Reaves, Reuben
Summary
Father: William ReevesMother: Margaret Floyd
Birth:
Birth Source: DOB from information contained in the pension file of Daniel Fox. Place of birth from 1850 census.
Death:
Death Source: RW Pension file of Daniel Fox, statement by Nancy Reeves that her husband was deceased before 16 Feb 1852
Spouse1: Nancy Fox, b. 16 Jun 1793
Narrative
Children of Reuben Reaves and Nancy Fox:- John G. Reeves, b. 24 Jan 1814
- Mary Ann Reeves, b. 1 Mar 1817
- Elijah Reeves, b. 18 Apr 1819
- Wilson Reeves, b. 18 Apr 1819
- Manurvy Reeves, b. 8 Aug 1821
- William R. Reeves, b. 17 Aug 1823
- Absalom Reeves, b. 14 Aug 1825
- Unknown, b. 14 Dec 1827
- Martha Reeves, b. 27 Nov 1829
- Melinda Elizabeth Reeves, b. 10 Jan 1834
Reuben apparently got some land in Lauderdale County, Alabama, as a Henry Garrard was granted some land there as the assignee of Reuben Reeves in 1832. The land was in township two. The land that Stephen, Jesse, and others owned was in the adjoining township.
The biography of his grandson William J Reeves suggests Reuben moved from Alabama to Calloway Co., Kentucky about 1826. He appears on the 1835 tax list for Calloway Co., Kentucky. That same year, as a resident of Galloway Co., Kentucky, he deeded land to Luddy Crutchfield of Bedford Co., Tennessee, "it being four sevenths of a one hundred and six acre tract of land left by the will of William Reeves decd to his heirs." Since his sisters Elizabeth and Rebecca had given power of attorney to Absalom to sell their portions, it appears Reuben had charge of the rest.
The book Reaves, Reeves, Reavis, Rives, a One Name Study, Volume I contains some information on this family, although contradictory and not well cited at times. The author claims "Reuben traveled from South Carolina southward to Muscle Shoals, Alabama and up the Tennessee River into Bedford County, Tennessee and into Graves County. Kentucky. After Reuben's death in 1855, his wife, Nancy (Fox) Reeves traveled on into Johnson County, Illinois where she died in 1869 at the home of her son, Elijah and Nancy Caroline (Reeder) Reeves." (p4) This seems to indeed be the case as several children's birth records suggest they were in Alabama for a brief period. There is apparently a reference to Reuben Reeves in the Lauderdale County, Alabama Equity Record Book F, pp223-231. This needs further research. The possible connection to Lauderdale is significant as many of the children of Moses Reeves moved there.
The 1856 Graves County KY death record of M. J. Cunningham born 1830 in Calloway County, Kentucky gives her parents names as Reuben and Nancy Reaves. Martha and her husband James Cunningham were living in the Graves County household of Reuben and Nancy Reaves in the 1850 census.
This Reuben Reaves is often confused with the Reuben Reeves who lived in Hickman and Humphreys TN before moving to Graves County KY prior to the 1860 census.
Sources
Census: 1840 Census - Graves County, Kentucky1850 Census - Graves County, Kentucky
History: Biographical Review of Johnson, Massac, Pope, and Hardin Counties, Illinois, p324
1835 Deed - Reuben Reeves to Luddy Crutchfield
Bedford County, Tennessee Family History Book, Page 419
RW pension file of Daniel Fox
1835 Calloway Co., Kentucky Tax List, 160 acres
1837, 1839, 1840 Graves Co., Kentucky Tax List, 160 acres
Kentucky, Death Records, 1852-1964 online database at Ancestry.com
Craft, Roy and Alice. Reaves, Reeves, Reavis, Rives, a One Name Study, Volume I
Land Patent, CV-0131-462, 1832, US Bureau of Land Management