Reaves, Junius C. "Cephus"

Summary

Father: John B. Reaves
Mother: Louisa MNU

Birth: 1864, Sampson County, North Carolina
Birth Source: Census records and gravestone insscription

Death: 17 Jan 1916, South Clinton, Sampson County, North Carolina
Death Source: North Carolina Death Certificate

Spouse1: Martha "Mattie" Dudley

Narrative

Children of Junius C. "Cephus" Reaves and Martha Dudley:

1. Mamie Elizabeth Reaves, b. 3 Aug 1890
2. Junius Allen Reaves, b. 15 Jun 1894
3. Annie Roberts Reaves, b. 11 Aug 1897
4. Sudie Jane Reaves, b. 3 Oct 1898
5. Langdon Stevens Reaves, b. 30 Apr 1903
6. Sallie V. Reaves, b. 15 Aug 1905
7. Willis H. Reaves, b. 9 Jun 1907
8. Eva Mae Reaves, b. 18 Nov 1909

Research Notes

There is no Josephus or Cephas in the census of 1870 in the household of his widowed mother Louisa Reaves. It appears that Junius C. Reaves of the previous census in 1870 is Cephus. The age is right and in 1870 he would only have been about 5 years old and would surely have been recorded in his mother's household. Then in 1880 he's listed as "Julius C" in his brother Willis Hardy Reaves' household and not in his mother Louisa's household.

In the 1900 census, he is recorded as Cephas J. Reaves which suggests that the C in Junius' name stood for Cephas. There is also a gravestone in the Nathan A. Dudley Sr. Cemetery of Clinton, Sampson County with the name Junious "S" Reaves with the dates of birth and death of Cephas. All of the recorded historical evidence appears to indicate that Junius C. Reaves and Cephas J. Reaves were the same individual.

The North Carolina death certificate of his daughter Sallie Reaves Herring lists the name of her father as Junius Reeves. The North Carolina birth index of son Willis Hardy Reeves, Sr. born in 1907 also gives his father's name as "Junius Sephus Reeves".

Sources

1870 Census - Piney Grove, Sampson County, North Carolina (HOH Louisa Reaves)
1880 Census - Clinton, Sampson County, North Carolina (HOH Willis Hardy Reeves)
1900 Census - Clinton, Sampson County, North Carolina
1910 Census - North Clinton, Sampson County, North Carolina
North Carolina Death Certificate of Cephus J. Reaves online at Ancestry.com
Find A Grave with gravestone photo, Nathan A. Dudley Sr. Cemetery