Rives, Peter (Reeves)

Summary

Father: Richard Rives
Mother: Dorothy

Birth: c1721, Surry County, Virginia
Birth Source: 1748 Chancery suit in Surry County names Richard Rives as his father, Reliques of the Rives #2450

Death: After 1790, Pitt County, North Carolina
Death Source: Not recorded after the 1790 census

Spouse1: Elizabeth

---

Narrative

Children of Peter Rives and Elizabeth:

1. Ruth Rives, b. 14 Sep 1745
2. Elizabeth Rives, b. 19 Oct 1747
3. Richard Rives, b. 17 Mar 1750
4. Mary Rives, b. 25 Jan 1755
5. Selah Rives, b. 9 Feb 1758
6. Robert Rives (baptised 1 Feb 1761)

Above dates of birth are recorded in the Albemarle Parish Register of Surry and Sussex, Virginia.

In a chancery suit in Surry county in June, 1748, brought by Peter Rieves and Elizabeth his wife against Robert Petway, and Elizabeth, Mary and George Piland "infants under the age of 25 years, defendants," the last three described as the daughters of Mary Piland, Richard Piland being their guardian, the Surry court decreed that "provided Richard Rieves in the Bill named father of the plaintiff Peter do and shall within six months from this day by good and sufficient Deed * * * convey to the said Peter a fee simple estate of and in the 200 acres of land * * * that immediately thereupon the Defendant Robert Petway deliver up the marriage settlement in the Bill mentioned to the p1t. Peter Rives to be by him cancelled" (0. B., 1744-1749, p. 477). In complying with the court order, Richard Rives deeded on October 18, 1748, to Peter Rives, his son, for five shillings, a tract in Surry county of 200 acres "beginning at the north prong of Hunting Quarter near the Indian Spring." RR p. 413

Peter Rives, along with his brother Richard, is recorded as a taxpayer in Pitt County, North Carolina in 1761.

From Reliques of the Rives:
Peter Rives was born about 1721 in Surry county, Virginia, and resided in Albemarle Parish which, in 1752, was included within the boundaries of Sussex county. About 1762 he removed with his brother Richard Rives to Pitt county, North Carolina, where he took an active part in county affairs and was a leading figure in his community in maintaining, through the Committee of Public Safety of which he was a member, the forces of public opinion against Great Britain.
He emerges first in the Surry county records in June, 1748, when he was a complainant, with his wife Elizabeth, against Robert Petway, and Elizabeth, Mary and George Piland, children of Mary Piland. The court decreed that provided "Richard Rieves * * * father of the plaintiff Peter do and shall * * * convey to the said Peter a fee simple estate of and in the 200 acres of land * * * that immediately thereafter the Defendant Robert deliver up the marriage settlement * * * to the plaintiff Peter to be by him cancelled." In October of the same year Peter Rives received from his father, Richard, the 200 acres in question, beginning at the north prong of Hunting Quarter near the Indian Spring. On November 29, 1760, as "Peter Rives of the County of Sussex," he conveyed for £60 to John Hardy, of Dinwiddie county, Virginia, 200 acres in Sussex county "along the lines that divide William Rives and the said Peter," thence up the line mentioned in land patented by Richard Rives Richard, and "70 acres which the said Peter purchased of John Spain" on August 10, 1751. Witnesses to this deed included William Gilliam, Richd Rieves [TRP Note: This is incorrect. It was Richard Rose], and Richd Hardie.
Peter Rives appears to have been a favorite foster-parent for the children of his neighbors and relatives in Albemarle Parish. He was godparent (with Mary Rives and Sarah Gee), of Mary, born 1742, daughter of James and Mary Mason; (with Frances Rives and Bathia Tatum), of Elizabeth, born 1743, daughter of Charles and Ussle (Ursilla) Leath; (with Joshua and Bathia Tatum), of Timothy, born 1743, son of George and Frances Rives; (with Mary Rives and Frances Briggs), of Molly, born 1743, daughter of William and Frances Rives; (with Mathew Whitehead and Jane Horn), of Absolom, born 1750, son of James and Thany Spane; (with John and Frances Rives), of John, born 1752, son of William and Mary Weathers; (with Elizabeth Rives and Abner Sturdivant), of John, born 1753, son of Mathew and Sarah Whitehead; and (with Thomas Felts, Jr., and Sarah Adams), of Howell, born 1760, son of Michael and Faith Weathers.
The North Carolina Colonial Records show him, included with his brother, Richard Rives, among the members of the Committee of Public Safety of Pitt county at the sessions of July 1, July 17, and August 23, 1775, and as a Justice of the Pitt county court in 1776. The federal census of 1790 records him as a resident of Pitt county in that year, and as the owner of 20 slaves. According to the Albemarle Parish Register, he had issue by his wife, Elizabeth, as follows: (see above).

Sources

1790 Census:  Pitt County, North Carolina

Childs, James Rives. Reliques of the Rives, p418
North Carolina, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1790-1890
1760 Deed - Peter Rives to John Hardy - Sussex County, Virginia Deed Book B, p220
1778 Appointment - Pitt County, North Carolina
Pitt County Safety Committee