Reeve, Selah
Summary
Father: James ReeveMother: Mary Hudson
Birth: 28 Feb 1740, Long Island, New York
Birth Source: Headstone
Death: 21 Feb 1796, New York
Death Source: Headstone
Spouse1: Keturah Strong, m. 26 Dec 1763
Narrative
Children of Selah Reeve and Keturah Strong:- Jeffery Reeve, b. 1 Jan 1765
- Benjamin Strong Reeve, b. 26 Oct 1766
- Selah Reeve, b. 21 Oct 1768 or 1769
- Eunice Reeve, b. 14 Feb 1771, d. c19 Apr 1837
- Joseph Reeve, b. 5 Jul 1773
- Keturah Reeve, b. 28 Aug 1775
- Deborah Reeve, b. 31 May 1777
- James Reeve, b. 20 Apr 1780
- Mary Reeve, b. 10 Apr 1782
- Nathan Reeve, b. 5 Nov 1786
- Elizabeth Reeve, b. 15 Feb 1790
Selah Reeve was a 2nd Lieutenant in the Ulster County Militia, 4th Regiment.
Mattituk Presbyterian state the following baptism records for the children of Selah and Keturah Reeve:
Jeffery Reeve - Selah & Keturah - March 24, 1765
Eunice Reeve - Selah & Keturah - March 24, 1771
In the original notes the following is stated after the entry for Eunice: "N. B. There should have been upon Record, that Selah Reeve is in full comunion and since Jeffery his first born he has had baptized his 2nd son named Benja Strong and a third son named Selah, omitted in their places a memorandum of them is made here, but the date is not now known
Joseph Reeve - Selah & Keturah - Aug 8 1773
Keturah Reeve - Selah & Keturah - Oct 15, 1775
An query contained in Orange County Genealogical Society Bulletin states the following:
In an old book "Geographical and Historical Grammar" published London, England 1771, The 12th edition. There is genealogical information on the backs of folded maps. On the back of the map of Italy between pages 126 and 127 is handwritten as follows:
Selah Reeve b. 28 Feb. 1742 m. 26 Dec. 1763 Keturah Strong b. 23 Jan. 1747.
Ch.: Jeffry b. 1 Jan. 1765
Benjamin S. b. 26 Oct. 1766
Selah b. 21 Oct. 1768, m. abt. 1797 Elizabeth VanDuzer b. 16 May 1777 d. 4 Mar. 1854
Eunice b. 14 Feb. 1771 d. abt 19 Apr. 1837
Joseph b. 5 July 1773
Keturah b. 28 Aug. 1775 m. 1794 Isaac VanDuzer b. 9 Feb 1773 (Isaac and Elizabeth VanDnzer were ch. of Capt. Christopher VanDuzer of Warwick and his second wife Juliana Tusten.)
Deborah b. 31 May 1777 m. Drake Hobby. She d. 1817 at Oxford, town of Blooming Grove, N. Y. ae 40 yr. 2 mo. 28 da.
James b. 20 Apr. 1780
Mary b. 10 Apr. 1782
Nathan b. 5 Nov. 1786
Elizabeth b. 15 Feb. 1790.
In 1781, Selah quit claim to his brother James land which his father had given him for a term of twenty-five years. A Nathaniel Reeve witnessed the record.
Headstone reads: "In/Memory of/Selah Reeve/who departed this life 21st Febry 1796/Aged 54 Years 11 Months/21 Days/also Keturah wife of Selah Reeve/was born 25d January 1745/died 21st January 1829."
Selah wrote his will on 11 Feb 1796 and it was proved 21 Jun 1796. He mentions his wife Keturah and sons Benjamin S. and Selah, all three of whom were made executors of the will. He also mentions "my three daughters that are now married" but doesn't name them.
In a mortgage dated 26 Jun 1804, James Reeve of NewBurgh, Orange County mortgaged to Drake Hobby "All his undivided eleventh part of a certain farm situate lying and being in the Town of NewBurgh and County of Orange formerly the property of Selah Reeve Deceased and now in the actual possession and Occupation of Rebeccah Reeve widow of the said Selah Reeve." Since church records indicate Drake Hobby married a Deborah Reeve in NewBurgh in 1795 this likely means that Deborah was the daughter of Selah. However, it is odd that this record states that the widow was Rebeccah given that the will and probate records show his widow was named Keturah.
The website of the Old Town Cemetery, Newburg NY gives the following biography:
In Ruttenber 1859, Selah Reeve defied the British officers at Mattituck, L. I., where he had a farm and homestead, refusing to sign the oath of allegiance to the King. When they came for him, Mr. Reeve escaped with his family, having prepared a boat. “The dinner-horn sounded the signal of alarm agreed upon, and his men instantly repaired on board the scow, while he hastened the departure of his family. Entering the door of his dwelling, he found his wife busily preparing the noon-tide meal, and his boy, Selah, then an infant, asleep in the cradle. He grasped the child and placed him under his arm, very much as he would have handled a bag of flour; simply said to his wife, “Come,” and strode out of the back door. The infant soon made the air ring with cries at his unceremonious handling, and its mother remonstrated; but he gave little heed to either, until after repeated solicitations from the latter, when he handed her the child with the remark, “There, carry him yourself,” and then hastened on. The vessel was reached and cast off from the shore, just as the officers had passed through the house and emerged from the back door. Waving his hand to his baffled pursuers, Reeve steered for the Connecticut shore…….. After the war, he purchased (1784) a farm situated about three miles north of the village of Newburgh, to which he removed soon after.”
Research Notes
Selah is claimed to have had a son named Isaac Reeve, b. 1784. He is mentioned in the list of children in The Refugees of 1776 from Long Island to Connecticut, but so far, evidence of this has yet to be provided.Sources
Burial: Findagrave - Old Town Cemetery, Newburgh, Orange County, New York1790 Census: New Burgh, Ulster County, New York
1800 Census: Newburgh, Orange County, New York (Keutrah HOH)
Stuart Tuthill Terry Manuscripts - Southold Record Abstracts
1796 Will - Selah Reeve - Ulster County, New York Will Book B, p303
Old Town Cemetery, Newburg NY
Genealogies of the State of New York: A Record of the Achievements ..., Volume 1
U.S., Presbyterian Church Records, 1701-1970 (Ancestry)
Orange County Genealogical Society Bulletin , Vol. 1, No. 2
1804 Mortgage - James Reeve to Drake Hobby - Orange County, New York Mortgage Book F, p53