Reavis, Eliza

Summary

Father: Isham Reavis, Jr.
Mother: Tabitha Strickland

Birth: 15 or 28 Jan 1813, Shawneetown, Illinois
Birth Source: Obituary, Headstone and Family Bible

Death: 7 Sep 1886, Gibson County, Indiana
Death Source: Obituary

Spouse1: Robert Steel, Esq., m. 26 Feb 1829, Gibson County, Indiana

Narrative

Children of Robert Steel, Esq. and Eliza Reavis:

1. John Q. A. Steel, b. c1830
2. James M. Steel, b. 1831
3. Tabitha J. Steel, b. c1833
4. Martin A. Steel, b. c1835
5. Newton Steel, b. c1837
6. Mary E. Steel, b. c1839
7. Robert L. Steel, b. c1842
8. William R. Steel, b. c1844
9. George W. Steel, b. c1847

Daily Journal, 16 Sep 1886
DIED - At the house of her son, James M. Steele, Gibson County, Ind. on Tuesday, the 7th of September, 1886, Mrs. Eliza Steele, widow of Robert Steele, Esq.
Mrs. Steele was born in Shawneetown, Illinois, on the 5th day of January 1813. Her maiden name was Reavis. Her father, Isham Reavis, landed at Patoka, Gibson County, Ind. in a keel boat, in company with two other families named Phillips and Harvey in the spring of 1813. They all found homes in Gibson County, in the then comparative wilderness. Mrs. Reavis settled within two miles of where the town of Francisco now stands, about six miles southeast of Princeton. Mrs. Steel was than an infant in her mother's arms. The battle of Tippecanoe had but recently been fought and the war between England and the United States was raging on both sea and land.
The county was literally a howling wilderness, beset with dangers both from the wild beast and from the more dangerous savages, many of whom were still prowling round the country. It was here, amid those scenes, that Mrs. Steele was brought up, universally beloved by all the old settlers and neighbors, and it was here she became the wife of Robert Steele, Esq. on the 26th day of February, 1829. Afterwards she became the mother of fourteen children. She was left a widow, her husband dying some time in 1856, leaving her with twelve children surviving - nine sons and three daughters, all of whom she managed to raise in good credit.
When the War of the Rebellion was inaugurated six of her sons went to the front and fought under the old flag, all of whom fought valiantly and received honorable discharges and came home, except her eldest son, John Q. A. Steele, who was a First-lieutenant in Co. F, 32nd Ind. Volunteers, and was killed while leading a skirmish fight at Bennington, North Carolina, in one of the last battles of the war.
She was a professor of Christianity, and had been a church member of the General Baptist Church at the time of her death. Her life was exemplary and full of heroic and charitable deeds. Nine of her children survive her, besides numerous grand-children and many great-grand-children. Her brother, Wm. Reavis, of Evansville, Ind., is now the only remaining member of her father's family, all the rest of her brothers and sisters having preceded her to the Spirit Land.
Elder Wm. Clark preached her funeral sermon to a large congregation, and her body was laid away in the cemetery of Forsythe Church, amid the tears and lamentations of her relatives and many friends.

Research Notes

Note that there are discrepancies for the birth date between the family Bible, the headstone and the obituary.

Sources

Birth:          Isham Reavis Family Bible & Headstone
Marriage1:  FamilySearch - Indiana, Marriages, 1811-2019
Death:        Obituary, Daily Journal, 16 Sep 1886
Burial:       FamilySearch - Forsythe Cemetery, Oakland City, Gibson County, Indiana

1850 Census:  Columbia, Gibson County, Indiana
1860 Census:  Columbia, Gibson County, Indiana