THOMAS REEVES was born at England about 1623, and was buried at Springfield, Hampshire County [now Hampden County], Massachusetts, on 5 November 1650. He married at Roxbury, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, on 15 April 1645 HANNAH ROWE. Hannah married second at Springfield on 4 June 1651 RICHARD EXEL, who died at Springfield on 24 February 1712/3.[1]
Thomas Reeves came to New England in 1638, on the Bevis, as a servant of Henry Byley.[2]
Thomas Reeves, manservant, was received into the membership of the First Church of Christ [Congregational] of Roxbury in 1642. On 29 May 1644, John Gore, of Roxbury, was granted leave to set free his servant, Thomas Reeves. Hannah Rowe, a maidservant of John Gore, was received into membership in the Roxbury church in 1644.[3] In 1645 Thomas and Hannah married.
QUESTION Was the Thomas Reeves, immigrant in 1638 the same person as the Thomas Reeves of Roxbury in 1642-1645?
James Savage, in First Settlers of New England, written 1860-62, made that connection. Charles Pope, in Pioneers of Massachusetts, written in 1900, followed suit. Contemporary genealogist, such as Robert Anderson, in The Great Migration Directory, do not confirm this identification,[4] neither do they deny it.
Why should this identification be questioned? (1) There is no record of a transfer of Thomas Reeve/s service contract from Byley to Gore, (2) there is no record linking the immigrant of 1638 to the servant of 1644. (3) Byley settled in Salisbury, Massachusetts, not Roxbury.
What supports this identification? (1) The absence of records is not proof that the transfer did not happen. (2) There is no other record of a Thomas Reeves in New England in this period. (3) Both records of Thomas Reeves refer to a person in service of about the same age.
Conclusion: The Thomas Reeves of Roxbury in 1642-45 may be the immigrant of 1638.
These two young servants of John Gore, upon receiving freedom, married, and began to raise a family at Roxbury. After the birth of one child, baptized in 1646, they moved to Springfield, where they had two more children, one of whom died young. Thomas worked as a blacksmith, and held the town office of drummer.[5] In towns that did not yet have church bells, the drummer played his drum through the town announcing public worship, town meetings, and the time of day.
Thomas and Hannah had only five years of marriage together. Thomas was about twenty-seven years old when he died, leaving Hannah with children aged 4 and 1, and another to be born four months later. Hannah remarried within the year, and with second husband Richard Exel she had four additional children. They continued to live in Springfield.
THOMAS2 REEVES (Thomas1) was baptized at Roxbury on 5 July 1646 a son of Thomas Reeves and his wife Hannah Rowe. He died on 28 August 1685, and is buried at Southampton, Suffolk County, New York. He married on 1672 REBECCA ________. She was born on 1657 and died on 1694. Widow Rebecca married second after 1685 BENJAMIN DAVIS.[6]
Thomas Reeves, the firstborn of his family, was baptized at First Church of Christ [Congregational] of Roxbury on 5 July 1646. Soon after that, the family moved to Springfied. When Thomas was two, his sister, Hannah, was born. When Thomas was four his father died, his brother John was born, and his mother remarried. The following year his brother John died. John grew up in Springfield as part of the blended Richard Exel family, and was joined over the next seven years by four half-siblings.
If the dates in cemetery records are to be believed, Thomas and Rebecca married when he was twenty-six and she was fifteen. Thomas and Rebecca were early settlers of Southampton, an English settlement on Long Island, New York. Thomas was the third blacksmith of that community.[7] Thomas and Rebecca had five children in their thirteen years of marriage.
Thomas Reeves died at the age of thirty-nine, leaving his twenty-five year old widow with children ages 12, 9, 6, 4, and 1. She soon remarried. I do not have information on her second family.
JOHN3 REEVES (Thomas2-1) was born at Southampton on 15 July 1673 a son of Thomas and Rebecca Reeves. He died on 13 August 1753 and is buried at Southampton. He married at Southampton on 14 May 1696 RACHEL FOSTER. She was born at Huntington, Suffolk County, New York, on 2 February 1674, a daughter of John Foster and Hester Shaw. She died at Southampton on 24 August 1751.[8]
John and Rachel Reeves had at least seven children. John broke the pattern of early death, experienced by his father and grandfather; John lived to the age of eighty, and Rachel to seventy-seven.
JAMES4 REEVES (John3, Thomas2-1) was born at Long Island between 1715 and 1720, a son of John Reeves and his wife Rachel Foster. He died at Bayside, Cumberland County, New Jersey, on 25 November 1801. James married first SARAH GARRISON. James married second, before 1746 MARTHA (FITHIAN) MILLER. She was born at Salem County, New Jersey, about 1713 and died there on 26 November 1786. James married third REBECCA PECK.[9]
James Reeves grew up in Southampton, but as a young adult moved to New Jersey, and in 1741 was reported living in Cumberland County. James and his second wife Martha had eight children. James died by drowning at Bayside, in the Delaware Bay, when he was in his eighties.[10]
SAMUEL5 REEVES (James4, John3, Thomas2-1) was born at Salem County on 23 September 1746 a son of James Reeves and his second wife Martha Fithian. He died at New Jersey on 30 March 1806. He married before 1774 MARY COOK. She was born at Salem County on 25 March 1754 and died on 23 August 1806.[11]
Samuel Reeves, the eldest of eight children, grew up and lived his entire life in Salem County.
In his will, written at Stow Creek, Cumberland County, on 26 Match 1806, Samuel Reeves left legacies to his wife, Mary, and four children.[12] A fifth child had probably died before that time.
JAMES COOK6 REEVES (Samuel5, James4, John3, Thomas2-1) was born on 1784 a son of Samuel Reeves and his wife Mary Cook. He died on 11 December 1825. He married before 1811 JANE C. BEVINS. She was born on 10 October 1785 and died on 4 February 1846.[13]
James and Jane Reeves evidently moved around in the early years of their marriage, as their first child was born in Delaware in 1811, and their second child was born at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1815. Thet later returned to New Jersey. I have no information on his occupation. James Reeves died at the age of forty-one, Jane died at sixty.
LEMUEL7 REEVES (James6, Samuel5, James4, John3, Thomas2-1) was born at Philadelphia on 1815 a son of James C. Reeves and his wife Jane Bevins. He died at Cohansey, Cumberland County, on 22 October 1862. He married at Salem County on 4 November 1837 MARY P. POWERS. She was born at New Jersey about 1816-7.[14]
Census records call Lemuel Reeves a shoemaker. He lived at Stow Creek, Cumberlamnd County, in 1840, at Hopewell Township, Cumberland County, in 1850, and at Bridgeton, Cumberland County, in 1860.[15]
The 1850 Census reported the complete family:
| Line | Name | Age | Sex | Occupation | R.E. | Birthplace | Other |
| 19. | Lemuel Reeves | 36 | M | shoemaker | PA | ||
| 20. | Mary Reeves | 33 | F | NJ | |||
| 21. | Martha Reeves | 11 | F | NJ | school | ||
| 22. | Benjamin Reeves | 9 | M | NJ | school | ||
| 23. | Henry Reeves | 6 | M | NJ | |||
| 24. | Samson Reeves | 1/12 | F | NJ |
Samson is a mis-hearing on the part of the census taker for Tamson.
MARTHA HATTIE8 REEVES (Lemuel1, James C.1, Samuel1, James1, John1, Thomas1 ) was born at New Jersey on 25 August 1839 a daughter of Lemuel Reeves and his wife Mary Powers. She died at Atlantic City, Atlantic County, New Jersey, on 20 November 1916. She married first on 20 January 1858 SAMUEL BARKER WOODRUFF. He was born at New Jersey on 10 July 1837, a son of Joseph West Woodruff and his wife Mary P. Barker. He died at Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey, on 12 March 1888. Martha married second, after 1888 ________ DEMARIS, who died before 1900.[16]
1Vital Records of Springfield, Massachusetts, to 1850 (Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2003), v. 1, pp. 20,61,126. Vital Records of Roxbury, Massachusetts: to the end of the year 1849 (Salem, Massachusetts: Essex Institute, 1926), v. 2, p. 335.
2Michael Tepper, Passengers to America (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1978), p. 49.
3"Roxbury Church Members #201-256," Great Migration Newsletter, 21 (April 2012–June 2012): 13-14. Robert Charles Anderson George F. Sanborn, Jr., and Melinde Lutz Sanborn, The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635 (Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1999–2009), v. 3, p. 119.
4James Savage, A GenealogicaL Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England: Showing Three Generations of Those Who Came Before May, 1692 (Boston, 1860-62: reprint, Baltimore, Genealogical Publishing Co., 1990), v. 3, p. 523. Charles Henry Pope, Pioneers of Massachusetts (Boston, Massachusetts: n.p., 1900), p. 382. Anderson, The Great Migration, v. 3, p. 119.
5Vital Records of Springfield, Massachusetts, v. 1, p. 61.
6Vital Records of Roxbury, Massachusetts, v. 1, p. 291 (church record, First Religious Society). Emma M. Reeves, Thomas Reeves and His Descendants (Salem, New Jersey: privately mimeographed, 1923), 2; digital images, Library of Congress, Internet Archive (archive.org : accessed 3 October 2014. North End Graveyard, Southampton, Suffolk County, New York, Find a Grave, digital images (findagrave.com : database 26 December 2020), John Reeves, Sr.; Created by: Fred Saar.
7Reeves, Thomas Reeves and His Descendants, 2.
8Reeves, Thomas Reeves and His Descendants, 3. William S. Pelletreau, "A Complete List of All the Brown and Slate Tombstone Inscriptions in North End Burying Ground, Southampton, L. I., N. Y.," New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, 46 (1915): 22.
9Reeves, Thomas Reeves and His Descendants, 5. "Ancestral File", database, Family Search (familysearch.org : accessed 30 December 2020); undocumented and unnamed family tree submitted by vfrey1996069.
10Reeves, Thomas Reeves and His Descendants, 5.
11Reeves, Thomas Reeves and His Descendants, 8.
12New Jersey State Archives, New Jersey, Abstract of Wills, 1670-1817, New Jersey, Published Archives Series, First Series, 23, 30, 32-42 (Trenton, NJ: John L Murphy Publishing Company, n.d.), 40:277.
13Reeves, Thomas Reeves and His Descendants, 16. Cohansey Baptist Church Cemetery, Roadstown, Stow Creek Township, Cumberland County, New Jersey, Find a Grave, digital images (findagrave.com : database 25 July 2020), James Cook Reeves; Created by: Joanne Taylor; Jane C. Bevins Reeves; Created by: Joanne Taylor.
14Reeves, Thomas Reeves and His Descendants, 16. Cohansey Baptist Church Cemetery, Roadstown, Stow Creek Township, Lemuel Reeves; Created by: Sheila Sheldon. Seventh Census of the United States: 1850, population, Hopewell, Cumberland County, New Jersey, roll 446, p. 247B, household 38, Lemuel Reeves family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 5 December 2014); NARA Microfilm Publication M432; Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
15Sixth Census of the United States: 1840, population, Stow Creek, Cumberland County, New Jersey, roll 249, p. 105, Lemuel Reeves; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 5 December 2014); NARA microfilm publication M704, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C. 1850 Census, Hopewell, Cumberland County, New Jersey, roll 446, p. 247B, household 38, Lemuel Reeves family. Eighth Census of the United States: 1860, population, Bridgeton, Cumberland County, New Jersey, roll 687, p. 499, household 901, Lemuel Reeves family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 11 December 2014); NARA microfilm publication M653; Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
16National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, "Membership Applications, 1889-1970," digital image, Ancestry (ancestry.com, accessed 1 January 2012), Henry Haas Umberger, Jr.; 59053. New Jersey Department of State, Division of Archives and Record Management, Trenton, New Jersey "New Jersey Deaths and Burials, 1670-1988," index, Family Search (familysearch.org : accessed 29 May 2018), Samuel Woodruff, 1888. Twelth Census of the United States: 1900, population, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, enumeration district (ED) 951, p. 4A, household 67, Frederick Woodruff family; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 9 November 2018); NARA microfilm group T623; Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
"Ancestral File." Database. Family Search. familysearch.org : 2020.
Anderson, Robert Charles George F. Sanborn, Jr., and Melinde Lutz Sanborn. The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635. Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1999–2009.
Cohansey Baptist Church Cemetery, Roadstown, Stow Creek Township, Cumberland County, New Jersey. Find a Grave. Digital images. findagrave.com : 2020.
National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. "Membership Applications, 1889-1970." Digital image. Ancestry. ancestry.com, 2012.
New Jersey Department of State, Division of Archives and Record Management, Trenton, New Jersey. "New Jersey Deaths and Burials, 1670-1988." Index. Family Search. familysearch.org : 2018.
New Jersey State Archives. New Jersey, Abstract of Wills, 1670-1817. New Jersey, Published Archives Series, First Series, 23, 30, 32-42. Trenton, NJ: John L Murphy Publishing Company, n.d.
North End Graveyard, Southampton, Suffolk County, New York. Find a Grave. Digital images. findagrave.com : 2020.
Pelletreau, William S. "A Complete List of All the Brown and Slate Tombstone Inscriptions in North End Burying Ground, Southampton, L. I., N. Y." New York Genealogical and Biographical Record 46 (1915): 19-26.
Pope, Charles Henry. Pioneers of Massachusetts. Boston, Massachusetts: n.p., 1900.
Reeves, Emma M. Thomas Reeves and His Descendants. Salem, New Jersey: privately mimeographed, 1923. Digital images. Library of Congress. Internet Archive. archive.org : 2014.
"Roxbury Church Members #201-256." Great Migration Newsletter 21 (April 2012–June 2012): 11-14.
Savage, James. A GenealogicaL Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England: Showing Three Generations of Those Who Came Before May, 1692. Boston, 1860-62: reprint, Baltimore, Genealogical Publishing Co., 1990.
Tepper, Michael. Passengers to America. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1978.
United States Department of the Census. Sixth Census of the United States: 1840, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2014.
________ Seventh Census of the United States: 1850, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2014.
________. Eighth Census of the United States: 1860, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2014.
________. Twelth Census of the United States: 1900, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2018.
Vital Records of Roxbury, Massachusetts: to the end of the year 1849. Salem, Massachusetts: Essex Institute, 1926.
Vital Records of Springfield, Massachusetts, to 1850. Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2003.