Reavis, Edward

Summary

Father: Isham Reavis
Mother: Anne Matilda Jones

Birth: 1767, North Carolina
Birth Source: 1824 Will of Isham Reavis, Sr.

Death: 24 Feb 1844, St. Clair, Missouri
Death Source:

Spouse1: Zilpha Parker, m. 15 Dec 1799, Warren County, Kentucky

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Narrative

Children of Edward Reavis and Zilpha Parker:

1. Warren Parker Reavis, b. 1800
2. Light H. Reavis, b. 1802
3. Eli Reavis, b. c1804
4. Isham Reavis, b. c1808
5. Silvester Reavis, b. c1810
6. Mildred Reavis, b. c1812
7. Elizabeth Reavis, b. c1814
8. Edward Reavis, b. 14 Jun 1814
9. Nancy Reavis, b. c1816
10. Son Reavis, b. 1820

On the 17th of August 1799, Edward Reavis along with his father Isham, brothers Mark, Charles, Isham Jr. and brother-in-law Royal Potter were appointed by the County Court of Warren County, Kentucky to work on a road under overseer Robert Lee.

There is a slip of paper in the county marriage records which states Edward and Zilpha were married on the 15th. However, the later recording of the marriage in the marriage book says the 5th.

He is listed as Edward Revis on the 1800 tax lists of Warren County, Kentucky along with Mark, Charles and Isham Reavis (it is unknown whether this was Isham Sr. or Jr.).

Edward is mentioned in the 1813 Warren County KY will of Benjamin Covington as having conveyed by deed a 350 acre tract of land which was being bequeathed to his son Isaac Covington.

The following is included in the chapter regarding the Salt Pond Settlement in Past Present, Saline County, MO by William Barclay Napton, published in 1910:

In the fall of 1817 Edward Reavis ascended the Lamine and made the first settlement at the Salt Springs, four miles below the present site of Sweet Springs. His family numbered about fourteen souls, half being his own family, the other his negro slaves. Reavis engaged in the manufacture of salt at the strong salt springs of that locality. His appliances were not the best, but he made a fair article of salt in considerable quantities, supplying most of the salt used in the early days, continuing the business for some fifteen years. It was a hazardous undertaking to make a settlement there at that time, for the country was infested with roving bands of Indians, and to guard against possible attacks he built his house in the shape of a fort, such a fort as was usual with the early settlers, with a block house attached, properly pierced with port-holes and well calculated for defence against an ordinary attack of savages, not too numerous. Its defensive qualities were never tested, never having been attacked by the Indians. Subsequent to the Reavis settlement, John and Matthew Mayes located at the McAllister Springs, and Isham Reavis came in at the same time...

The first birth of a male child was that of a son of Edward and Zylpha Reavis, in the year 1820.

The very first minister was Isham Reavis, an old school Baptist, and the first religious services were held at the house of Edward Reavis, in 1820.

Mrs. Zylpha Reavis put up the first loom and did the first weaving. In early days, every household did its own weaving. One family wove carpets and foot-mats out of the inner bark of the hnden (sic linden?) tree.

There is a court case from 1854 in St. Clair County which involved the heirs of Edward Reeves. Among the items in the case are the following facts:

• Edward Revis of St Clair County died possessed of certain real estate
• Edward's children and heirs at law were:
  • Mildred, who married Pachal Laxton, had three children: Sarah Laxton (m. James Gilmore), John Laxton, Nancy Laxton. Mildred married 2nd George Wilson and then died
  • Lyght Revis who married Susan Anderson and had seven children: Nancy Revis, Martha Revis, Ellen Revis, Elvira Revis, Druzilla Revis, Benton Revis, and Edward Revis
  • Warren P Revis
  • Isham Revis
  • Edward Revis Jr
  • Nancy Revis who married Samuel Anderson who had both died and left children: William, Elizabeth, James, Riley, and Melissa

Research Notes

Sources

Marriage1:  FamilySearch - Kentucky, County Marriages, 1786-1965

1840 Census:  Rives (Henry) County, Missouri

1824 Will - Isham Reavis - Saline County, Missouri - Probate Variety Book, p64
Past Present, Saline County, MO by William Barclay Napton, Pub. 1910
History of the Reavis Family, by Winfred Elmo Reavis Pub. 1951
Warren County, Kentucky Marriage Records
Warren County Court Orders, in loose records at Family Search
1800 Tax Lists of Warren County, Kentucky
FamilySearch - St. Clar County, Missouri Court Records 1841-1845, p457