Errors of The Reeves Review II
William Reeves
Page 12, ID #93.iiiWilliam Reeves, son of James, was listed with wives Fortune Rhodes and Milly. The wife of William Reeves 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 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, 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, GA 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. 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.
William Reeves who died in 1821 in Madison County, Kentucky was not the son of James Reeves of Guilford County, North Carolina. He was repeatedly recorded in the records of Wake County, North Carolina from that county's inception until after 1803 when he migrated to Kentucky. See Wake County records regarding William Reeves. Various deeds identifying him as William Reeves, Jr. from circa 1762 which also refer to William Reeves, Sr. document the identify of his father.