Reeves, James
Summary
Father: Isaac ReevesMother: Margery MNU
Birth: Before 1763, probably Ireland
Birth Source: Bondsman for the marriage of sister Bettie in 1784 and recorded as an adult in 1787 Wilkes County Tax Lists. Place of birth from History of Morgan, Monroe & Brown County
Death: 1807, Mason County, Kentucky
Death Source: Probate Records of Mason County, Inv. & Appr. of James Reeves Estate presented in Court June 1807
Spouse1: Sarah Holton, m. c1782
Narrative
Children of James Reeves and Sarah Holton:- Margaret Reeves, d. before 1816, m. William Cordrey on 24 Feb 1810 in Mason County, Kentucky
- Nancy Reeves, b. c1785, m. Benjamin Reeves on 04 Mar 1812 in Mason County, Kentucky
- Bartley Reeves, b. 1791, Kentucky, m. Matilda Warnick on 22 Mar 1825 in Mason County, Kentucky
- Elizabeth Reeves
- Mary Reeves, m. James Brown
- Miram Reeves, m. Henry Wood, 20 Aug 1816 in Mason County, Kentucky
- Alexander Reeves , m1 Effia Cummins, m2 Marcena Vance
- John Reeves, b. 20 Feb 1802 in Mason County, Kentucky, d. June 29, 1890 in Morgan County, Indiana.
Effia Reeves was previously listed as a child of James Reeves; however, she was in fact a daughter-in-law, wife of Alexander Reeves. She was included in the deed by James' heirs because she was his wife and party to the deed.
James Reeves was listed in the 1790 census of Wilkes County, North Carolina with 1 male over 16, 1 male under 16 and 3 females.
It appears that the family of Sarah Holton was also living in Wilkes County, North Carolina at the time of their marriage as Alexander Holton is listed on the 1787 tax lists and 1790 census of Wilkes County. It is also very likely that a sister to James Reeves, Sarah, and brother of Sarah Holton Reeve', William Holton, married in Madison County, Kentucky in 1798. James Reeves was the bondsman for that marriage.
1794 Feb 11 - Wilkes Co., NC -Road Order: Ordered Henry Souther, Joshua Souther, THOMAS STANLEY, JOHN STANLEY, William Lewis, John Wilson, Ephrium Young, George Combs, Samuel Becknell, James Reaves view road from Widow Pates to Cole's Old Mill.
He was listed in the 1795 tax list of Capt. Benjamin Lewis' District with 67 acres and 1 poll, but in no subsequent tax lists for Wilkes County.
It was previously believed that the James Reeves who arrived in Wayne County, Tennessee sometime before 1820 was the son of Isaac Reeves. Based upon the data from the 1790 census above, it is unlikely that this is the James Reeves of Wayne County, Tennessee with wife Rachel. The 1820 census of Wayne County lists James Reeves household as 1 male ‹10, 1 male 26-44, 2 females ‹10, 1 female 10-15 and 1 female 26-44 indicating James was born after 1776. In the 1830 census Rachel's age is given as 40-49 or born 1781 to 1790 indicating she could not have been the mother of the children listed in the 1790 census when she would have been approximately 9 years old. Rachel's household in the 1830 census of 1 male ‹5, 2 males 5-9, 1 male 10-15, 1 female 10-14, 1 female 15-19, 1 female 40-49 and 2 slaves is far more consistent with the household of the younger James Reeves of the 1820 census.
The time of James Reeves' arrival in Kentucky is consistent with his removal from Wilkes County, North Carolina. Much of the information in the biography below of James' son John Reeves appears to be credible. At first, Ireland as the place of birth of James Reeves seems implausible, but it is entirely possible if he came as a small child since his parents are first documented in colonial American in 1764.
In 1813, "William Cordery and his wife Margaret late Margaret Reeves, Benjamin Reeves, and Nancy his wife late Nancy Reeves, Bartley Reeves, Heirs of James Reeves deceased of full age, and Elizabeth Reeves, Polly Reeves, Miram Reeves, Alexander Reeves, and John Reeves, Infants under the age of Twenty-one years, who peition by their Guardian William A. Holton, heirs of the said James Reeves deceased" petitioned the court to authorize the sale of the real estate of the infants. (OB 7, p189)
A Mason County, Kentucky deed dated 24 Sept 1816 by the heirs of James Reeves: William Cordrey and his wife late Margaret Reeves, Benajmin Reeves and his wife Nancy, Bartley Reeves, Alexander Reeves, Effia Reeves, James Brown and wife Polly (Mary) Reeves, Henry Wood and wife Miram Reeves, and John Reeves heirs of James Reeves dec'd sold 50 acres to William A. Holton.
From: History of Morgan, Monroe & Brown County, 1884
by Charles Blanchard, Pg 333
"JOHN REEVES is a native of Mason County, Ky., and was born February 20, 1802, and is a son of James and Sarah (Holton) Reeves, the former a native of Ireland, and the latter of Maryland. John Reeve, Sr., (sic) emigrated with his parents, Isaac and Margaret Reeves, to America previous to the Revolutionary war, and when sixteen years of age entered the army under Gen. Washington, serving the seven years. He then married and settled in Mason County, Ky., where he and wife ended their days. John Reeves, our subject, is the only child of his father living. In 1823, he moved to Monroe County, Ind., and in 1824 to Owen County, where he married, in 1828, Mrs. Eleanor Hayward. In 1829, he removed to this county, where Mrs. Reeves died in 1861, the mother of eight children - James, Nancy, Abigail, Austin S., Sarah, Samantha, Benjamin and Julia A. In 1863, he married Mrs. Ann Edwards. Mr. Reeves is an excellent gentleman, and he and wife are members of the Christian Church, of which Mr. Reeves has been an active worker for fifty years."
This page has the following file(s) attached:-
Sources
History of Morgan, Monroe & Brown County pub 1884 by Charles Blanchard, Pg 3331787, 1788 and 1795 Tax Records of Wilkes County, North Carolina
North Carolina Marriage bonds, 1778-1868, online collection at Familly Search
1790 Census - Wilkes County, North Carolina
Kentucky County Marriages (database at www.familysearch.org)
June Court 1807, Mason County KY, WR V-B p514-516
Mason County, Kentucky Circuit Court Order Book 7, p189
Mason County KY Deed, DB R p181-184