Reeve, Oliver P.
Summary
Father: David ReeveMother: Esther Wickham
Birth: 10 Mar 1822, Wallkill, Orange County, New York
Birth Source: Bio
Death: 14 Mar 1891, Middletown, Orange County, New York
Death Source: Death Index
Spouse1: Charlotte Redfield, m. 1852
Spouse2: Esther E. Shorter, m. 1858
Narrative
Children of Oliver P. Reeve and Esther E. Shorter:- Theodore Lincoln Reeve, b. c1861
In 1850, Oliver P. Reeve, age 28, was living in Wallkill, Orange County, New York with older sister "Armada" (40), his nephew Floyd S. Reeve (8) and a William Martine (25).
Middletown Whig Press, 11 Feb 1857
Feb. 4-At Middletown, Charlotte R., wife of Oliver P. Reeve, and youngest daughter of David J. Redfield, deceased, aged 35 years.
On 30 Sep 1859, Oliver gained administration on the estate of his first wife Charlotte R. Reeve.
The History of Orange County, New York contains a biography and portrait of Oliver which includes some of the history of the family:
Deacon James Reeve was one of the principal men who united in building the First Congregational church at Middletown, which occupied the site of the present Congregational church. His first wife, Hephzibah Moore, bore him three children, — James, who served as a soldier at the battle of Minisink in 1779; Hephzibah, married a Mr. Hulse; and Mary, a Mr. Canfield. By his second wife, Mary Corwin, he had the following children: David; Daniel; Joshua, settled in Michigan; Elijah, died a young man; Isaac, resided on the old homestead; Anna, married a Mr. Keene, and resided at the Beach Woods, Pa.; Deborah, married a Mr. Shultz, of Orange County; Keturah, married Stewart Brown, and resided in Ohio; Lydia, married a Mr. Moore, of Orange County; Mary A., married Joshua McNish, of Wallkill, a descendant of Rev. George McNish, of Long Island, who was one of the original members of the first Presbytery in America, and father of the first Presbytery in the province of New York; Jerusha, married a Mr. Burns, of Beach Woods, Pa.; Dorothy, married Benjamin Hulse, of Orange County; Sarah; and Julia, married a Mr. Tidd, of Sullivan County, N. Y., and after his death a Mr. Drake. She was the last surviving one of this family of eighteen children, died at the age of eighty-seven, and was buried on New-Year's Day, 1881, at Bloomingburgh, N. Y.
Of these children, David was father of our subject, was born in 1771, and died in 1848. He followed agricultural pursuits during his life, and owned a farm in the town of Wallkill, within a couple of miles of Middletown. He was a quiet, unostentatious man, and sought to fulfill the full duty of a citizen, was active as a member of the Congregational Church at Middletown, and a promoter of the benevolent objects of his time. His wife, Esther, daughter of William Wickham, whom he married in 1797, was born in 1780, was a devoted Christian woman, a member of the Congregational Church, and died in 1837. Their children are Mary, wife of George V. Mapes, of Orange County; Rosetta, wife of Sylvester Cooper, of Mattituck, L. I.; William W., for many years supervisor and justice of the peace at Middletown, and widely known throughout the county as a surveyor; James, settled in Tompkins County; Hosea, of Jackson County, Mich.; Arminda, widow of Dr. Hedges, of Chester, N. J.; Fanny Jane, died at the age of ten years; Louisa, widow of the late B. W. Shaw, of Middletown; David Rose, died in Orange County; Benjamin Franklin, died in Philadelphia; Oliver P.; and Harriet, wife of Rev. L. I. Stoughtenburgh, of Morris County, N. J.
Oliver P., son of David Reeve, was born on the homestead, in the town of Wallkill, March 10, 1822. His early book knowledge was received at the district school and select school at Ridgebury, and prior to reaching his majority he was a teacher in the common schools in the vicinity of his birth for some three years. Upon the death of his father he succeeded, by purchase of the other heirs, to the homestead farm of 156 acres, which he carried on for nine years, and then disposed of it.
In 1859 he engaged in mercantile business at Bullville, Orange Co., and in connection with this business was largely engaged in forwarding produce via Newburgh to New York. He carried on this business successfully for five years, disposed of his stock of goods, and in 1864 settled in Middletown, where he engaged in building tenement houses for some five years, and in improving real estate which he purchased.
In the spring of 1879 he opened an insurance office on Franklin Square, representing several wealthy and substantial companies, where he has since continued to do business, having for his partner the late H. L. Shaw, who died May 20, 1881.
Mr. Reeve has spent a life almost wholly devoted to business pursuits, yet amidst its activity he has ever been interested in the various enterprises of a local nature about him, and a promoter of morality and religious interests in society. For forty years he has been connected with the Congregational Church at Middletown, was one of the building committee in the erection of the present church edifice, and is at the present time one of its board of trustees and treasurer. He has also officiated as trustee of the village for two terms, and assessor for one term. He married, in 1852, Charlotte, daughter of David G. Redfield, who died four years after her marriage, leaving no issue. His present wife is Esther E., daughter of John Shorter, of Crawford, whom he married in 1858, and by whom he has one son, Theodore Lincoln.
Research Notes
Sources
Death: New York, U.S., Death Index, 1852-1956 (Ancestry))1850 Census: Wallkill, Orange County, New York
1860 Census: Crawford, Orange County, New York
1870 Census: Middletown Ward 4, Orange County, New York
1880 Census: Middletown, Orange County, New York
Middletown Whig Press, 11 Feb 1857
1859 Admin - Charlotte R. Reeve to Oliver P. Reeve - Orange County, New York Letters of Administration Book J, p115
Archive.org - Ruttenber, Edward Manning. (1881). History of Orange County, New York, p496