Reeves, John T.

Summary

Father: William Reeves
Mother: Catherine Brown

Birth: 28 Jul 1811, Ohio
Birth Source: Gravestone

Death: 22 Mar 1891, Wabash, Indiana
Death Source: Gravestone at Mississinewa Memorial Cemetery

Spouse1: Eliza Jacobs on 1 Oct 1829 in Brown County, Ohio

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Narrative

Children of John T. Reeves and Eliza Jacobs:

1. Zoa Reeves, b. 1830
2. Frances Reeves, b. 1831
3. William R Reeves, b. 1834
4. Rebecca Reeves, b. 1836
5. John R. Reeves, b. 1843

Although no probate documents have currently been found for William Reeves, Sr., the following are the bases for believing that John T. Reeves was a son of William and Ellinor Catherine Brown (see Research Notes):

• Brown County OH marriage records (FamilySearch, Ohio, County Marriages 1789-1994) indicate that John Reeves married Eliza Jacobs on 1 Oct 1829. The license, issued on 30 September, indicated that both John and Eliza were 19 years of age, per oath of Levi Jacobs (Eliza’s brother).
• The 1830 census listings for Brown County OH included only a few households headed by people named Reeves, and among the heads of household, only William Sr was old enough to have had a son of marriageable age. Eli Sr, who had died by 1830, had a son named John, but he was John Redman Reeves, who had married Nancy Rankin in 1825 and was still married to her when this other John Reeves married Eliza Jacobs in 1829. So, again, by process of elimination, we posit that John T was a son of William Sr.
• We have not found an 1830 census listing for a household headed by John T. Reeves. Nor were John and Eliza in the household of William Reeves Sr, William Jacobs (Eliza’s father), or Levi Jacobs (her brother). Their location in 1830 has not been determined.
• Going backwards, William Reeves Sr’s 1820 census included two males under 10 years of age; one of these could have been John T.
• John T. Reeves appeared as a head of household in Brown County OH in 1840, when he and his presumed wife were both aged 20-29 (b 1810-20) and living in Scott Twp. In 1850 he remained a head of household in Brown County (this time in Washington Twp, where William Sr had been listed in 1840)
• John T’s 1850 census listing indicates that he was born in OH. Based on his gravestone (see below), he was born ~28 Jul 1811.

A collection of deed abstracts lists a deed dated 11 Jul 1811 from Fleming County that referred to “land formerly belonging to William Reeves” (Deed Book E, p. 340). This suggests that William probably migrated to Ohio sometime before 11 Jul 1811, thus allowing John T. to be his son and to be born in Ohio in late July 1811.

• John T’s 1850 census listing includes a son named William R. Reeves, thus establishing a potential link to an ancestor named William.
• By 1860 John and Eliza had moved to Waltz Twp, Wabash Co IN, where they were enumerated again in 1870 and 1880. John’s census listing for 1880 indicates that his father was born in Virginia, thus matching William Sr’s known place of birth. Interestingly, the 1880 census record says that John T’s mother was born in Germany.

Birth & death dates:
Both John and Eliza are buried in Mississinewa Memorial Cemetery, in Wabash IN. Photographs of their gravestones are shown at Find-a-Grave.

John’s stone indicates that he died on 22 Mar 1891 at age 79y 7m 22d — making his birth date ~28 Jul 1811.
Eliza’s indicates that she died 4 Jul 1888 at age 77y 7m 14d — making her birth date 20 Nov 1810.

Note: Research by TRP members Lois Downey and Anne McDonald.

Research Notes

If John T. Reeves was born on 28 Jul 1811 as indicated by gravestone engravings, his mother would have been Catherine Brown, not Eleanor Wood. Newspaper publications of 1808 document that Eleanor had left William Reeves circa March of that year and William is documented as marrying Catherine Brown on 21 Sep 1810.

Sources

Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-1994, Family Search database
1830 Census - Brown County, Ohio
1840 Census - Scott Township, Brown County, Ohio
1850 Census - Washington Township, Brown County, Ohio
1860 Census - Waltz Township, Wabash County, Indiana
1870 Census - Waltz Township, Wabash County, Indiana
1880 Census - Waltz Township, Wabash County, Indiana
Gravestone, Mississinewa Memorial Cemetery, Wabash, IN - Find A Grave
Publication of Kentucky Gazette (Lexington, Kentucky) on 8 Mar 1808