Reavis, Isham

Summary

Father: Henry Reavis
Mother: Unknown

Birth: 1779, probably Rutherford County, North Carolina
Birth Source:

Death: 24 Sep 1844, Bond County, Illinois
Death Source:

Spouse1: Mary Reavis, m. 20 Feb 1805 in Warren County, Kentucky
Spouse2: Nancy Rhodes, m. 11 Dec 1827 in Madison County, Illinois

Narrative

Children of Isham Reavis and Mary Reavis:

1. Cynthia Reavis, m. Alvin Tedrick
2. Zachariah Reavis, b. c1801
3. Elizabeth Reavis, m. Josiah Whitley
4. Priscilla Reavis, m. Joel Ellis
5. Ewing Reavis
6. Hiram Wilburton Reavis
7. Delilah Reavis, m. Andrew Smith
8. Amanda Reavis, m. William P. Snodgrass
9. Isham Terrell Reavis

Child of Isham Reavis and Nancy Rhodes:

1. Jonas Rhodes Reavis

From the History of Bond County, Illinois:

Among the first white men to locate here, Pleasant Mound Township, Bond County, Illinois probably was Isham Reavis who came from North Carolina with his family prior to the war of 1812. Sometime earlier the Reavis family were in Kentucky near Bowling Green and remained there for awhile, then moved to this state and settled near Collinsville. Mary Reavis, wife of Isham died in about 1825. In 1832 Reavis moved to Bond Co. and settled in what is now Fairview precinct. Isham married for his second wife, Nancy Rhodes, half sister of the late Judge Bradford in the year 1827. They were Divorced upon his application in the circuit court of Bond Co. and carried to the Supreme Court of the State of Illinois. Isham and Nancy had a son named Jonas, she had back her maiden name of Rhodes, and called her son Jonas Rhodes, she had custody, but when young Jonas became a man he took his rightful name of Reavis, he studied medicine, but later changed to law. He went to California and was said to become quite successful, he is credited with raising an organization of troops in California which he offered to the government during the Civil War.

2 May 1846 - Deed of sale of land in Bond County, Illinois, of Alvin Tedrick and his wife, Cynthia, Zachariah Reavis and his wife, Matilda, Josiah Whitley and his wife, Elizabeth, Joel Ellis and his wife, Priscilla, Ewing Reavis and his wife, Elizabeth, Hiram Reavis and his wife, Alzadi, Andrew Smith and his wife, Delilah, William P. Snodgrass and his wife, Amanda, Isham Terrell Reavis, and Jonas Reavis (being all the heirs and legal representatives of Isham Reavis, deceased, late of Bond County, Illinois) to Joel Ellis. Deed was executed at St. Clair
County, Missouri.

Research Notes

Although Isham Reavis is associated with the Reavis variation of the name, this family is the only lineage of a Reavis' male whose DNA does not match that of other Reavis' participants in the Reeves DNA Project who comprise DNA Group 7. Instead, the DNA of a descendant has been placed in DNA Group 6 with other Reeves' individuals. His DNA most closely matches that of three descendants of John Durden Reeves who was born in Northampton County, North Carolina. John Durden Reeves lived for a brief time in Cumberland County before he also migrated to Surry County, North Carolina. Whether there is a family connection between the ancestors of these two families is currently unknown and needs much research.

Sources

Kentucky Marriages, 1802-1850, Ancestry Database
2 Dec 1820 Illinois State Census - Bond County, Illinois
1820 Census - Bond County, Illinois
1830 Census - Bond County, Illinois
1840 Census - Bond County, Illinois
Illinois Marriages to 1850, Ancestry Database
History of Bond County, Illinois