Reeves, Enos

Summary

Father:
Mother:

Birth: 4 Feb 1753
Birth Source: Church Records

Death: 23 Jun 1807
Death Source: Legare Family Bible

Spouse1: Amy Legare, m. 21 Dec 1784, South Carolina

Narrative

Children of Enos Reeves and Amy Legare:

1. Daniel Legare Reeves, b. 19 Oct 1785 in Philadelphia, d. 1 Aug 1808
2. Aeneas S Reeves, b. 12 Dec 1787
3. Elizabeth Abigail Reeves, b. 14 Jun 1789
4. Abraham Paycom Reeves, b. 10 Apr 1791
5. Hannah Reeves, b. 2 Feb 1793, d. 8 Apr 1795
6. Joseph Paycom Reeves, b. 27 Aug 1795, d. 26 May 1815
7. Solomon Legare Reeves, b. 9 Oct 1797

According to the research of I. S. Keith Reeves IV, Enos's birth is recorded in the records of the Greenwich Presbyterian Church on page 29 of the relevant book, held in the archives of Cumberland County Library. The entry reads: "Enos Reeves was born February 4th, 1753". The entry does not name the parents. However the next entry is for the marriage of Hannah Reeves to John MaGilland on 28 Aug 1758. Although it doesn't state her parents names, she is recognized as the daughter of Abraham Reeves. It is surmised based on this that Enos was a son of Abraham Jr.

The above children, with birth and several death dates are listed in the family record from the Bible of Daniel Legare, Jr., available in the Library of Virginia Family Bible collection. Note that only Joseph is given the middle name Paycom in the Bible record. The death date from Capt. Enos Reeves is given as 23 Jun 1807. His wife Amey, daughter of Daniel Legare, Jr., was born 30 Jan 1760 and died 15 Sep 1804. They were married 21 Dec 1784.

From the biography contained in the Extracts from the Letter-Books of Lieutenant Enos Reeves:

Enos Reeves entered the Pennsylvania Line as a private in the First Regiment. In 1777 he was commissioned ensign of the Eleventh Regiment and appointed its adjutant, and on March 31, 1778, promoted to first lieutenant and transferred to the Fifth Regiment. Later in the year he was retransferred to the Eleventh Regiment, in which he served but a few months, when he was transferred to the Second Regiment. In 1783 he was mustered out of the service as brevet captain of the First Regiment, one of the last inspections being made by Colonel Francis Mentges, inspector of the Southern army. After peace had been declared, Captain Reeves went to South Carolina, where, on December 21, 1784, he married Amy Legare, whose acquaintance he made while with his regiment in that State. Captain Reeves was a member of the Pennsylvania Society of the Cincinnati. He died June 23, 1807. The few letter-books of Lieutenant Reeves which escaped the earthquake and fire at Charleston, South Carolina, in August of 1886 begin in September of 1780 and, except a few gaps, end in 1783. The letters are mainly addressed to a brother officer of the Pennsylvania Line, whose name we have failed to ascertain, and quite a number to lady friends, and are interesting for the military events which they chronicle.

Enos Reeves appeared as a 1st Lieutenant on the May 1778 pay roll for the 11th Pennsylvania Regiment.

The following announcement appeared 27 Dec 1784:

Last Tuesday evening Captain Enos Reeves, of the late Pennsylvania line, was married to Miss Amy Legare, daughter Mr. Daniel Legare, jun. of this city.

In 1791, Enos Reeves of Charleston, South Carolina mortgaged several slaves to Henry Laurens (MB GGG, p101).

Enos Reeves, firemaster, ran a notice in the Charleston City Gazette stating that buckets were available for certain members of the Vigilant Fire Company on 7 Dec 1797.

He is listed in the Charleston City directories for 1803, 1806, and 1807 as Silversmith and Jeweller.

From Silversmiths of New Jersey, 1700-1825:

The extent of Stephen Reeves' activity as a silversmith in the Bridgeton neighborhood has not been learned, but was probably of short duration. By 1754, he was serving his apprenticeship in Philadelphia. In Saint Paul's Episcopal Church, in Philadelphia, on July 24, 1760, Stephen Reeves was married to Elizabeth Edgecombe.....
Contemporay records shed a little light on the activities at Reeves' shop in Philadelphia. A member of his household on February 1, 1774, was ENOS REEVES (b. 1753; d. 1807), his nephew and apprentice, the son of his brother Abraham Reeves, Junior. At the close of his service as an officer in the Continental Army, Enos Reeves settled in Charleston, South Carolina, became a prominent silversmith, and was a conspicuous member of the South Carolina Society of the Cincinnati.

Silversmiths also indicates that Stephen and Abraham Jr. were two of the eight children of Abraham and Damaris Sayre Reeves of Cumberland County, New Jersey. It also states that Abraham (Sr) came from Long Island and that he was a prominent figure in the religious community. All of this needs further research.

A notice of the death of his wife was published in the Charleston Courier, 21 Sep 1804:

Died, on Saturday morning last, Mrs. Amey Reeves, wife of Capt. Enos Reeves, and daughter of Daniel Legare, jun. esq. deceased, in the 45th year of her age, after a lingering illness, which she bore with uncommon patience and resignation to the will of God, regretting only the loss she would be to a husband and young family.

Charleston Courier, 24 Jun 1807

The MEMBERS of the Cincinnati are requested to attend the Funeral of the late Captain ENOS REEVES, at 8 o'clock THIS MORNING, from the House of Mr. S. LEGARE, Friend-street.

Research Notes

Enos likely comes from the Reeves family in Cumberland County, NJ and may have a connection to some of the families in New York. More research is needed to determine the exact connection and to verify the children listed.

Sources

Birth:          Greenwich Presbyterian Church Records, Cumberland County, New Jersey

1790 Census:  Charleston County, South Carolina
1800 Census:  Charleston County, South Carolina

Extracts from the Letter-Books of Lieutenant Enos Reeves, Pennsylvania Line. Contributed By John B. Reeves, Charleston, South Carolina. Reprinted From the "Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography" for 1896 and 1891., Philadelphia, 1898
South Carolina Gazette, 27 Dec 1784
South Carolina Mortgage Book GGG, p101
City Gazette, 7 Dec 1797
Silversmiths of New Jersey, 1700-1825: with some notice of clockmakers who were also silversmiths, 1949
U.S., Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783 (Ancestry.com)
City Directories for Charleston, South Carolina For the years 1803, 1806, 1807, and 1813 (Ancestry)
Daniel Legare, Jr. Family Bible Record - Library of Virginia Family Bible Collection
Obituary of Amey Reeves, Charleston Courier, 21 Sep 1804
Obituary of Enos Reeves, Charleston Courier, 24 Jun 1807