Reeves, James

Summary

Father: Samuel Reeves
Mother: Mary Watson

Birth: c1775, Rowan County, North Carolina Maryland
Birth Source: 1800 Census and A History of Rowan County, North Carolina

Death: Spring 1856
Death Source: Son's Biography

Spouse1: Deborah Wainright, 25 Oct 1800 in Rowan County, NC
Spouse2: Mrs. Mary Barker

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Narrative

Children of James Reeves and Deborah Wainright:

1. Thomas Reeves, b. 15 Dec 1813
2. Josiah Reeves

The following is from a biography of his son Thomas C. Reeves contained in the book Atlas Map of Tazewell County:

HON. THOMAS C. REEVES is a native of Rowan county, North Carolina. He was born December 15, 1813, and is the sixth of a family of twelve children of James and Deborah (Chum) Reeves. James Reeves was born near Saulsbury, Maryland, about the year 1780, of English parentage. After he grew to manhood he went to live in Rowan county, N. C. There he became acquainted with and was married (in 1806) to Miss Deborah Chum. Mr. Reeves' vocation was that of a farmer and teamster, which he carried on until the spring of 1815, when, with his family, he started, with teams, and traveled over the Cumberland mountains to middle Tennessee, and settled on Stone river, where he improved a large farm near the town of Murfreesboro. A large portion of his farm work was carried on by slave labor. As a business man he was successful. His farm comprised a tract of twenty-five hundred acres of land situated on the alluvial bottoms of Stone river. Not being desirous of raising his large family under the influence of slavery, he therefore determined to settle in a free state; so disposing of his property, he started for the prairies of Illinois, landing in Springfield December 25, 1829, with his family. They spent the winter in Sangamon county, and on the 3d of March following he made a permanent settlement in Tazewell county. He located on a tract of land situated on the Mackinaw creek, near what is known as "Wagenseller’s Bridge." He there improved a large farm. Two years after (in 1831) Mrs. Reeves died. Mr. Reeves and wife were both members of the Episcopal Church. After the death of his first wife, Mr. R. was married to Mrs. Mary Barker. His death occurred in the latter part of the spring of 1856.

There is no marriage entry for a Deborah Crum in 1806. However this is undoubtedly the same individual as he was the only James Reeves in the area and his wife was named Deborah. Deborah Wainright was probably the daughter of Richard Wainwright and Jane Barber of St. Mary’s County, Maryland. Jane Barber’s brother Elias Barber also migrated to Rowan County and is a frequent witness in the deeds and other documents pertaining to the Reeves' family.

James Reeves was a witness to the 1802 will of Benjamin Poston in Rowan County. Benjamin Poston was another Marylander and the husband of James' aunt Anne Reeves.

In a deed from 9 Apr 1832 in Rutherford County, Tennessee, James Reeves of Tazewell County, Illinois sold his land in Rutherford County to Lunsford P. Gandell of Fayette County, Kentucky.

Research Notes

James Reeves was undoubted born in Maryland, not North Carolina since his parents did not migrate to North Carolina until the early 1790s with several other Marylander families and family members.

This individual has been confused with James Reeves who married Elizabeth Wells and died in Buncombe County around 1830. There is evidence to support that he was the son of Malachi Reeves of Guilford County. He was 10 to 15 years older than James Reeves of Rowan County as were his children. James Reeves, the son of Samuel Reeves of Rowan County married Deborah Wainright there in 1800 and in the 1810 census all of their 4 children were born after 1800 which would be consistent with their marriage date of 1800. Additionally, there is much evidence to support James Reeves of Buncombe County's connection to the family of Malachi Reeves of Guilford County.

Note that the biography states James had twelve children. In the 1830 census, he appears to have seven sons and two daughters in the household in Tazewell County.

Sources

1800 Census:  Rowan County, North Carolina
1810 Census:  Rowan County, North Carolina
1830 Census:  Tazewell County, Illinois
1840 Census:  Tazewell County, Illinois

North Carolina, Marriage Collection, 1741-2004, Ancestry.com
Rowan County NC Deed Book 19, Pg 905 (29 Jan 1806)
Rowan County NC Deed Book 25 Pg 71 (1819)
Rutherford County, Tennessee Deed Book U, p515
Atlas Map of Tazewell County (1873), p43