Reeves, Rev. Willis

Summary

Father: John Reeves
Mother: possibly Mary Walton

Birth: 07 May 1778, Orange County, North Carolina
Birth Source:

Death: 25 July 1848, Fayette County, Tennessee
Death Source: Obituary

Spouse1: Mary Clayton, m. 19 Dec 1805, Brunswick County, Virginia
Spouse2: Thisbe Jones, m. 10 Jan 1822, Wake County, North Carolina

Narrative

Children of Willis Reeves and Mary Clayton:

James O'Kelly Reeves, b. 1806
Willis Pendleton Reeves, b. 1816
Sarah Lewis Reeves, b. 1808
Martha Eliza Reeves, b. 1810
John Claiborne Reeves, b. 1812
George Washington Reeves, b. 1814
unnamed male b. 07 March 1817 NC

Children of Willis Reeves and Thisbe Jones Higbe:

In an 1834 power of attorney from Willis to Thomas Reeves of Orange County, North Carolina, he refers to him as "my Brother and trusty friend Thomas Reeves of Orange County & State of North Carolina." This implies Willis was a son of John Reeves. The power of attorney indicates it involved land he had received by deed from John Reeves, probably his father.

Wife Mary was born 1779 in Brunswick County, Virginia and died 1817 in Orange County, NC.

Wife Thisbe was born 1790 in Berkshire County, Massachusetts and died in Tennessee.

Weekly Raleigh Register, 18 Jan 1822
MARRIED,
At the seat of Gen. Calvin Jones, in the Wake Forest, on the 10th inst. the Rev. Willis Reeves, of Orange county, to Mrs. Thisbie Higbie, sister to the General.

According to the Weekly Raleigh Register, Willis Reeves of Orange County was given Administration of the estate of William Bennett Hill, late of Raleigh, in 1826.

In 1829, the town of Somerville in Fayette County deeded three lots in the town to " Willis Reaves of the County of Orange and State of North Carolina." Willis was buried in Somerville City Cemetery, Somerville, Fayette Co., Tennessee.

P. J. Kernodle
Lives of Christian Ministers (1909)
REV. WILLIS REEVES entered the ministry after the separation from the Methodists. He labored in the North Carolina and Virginia Conference in the early days of the church. "Among the Christians in the South," says Rev. W. B. Wellons, D.D., "the only man that ever avowed himself a Unitarian in sentiment was cut off from the church; I refer to Rev. Willis Reeves of North Carolina." [77]
http://www.mun.ca/rels/restmov/texts/pkernodle/lcm/LCM00.HTM

Willis wrote a letter dated 31 March 1823, to his brother in law Calvin Jones and a transcription of that letter can be found at this link:
http://files.usgwarchives.net/nc/orange/history/letters/willisre133gms.txt

Willis wrote another letter dated 20 Mar 1832 to Calvin Jones at this link:
http://files.usgwarchives.net/nc/orange/history/letters/willisre134gms.txt

North Carolina Standard, 23 Aug 1848
In Fayette county, Tennessee, on the 25th ult., Rev. Willis Reeves, in the 70th year of his age. Mr. Reeves was a native of Orange county, North Carolina, from whence he emigrated to Tennessee, where he has resided for many years. He was an intelligent and highly respectable gentleman; kind hospitable and courteous as a man and a good citizen. Our venerable friend has served faithfully during his probation on earth, and in his ripe old age been taken home to enjoy the rich reward of his well-doing, in the kingdom prepared for the righteous.

Sources

Marriage2: Weekly Raleigh Register, 18 Jan 1822, gleaning
Death: Obituary, North Carolina Standard, 23 Aug 1848

1810 Census: Hillsboro, Orange County, North Carolina, age 32
1830 Census: North District, Orange County, North Carolina. age 52
1840 Census: Somerville, Fayette County, Tennessee, age 62

Lives of Christian Ministers (1909), p77
Letter to Calvin Jones, 31 Mar 1823
Letter to Calvin Jones, 20 Mar 1832
1829 Deed - Town of Somerville to Willis Reaves - Fayette County, Tennessee Deed Book B, p81
Weekly Raleigh Register, 8 Dec 1826
1834 Power of Attorney - Willis Reeves to Thomas Reeves - Orange County, North Carolina

The Reeves Project

A global genealogical collaboration

Willis Reeves

Reeves, Rev. Willis

Summary

Narrative

Sources