Reeves, James Washington

Summary

Father: Elisha Reeves
Mother: Rebecca Mitchell

Birth: December 1832, Pike County, Georgia
Birth Source: 1900 Census

Death: 1907
Death Source: Probable burial, Reeves Cemetery

Spouse1: Nancy Elizabeth Capps (15 April 1828 - 5 July 1883), m. 29 December 1852, Sumter Co., GA

Narrative

Children of James Washington Reeves and Nancy Capps:

1. John Calvin Reeves, b. 1852
2. Elizabeth H. Reeves, b. c1855
3. Sarah A. R. Reeves, b. c1857
4. William Reeves, b. c1859
5. Aldah Mantha Reeves, b. 1 March 1866, GA, d. 8 September 1912, Henry Co., AL, m. Alex Martin Cutchen, 1882 in Henry Co., AL, b. 1853, d. 1917

Children of James Washington Reeves and Nancy Capps included four children at the time of the 1860 Pike County Census

James W. Reeves was living in the household of his son John in the 1900 Pike Co., GA, Census, Barnesville P.O. He stated that he had lived in Georgia for all of his life except for a residence in Alabama between 1889 and 1897. He indicated that he was born in Pike County in December 1829. He indicated that he had lived in Alabama in 1895 and 1896 but in Georgia in 1897 and 1898, where he was supported "by my brother." An affidavit from J. B. Matthews indicated that Reeves then lived with his son and had no taxable property. Reeves suffered from physical infirmity and poor eyesight and had been able to do nothing "but little jobs" for several years. In a separate document, Reeves gave his age as 70 on 1 January 1901. He was shown as 71 on 3 January 1902. He was granted a pension, which was transferred to Meriwether County in 1903 (where he was living at Woodbury) and to Polk County in 1906. He stated on 7 January 1903 that he was born in 1830 and on 5 January 1905 that he was 75 years old.

It would seem that this James W. Reeves must be the James W. Reeves (1827 - 1908) buried near Nancy Sue Reeves in the Reeves Cemetery in Polk County. If so, the date of birth is clearly in error. The date of death seems accurate. Documents in his pension files indicate that he must have gone to Polk County to live with his brother Clay and sister Nancy Sue Reeves during the final months of his life.

The Georgia Confederate Pension Application of James W. Reeves provides further evidence that the James W. Reeves buried in the Anderson-Reeves Cemetery in Polk County was Elisha Reeves's son. The pension files show that James W. Reeves applied first in Pike County, then in Meriwether County, and finally in Polk County. Reeves served in Company A, 13th Georgia Volunteers, and moved from Meriwether to Polk County in 1905. A receipt dated 30 March 1908, and signed by James Anderson (son-in-law of John Clay Reeves), reads: "James W. Reeves in a/c with Miss Nancy Susan Reeves. To services and medicine and attention given during 5 months of confinement and illness prior to the death of said J. W. Reeves he being most of the time helpless & speechless & over 80 years old." James Anderson executed the remainder of the application for a "pension due to a deceased pensioner." A handwritten receipt by Nancy Sue Reeves dated 19 August 1908 details how she "did wait on J. W. Reeves while in a helpless condision for four months december 1907 and Jan. Feb. March 1908." The receipt itemizes charges for "waiting on" James W. Reeves as well as for washing for him and making the lining for his coffin.

Sources

Census:      1850 Census - Pike Co., Georgia
                   1900 Census - Pike Co., Georgia
History:     Georgia Confederate Pension Applications, James W. Reeves, Pike, Meriwether, and Polk Counties, Georgia