Reaves, George Sr.
Summary
Father: possibly Thomas ReevesMother: possibly Margaret MNU
Birth: Between 10 June 1726 and 10 June 1731, possibly c. 1727
Birth Source: Estimated from 1747 Prince William Co., VA, Tithables List
Death: abt 1815, Halifax County, Virginia
Death Source: Final listings in tax records is 1815 with widow Martha appearing as head of household in 1816
Spouse1: Anne Webster, m. 3 Apr 1743 in Stafford County, Virginia
Spouse2: Martha “Patty” Epps , m. c1779 in Halifax County, Virginia
Narrative
Probable children of George Reaves and Anne Webster:- Asher Reaves, b. 1757 in Prince William County, VA
- probably Daniel Reaves, b. 1775, m. Nancy Dodson
- Elijah Reaves, b. c1780, m. Elizabeth Wilson
- Mildred Reaves, b. c1785
- Polly Reaves b. c1786, m. William Wilson
- George Reaves, Jr., b. c1790
This may be the George Reaves who apprenticed himself to John & Hannah Book in 1738 in King George County to "learn the Art & Mistery of a weaver." He was to stay with them for a term of two years. King George County runs parallel to Stafford County which is on the coast of upper Virginia. Since George married in Stafford County, it's like this is the same person.
Asher Reaves Revolutionary War pension statement gives his place of birth as Prince William County, Virginia and he says he lived in Halifax County, Virginia prior to the RW war and originally enlisted there. His father then relocated to Wilkes County, North Carolina, where Asher was recruited for subsequent tours of service. After the Revolution, Asher returned to Halifax County, Virginia where he lived for approximately 16 years before relocating to Tennessee and then to Ohio. George Reaves is the only individual who was both a resident of Halifax VA and Wilkes NC who could be the father to which Asher referred.
George Reaves origins are undocumented but the statement of Asher Reaves in his Revolutionary War pension statement that he was born in Prince William County, Virginia suggests that George came from Virginia's northern neck. A Thomas Reeves died about 1729 in Northumberland County, Virginia. His estate was administered by Margaret and William Scurlock, suggesting that Margaret may have been Reeves's widow and that she married William Scurlock as her second husband. One Margaret Scurlock married Joseph Morrison in North Farnham Parish, Richmond County, Virginia, on 9 December 1739. This Margaret may have been the widow of both William Scurlock and Thomas Reeves.
The recent location of the marriage record of George Reaves to Anne Webster in Stafford County, Virginia in 1743 may be an indication that George was born a few years earlier than previously believed although it would not have been out of the question for a 17 year old male to marry.
Joseph and Margaret Scurlock Morrison were taxed in Dettingen Parish, Prince William Co., VA, in 1747, with Joseph Sherlock and George Reves as tithables in their household, indicating that they were young men aged 16-21 years (and thus born between 10 June 1726 and 10 June 1731). Their placement here would suggest that George Reves was older than Joseph Scurlock. One possible interpretation of this information is that Margaret (MNU) married first Thomas Reeves, second William Scurlock, and third Joseph Morrison, and that George Reves and Joseph Scurlock may have been her sons.
Prince William Co., VA, Order Book 1759-1761, 25 March 1760, p. 69: Nathaniel Chapman vs. Joseph Morrison, Fortunatus Legg and George Reeves. In debt. the defendants filed their plea to which the plaintiff demurred generally and time is allowed the defendants untill next Court to consider the same. (Published in The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 20, p. 38.)
Margaret and Joseph Morrison were both still alive on 4 December 1762, when they were dismissed from Broad Run Baptist Church in Fauquier Co., VA, to join Birch Creek Baptist Church in Halifax Co., VA. Joshua Scurlock, a proven son of William Scurlock, was dismissed from Broad Run "to Halifax" on 10 June 1763. Joseph and Joshua Scurlock are found in Halifax County during the 1760s. Joseph Morrison has been identified in Halifax County in a 1778 deed in which he appeared as a neighbor of one George Reeves. He is recorded in the Halifax tax lists through 1788.
The following appear to be some of the earliest references to George Reeves or Reaves in Halifax, Virginia:
- On 27 Dec 1771, George Reeves witnessed (signed with his mark) a deed from Luke Williams, carpenter, and Catherine his wife of Halifax County to James Ingram, gentlemen of Accomac County for 500 acres near Sandy Creek. Halifax County Deed Book 8, p. 295.
- On 18 Jun 1773, Luke Williams of Halifax County executed a deed of trust to John Lewis, Jr. of Halifax County for 986 acres adjoining William McDaniel, James Henry, Charles Wormack, George Reaves, Joseph Morrosson, George Curry. Halifax County, Virginia Deed Book 9, p. 202
- On 15 Oct 1778, Luke Williams of Halifax County deeded 100 acres on Court house branch to George Reaves of same county. Halifax County, Virginia Deed Book 11, p. 128-129
- On 21 Oct 1779, George Reaves and wife Martha deeded 100 acres on Court House Branch to Luke Williams, Halifax County, Virginia Deed Book 11, p. 351-352.
There is a Halifax County, Virginia marriage bond dated 25 November 1785 for the marriage of Joseph Morrison to Margaret Raney which lists Asher Reaves as Surety and establishes another connection between Asher and George Reaves.
A George Reaves described as "of Wilkes County, North Carolina" is named in a Halifax deed dated September 6, 1793 as one of the legatees of John Epps, deceased. The deed refers to the heirs of a deceased son Joshua, as being: Nathaniel Epps, Moses Epps, David Powell, Sr., John Comer, Edy Epps, and Temperance Epps of Halifax County, Virginia; Ambrose Gresham of Lunenburg County, Virginia; and George Reaves of Wilkes County, North Carolina.
According to Joshua Epps' Will of 1778 (Halifax Co. Will Bk. 1, 1773-83, p 216) his children were: John, Nathaniel, William, Isham, Moses, Mary (m. David Powell, Sr. before 1767), Elizabeth “Betty” (m. Ambrose Gresham on 24 Mar 1787 in Halifax VA), Millison (m. John Clay), Dicy (m. Elisha Lacy), Amey (m. John Comer before 10 Sept. 1775), Temperance (unmarried in 1793), Edy (unmarried in 1793) and Patty who must then be the daughter who married George Reaves.
The Epps' daughter who married George Reeves was unstated in the records, but was probably "Patty" (a nickname for Martha) which is further confirmed by a 1779 deed from George Reeves and Martha his wife to Luke Williams as well as the appearance of a widowed Martha Reeves listed as head of household beginning in the 1816 tax lists and in the 1830 Halifax census after the death of George Reeves.
It appears that other members of the extended Scurlock/Morrison family also migrated to Wilkes County, North Carolina about the time that George Reaves did. The following excerpt from Michael Scurlock of the Northern Neck and Some of His Descendants refers to Joshua Scurlock who is very likely the half brother of George Reaves:
"Sometime after 1762, like so many Virginians of the era, Joshua (Scurlock) and his family migrated from their home state, going first to Wilkes Co., N.C., where he received a North Carolina land grant of 300 acres on both sides of Moravian Creek on 1 March 1780. On 27 October 1788, Joshua, now, 'of the State of Georgia,' sold this land and the deed was recorded in Wilkes Co., N.C."
George Reaves received Warrant No. 638 for 200 acres on Little Cub Creek beginning at the Moravian line which was surveyed in 1784. The survey and warrant incorrectly list his surname as Rives but it is noteworthy that his brother-in-law Moses Epps was a chain carrier for the survey.
The only older Reeves' individual living in Wilkes County, North Carolina at that time was an Isaac Reeves with wife Margery. Isaac Reeves did not name any of his children in his 1807 will, but they have been identified through tax and deed records of Wilkes County and do not include Asher. Although at times George Reeves of Grayson County, Virginia was listed in the records of Wilkes NC, it should be noted that the state line between Virginia and North Carolina was in dispute for approximately 20 years. Areas along that boundary were constantly being shifted back and forth between the two states. The area where George Reeves lived along the New River was along that boundary so the state and county changed repeatedly. From 1767 when he arrived on the Peach Bottom Tract until his death in 1811, George Reeves lived on the north side of the New River. The Peach Bottom Tract on the New River is approximately 40 miles from the Wilkes County Courthouse and the Yadkin River as described by Asher Reaves in his RW pension statement and Little Cub Creek adjacent to the Moravian line mentioned in George Reaves' Wilkes NC deed of 1794.
The 1782 tax records of Wilkes County show both George Reaves and Joshua Scurlock who was undoubtedly his half-brother listed on the same list. In both 1787 and 1788, the Wilkes County tax list of Capt. Tribble lists a George Reeves. A deed from George Reeves to William Petty for 200 acres dated 9 Dec 1794 is the last record of his presence in that area. During these years George Reeves, later of Grayson County, is consistently recorded in the records of Montgomery County, Virginia.
It should be noted that the DNA of descendants of the known Reeve family of Prince William County, Virginia is a different lineage than descendants of Isaac Reeves of Wilkes County. DNA of the descendants of Asher and George Reaves would be a great help in resolving the identity of these individuals.
This profile includes research of the Reeves families of Prince William, Northumberland and Lancaster counties of Virginia by Lois Downey and Dan Knight.
See detailed information and research for George Reaves at the blog post The Rest of the Story at the Reeves, Reaves and More Rives blog.
Sources
Overwharton Parish Register, Stafford County, Virginia (record of marriage to Anne Webster)Northumberland Co., VA, Court Orders
St. Stephen's Parish Register, Northumberland Co., VA
Inventory of William Scurlock, Richmond Co., VA
1747 Prince William Co., VA, Tax List, Dettingen Parish
RW Pension Statement #S17649 of Asher Reaves
1790 Tax List of Halifax County VA
Deed Records of Halifax County VA
Wilkes County, North Carolina Tax and Deed Records
Michael Scurlock of the Northern Neck and Some of His Descendants by Rosemary Corley Neal as published in the Virginia Genealogist
1738 Indenture - George Reaves - King George County, Virginia Deed Book 2, p225