William Reeves was born circa 1740 in either Brunswick County, Virginia or the area of present day Durham County, North Carolina between the Neuse River and Ellerbe Creek.  This area of North Carolina was part of Craven County then passed into Johnston County and into Wake County when it was created in 1771.  From early Johnston County deed records, his father is known to be William Reeves, Sr. as evidenced by a deed in Johnston County Deed Book D-1, page 63 of 10 October 1763.

The presence of the elder William Reeves in this area is noted in Durham County— A History of Durham County, North Carolina by Jean Bradley Anderson, on page 19, “Among the first to take up land in present Durham County were William Reeves, who received 400 acres where Ellerbee Creek runs into Neuse River (1746)…”  This land between the Neuse and Ellerbe Creek remained in this Reeves’ family for 52 years until it is conveyed by the second William Reeves to Nathaniel Jones, Sr. on October 16, 1798.

William Reeves residence prior to his move to Kentucky is indicated as Halifax, Virginia as well as Granville or Warren Counties in North Carolina in various undocumented sources; however, William Reeves appears countless times in the minutes of the Wake County Court from the county’s inception in 1771 through 1803.  The Wake County Court records alone clearly establish his continued residence there.  From the 1770’s, he serves on juries, is overseer of the road from Munns Store to the county line, is assessor and tax gatherer in Captain Woodson Daniel’s district and from 1787 to 1803 is a Magistrate Justice of the Wake County Court.  Prior to the formation of Wake County, he is listed along with his father in Orange County Court Minutes and various deeds.  In August of 1760, as William Reaves, Jr. he registered his cattle brand in Orange County.

The identity of the siblings of William Reeves is unknown; however, George Reeves of Orange & Johnston Counties throughout the 1760’s to 1778 appears to be for he is associated in deeds with William Reeves, Jr. and William Reeves, Sr.   When George Reeves dies in 1778, his 3 year old son, John, is apprenticed to Woodson Daniel. 

The Reeves family has an affinity for the given name William which adds to the difficulties in establishing the identity of each particular William Reeves.  One of the constants in the adult life of William Reeves who died in Madison County, Kentucky is the continued presence of Woodson Daniel in the various records of his life.  Whether theirs was a family relationship or friendship is unknown, but their connection is of long duration, spanning 30 years.  Woodson Daniel is witness to a deed for William Reeves on December 10, 1763, appearing in other records through the intervening years until on 7 June 1791 he appoints William Reeves as an executor of his will.  A prior relationship may have existed between the Reeves and Daniel families as William Reeves, Sr. is security for James Daniel’s guardianship of the orphans of John Gouge in Orange County Court Minutes of August 1760.  John Gouge was the father of Nancy Gouge Daniel, wife of Woodson Daniel.

Another of the many errors flooding the internet regarding William Reeves is the identification of his wife as Fortune Rhodes.  This was included in a publication regarding the Reeves family of Granville County, North Carolina which also identified William Reeves of Madison County, Kentucky as the son of James Reeves of Guilford County, North Carolina.  Neither of these relationships is a fact.  Fortune Burton was the wife of Malachi Reeves, son of James Reeves of Guilford County.  After the death of Malachi Reeves, Fortune Reeves married her neighbor, John Rhodes, in 1788. 

The Reeves DNA Project has also proven that William Reeves of Madison County, Kentucky was not a member of the Reeves family of Granville and Guilford Counties.  A descendant of his son George Reeves is a genetic match to descendants of Jesse Reeves of Ashe County, North Carolina, son of Capt. George Reeves of Grayson County, Virginia.  A common ancestor is yet to be identified.

The only information at present regarding the wife of William Reeves is the given name Anne (Annie).  This comes from Wake County Court Minutes of September 1791 as follows:

Ordered that John Alston, to whom David and Hester Weaver, Children of Penny Weaver was bound apprentice, be summoned to make his Personal appearance at our next County Court & that he bring said Children with him, into Court, then and there to shew cause if any he hath, wherefore the said Children should not be removed from their apprenticeship, ordered that a summons issue for William Reeves and Any his Wife as Witnesses for the Orphans.

Anne Reeves died sometime after September of 1791 for in the Hillsborough, Wake County Census of 1800, William Reeves and two slaves are the only members of the household.

His last appearance in the Wake County Court minutes is in May of 1803 after which he and William Reeves, Jr. with his wife and five children follow the youngest sons, George and Jeremiah to Madison County, Kentucky.

He left no last will and testament, but on October 23, 1822, his six surviving children along with the attorney-in-fact for the heirs of deceased daughter Sarah Reeves Geer conveyed to the youngest, Jeremiah, his land on Otter and Muddy Creeks in Madison County, Kentucky.

William Reeves of Madison County, Kentucky was apparently so insignificant to the compilers of the Reeves Review that little or no research was done when including him in that book and placing him into the James Reeves family of Guilford County with an imaginary wife.  This man was, in fact, far from insignificant.  He was one of the most prominent and wealthy men in Wake County as well as a Justice of the Court for many years.  This site was created for those of his descendants who want to find the true William Reeves of the Neuse and Ellerbe Creek.

Neuse River

Special Thanks

     To Benjamin F. Reeves of Bethesda, Maryland for identifying the William Reeves who died in Madison County, Kentucky as the William Reeves of Wake County, North Carolina.

     In the absence of wills and other probate documents due to the Wake County Courthouse having been destroyed by fire in 1832 and the loss of most of the Johnston County records when being stored at the Lenoir County Courthouse which was also destroyed by fire, he “followed the land”.  By using the few extant deed books, he plotted the various deeds on maps to separate by geographic area the disparate William Reeves of northern North Carolina.

      He shared a monograph of his findings with my mother in 1984 which has been my guide as I researched the surviving records of Johnston, Orange & Wake Counties to learn more about William Reeves of Madison County, Kentucky.

     Benjamin F. Reeves was the son of Ben Peden Reeves, a descendant of George Reeves and Elizabeth Wilkerson.