Rives, Richard

Summary

Father: John Rives
Mother:

Birth: 1690, Virginia
Birth Source: Reliques of the Rives

Death: 1762, Pitt County, North Carolina
Death Source:

Spouse1: Dorothy

Narrative

Children of Richard Rives:

1. William Rives, b. 1715
2. John Rives, b. 1719
3. Peter Rives, b. 1721
4. Richard Rives
5. Mary Rives, m. William Weathers

From Reliques of the Rives:
Richard Rives resided in that part of Surry county, Virginia, from which Sussex county was formed in 1752, in which latter county he was living at late as 1759. His first appearance in the Surry records was made soon after the death of John Rives, his father, when he witnessed on January 27, 1723, the will of Giles Underhill who had been one of the appraisers of the estate of John Rives in 1720.
On August 14, 1730, Richard Rives purchased from Lambert Zell 220 acres in Surry county on the southside of the Nottoway river, and on June 19, 1732, he obtained a conveyance for five shillings from Nicholas and Martha Harford of two tracts of land in Surry county on the southside of the Nottoway river of 100 and 50 acres, respectively, adjoining the lines of Thomas Weathers, and Edward and John Pettway, “formerly called Robert Rieves’ line.” As “Richard Rives of Albemarle Parish” in Surry county, he appeared on April 16, 1740, in a boundary dispute with one of his neighbors, Edward Pettway. In the same year, on September 16th, he was the patentee of 400 acres of land in Surry county on the southside of the Nottoway river for which he paid forty shillings. In 1744, with Christopher Tatum and George Rives, he witnessed the will of William x Moor, and, with Edward and William Petway, the will of Thomas Weathers, both of Surry county.
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 plt. Peter Rives to be by him cancelled” (O. 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.” On January 20, 1755, as Richard Rives, Sen., of Sussex county, he became one of the sureties, with Timothy Rives, of Prince George county, and others, for the faithful administration of the estate of George Rives, his first cousin, by his widow, Frances Rives. His last appearance in the records is on February 16, 1759, when as “Richard Reives, Senr of the Parish of Albemarle and the County of Sussex,” he conveyed for £60 to Richard Rives, Jr., 185 acres on the southside of the Nottoway river bounded by the lands of William Eldridge and William Petway, and for £50 to John Rives “land on the south side of the Nottoway River on which the said Richd now lives beginning at the river bank a corner of William Eldridge’s line thence along a line of marked trees between the sd Richard Reives and Richard Reives, Junr to William Pettway’s line.”
According to the Albemarle Parish Register, Richard Rives, Sen., was at various times godparent to the following children: Brune, born 1739, son of William and Frances Rives (with Dorothy Rives and John Bird); Ruth, born 1745, daughter of Peter and Elizabeth Rives (with Dorothy Rives and Mary Mirabell); Sarah, born 1747, daughter of William and Mary Weathers (with Dorothy Rives and Lydda Weathers); Richard, born 1750, son of Peter and Elizabeth Rives (with John and Frances Rives); John, born 1751, son of William and Frances Rives (with John and Elizabeth Rives); and Jesse, born 1754, son of William and Mary Weathers (with Benjamin Weathers and Mary Nun).
The absence of the will or a record of the administration of the estate of Richard Rives, Sen., in the Sussex records leads to the presumption that he accompanied his sons, Peter and Richard Rives, upon their removal to Pitt county, North Carolina, about 1762, and that he died there. It would seem that his wife was named Dorothy and that she died about 1748. That, besides Peter and Richard, he had also John and William and, no doubt, Mary, would appear to be an inference amply justified by the names given by these children to their own children and by the common godparents which they possessed.

Sources

Childs, James Rives. Reliques of the Rives, p412
FamilySearch - 1740 Patent to Richard Reeves - 400 acres in Surry County - Virginia Land Patents Vol. 19, p784
1755 Bond - Francis Reeves, John Jones & Richard Reaves Sr - Sussex County, Virginia, Deed Book A, p90
1759 Deed - Richard Reives Sr. to Richard Reives Jr. - Sussex County, Virginia Deed Book A, p360
1759 Deed - Richard Reives to John Reives - Sussex County, Virginia Deed Book A, p361