Reeve, Tapping

Summary

Father: Abner Reeve
Mother: Deborah Tapping

Birth: 30 Sep 1744, Southold, Long Island, New York
Birth Source: Family Bible

Death: 13 Dec 1823, Litchfield, Connecticut
Death Source: Newspaper Notices

Spouse1: Sarah Burr, m. 24 Jun 1773, Fairfield, Connecticut
Spouse2: Elizabeth Thompson, m. 30 Apr 1798, Bethlehem, Connecticut

Narrative

Children of Tapping Reeve and Sarah Burr:

1. Aaron Burr Reeve, b. 3 Oct 1780

The marriage record notes that "Toppan" was of Litchfield and Sarah of Fairfield. Sarah was the brother sister of Aaron Burr Jr. of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War and third vice president of the United States. Her mother, Sarah Edwards, was the daughter of Rev. Jonathan Edwards, one of America's most famous theologians.

The Western Star, 17 Apr 1797
At Litchfield, (Con.) on Friday night, the 30th ult. after a long and gradual decline, Mrs. SARAH REEVE, the truly amiable and benevolent consort of TAPPING REEVE, Esq. of that town. The funeral procession was large and solemn. The poor and unfortunate may well "weep for themselves and their children," rather than for the deceased.

Note that Friday was actually the 13st of March 1797 rather than the 30th.

Brooklyn Evening Star, 28 Dec 1842
At Litchfield, Ct., Mrs. Elizabeth, aged 69, relict of the Hon. Tapping Reeve, late Cheif Justice of Connecticut.

Vermont Watchman and State Journal, 30 Dec 1823
Death of Judge Reeve
We have this week to announce the death of the Hon. TAPPING REEVE, formerly Chief Justice of this state. He closed his long protracted life on the morning of the 13th inst. He died full in the faith he had lived. For weeks, at intervals, he endured the most excruciating agony of body, but entirely tranquil in mind, reposing his hope on the merits of the Redemmer. His age was 79 - The Biography (says the Litchfield Eagle) of a man, so distinguished as a Jurist, as a Judge, and so eminent in every respect in his profession, will undoubtedly, be written some able pen. - Con. Herald.

The Vermont Chronicle contains a printed edition of the funeral sermon preached by Rev. Dr. Beecher. The sermon states he was born in Oct 1744 at Brookhaven, Long Island, New York. This is in slight disagreement with the information contained in his Family Bible.

Research Notes

Sources

Birth:          Tapping Reeve Family Bible
                   Vermont Chronicle, 9 Mar 1827 (Printed Funeral Sermon)
Marriage1:  Connecticut, Church Record Abstracts, 1630-1920, p108 (First Congregational Church, Fairfield, Connecticut)
Marriage2:  Tapping Reeve Family Bible
Death:        Connecticut, Hale Collection of Cemetery Inscriptions and Newspaper Notices, 1629-1934 (Ancestry) (17 Dec 1823, American Sentinel and Witness, 20 Dec 1823, Christian Secretary)
                   Vermont Watchman and State Journal, 30 Dec 1823
Burial:       East Cemetery, Litchfield, Litchfield County, Connecticut

1790 Census:  Litchfield, Litchfield County, Connecticut
1800 Census:  Litchfield, Litchfield County, Connecticut
1810 Census:  Litchfield, Litchfield County, Connecticut
1820 Census:  Litchfield, Litchfield County, Connecticut

Brooklyn Evening Star, 28 Dec 1842
The Western Star, 17 Apr 1797 (Stockbridge, MA)