Rives, Joseph
Summary
Father: George RivesMother: Unknown
Birth: c1698, Prince George County, Virginia
Birth Source: Reliques of the Rives
Death: after 1758
Death Source: Reliques of the Rives
Spouse1: Sarah
Narrative
Children of Joseph Rives and Sarah:- Daniel Rives, b. 31 Aug 1726
- Reuben Rives, b. c1728
- Mary Rives, b. 20 Sep 1730
- Joseph Rives, b. 5 Dec 1732
- Isham Rives, b. 25 Jan 1740
Possible Children of Joseph and Sarah:
- Burwell Rives, b. c1734, m. Amy
- Frederick Rives, b. c1736
The Bristol Parish Register notes the following births for this couple:
Daniel Son of Josep and Sarah Reeves born 31th august bapt 11 sept 1726
Mary D of Joseph and Sarah Reeves Born 20th Sepr 1730
Josept Son of Joseph & Sarah Reaves Born 5th Decr 1732 Bapt 1th august 1733
Isham s of Joseph & Sarah Reaves Born January ye 25 1740
The relationship to son Reuben is deduced from Reuben's selling of some land that had previously been owned by Joseph. Proof is currently lacking to support the relationship to Frederick and Burwell, although they are listed as such in Reliques of the Rives. Frederick and Burwell are considered to be brothers as they bought some land together in 1757 and then sold it in 1769. Burwell is known to have been from Bristol Parish which indicates that may have been the sons of Joseph and Sarah.
From Reliques of the Rives:
Joseph Rives, born about 1698 in Prince George county, Virginia, was living in that county as late as 1758, where he was a resident of Bristol Parish.
He was apparently a man of some means, as his land holdings extended outside of Prince George into the adjacent counties. On February 22, 1722 [TRP Note: Actually 1724], upon the payment of ten shillings, he received a patent for 90 acres of land in that part of Isle of Wight county which was incorporated into Brunswick county in 1732, and which was described as situated "on the southside of the Meherrin River * * * on the southside of the Dutchman's Meadow a corner of John Peterson's land * * * on Nathaniel Perry's line * * * of Reeves's other land." This land was taken up by Joseph Rives on the same day on which Col William Rives, of Prince George county, patented land in the same locality, and was adjacent to land on which Thomas Rives, another brother, actually resided.
On July 9, 1724, Joseph Rives, upon the payment of twenty shillings, obtained the grant of a further 225 acres [TRP Note: actually 200 acres] which apparently adjoined his other holdings in Isle of Wight county, being denned as "on the southside of the Dutchman's Meadow a corner tree of John Peterson's land * * * a corner tree of Nathaniel Perry's." On March 3rd of the next year, 1725 [TRP Note: actually 23 Mar 1733], he was the patentee of 300 acres of land in Prince George county "on the lower side of the little Creek of Deep Creek," which was a part of Prince George county later included within the boundaries of Amelia county upon the formation of that county in 1735.
Unfortunately, almost all of the early records of Prince George county, where members of the Rives family have resided from its formation down to the present day, have been destroyed and a wealth of information regarding the many members of the family who resided within its bounds is denied us. The little else which remains to record concerning Joseph Rives has been gleaned from the Bristol Parish Register and the neighboring counties where his activities are chronicled.
Like his brother Thomas Rives, Joseph Rives was illiterate. Both he and his wife, Sarah, made their marks to the two deeds recorded in 1731 in Isle of Wight county: conveying, in the one deed executed on April 9, 1731, 190 acres "in the Parish of Warwicke Creek and county of Isle of Wight taken up by Joseph Rives and adjoining his other land" to Richard Sykes, of Bristol Parish, Isle of Wight county, and in the other deed executed on May 15, 1731, 100 acres in the same county "on the southside of the Great Meadow John Peterson his land" to George Cater, of Isle of Wight county. In both of these deeds the grantor, Joseph Rives, is described as "of Bristol Parish in the County of Prince George." Some years later he appears in the patent books of the Virginia Land Office as the patentee on March 6 [TRP Note: Actually 26 Mar], 1739, for twenty shillings of 194 acres on the southside of the second swamp of Blackwater in Prince George county adjoining Richard Acock's land.
In addition to the dates of birth of certain of his children, the Bristol Parish Register contains two notices of him : one, on August 22, 1743, and another on July 31, 1747, on both of which occasions it was ordered by the vestry that "Joseph Rives and Daniel Sturdivant with the freeholders of the precinct procession from James Baugh's path between Blackwater and Second Swamp to Monksneck Road."
On March 23, 1753, Joseph Rives renewed his patent to the 300 acres granted him in 1725 and which, in 1753, was situated in Amelia county; and a little later on May 26, 1757, as "Joseph Rives of the County of Prince George" he, with his wife Sarah, sold this tract of 300 acres in Amelia county "on the lower side of the Little Creek of Deep Creek" for £250. He evidently died shortly thereafter.
Sources
Childs, James Rives. Reliques of the Rives, p345Chamberlayne, Churchill G. Births from the Bristol Parish Register of Henrico, Prince George, and Dinwiddie Counties, Virginia, 1720-1798
FamilySearch - 1724 Patent to Joseph Reeves of Isle of Wight County - 200 acres in Isle of Wight County - Virginia Land Patents Vol. 12, p79
FamilySearch - 1724 Patent to Joseph Reeves of Isle of Wight County - 90 acres in Isle of Wight County - Virginia Land Patents Vol. 12, p218
FamilySearch - 1733 Patent to Joseph Rives of Prince George County - 300 acres in Prince George County - Virginia Land Patents Vol. 15, p188
FamilySearch - 1739 Patent to Joseph Rives - 194 acres in Prince George County - Virginia Land Patents Vol. 18, p288
1731 Lease - Joseph and Sarah Rives to Richard Sykes - Isle of Wight County, Virginia Deed Book 4, p119
1731 Release - Joseph and Sarah Rives to Richard Sykes - Isle of Wight County, Virginia Deed Book 4, p120
1731 Lease - Joseph Rives to George Cater - Isle of Wight County, Virginia Deed Book 4, p117
1731 Release - Joseph Rives to George Cater - Isle of Wight County, Virginia Deed Book 4, p118
1757 Deed - Joseph & Sarah Reeves to Richard Jones Jr. - Amelia County, Virginia Deed Book 6, p32
1757 Deed - John Marshall to Frederick & Burwell Rieves - Brunswick County, Virginia Deed Book 6, p168