Reeve, Andrew Jackson
Summary
Father: George Washington ReeveMother: Ruth (surname probably Crump or Mitchell but neither is documented)
Birth: 1 Oct 1815, South Carolina
Birth Source: Census, complete DOB undocumented
Death: after 1860, Alabama
Death Source:
Spouse1: Elizabeth Webster, m. 6 Sep 1834
Spouse2: Margaret
Narrative
Children of Andrew Jackson Reeve and Elizabeth Webster:- George Edward Reeves nickname "Bunkum", b. Jan 1835
- James R. Reeves, b. 1836, d. 15 Jul 1862 in Richmond VA of disease
- Mary E. Reeve, b. 1853
- Caroline Reeve, b. 1854
- Andrew J. Reeve, b. 1856
- Dicey A. Reeve, b. 1857
- George W. Reeve, b. 1860
- Francis M. Reeve, b. 1861
Married on Thursday the 22nd ult., by the Rev. Mr. Magee, Mr. Andrew J. Reeves of Abbeville, to Miss Elizabeth Webster. (Sept. 6, 1834.)
An Andrew J. Reeve recorded in the 1840 census of DeKalb County, Georgia living close proximity to his grandfather William Reeve and brother James White Reeve appears to be this individual. The oldest female in the household is listed as 15-19 which is too young for Elizabeth Webster, born circa 1814 and includes a female child but other information coincides with known information for Andrew J. Reeve. In later records, his son George E. Reeves gives his birthplace as Georgia which would agree with the family's residence there in the 1840's.
Elizabeth Webster's family is identified in the will(s) of her father James R. Webster. In the first will written by James Webster in 1837 he gave an equal share to Andrew J. and Elizabeth Reeve, his daughter (WB B p114-116). When he wrote the second version of his will on the 3rd of August 1840, he changed the language of the will giving an equal share to his daughter Elizabeth and her children but it was to be arranged so that it would not be at the disposal of Andrew J. Reeve allowing him to "waste it". (WB B p116-119)
Further evidence of the contention in their marriage is found in a lawsuit from 1846 recorded as follows:
18 Aug 1846. Anderson District. Deed. Petition in Court of Equity.
Strother Kay to Arthur W. Smith, Trustee, Deed of Trust for 80 acres of land. Elizabeth Reeve vs. Andrew J. Reeve and Strother Kay. "Deed of defendant Kay to Arthur W. Smith, as trustee of Elizabeth Reeve, dated the 22 Jan 1844, conveying 80 acres of land in consideration of $200 be cancelled and set aside, except that the relinquishment of dower and ordered thereon by his wife Sally Kay be allowed to stand as valid, and that said Strother Kay do proceed to execute the said Smith, as trustee, a deed for the said land to be held by him for the use of Elizabeth Reeve on the limitation stated in the Commissioner's Report." Neals Creek, adjoining lands of Enoch Vandiver, Jesse Kay, James Major, whereon Elizabeth Reeves lives. Book Y, pages 150-151. Lands not to be control of Andrew J. Reeves and upon her death, the land given to her children and grandchildren. Witness: P. S. Vandiver, Notary Public.
On the 17th of November 1848, Andrew J. Reeve signed the petition submitted by the inhabitants of Anderson County asking that the recent law on magistrates be altered to allow two magistrates per militia beat. This petition places him in the same neighborhood with many other individuals who were also on the 1850 Census for the Eastern Block of Anderson, SC which indicates that he was still living in the family home at the time.
When the 1850 census was taken, Jackson Reeve(s) was recorded as head of household of the Anderson County household which included his wife Elizabeth, age 36, and his two sons James R. and George E. Reeves. This 1850 census appears to be the last record of Andrew J. Reeve in South Carolina. In a deed of 20 July 1852 [DeKalb AL DB D p232-233] partitioning the land of his deceased father George W. Reeve, a Margaret Reeve signed the deed as his wife just below Andrew's signature. Andrew J. Reeve appears to have removed to Alabama when his father died and never returned to South Carolina. It is unknown whether he and Elizabeth Webster Reeve divorced or if the second marriage to Margaret was simply a common-law union.
In January of 1854, Jackson Reeve, along with his brother Noah Vann Reeve and two others were signatories on the administrator's bond of his deceased brother William G. Reeve in DeKalb County, Alabama.
On 4 Nov 1858, a deed from Andrew J. Reeve and Margaret, his wife, conveyed 40 acres to an A. S. Davison for $150.00. An unidentified J. R. Reeves, possibly his son James R. Reeve, was witness to the deed found at DeKalb County AL Deed Book F pg. 451.
By 1860, the Anderson County SC census lists Elizabeth Reeve as the head of household but Andrew J. is not found in that county. Elizabeth's household includes her son James Reeve, age 24, and his wife Susan age 22. An A. J. Reavs (mispelled in census), born 1815 in South Carolina, is recorded in Blount County, Alabama with what appears to be a new family - wife Margaret age 44, a child Thomas L. age 13, Mary E. age 7, Caroline age 6, Andrew J. age 4, Dicey A. age 3 and George W. age 5 months. Thomas may have been a step-son because no further information can be found for a Thomas L. Reeves of that age.
No further records have been found for either Andrew Jackson Reeve(s). The A. J. recorded in Blount County, Alabama in 1860 appears to have died between 1860 and 1870, possibly in the Civil War. In the 1870 and 1880 census, the second spouse Margaret Reeves is the head of a household that includes most of the children listed above from the 1860 census in addition to another child, Francis M. born circa 1861. In the 1880 census she is recorded as a widow living in Morgan County, Alabama.
Probate documents found in Anderson County, South Carolina document that Elizabeth Webster Reeve died in 1863 and that her son James R. Reeve had died the previous year.
Research Notes
Sources
Marriage1: Marriage and Death Notices from the Up‐Country of South Carolina by Brent H. HolcombCensus: 1840 Census - DeKalb County, Georgia
1850 Census - Anderson County, South Carolina
1860 Census - Anderson County, South Carolina (HOH - Elizabeth Reeve)
1860 Census - Blount County, Alabama
History: Anderson SC Will Book B pg 114-119 - Wills of James R. Webster
1854 Probate - Estate of William G. Reeve, DeKalb County, AL
Georgia’s Virtual Vault
Broken Fortunes by Randolph W. Kirkland Jr.