Loading...
 
Reeves, Thomas (c1729 VA? - fl1747 VA)

Reeves_Thomas_6000

Reeves, Thomas


Summary

Father: possibly Thomas Reeves
Mother: possibly Margaret MNU

Birth: 10 June 1726 to 10 June 1731, possibly Northumberland Co., VA
Birth Source: Estimated from 1747 Prince William Co., VA, Tithables List

Death: After 1747, Prince William Co., VA
Death Source: Estimated from 1747 Prince William Co., VA, Tax List

Spouse1:

Narrative


Thomas Reeves was shown as a tithable in the household of Owen Owens in Prince William Co., VA, in 1747. The placement in the listing indicates that Owens was older than 21 years and that Thomas Reeves was under 21 years but older than 16 years, suggesting that he was born between 10 June 1726 and 10 June 1731.

A Northumberland Co., VA, birth record in St. Stephen's Parish shows that one Thomas "Rives" was born there on 16 September 1730, son of Thomas "Rives." (The Reeves name appears as Rives in all entries in the St. Stephen's Register, probably indicating the clergyman's preference for spelling. All Reeves entries date from 1714 to 1730.)

The puzzling thing about this Thomas Reeves's birth entry is that the only known contemporary Thomas Reeves in Northumberland County, Thomas Reeves had died almost a year earlier, in or before May 1729. The original St. Stephen's Parish register was recopied at a later date, and the record from which it was copied no longer survives. The existing register is in rough chronological order by the first letter of the last name. Beverly Fleet, who originally transcribed these records, noted the many probable errors contained within the register; could it be possible that the clerk re-recording the birth entry of Thomas Reeves incorrectly transcribed the date? (The first entry in the column in which Thomas's birth was recorded dates from 1721; the next entries, in the order in which they were recorded, date from 1712, 1715, 1721, 1721, 1723, 1721, 1723, 1734, 1725, 1725, 1724, 1724, 1725, 1726, 1726, 1729, 1729, 1730 (Thomas Rives).)

The 1747 Dettingen Parish Tithable list documents a considerable degree of migration from Lancaster, Northumberland, and Richmond Counties into Dettingen Parish. Margaret Scurlock Morrison and her husband Joseph Morrison appear near this Thomas Reeves, as do George and Ann Doggett Reeves and George's known brother John Reeve.

While the connection is speculative, it seems possible that the Thomas Reeves aged 16-21 in 1747 could be the man whose birth is recorded in the St. Stephen's Register of Northumberland as having occurred on 16 September 1730. Depending on the accuracy of the register entry, he might or might not have been the son of Thomas Reeves who died in 1729.

This Thomas Reeves has not been conclusively identified after 1747.

Sources

1747 Prince William Co., VA, Tithables List
St. Stephen's Parish Register, Prince William Co., VA