. Emma Barrett Reeves was published in 1982, the folly escalated and William Reeves, the son of James, was listed with Fortune Rhodes as his first wife and a Milly whose maiden name was unlisted as a second wife. This William Reeves was supposedly the same person of that name who died in Madison County, Kentucky in 1821. The William Reeves of Madison County, Kentucky was, in fact, from a completely different family and DNA lineage.

The Reeves Review also included another William Reeves in the Reeves family of Guilford County, North Carolina and listed him as a son of James Reeves' son Malachi and his wife Fortune whose maiden name was incorrectly stated as "Burton". This second William Reeves, son of Malachi, with wife Hannah was said to have died in Wilkes County, Georgia in 1816 where there is a will for a William Reeves with wife Hannah recorded.

Since the family of James Reeves was not part of the same Rives family from which James Rives Childs descends, it is unlikely that the research included in Reliques for this family is his own. It is far more likely that this information was submitted to him for inclusion in his publication which may also have been the case with the Reeves Review II.

Regardless of the source of Fortune Rhodes' inclusion in these books, research of the available primary source documents of this family reveal the absurdity of this Reeves' family lore.

The truth of Fortune Rhodes -

Fortune, the wife of Malachi Reeves, was incorrectly identified as the daughter of Richard Burton of Guilford County based upon legacies left to three Reeves' grandchildren in his will. Those were, in fact, the children of Malachi and Fortune Reeves' son Thomas Reeves. When Thomas Reeves died, his widow Elizabeth Reeves was granted the administration of his estate in Guilford County, February Court 1795. On 26 Apr 1796, his widow Elizabeth Reeves married Elias Simons in Guilford County. Elizabeth Simons was named by Richard Burton as his daughter in his 1799 will and the Reeves grandchildren, Richard, Thomas and Martha Reeves, are the children of Elizabeth Burton and Thomas Reeves. Richard Burton DID NOT name a daughter, Fortune, in his will. He named Elizabeth Simons, Mary Mileham and Dorcas Bourton (Burton).

The wife of James Reeves' son William was Hannah as evidenced by a deed dated 1 Apr 1784 recorded in Guilford County, NC Deed Bk 3, Pages 95-96 which named his wife as Hannah. In another deed dated 22 Nov 1791, William and his mother Millicent sold 320 acres to Samuel Mileham. The deed noted that this was the plantation conveyed by James Reeves' Will unto his Son & wife "the said William Reeves & Milley Reeves". Hannah Reeves, wife of William, signed the deed as well. James Reeves' will had stipulated that “I will and bequeath to my son William Reeves the Plantation and Land I now live on to be his whole and sole property at the death of my beloved Wife Melissent and not before”. The terms of the will prevented William from selling the plantation without his mother's consent since it was her property as long as she lived. That deed is also signed by William's wife Hannah presumably relinguishing her dower rights. William's mother Milly's inclusion in this deed is probably the source of the confusion regarding William having had an additional wife named Milly.

James Reeves' son William was incorrectly identified in the Reeves Review as the son of Fortune and Malachi Reeves. Based upon research of the probate, deeds and other records of Guilford County, there is no record that William Reeves, ID 212.iv in the Reeves Review, with wife Hannah Smith, listed as a child of Malachiah and Fortune Reeves existed. Among all the deeds by Fortune Reeves conveying property to their sons after Malachi's death, there are NO deeds to a son, William. This William also supposedly died in Wilkes County, Georgia in 1816. The William Reeves who died in Wilkes County, Georgia in 1816 is undoubtably William Reeves, the son of James Reeves who was the only William Reeves living in Guilford County circa 1780 to 1800 with a wife Hannah. The only reference to an unidentified William Reeves was in the will of John Rhodes which then must be William, the son of James Reeves. The will lists no bequest to the wife of William Reeves and daughter of John Rhodes but neither is there a bequest to his son John Rhodes, Jr., yet both William Reeves and John Rhodes, Jr. (with their relationships stated) are named in the will as Executors.

After Malachi Reeves' death in 1784, his widow, Fortune Reeves, married John Rhodes, father-in-law of William Reeves the son of James, in 1788. Fortune is named as the wife of John Rhodes in his 1791 will which also states that Malychia (sic Malachi) Reeves was her former husband.

And thus began the incredible fiction of Fortune Rhodes which should serve as a cautionary tale in the use of abstracted documents rather than a full transcription when publishing - in print or on the world wide web.

Collecting Reeves' Signatures

As everyone who has researched the various Reeves families knows, the Reeves, Reaves, Rives and Reavis all had a affinity for the name William. Trying to definitely identify each individual can be challenging so I have begun to collect the signatures of any William Reeves that I happen upon.

After several years of watching for a document with an original signature by my ancestor, William Reeves of Wake County, North Carolina, I recently found one in the probate file for the estate of Woodson Daniel. Wake County Militia Capt. Woodson Daniel named his lifelong neighbor and friend, William Reeves, as one of the executors of his will. The probate file of Woodson's estate contains a 1798 suit filed by one of the heirs against the estate and its executors which required that depositions be taken. The three page deposition by William Reeves also bears his signature.

He signed his name, spelling it Reves as did all of his sons. Interestingly the descendants of George Reeves of Grayson County, Virginia whose DNA matches that of William Reeves of Wake County's descendants also signed their names with the Reves spelling.



The signature of James Reeves' son William of Guilford County who was confused with William Reeves of Wake County by the Reeves Review was found on the 1791 will of John Rhodes of Guilford County. John Rhodes named him as his son-in-law and an executor of his will.



Even when the individual makes a mark rather than signing their name, the mark can also be distinctive and help to identify the correct person. William Reeves who died in Granville County, North Carorlina in 1751 didn't use the normal X for a mark but initialed his will in a unique manner.



The signature below is that of a witness to the 1817 York County, South Carolina will of Robert Ellis. The exact William Reeves who witnessed this will is unknown since there were at least three living in York County at the time. William Reeves, Sr., his son William, Jr. and another, as yet unidentified, William Reeves whose name was normally written with the suffix Esqr. indicating that he was probably a justice of the local court.



William Reavis whose will was written in Northampton County, North Carolina in 1784 signed his name clearly making the distinction between the name variations Reeves, Reaves and Reavis.



It's obvious from this small group of signatures how unique each is, not just the way the characters were formed but the spellings of their names. As FamilySearch.org makes more and more original records available, hopefully we can add many more original signatures to the collection that will further differentiate the multitude of William Reeves, and George Reeves, and countless others.

William Reeves of York County, South Carolina

William Reeves who died in York, SC in 1821 was believed to be William Reeves, Jr., son of William Reeves who died in Granville County, North Carolina in 1751. This appears to have been based upon the book The Reeves Review II but seems unrealistic since William Reeves, Jr. would have been approximately 110 years old when he died in 1821 in York County, South Carolina if that were the case. Although that is not impossible, it is certainly unlikely and extremely unusual.

William Reeves, Jr., son of William who died in Granville NC in 1751, is found in the deed records of Edgecombe County from around 1728 until 28 Jun 1758 along with his wife, Hardy. He is last mentioned there in a deed from Samuel Hardy to Thomas Jackson, both of Edgecombe (Halifax) County, which references land adjoining William Reeves and Persimmon Tree Creek. There is no further documentation regarding William Reeves, Jr. and certainly none that record him with any other wife than Hardy whose maiden name is unknown.

William Reeves, Jr. witnessed a Bertie County NC deed from Ralph Mason to his father, William Reeves circa 1728/29. The required age to witness a deed in North Carolina at that time was 14, accordingly William Reeves, Jr. would have been born before 1714. Additionally, in the 1782 tax lists of the Fishing Creek District of Granville County, his brother Malachi Reeves is noted as "Aged" or over 60, whereas William Reeves is not. It is far more likely that a generation was missed and the William Reeves with wife Elizabeth who died in York, South Carolina was a son or nephew of William Reeves, Jr., born circa 1710.

William Reeves, Jr. described as "of Edgecombe County" deeded land to his brother Malachi in 1753 which appears to be the last transaction that definitely pertains to him in Granville County.

The bulk of the documentation found in Granville County regarding this particular William Reeves indicates that he was the son of Malachi Reeves. Malachi was listed with 3 tithes in 1755 in Granville County - himself, William and the negro Jackson. Again in the 1762 tax lists of the Fishing Creek District, sons William and Jonathan are listed with Malachi.

William Reeves received pay for 12 days service in the Granville County Militia under Colonel Robert Harris on March 24, 1769. William Reeves, Jr. would have been approximately 60 years old at this time and it’s doubtful, although not impossible, that he would have served in the militia.

He was listed as a taxpayer in Granville County along with Malachi in 1769 and again in 1771. In 1788, William was a taxpayer in Tabb’s Creek District, Granville County. In August of that year, he and Joseph Hays were added to the hands of Avery Parham to oversee the Bankes Road in Granville County. Again, although not impossible, highly unlikely that an individual approximately 70 years old would be assigned the duties of maintenance on a road crew.

The eight children of William and Elizabeth Reeves as documented in York County Probate Records, Case Nbr. 45, File 1904 (William) and Will Book F, Pgs 225-226 (Elizabeth) are:

1. Hardy Reeves
2. Mary Reeves, m. William Thomasson
3. Willis Reeves
4. Wiley Reeves
5. Tabitha Reeves, m. James B. Glover
6. Elizabeth Reeves, m1. Unknown Glover, m2. James Gaulden, m3. James B. Glover
7. William Reeves, Jr.
8. Lucy Reeves, m. William Glover

Exhaustive research of the Granville County NC tax and deed records, only yield one individual named William Reeves during the years 1755 through 1800 and that person was William Reeves, the son of Malachi Reeves, and it was he who relocated to York County, South Carolina around 1800.

William Reeves of Madison County, Kentucky

The internet abounds with various inaccurate allegations regarding my Reeves ancestor, William Reeves of Madison County, Kentucky. His parents, his wife and even his residence have been misrepresented in multiple websites. This mass of misinformation has been the motivating factor in my desire to seek out all the available historical documents regarding his life and create an accurate depiction of who he was, where he lived prior to his migration to Kentucky and from which Reeves family he was descended.

The LDS Family Resource Centers offer a wonderful service for genealogical researchers by providing microfilmed copies of the original records from a particular county which can be ordered and “rented” for a small fee. I found it was possible to stay at home in Texas and search all the records of Virginia, Kentucky and North Carolina counties to find the truth of William Reeves.

He has been alleged to have originated in Halifax County VA, Granville County NC and even Warren County NC – all of which are incorrect. The documents filed in Madison County, Kentucky settling his estate in 1821 name his daughters Sarah Geer and Mary Allen along with son John of Wake County, North Carolina. Two sons, Peter and Charles are recorded as being residents of Halifax County, Virginia at that time but Peter who lived until the 1850 census gives North Carolina as his birthplace. Youngest son, Jeremiah of Madison County, Kentucky, also gave North Carolina as his birthplace in the 1850 census which serves to disprove the theory of Halifax, Virginia origins. The colonial tax records of Halifax also have no record of this Reeves’ family. Wake County NC has countless deeds and court records which document his presence there from the county’s inception in 1771. He was, at various times, tax collector, tax assessor and justice of the Wake County Court over a 30 year period until his migration to Kentucky. He is recognized by the DAR as a Revolutionary War Patriot based upon his civil service as a tax assessor in Wake County during the revolution.

The Reeves Review listed William Reeves, the son of James Reeves of Guilford County as the William Reeves who died in Madison County, Kentucky. However, 3 descendants of William Reeves’ son George are placed in DNA Group 6 of the Reeves DNA Project matching descendants of George Reeves of Grayson County, Virginia, while descendants of James Reeves and his father William Reeves of Granville, North Carolina have been identified with DNA Group 3 proving that a close genetic connection between the two families is impossible. A Johnston County deed of 1763 wherein William Reeves conveyed 400 acres on the Neuse River to William Reeves, Jr. establishes the identify of his father but his mother is still unknown.

William Reeves of Wake County, North Carolina and later of Madison County, Kentucky always wrote his name as REVES, as did all of his sons. George Reeves of Grayson County, Virginia and his sons whose decendants DNA matches the descendants of William Reeves also wrote their name REVES. This was not the case with the Granville Reeves family who spelled their name REEVES.

The erroneous references to the wife of this William Reeves as Fortune Rhodes or Millicent are based upon the incorrect assertions of the Reeves Review that he was the son of James Reeves. The only documentation of William Reeves' wife is a Wake County Court Order of December 1791 regarding the removal of Penny Weaver's children from their apprenticeship to John Alston, and ordering that a summons issue for William Reeves and Any his Wife as witnesses for the orphans.

The internet may continue to be rife with the false allegations of the Reeves Review and the other copious sites repeating misinformation, but I have, thanks to the deeds and court records of Wake County compiled a relatively complete profile of my ancestor William Reeves of Madison County, Kentucky:

He lived most of his life before migrating to Kentucky on 400 acres on the south side of the Neuse River and east of Ellerbe’s Creek that his father, William Reeves, Sr. had been granted by Henry McCullough in 1746.

As the county in which that land was designated changed over the next 60 years - he lived in Orange, Johnston and finally Wake County when it was formed in 1771. The pilings of the I-85 bridge on the western side of Falls of the Neuse Lake stand on this property which is currently in Durham County.

He was prominent in the community, serving as a justice of the Wake County Court for approximately 20 years.

We still know little of his wife Anne (Any) except that she was not Fortune Rhodes or Millicent.

His children and the heirs of deceased children are all named in the Madison County, Kentucky deed by his heirs to the youngest son Jeremiah in 1822.

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Other posts pertaining to this family:

The Cumberland Gap
George Reeves of Warren County, Kentucky
Peter Reves of Halifax County, Virginia
The Reves Family of Halifax County, Virginia
George Reeves of Grayson County, Virginia
More Reeves Signatures
A Reeves Fiction - Fortune Rhodes

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Website - William Reeves from Wake County, North Carolina to Madison County, Kentucky

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