Rives, Green Jr.
Summary
Father: Green Rives, Sr.Mother: Mary Ridley Jones
Birth: 1 Nov 1791, Richland District, South Carolina
Birth Source: Family Bible of Green Rives, Jr., information published in Reliques of the Rives (Ryves) by Childs
Death: 7 Jun 1853, Collirene, Lowndes County, Alabama
Death Source: Family Bible of Green Rives, Jr., information published in Reliques of the Rives (Ryves) by Childs
Spouse1: Jerusha May Paisley
Narrative
Children of Green Rives, Jr. and Jerusha May Paisley:- Claudius Green Rives, b. 23 Nov 1816
- Samuel Henry Rives, b. 18 Aug 1818
- Mary Ridley Rives, b. 18 Aug 1820, m. James McQueen
- Sarah Carolina Rives, b. 6 Feb 1822, d. 2 Apr 1824
- Robert Paisley Rives, b. 21 Jan 1824
- Sarah Ann Amelia Rives, b. 12 Oct 1825
- George Wyche Rives, b. 8 Jun 1827
- Judson Carey Rives, b. 18 Aug 1829
- Lucy Ann Wyche Rives, b. 16 Apr 1831, m. Dr. Ulmer John Crumpton
- Eliza Paisley Rives, b. 9 Oct 1832, d. 19 Apr 1838
- Jefferson Randolph Rives, b. 9 Oct 1832
- Jane Emily Rives, b. 22 Mar 1835, m. Warner E. Williams
- Jerusha May Rives, b. 5 Mar 1837, m. Dr. Hugh William Caffey
- Elizabeth Martha Rives, b. 18 Sep 1839, m. Thomas E. Williams
From Reliques of the Rives:
Green Rives, "the son of Green Rives and Mary Ridley Jones, was born the 1st day of November 1791, in the state of So. Carolina, Richland District. Green Rives was the son of William Rives, son of Timothy Rives, all of Virginia."¹ Green Rives continued to reside near Columbia, S. C, until December 31, 1832, when he removed with his family to Lowndes county, Alabama, arriving there January 31, 1833, after "a long tedious trip." Upon his arrival he selected as the site of his future home a hill, rising almost perpendicularly from the surrounding country to a height of some forty or fifty feet and comprising some 100 acres, naming it Collirene, a name which the community still bears. Mr. Rives was a Baptist and was ever ready to lend a helping hand in every good work, giving largely of his means for civic and religious causes. He assisted in the building of several churches, the one at Collirene standing as a memorial to him. At Collirene he became the natural leader of the community which he had founded.
Before his departure from South Carolina Green Rives was married by the Rev. Stephen Nixon on October 26, 1815, to Mrs. Jerusha May (Paisley) Pierce, widow of John Pierce. "Jerusha May Paisley, daughter of John Clarence Paisley and Jerusha May, was born in Savannah, Ga. November 7, 1791. John Paisley was born in Georgetown, S. C. (at or near) 8th Jan. 1753. Jerusha May, daughter of John May of Blackswamp, S. C, and May Stafford, daughter of Col. John Stafford of Blackswamp, S. C, was born in N. C. 8th Sept. 1763."²
"Jerusha Rives, Consort of Green Rives departed this life at Collirene, Lowndes Co. Ala. April 24, 1856. Oh! what a sad day this was, long will I remember it. She was my sweet Christian mother. Green Rives, son of Green Rives Senior and Mary Ridley Jones his wife departed this life at Collirene, Lowndes Co. Ala. June 7, 1853. This was my blessed father."³ Both Green Rives and his wife were buried at Collirene where the following inscriptions remain to their memory: "Sacred to the memory of Green Rives, the eldest son of Green Rives and Mary Ridley Jones, his wife. He was born in Richland District, S. C, Nov. 1, 1791, and died in Collirene, Lowndes Co., Ala., June 7, 1853, aged 61 years, 6 months, and 6 days." "In memory of Jerusha Rives, consort of Green Rives and daughter of John Paisley and Jerusha May, who was born in Savannah, Ga., Nov. 7, 1791, and died April 24, 1856, at Collirene, aged 64 years, 6 months and 14 days. She was a devoted wife, a fond parent and an exemplary member of the Baptist Church since the last Sabbath in January, 1808. 'As for me I will behold Thy face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied when I awake with Thy Likeness'."
The following is a letter, dated December 25, 1852, from Green Rives and his wife, from their home at Collirene, Ala., to their children, Jerusha May and Elizabeth, who were attending at this time the Judson Institute, a prominent Baptist college for girls at Marion, Ala.:
Dear Children: I take my pen once more to urge you to write to your mother, My eyes are weak and I cannot write as I used to. I was sick when Jane left. I got a little better —went to see your brother James (her son-in-law). I am now taking medicine from Dr. Gunn. Sophia and Elizabeth (her daughters-in-law) both think you neglect them. I hope you will do so no more. Dear Lizzie, I heard that you had the chicken-pox, from George, but hope you are better now. I was much surprised when I heard that May had got money from Mr. Lundy —you should have sent to me for it. We have had a very sudden death, Elsie, the little girl in the yard (one of the negro children). Your father will finish this. I am as ever your affectionate
Mother J Rives
Enclosed I send twenty dollars. Hand it to Mr. Hornbuckle, and tell him I send it to him for your use. I forgot to send money by you when you left, for pocket money. You have made us feel very bad, to think you had to borrow money on my account. I reckon the girls and Mr. Jewett think your father is very poor or very stingy ! I hope you will never do so again. I allude to the money May and Lizzie borrowed of Mr. Lundy (Rev. P. H. Lundy, of Collirene, who had evidently visited Judson Institute and had been called upon to supply the financial needs of May and Elizabeth Rives, as a result of the oversight of their father in failing to supply them with pocket money).
Affectionately your Father
Green Rives.
Green Rives left a will dated March 6, 1852 and codicil of June 4, 1853, neither of which was ever probated, disposing of property in Alabama and Louisiana. The following is an abstract:
It is my will and desire that all my estate both real and personal shall be kept together * * * and that my beloved wife Jerusha Rives shall have the * * * management of everything during her life and the proceeds thereof to support herself and her children that have not received their education, Jefferson R., Jane E., Jerusha M., and Elizabeth Rives, and that she educate them in good style and as they come of age or marry to give them five negroes * * * also one bed, bedstead and furniture, one mule, harness and plow well equipped * * *
It is my will and desire that the following named negroes together with their increase, Esther, Hardy, Mitt, Betty, Hannah, Celia, Nellie, Esam, Eley, Venus, and Joel at the death of my wife shall be equally divided between all my legal heirs and I further will unto my son C. G. Rives in addition to the $5,000 cash already given him for mercantile purposes, one likely negro man called Ben Rives * * * it is further my will * * * that my dear wife * * * have the sum of $250 in cash each and every year to apply to benevolent purposes * * *
Not using tobacco in any form myself believing it no benefit, but an expensive idle filthy habit, more effectively to guard my heirs against such a habit, it is my will and desire that should any of my heirs male or female use tobacco in any form, he, she, or they so using shall forfeit $500 of his, her, or their portion of my estate to be equally divided among my other heirs.
In the codicil to his will, Green Rives left to his son Robert P. Rives 640 acres in Alabama, to his son J. C. Rives 360 acres in De Soto Parish, La., and to his son Samuel Rives land near Mansfield, De Soto Parish, La.
Other Information:
The Montgomery Advertiser ran an article on George Walton Rives, son of Claudius Green Rives Jr, in 1962. The article mentions includes a number of details about the Rives family, mentioning that this Green Rives came from South Carolina to Alabama in the 1840s. It also incorrectly states that he is a direct descendant of George Ryves.
In a deed from 1840, Green Rives gifted "unto my daughter Mary Ridley Mcqueen...five negro slaves (viz) Henry otherwise called Johnson, Tiner, Delia, Toney & Penny with their natural increase" along with a number of household items.
Green bought some land from George & Jane Hill from Talladega County, Alabama in 1845.
In 1850, Green is listed in Lowndes County as a planter with $9000 real estate, born in South Carolina. With him are wife Jerusha along with Jane E. (15), Jerusha M. (13), Elizabeth M. (11), and Jefferson (16).
From the South Western Baptist, 21 Jan 1852:
The First Temperance Society in the United States.
Those who were in attendance on our last State Convention, in Tuskegee, will remember the interesting Temperance Meeting held there. In the remarks of the Rev. Mr. Mallory, he alluded to a Society formed in South Carolina, in 1825, as the first Total Abstinence Association organized in the United States; Mr. M. himself and brother Green Rives, of Lowndes county, at the moment sitting near the speaker, being among the signers to that constitution...
Sources
Childs, James Rives. Reliques of the Rives, p96¹ From the family bible of his granddaughter, Mrs. J. A. Compton, now is possession of her grandson, Mr. R. Wilmot Hall, Jr., of New Orleans, La.,
² Family Bible of Green Rives, in the possession of his granddaughter Mrs. Frank Dudley of Collirene, Alabama at the time Reliques was published
³ From the family bible of Jefferson Randolph Rives, son of Green Rives. Jefferson Randolph Rives recorded also in this bible that John Pierce was married to Jerusha May Paisley in S. C, May 28, 1809, and had, by this her first husband, issue as follows: Dr. James W. Pierce, born Oct. 30, 1810, in Richland District, S. C; William Paisley Pierce, 6. June 20, 1812; and John May Pierce, b. May 26, 1814, in S. C. "John Pierce departed this life Nov. 27, 1813. He was mother's first husband. William Paisley Pierce departed this life Feb. 24, 1816. John May Pierce m. May 24, 1836, Ann Elizabeth Dunklin died at Collirene, Lowndes Co., Ala., July 16, 1856. He was very talented though dissipated. Dr. James W. Pierce m. Oct. 30, 1833, Mary Caroline Faust in S. C, died January 7th, 1857, in the city of Montgomery. He was said to be a splendid physician, like reading a book to hear him talk * * * a man of towering talent, a great politician, a Democrat.
1820 Census: Richland County, South Carolina
1830 Census: Richland County, South Carolina
1840 Census: Lowndes County, Alabama
1850 Census: Lowndes County, Alabama
1840 Deed - Green Rives to Mary Ridley Green - Lowndes County, Alabama Deed Book 3, p600
1845 Deed - George & Jane Hill to Green Reeves/Rives - Talladega County, Alabama Deed Book E, p384
Montgomery Advertiser, 1 July 1962
South Western Baptist, 21 Jan 1852