Reeves, Curtis F.

Summary

Father: George Reeves
Mother: Elizabeth Wilkerson "Betsy"

Birth: 24 Jan 1807, Madison County, Kentucky
Birth Source: Reeves Family Bible

Death: 1845, Wayne County, Missouri
Death Source: Goodspeed's History of Southeast Missouri, pub. 1888

Spouse1: Delilah Doolin, m. c1827, probably in Butler or Warren County
Spouse2: Eliza Bryant, m. 31 Mar 1841 in Paducah, McCracken County, Kentucky

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Narrative

Currently unidentified children of Curtis F. Reeves and Delilah Doolin:

1. Unknown son, b. 1826-1830
2. Unknown daughter, b. 1826-1830
3. Unknown son, b. 1831-1835
4. Unknown daughter, b. 1831-1835
5. Unknown daughter, b. 1831-1835
6. Unknown son, b. 1835-1840
7. Unknown son, b. 1835-1840

Children of Curtis F. Reeves and Eliza Bryant:

1. Benjamin F. Reeves, b. c1843 (Returned to Kentucky with his uncle Walter Bryant in 1860 census)
2. William H. Reeves, b. c1844

Curtis and Delilah Reeves had at least 7 children based upon the 1840 census of McCracken County, Kentucky. The household of Curtis Reeves in 1840 was recorded as follows:

• Males - 2 0-5, 1 5-9, 1 10-15, 1 30-39
• Females - 2 5-9, 1 10-15, 1 30-39

Curtis Reeves was the first of the children of George Reeves of Warren County, Kentucky to remove to the Jackson Purchase area of Kentucky after it was opened for settlement. The biography of William Harrison Reeves states that he left Warren County as a teenager after the death of his mother and lived in the household of an older brother in the Jackson Purchase area who was surely Curtis.

Although no marriage record can be found, Curtis was first married to Delilah Doolin. He was named as Delilah's husband when the children of William Doolin of Butler County were listed on an 1833 land deed selling William Doolin's land to Jesse Lee. Delilah's brother Archibald Doolin also moved to McCracken County after their father's death for he is recorded in the 1840 census living a few households from Curtis. Another brother, George W. Doolin, had also migrated to McCracken County dying there in 1839.

Court records of McCracken County, Kentucky record that on 14 Jan 1839, Curtis F. Reeves was recommended to the court as a replacement to fill a vacancy for a justice of the peace. He did not remain in the position long as a court entry of 13 Jul 1840 lists the receipt of a letter of resignation from Justice of the Peace Curtis F. Reeves. His resignation was undoubtedly in anticipation of his move to Missouri.

Delilah apparently died shortly after the 1840 census for by March of 1841 Curtis was remarried to Eliza Bryant. Within the next few years, Curtis and Eliza had two sons both born in Kentucky - Benjamin born in 1842/3 and William in 1844. By the 1850 census Curtis was deceased and Eliza was living in Mississippi County, Missouri and remarried to an Edward Fleece, born 1815 in Kentucky.

Sources

1833 Deed-Doolin et al to Jesse Lee, Butler County KY DB D, p. 33-34
Goodspeed's History of Southeast Missouri, pub 1888
McCracken County KY Court Order Bk A, p. 370
IBID p. 441
1840 Census - McCracken County, Kentucky
1850 Census - Mississippi County, Missouri