DNA Group 06A - Home Page
The Current Story for Group 06A
DNA Group 06A is comprised of descendants of both William Reeves of Wake County, North Carolina and George Reeves, Sr. of Grayson County, Virginia. The first historical record of William Reeves, Sr. was the purchase in 1746 of 400 acres on the Neuse River east of Ellerby's Creek. This tract was initially in Johnston County but the county designation changed in the early 1750s making it part of Orange County, North Carolina. These Reeves' individuals are found in Orange County throughout the 1750s into the early 1760s. William Reves is listed on the Orange County 1755 tax lists with 4 white tithes. These four are believed to be William Reves, Sr., William Reves, Jr., George Reeves and a currently unknown individual possibly another son of William Sr. In 1762 both William, Jr. and George registered their cattle brands in Orange County and began to purchase property about that time.There is one more descendant of William Reeves of Wake NC who is not listed as a member of the Reeves DNA Project at FtDNA due to a technicality in their system. Although Alvis Reeves joined the project, due the fact that he neglected to include his kit number, FtDNA would not include his results in the project even though he is listed as a match in FtDNA's system.
George Reeves was previously believed to have originated in the Drewery's Bluff area of Chesterfield County, Virginia but there are no historical records to support that belief. His wife who is believed to be the daughter of Richard Burton probably did come from that area for Richard Burton is recorded there prior to his appearance in Johnston County, North Carolina in the early 1760s.
Among all the participants in the Reeves DNA Project, there are no others who have matching Y-DNA to descendants of William or George Reeves. Based upon their close matches, their common ancestor would be in the not too distant past. It is believed that George Reeves was either another son of William Reeves, Sr. or possibly a younger brother. Incidentally all of these individuals and their sons signed their name as REVES, not the more commonly used variation Reeves.
Although there are no other close matches in the Reeves Y-DNA Project, there are several matches in the FtDNA system who match just as closely but do not have Reeves' variation surnames. Most of these individuals with surnames (Absher, Stamper, Caudill, Davis, Moore and Ramsey) were commonly found as neighbors in the area of Wilkes and Ashe counties in North Carolina and Kentucky where members of these Reeves families lived. These Y-DNA matches appear to be the result of adoptions or non-paternity events.
Although recently, one of our newer members, Seán Donovan, has made a surprising discovery in the course of contacting matches to his Big Y results at FtDNA. Seán has a match to Frankie who has a documented lineage going back hundreds of years in Portugal. FtDNA estimates the timeframe of these matches at 1000 to 1800 CE. This began to open a completely new avenue of research for our Group 6A members which has resulted in finding at least 21 matches from 111 to 25 markers whose lineages originate in Portugal, Spain or Puerto Rico.
Group 06A - General Discussion
Please use the DNA Group 06A talk_ page to comment on or discuss any information on this Group Home Page or to discuss any of the Families within this DNA GroupGroup 06A - Our Families and People
FamilyOf_Reeves_William_602 - Family of William Reeves of Wake County, North CarolinaFamilyOf_Reeves_George_Sr_3168 - Family of George Reeves (Reves), Sr. of Grayson Co., Virginia