Reeve, Walter

Summary

Father:
Mother:

Birth: c1650, United Kingdom probably England or Wales
Birth Source:

Death: c June 1698, Burlington, New Jersey
Death Source: Will proven 18 Jun 1698, Liber I of Wills, Page 541

Spouse1: probably Susanna
Spouse2: Ann Howell, m. 11 Nov Dec 1682

Narrative

Children of Walter Reeve and Susanna:

1. Susanna Reeve
2. John Reeve, b. c1674

Children of Walter Reeve and Anne Howell:

1. Walter Reeve, Jr., b. 1684, d. 21 Mar 1754
2. Jonathan Reeve, b. 1685, d. 1726
3. William Reeve, b. c1686, d. 1748
4. Elisha Reeve, b. 1688, d. 1750
5. Joseph Reeve, b. c1690, d. Dec 1747
6. Caleb Reeve, b. c1692
7. Samuel Reeve, b. 1695, d. 1737
8. Elizabeth Reeve, b. c1697

Walter Reave is listed as shipping the following items on The Society of Bristol which arrived in Jun 1682:
50 lbs. brass manufactured; 20 lbs pewter, 24 lbs. serges; 1 cwt. wrought iron.

According to New Jersey Marriage License abstracts, Walter & Ann's license is dated 11 Nov 1682. The following is from Burlington marriage records in the office of Secretary of State, according to New Jersey Colonial Documents:

The Marriage between Walter Reeve and Anne Howell, being first published according to order, was solempnized the 11th day of December 1682, Before Robert Stacy Justice John White and Thomas Revell Registr.

His actual date of birth is unknown, but it is assumed to be between 1650 and 1657. He initially lived on the south side of the North Branch of Rancocas Creek, and later bought a plantation on the north side of the creek, about midway between the village of Rancocas and the present town of Mt. Holly.

Court records reveal items of interest in Walter's dealings in Burlington County:

• In Dec. 1683 he wasn't able to attend court because of a recent wound
• Walter was accused of selling rum to Indians and threatening anyone who would report him
• He was presented in court for marking his swine with another man's mark
• He was in possession of logs he had apparently cut which he had no right to. The logs were "condemned to the publique use."
• John Woolston Jr. testified that he swore seven times
• Walter was involved in a case where Joshua Humphries had been stacking hay on his land

Walter bought 220 acres of land from George Hutchi(n)son in 1695. His will specified that this land was to go to his son William Reeve.

In his will, dated 16 May 1698 and proved 18 Jun 1698, he mentions: wife Anne, and sons John, William, Joseph, and daughter Susanna. In the will he requests that the rest of his estate be divided amongst all his children "begotten or to be begotten upon ye body of Ann, my said wife", as they attain the age of twenty-one years. The will also does not name son Jonathan, but a conveyance dated 1 Aug 1710, shows his widow, Anne, conveying “the tract of meadow land lying above the fork of Northampton River, on the north side of the South Branch of the river, previously purchased from John Wills by deed dated 10 Jan 1708” to her son Jonathan.

On pages 2354-2360 of Burlington County, New Jersey Will Records are listed the accounts from the estate of Walter Reeve with entries for Walter, Jonathan, William, Elisha, Joseph, Caleb, Samuel, and Elizabeth Reeves in addition to the widow Ann. All these entries specifically state that Walter was their father.

The will of his widow Anne names as her children Walter, William, Joseph, Elisha, Caleb and Samuel. Elizabeth is not mentioned. This it is not clear whether she was Anne's daughter or the daughter of the first wife.

Research Notes

In the handful of published genealogies of Walter Reeve, his origins remain unconfirmed but are typically stated as from England or Wales, and even possibly from Long Island, NY. For the Long Island connection, some of them go further and say that he could be the son of Reeve_Thomas_4206 of Southold, NY. However, no sources have yet been found by us to back up this claim, and no record has been found in Southold town records of any son of Thomas named Walter.
This subject is addressed by Wesley Baker ( Reeve study, Page 187), where he mentions that:

• several Southold Reeves were said to later settle in Northern NJ;
• several Burlington, NJ Reeves were said to have come from Long Island; and
• the children of Reeve_Walter_4745 and Reeve_John_4225 had very similar names (5 out of 10 match);

but supplies no other supporting evidence, and no primary records. Furthermore, YDNA testing has definitively proven that they are not genetically connected.

Sources

Marriage2:  New Jersey Colonial Documents, Volume XXII, Marriage Records 1665-1800, p LXXXV (solemnized)
                   New Jersey Colonial Documents, Volume XXII, Marriage Records 1665-1800, p320 (license)

Sheppard, Walter Lee, Jr. Passengers and Ships Prior to 1684 (1985), p42
The Reeves Family-Walter Reeve of Burlington County, New Jersey, pub 1930
1695 Deed - West Jersey Deeds Book B, p532
1710 Deed - Ann Reeves to Jonathan Reeves - West Jersey Deeds Book N, p528
1698 Will - Walter Reeve - New Jersey Will Records, Vol. 1, p541
1732 Will - Anne Reeves - New Jersey Will Records, Vol. 3, p356
1732 Account - Walter Reeve - Burlington County, New Jersey Will Records 2354C - 2360C
Burlington County, New Jersey, Surrogate's Court, Record of Wills, pp. 2354-2360
The Burlington Court Book 1680 - 1709