Four Brothers from France

In todays post I'm going to examine the Reeve myth that four brothers, huguenots, came from France, the original spelling of the name was Revee, or pronunced that way. One brother spelled his name Rives and went south.

As I've shown already this legend is well documented in Israel's line as recounted by his decendant and quoted in both Mather's and Baker's books. What is interesting is source in print for my own line in the History of the Western Reserve.

"The first Reeves came from Dijon, France. They were Huguenots, and, seeking religious freedom, the most fled to England, though a few settled in Ireland and Holland."

Huguenots were French Protestants who were persecuted in France for their beliefs. Many fled to other countries including the American Colonies where they founded New Paltz and New Rochelle in New York. There was a small settlement on the south shore of Staten Island as well. There are currently a large number of sites on line that list surnames of Huguenot families that immigrated to America. None of these sites list the name Reeve, Reeves, or even Revee. The closest names listed are Rives that became Rivers in America or Revere. While there does appear to be a surname "Revee", it seems to be an alternate spelling of perhaps Reve or Rive and may be related to Reeve.

I think this story is a confusion, perhaps exageration of the true story, or poor research of the surname Reeve. As anyone researching the surname Reeve should know, a Reeve in England was a minor official. They were a sort of tax collector and enforcer of the laws for the Lord in feudal times. Chaucer's "The Reeve's Tale" is a classic example of the Reeve, if a bit unflattering. It shows that Reeve's were well established in England by the time Chaucer was writing his tales in the late 1300's. The modern word Sheriff was dervived from the Shire Reeve. There are may assertions that Reeves and their many spellings came from France. This is true, the first Reeves crossed the English Channel with William to Conqueror in 1066. There were Reeves in France, and Reeves crossing to England throughout this time period. Some may have been Huguenots, but like any Profession based name like Cooper, Tanner or Smith, there were loads of Reeves. The following is a quote from "Reliques of the Rives":

"That the Ryves or Rives family is of French derivation is susceptible of proof from the pronunciation of the name: even after a separation of four or more centuries from France, the "i" in "Rives," as also the "y" in "Ryves," is pronounced as the French "i": that is to say, like the English double "e" in "Reeves." As a general rule, with but insignificant exceptions, the final "s" in French is not pronounced; and, it might be expected, therefore, that the early generations in England would have pronounced the name, "Reve.""

Currently, it is universally accepted that all variations of spelling of the name originate from Norman feudalism in France. That does not mean however that there was one Reeve ancestor, nor that all Reeves are somehow related any more than would it be true that all individuals bearing the surname Smith are related.

One of the first most complete studies of the Reeve surname was the Reliques of the Rives by J. Rives Childs, published in 1929. This particular work deals with the decendants of Robert Ryves (1490-1551) of Dorsetshire, England. This work also details the immigration of William Rives to Colonial Virginia in the mid to late 1600's. William is the founder of a long line of Rives of various spellings throughout Virginia, Tennesee and the Carolinas. Childs states in his book:

"Although the descent of the emigrant, William Rives, unfortunately is not susceptible of record proof - despite the fact that no pains have been spared in the effort to establish the fact beyond cavil - inferential evidence thereof is by no means lacking.
Comparison of the baprismal names used by the first and later generations of the family in Virginia with those of the Oxfordshire branch of the Dorsetshire family reveals a striking similarity and gives strong support to the assumption that the emigrant ancestor of the Virginia family was the youngest son of Timothy Ryves. As a renealogist has remarked: "In old families, baptismal names were religiously adhered to, and it is almost a certainty that any line of descendants may be placed upon the main stem by attention to the baptismal names""

I find it interesting that a work as cited as Reliques of the Rives is as dependant on "inferential evidence" as my line is to make the leap back to England.

I think over time, research from different Reeve lines has been muddled together and confused by poor research. I think that the migration of Reeves from France to England in general has been mixed up with the flight of Huguenots from France, and suddenly Reeves were Huguenots. The fact is that the Reeve surname was well established in England long before the rise of the Huguenots and the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre in the late 1500's. I think this confusion is where the Huguenot notion originates and the four brothers from France.

Consider the children's game "Telephone", there is a long line of people and the first person whispers a message in the next person's ear. The last person in the line speaks the message they received out loud. The fun is to see how the message changed at the end of the line. This is the trouble with oral traditions, each teller changes the story a little bit until it's hardly recognizable. In Genesis, god made the world in seven days, this is hardly likely, more likely this is a representation of a longer period of time, simplified for convenience and limited understanding. In a the barely literate world of Colonial America, ancestors who crossed the English Channel with William the Conqueror, are compressed in time to generations that are closer and easier to imagine.

In the absence of availible evidence, people often turn to conjecture which they repeat as though it were proven. Eager genealogists see several Reeves living in the same area and assume they are related. Searching google for the origins of the surname Reeve brings up a business were you can buy a copy of your coat of arms with a very general outline of it's origins. The information is generally correct, but over simplified and copied from multiple sources. Reeves in general, were not nobility to begin with. Now certain ancestors of lines like Robert Ryves may have been awarded lands or titles or purchased them. Certainly, Robert Ryves coat of arms is valid for that line of Reeves. Everyone wants to have noble blood though, the idea of being related to nobility is very seductive. I have one family line that has been claiming relationship to a English Countess for a century even though no one can prove it. Robert Ryves might have had some land and minor titles, this makes it very desirable to somehow tie to that line. Many Reeves probably rang true to Chaucer's charicterizations, being hungry for greater position and power; to be the Lord and not his agent.

It would be quite attractive to weave a tale of four brothers of noble blood, persecuted in France, who came to America and founded four branches of Reeves one brother who used the name Rives and went south. Simply borrowing bit's and pieces of the truth and of other Reeve's tales and melding them into one large family story.

The facts are, that when you try to find any substantiating evidence, the whole fairy tale falls apart. The true tale should sound more like four brothers who's ancestors originated in France and crossed the English Channel with William the Conqueror. Perhaps there were four brothers, but the immigrants seem to be more distant than Israel and Bethuel's generation. Maybe "came from France" referred to the earlier history and was interpreted as more recent history by young ears.

Parallel Families: Israel and Bethuel

The speculation about Israel and Bethuel began as a footnote attached to Israel Reeve in Mather's The refugees of 1776 from Long Island to Connecticut.

"The family tradition is that Israel was French. We have always been told stories of our old French grandfather, Israel the weaver; that he was one of four, or more, brothers who came from France; that the spelling of the name was changed; it was supposed the spelling was Revee, or was pronounced as if spelled Revee; that the family was of noble birth, which was not impossible amoung the Huguenots. Our g. grandfather, Luther, used to be very proud of his French blood, which he called "royal blood". He said he was one-eighth French blood, which was worth more than all the rest. The "one-eighth" which he claimed makes me look farther than his father for his French blood. As I count it, the Frenchman should be his g. grandfather. However, as our grandfather told us of his grandfather, the Frenchman, we had always supposed he was indeed the immigrant. We have so far failed to find either the parents of Israel Reeve, or record of his coming to this country. As others theorize, and do not hesitate to publish his parentage as they see it, I feel that our family tradition as to his nationality should receive as much consideration as their theories; especially the one which calls him sone of Daniel and Experience who were married six years after he was born! Of the year of his birth we are positive. Among the decendants of Bethuel we find, practically, the same traditions as our own. That of four, or more, brothers from France; the change in the spelling or pronunciation of the name; and they add that one of the brothers went South and his name is Rive or Rives. Thay also have the name Rumsey in their family. As we knew nothing of this family except an occasional rumor of a Rumsey Reeve who lived in Willoughby, Ohio, and had a prominent nose (as had my grandfather Rumsey) the tradition have now been handed from one to the other. After 10 years of research, we have not found the ancestors of Israel; nor thye, the ancestors of Bethuel. (Mrs. H.A.R.C.)"

The parallel traditions are significant even if the are not accurate. It certainly points to a relation of some kind. If Israel and Bethuel were immigrants to this country, there should be a record of at least one of them arriving. They did not spring from the ground fully grown. There are records of arrivals in the colonies far older that the time in which these men lived that still exhist, and if the records of arrival were destroyed, as we have seen from other lines, there are records of departure that can be referenced. In all this time no one had found such records for either Israel, Bethuel or the fictional boat that arrived from France with the four Reeve brothers. The Huguenots as a group are well documented and Reeve is not among the lists of names of of protestants fleeing France. If Israel and Bethuel are not immigrants, then they were born in the colonies to some family.

Rumsey Reeve of Willoughby, Ohio is no rumor, he is my ggg grandfather. In fact, there are only three Rumsey Reeves in Suffolk County, New York up to 1800. Israel's son who dies on the Prison Ship "Jersey", Luther's son who is born in 1789, and Joel's son (Bethuel's grandson) Rumsey who was born in 1790. There really are no other Reeve/Reeves families using the name Rumsey. Baker might be wrong about Isaiah and Zadok being brothers to Israel and Bethuel, he might even be wrong about Solomon being their father. However, I think there is significant and compelling arguments to say that Israel and Bethuel are related.

Israel Reeve

Israel's line, of all the possible sons of Solomon, is the line that parallels Bethuel's line the most closely. Israel's line is also possibly one of the more researched and documented genealogical lines. Baker says of Israel:

(c) Israel (possibly), a refugee from Southold to Lyme, Connecticut in September 1776 with 8 passengers (p278) which corresponds to the size of his family in 1776 Census (p123). Considerable information about him is given on p521 of Mather's Refugees (p278 hereof) including speculation of his parentage by a descendant, Mrs. H. Amelia Reeve Chapin.

She reported a tradition that Irael was one of four or more brothers who came from France. She nevertheless considered, by doubted, that Israel was son of Solomon and Sarah as "it does not seem probable that Israel fled to Connecticut, leaving his aged parents as Southold".

We dealt with this matter at some length on pages 124 & 270, including "It is true Solomon was of avanced age in 1776...but we believe the circumstances in Southold following the defeat of the Revolutionary Army in the Battle of Long Island were such that few men of Israel's age (46) would stay in Southold, regardless of the age of their parents. We therefore think it could well be that Israel was a son of Solomon". We might add that another reason for Solomon to stay was his refusal to sign the Association in 1775. We also noted that Israel had a son Rumsey and a daughter Sarah who may have derived their names from their mother, Sarah Rumsey.

If the reported tradition that Israel was one of four or more brothers from France is correct, Israel of course could not be a son of Solomon. While traditions have oftentimes proved to be accurate, we wonder if it is in this instance. For Israel and his brothers to settle in a remote part of the English colonies in the same area as other Reeves who seem to be related to the Southold or Southampton families, would be quite a coincidence.

As we noted on p124 Israel was born 1730, married Theodosia Case in 1753 (June 17 - see p67) in Cutchogue Chruch, was a Representative in Connecticut Legislature and dies at Lyme, Conn. (The date of his death was June 6, 1813; his wife died April 2, 1808, per Salmon Records). Israle Reeve witnessed the 1760 will of Joshua Wells (p135), and a 1763 deed for land at Indian Neck (p.40). This is the same part of Southold in which Solomon Reeve received land under the 1722 will of his father, Joseph Reeve. He was appointed Executor of the 1774 will of Benjamin Case, and in the same year he witnessed the will of Timothy Wells (p135).

His four sons were Benjamin, Rumsey, Israel Jr. and Luther who also were refugees to Connecticut (see Mather's Refugees, p518 etc.) Israel Jr and his sister Mehitabel were baptized on July 10, 1757 at Cutchogue (p67).

Mather (p521-p278 hereof) says Israel Reeve Jr married Fannie Lord; also that he served and was wounded in the Revolution and received a pension. "After the War he returned to Southold. He also served in the War of 1812; and was, for some time, warden of the State Prison at Auburn, N.Y.". He witnessed a Southold deed in 1788 (p40) and participated in expense of building the meeting house in Cutchgue 1788-91 (p315). He appears in Southold 1790 Census with 1 male over 16 and 2 females over 16 (p128). His daughter Sarah died in Southold August 8, 1798 (p103). We obtained a photo copy of his PEnsion Application papers; a summary of them is given in the Military Records Chapter of our Study, p217. It shows he was born on June 5, 1757 and was a mariner of Southold in 1787, was of Cayuga County, N.Y. in 1824, and moved to Massachusetts in 1835.

Benjamin & Rumsey, two of the other sons of Israel Reeve, also served in the War and died in the prison ship "Jersey" (Mather, p518 & 527 - p275 & 284 hereof). We assume this Benjamin is the one who Salmon Records shows in 1782 (no month or day given) who died "about 3 weeks ago" (p101).

Luther, last sone of Israel Reeve, was born in 1759, served in the War, shows as age 17 in August 5, 1776 Muster of Capt. Paul Reeve's Company (p213), married 1785 Anna Pearson, was a pensioner in Ohio in 1828, and died at New Lyme, Ohio Dec. 13, 1843, age 83. Mumerout descendants of Luther's son Rumsey Reeve (1789-1863) joined the D.A.R. Mather p525 (p282 hereof) carried out this line at some length. Mrs. Chapin stems from this branch of the family. Luther was a refugee from L.I. to Conn. in 1776 (p282).

This is a long quote so I'll continue this discussion in the next post.

Zadok Reeve

Poor Zadock, I've seen his name spelled so many ways; Zadok, Zedoc, Zydoc and Ledok just to name a few. Baker states on page 373 of his manuscript:

(e) Zadok (possibly) who appears in Southold 1776 Census immediately after Solomon which indicates Solomon may have been his father. His Family consisted of 1 male age 16-50 (Zadok himself as he was born about 1741; he shows as age 19 in 1760 in the Suffolk County Militia), 1 male under 16, 1 female over 16 and 1 under. He also is in 1790 Census - 1 male over 16, 2 under 16, 3 females. He married Phebe Tappen on March 8, 1768 at Aquebogue. The Church Records state they were both of Wading River. Date of their Death unknown. Zadok Reeve witnessed the 1780 will of Timothy Hudson.
We should add that a Zadok Reeve was in the Riverhead Tax List in 1819 & 1820 but not in 1821 and was in Riverhead Census in 1800 and 1810. Also a Zadok Reeve is buried in Vigo County, Indiana, died March 7, 1885, age 88-4-24 (b 1796) who may have been his son, or grandson.

I believe the Zadok in Riverhead is indead the same Zadok, looking at the neighbors and placement with them. By the 1790 census Zadok has two boys and 2 girls. The 1800 census however shows a family of ten. It's unclear whether Zadok has eight children or that this might be a blended family. In 1800 Zadock would be close to 60 and it is possible that an older child and his family living with Zadok, caring for the aging parents. Although not proven, I suspect the names of at least some of Zadok's children are Zadok Jr., Silas, John and Jane. But again more research is necessary as this is not my direct line.

Early Census of Long Island

This is a convenience post, since I find myself constantly looking for and interpreting the early Long Island Census.

Theses are the catagories for the 1776 Census:
1. Males above 50 years of age
2. Males above 16 and under 50 years of age
3. Males under 16 years of age
4. Females above 16 years of age
5. Females under 16 years of age
6. Male and Female negros above 16 years of age
7. Male and Female negros under 16 years of age

These are the categories for the 1790 Census:
1. Males 16 years of age and above
2. Males under 16 years of age
3. Females including heads of families
4. All other free persons
5. Slaves

Pre 1790 Census resources:

1675 Census:
East Hampton

1698 Census:
Southold
Southampton

1737 Census:
Suffolk County

1776 Census:
Brookhaven Town Early Census
Southampton east of the watermill
Southampton west of the watermill
Inhabitants of New York 1774-1776 at Ancestry
Refugees from Long Island

1778 Census:
Suffolk County

Solomon and Isaiah

Since Solomon Sr. did not leave a will, it becomes a challenge to discover his children's names and connect the lineage. In fact, except for Solomon Jr. the only way to know who Solomon's other children were may be DNA testing. Even that might be futile as I'm not entirely certain that Solomon Jr. had male issue. Solomon Jr.'s line is not one I've spent a great deal of time on yet. He is the only child who is clearly related to Solomon Sr.

Fortunately, Isaiah Reeve did leave a will that was published in the Wills of Suffolk County, Long Island [New York], Liber A, 1787-1798, which can be found in Google Books.

"A-452. Isaiah Reeve, of Brookhaven, 15 Oct. 1795...given son Silas Reeve estate for life and than to his two sons Charles and Joel Reeve equally divided...gives daughter Abigail Post five shillings annually, and if she have an heir it gets 40 pounds...gives daughter Elizabeth Homan 50 pounds...gives daughter Julianna Reeve three pounds annually and home while single and 50 pounds when married...gives daughter Mehitable Brushup, (Bishop) 30 pounds... gives four granddaughters Abigail, Catherine, Elizabeth and Marah Homan 10 pounds each...executors: son Silas Reeve and John Havens Jr. Proved 29 June 1796 by Zachariah Sandford. Administration granted 29 June 1796 to Silas Reeve and John Havens Jr."

So family count in the will totals 3 sons, 3 married daughters, 1 single daughter, at least 4 female grandchildren. We can infer that Isaiah's wife is already dead in 1795 as there is no mention of her. John Havens Jr. may or maynot be related to the family.

In the same Liber is the will of Matthew Woodruff, of Brookhaven dated 8 Feb. 1791 to which Isiah Reeve "weaver" is listed as a witness. Along with Isaiah, Mordecai Homan "cordwainer" is also listed as a witness. Likely Mordecai Homan is either Isaiah's son in law or he is Elizabeth Homan's father in law. And no doubt they all live in close proximity to each other.

In the 1776 Census, Isaiah is listed in Meritches also know at one time as the Manor of St. George, which is at the edge of Brookhaven. His family consists of 1 male above 16 years and below 50, likely this is Isaiah; two females over 16 years and 4 females under sixteen years of age. That's a total of six females, 4 daughters, a wife and one unknown female.

It appears Isaiah has no sons at home at this point, while we know they are alive, Joel and Charles are not in the census. There is a Silas in Southold that may be Isaiah's oldest son, his family is 1 male between 16 and 50, 1 female over 16 yrs. and 3 females under 16, they could be a young family.

There are two Solomons in the census, obviously one is the father and one is the son. The Solomon in Southold is obviously Sr. as the household has 1 male over 50 and one female over 16. The Solomon in Brookhaven is most likely Jr. and his household includes one male above 50, 2 males between 50 and 16, and 1 felmale above 16 likely his wife.

In the 1790 Census, we find Isaiah in Brookhaven with 2 males over 16 and 3 females. We know from Isaiah's will made in 1795 that Julianna was unmarried, she is likely one of the female and one of the married daughters was likely still single in 1790 and married before 1795. Solomon Sr. dies in 1783-4 and is now missing from the Southold Census. Solomon Jr. is missing from the 1790 census it's possible that Isaiah is now living with Solomon in Brookhaven. Oddly there is no sign of Isaiah's sons Joel and Charles; Silas has also disappeared from Southold. The will tells us that they are alive but I am uncertain where they have gone.

Sons of Solomon continued...

I had a lot to say about the meanings of names in a previous post, so now I want to look at the names of the proposed sons of Solomon. Let's begin with the father himself.

Solomon means peace. Solomon was the son of David and Bathsheba, he succeeded his father as king of Israel. He wrote the Book of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon. The wisdom of Solomon is proverbial because when asked what gift he would have from God, he asked only for the wisdom he would need to rule.

Isaiah means "salvation of god; the Lord helps me". He is one of the major prophets and writer of the Book of Isaiah. He prophesied the birth Immanuel.

Israel means "God perseveres". When Jacob, son of Isaac, was in his nineties, God changed his name to Israel as a token of blessing. His 12 sons became the ancestors of the Israelite nation.

Zadok means "just, righteous". In the bible Zadok was a high priest who showed great courage during the reigns of David and Solomon.

Bethuel means "house of God". The name Bethuel appears in the Book of Genesis. He is Rebekah's father, and some versions of the story say that Bethuel refused to give his daughter in marriage to Isaac, and for that reason God caused him to die suddenly. Kind of interesting in that Bethuel Reeve's two daughters are still unmarried at the time of the writing of his will.

In a community like Long Island, where there are flocks of James, Davids, Jeremiahs, Thomas, and Daniels, these names kind of stick out as different. It's interesting that they are all from the old testament and that they are all possibilities as Solomon's sons.

Sons of Solomon

So in Baker's Book (see my post on Reference Books), it states that Solomon left no will. Both Solomon and Sarah Ramsey Reeve lived until about 1783-84 and were quite elderly. Remember again this is about the same time the British are evacuating Long Island, there is a lot going on. I do not know if Solomon died without a will (intestate), or if he just never made one. So there is no clear document spelling out who his children were. Here is what Baker has to say about Solomon.

"7. Solomon Reeve 3 (Joseph 2, Thomas 1), last son of Joseph born before 1688 Census and next to last son referred to in Joseph's will under which he received land in Hog Neck and Indian Land; also Creek thatch. In 1715 he was in the Mattituck troop of Militia (Southold Company No. 2) with his brother Joseph. He is named only once in Southold land records - in 1744 as owner of adjoining property in a deed of Hog Neck property which we assume was the property in that locality received under his father's will.

He married Sarah Ramsay (Runsey) Nov. 10, 1724 who died May 17 or 18, 1783. Solomon died Sept-Oct 1784. Solomon Reeve and Son (who we believe was Solomon Jr.) were among those who refused to sign the Revolutionary Association in June & July 1775.

In the Southold 1776 Census, his family is given as 1 male over 50 and 1 female over 16 - no doubt Solomon and his wife. Immediately following in the census was Zadok Reeve who we judge was his son. A general analysis of Solomon's family, as it was in 1776, is on page 128.

Although we have no record of a will of Solomon to guide us, it appears those named below may have been his Children."

Baker goes on to name Solomon (Jr), an infant son who died March 19, 1728/9, Israel, Isaiah and Zadok, all of whom I'll discuss in time.

On P. 128 of Bakers book he discusses a fair portion, but not all of the 1776 Census. In order to keep this post from getting inordinately long I'm just going to address what he says about Solomon here.

"23. Solomon Reeve - His name is about 60th following Perrier Reeve, indicating he was in a different part of Southold. We suspect it was in Wading River, as Zadock Reeve, who follows directly after Solomon, as of Wading River. Solomon was son of Joseph 2 (Thomas 1), the youngest son listed in Joseph's family in the 1698 census. He married Sarah Ramsay in 1724 (Salmon Records). As he left no will, determination of the names of his children is difficult. Of the Reeves listed in the 1776 Census, we have indicated four who may be sons of Solomon - Isaiah, Solomon, Israel and Zadok and tow who may be his grandchildren - Ishmael and Silas."

I'll note here that the Silas mentioned cannot be Bethuel's son Silas because in the 1776 Census of Southampton, it appears that Silas is numbered in Bethual's family. The number of family members is the same as Bethuel's will minus Daniel who is in the army. Although Bethuel's son Silas and Isaiah's son Silas would have been born about the same time, and of the same generation which adds to confusion.

Stay tuned, because I have more to say on the sons of Solomon and who they are.

Names and neighbors

I'm going to take a minute and digress here about name choices in families. Names are important and can provide clues in genealogy research. Majority of parents, when naming a child, go to a fair amount of trouble to be thoughtful about it. Meanings of the names are important, as is sound, it should go well with the surname. Children's names are often chosen to honor a relative, sometimes immediate, sometimes more distant. I bear my grandmother's middle name.

When I began researching my family I only had my great grandfather's name to go on. His name was Oscar Reeve and I knew he came to California from Ohio. My first discovery was an obituary for Oscar that someone had posted on one of the community boards. The Obituary mentioned his middle name "Joel" and the town of Willoughby among some other tidbits. The name Joel was the real clue though, that name led me all the way back to Bethuel's eldest son. It took some more research to make the family lines clear and proven, but "Joel" was the clue that got me there. Names again come into play in my theories about who Bethuel's father and brothers are, but that's a topic for another post.

Neighbors are important too. The world of 1776 was different than it is today. People were more focused on the local area in which they lived. When I first started doing census work, I only paid attention to the names in my family. As I worked though, I started to see patterns. There was a Reeve family living right next to a Haines family for almost a century. My great grandfather Oscar followed his Uncle Henry out to California. People tended to live near other family members, sometimes with them. Older adults often live next to, or with a married child's family. There's a quote from the movie "The Silence of the Lambs" that I often think of..."People covet what they see every day". The Children of one family grew up next to the children of another family and naturally one or two would intermarry. When Bethuel moved to North Sea from Southold, he ended up living nearby the Haines family to whom his wife Mary Haines Reeve just happened to be related. Did Bethuel choose North Sea to be closer to his in-laws,or did the in-laws follow Bethuel. When I'm looking for clues as to who a wife is, I often look to the families surrounding them in the census for clues. Rather than just looking for my ancestor, I look for other familiar names as well.

Bethuel - the will and 1776 census

Bethuel lived on Long Island, New York, his whole life. He was born about 1727, which is only a guess from the 1776 census of Southampton which lists him as being under 50. His will was proved in 1882, wills were ususally proved within a year of death.

"P88. In the name of God, Amen. I, Bethuel Reeve, of Southampton,
Suffolk County, shoemaker and tanner, being infirm of body. I leave to my wellbeloved wife Mary, two thrids of my lands and buildings; to be improved by her three years after my decease, then the improvement of one half of my
lands and buildings to be improved by her while she is my widow; Also, one third of all my moveable estate; one feather bed with reasonable furniture. Unto my eldest son, Joel, one third part of my lands and buildings; to improve
the same from the last of next March to the term of three years following (if he improves it personally) and then the improvement of one half of my lands and buildings as long as his mother remains my widow; otherwise, to be void; and further, on consideration of these above improvements fulfilled, then I give to him the one half and one sixth part of all my lands and buildings. Unto my two sons, Jeremiah and Silas, all the lands and tenements remaining, in equal shares. If they should ever sell they are to give their brother Joel first offer. Unto my two sons, Daniel and Zebulon Reeve, 20 each. Unto my two daughters, Keturah and Bethiah Reeve, 20 each. I make my son Joel and David Haines Foster, of Southampton, executors.
Dated July 25, 1776. Witnesses, John Lum and David Lum, David Haines Foster, of said county, yoeman. Proved, July 3,
1782."

In the will we find Bethuel's trade, that he was sick or injured by July 25th 1776, the begining of the American Revolution, the names of his wife and children. Mary's last name was Haines and her family lives next them in every census after. David Haines Foster is also related to Mary and I believe his son marries a Reeve. The John and David Lum are also neighbors. It seems that neither Keturah nor Bethiah are married yet in 1776. All five sons are alive in 1776 when he writes the will. It is likely Bethual recovered somewhat from his illness and lived until 1781-2. Considering, however that Long Island was under British occupation from late August 1776 until the evacuation of the British in mid August 1783, it's possible that Bethuel died and the will was unable to be proved due to the situation.

The Census of Southampton 1776, shows Bethuel Reeve's Family as consisting of 2 Males under 50 and over 16 years; 3 Males under 16 years; 2 Females over 16 years and 1 Female under 16 years. The will shows 9 in the family, but the census records 8 in the family. Daniel is missing , he was in the Army of 1775 and British occupation of Long Island made it difficult to return home and he probably continued on in the army.

It is thought by most that Bethuel and Mary were married about 1752-3. We know from the will that Joel is the oldest and his year of birth is listed in the "Early History of Southampton" as 1755, the other four brothers would have been born after that. Joel stayed on the land he inherited from Bethuel and then passed it to his son Jeremiah b.1806 some time about 1830. Joel is not in the 1840 census, but Jeremiah and Joel's widow Anna are there near the Haines, Jennings and Lum decendants.

Daniel married Martha Russell on February 14, 1782 (note that this is the same year that Bethuel's will is proved and about a year before the British evacuation). Daniel and Martha resided in Westhampton.

So far I have been unable to untangle what happened to the daughters, following the women from this time is always more difficult.

Silas may have moved to Palmyra New York, but there are many Silas' to weed through to find the correct one. I have yet to discover any solid leads on Jeremiah or Zebulon. Jeremiah is such a popular name, it's like a wild goose chase. Zebulon should not be as difficult to find as he seems to be though.

What family Bethuel belongs to is a puzzle. He does not appear to be an immigrant, but there is no documentation about his parentage that I or others have so far uncovered.

Bethuel is an old testement name, the Father of Rebecca. In hebrew it means "Man of God" or "House of God", and appears nine times in the Book of Genesis.

Source Texts for Long Island, New York.



Here are my essential source texts for Reeve(s) genealogy research on Long Island, New York.



1. Study of the Reeve family of Southold, Long Island, N.Y. : and Southold descendants of the Southampton, L.I. Reeves family and genealogy of said families up to 1800 Douglaston, N.Y.: Baker, Wesley Logan, 459 pgs.



2. Early History of Southampton, New York - With Genealogies, By George Rogers Howell, M.A.; Member of the Albany institute, corresponding member of the Troy Ass., NY Historical Society etc., Second Edition, Albany: Weed, Parsons and Company, 1887, 473 pp.



3.The book of records of the town of Southampton : BOOKS 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 - 1st book, 1639-1660 -- 2nd book, 1660-1717 -- 3rd book, 1717-1807 -- 4th book, 1809-1870 -- 5th book comprising Ancient Loose Documents as well as Abstracts of the Red Book of Deeds, AUTHORS: Southampton, Henry PHedges, William S. Pelletreau, Edward H. Foster, including all the writings in the town clerk's office from 1639 to 1660: with other ancient documents of historic value, Sag Harbor, N.Y.: J.H. Hunt, book and job printer, 1740 pages.



4. The Salmon records : a private register of marriages and deaths of the residents of the town of Southold, Suffolk County, N.Y., and of persons more or less closely associated with that place : 1696-1811 Authors: William Salmon, William A. Robbins, City of Publication: New York Publisher: New York Genealogical and Biographical Society Date: 1918, 115 pgs.



5. Records of the Town of Southold, Suffolk County, New York - Two Volumes in pdf format - town records of Southold from about 1650 to the beginning of 1780. Most of the information is reproduced verbatim from Libers A, B, and C of the town records. The documents consist primarily of land grants by the town and deeds showing subsequent land transactions, but there is also a wide variety of other documents including a few wills, inventories and appraisals of estates, land divisions associated with estate settlements, depositions, petitions, and a few vital records. J. Wickham Case, 1884, 1055 pgs.



6. A History of Mattituck, Long Island, N.Y. Author: unknown Originally published in 1906 400 pages



7. Refugees of 1776 From Long Island to Connecticut Author: Frederic G. Mather Originally published in Albany, New York, 1913.



All of these titles and more are available from the Long Island Genealogy website http://longislandgenealogy.com/



Some of these reference books are on Google Books in their entirety and completely searchable. In order to search Google Books, go to the Google website. There is a line of options on the top left hand side begining with "web" and ending with "more", next to which is an arrow pointing down. Click the arrow and you will see more options, select the one that says "books". The pages will now change, at the top you will have a text box, with a button on the end of it that says "Search Books". Type into the text box the name you wish to search for, if you get too many matches and partial matches you can put quotations around the name so that the search engine will look for that exact name. I will often run Reeve with and without an "s", for expample "Bethuel Reeve" and "Bethuel Reeves". I usually do use quotations so that the returns I get are managable in number especially with more common names. Try searching different ways and see what works best.

Memorials of old Brideghampton - Google Books

*Updated* unfortunately this Jetur Reeve was not the one I was searching for, as Joel's son is buried in the North Sea Cemetery with his father. This Jetur is actually Joel's grandson, the son of Jeremiah. He is also buried in North Sea Cemetery under the name Jeter Reeves, the stone says son of Jeremiah & Maria, died in California, October 30, 1850, Age 20.

I came accross this gem recently in my search for Jetur Reeve(s) grandson of Bethuel Reeve.

Memorials of old Brideghampton - Google Books: "The ship Sabina was purchased by 'The Southampton and California Mining and Trading Company,' which was made up of men mainly from Sag Harbor and the Hamptons and in regard to this company and voyage I have been able to gather much information."

Here's a link to the Library of Congress' copy of the voyage logbook:

http://library.mysticseaport.org/initiative/PageText.cfm?PageNum=1&BibID=33159

One of the best things about genealogy is how it gives history life and makes it personal. This will particularly interest those who have families that began their American History on Long Island, New York. In 1849 the news of gold was spreading accross the states like wildfire. Certainly, we've all hear of the wagon trains of miners headed for California to quench their gold fever. One of my favorite all time movies is Paint Your Wagon, a musical about the California Gold Rush (seriously, Clint Eastwood sings, what could possibly beat that!). So we all know about the Gold Rush, but i'll bet many of you did not realize the impact it had on little old Sag Harbor.

In fact, more than a dozen ships left Sag Harbor for the long voyage around Cape Horn then north to San Francisco. More than 250 sailors and would be miners left from the Hamptons and Sag Harbor, devistating the whaling industry at the time. There were no more crews to man the whalers, so many whaling ships were sold to companies for the voyage to San Francisco. Basically each shareholder paid a fixed amount to the treasury of a mining company like "The Southampton and California Mining and Trading Company". The Treasury was used to outfit the company for the voyage and excursion to the mines once they reached California. One such ship was the Sabine which left Sag Harbor in February of 1849.

Jetur Reeves eluded me for many years during my researching, I had begun to assume he died somewhere without any impact on the world to prove he ever lived. Imagine my shock as a California Native to learn this distant cousin could have met his end and rests in a long forgotten grave in the foothills an hour or two from my home. All that time searching and he was right under my nose.

It is facinating as well to realize ships like the Sabine, were moored and used as store houses, stripped and eventually sank becoming part of the landfill that now makes up San Franscisco's Embarcadero.

My father always told me that our name was Reeve, which was English in origin. Families that spelled their name "Reeves" were of Irish descent. Trying to define the difference between the various spellings of names is fraught with pitfalls. Even professional, published genealogists are not exempt from drawing simplistic conclusions about differences in name spellings. Take for example the "bible" for Reeve research in Long Island, New York:

Study of the Reeve family of Southold, Long Island, N.Y. : and Southold descendants of the Southampton, L.I. Reeves family and genealogy of said families up to 1800. Douglaston, N.Y.: unknown, 1970.

The author, Wesley Logan Baker, is one of the foremost sources on Reeve genealogy originating on L.I., New York. There really haven't been many new discoveries since Baker wrote his book in the 1970's. If anything, we have lost original source information since then. If you are researching a Reeve line anywhere near New York, you really want to have access to this book. I'd even say that it is worth subscribing to Ancestry.com to gain access. At one point I even tried to transcribe my own copy of this book, fortunately you can now get it on CD from The Long Island Genealogy, here: http://genealogycds.com/sales/Reeve.htm, or subscribe to Ancestry.com.

But even Baker makes some sweeping generalizations that cause confusion. On page 350 he makes the statement "It is possible, with the spelling of his name "Reeves," which has continued through the years in this line, that he is a member of the Southampton Reeves family." Baker strongly implies that the Southold families use the spelling "Reeve" and the Southampton families use the spelling "Reeves" and further that the spelling can be used to sort who is descendant from whom. In several cases he dismisses individuals as belonging to one or the other family based on how they spell their name.

However, the spelling differences are not as simple as that. Let's take for example Bethuel Reeve's line.

"Bethuel Reeve. Howell on page 359 of his 1887 History of Southampton says

"Bethuel Reeve of Southold town bought land in North Sea in 1758 and resided there. He was of about fourth generation in descent from James (of Southold)”. Howell also says Bethuel died 1782, had wife Mary and had children Joel (born 1755), Silas, Daniel, Zebulon, Jeremiah, Keturah and Bethia.

Mather’s Refugees, page 518 says “Mrs. Ruth A. Silk states she cannot prove Bethuel to be in the 4^th generation from James 2. She makes his Bethuel 4 (James or William 3, 2, Thomas 1)”.

Photos of both these references are included in our Study, pages 233 & 275. The following is quoted from our Note on p269: “we understand Mrs. Silk’s Daniel Reeve, 1759-1807 of Westhampton N.Y. Ancestors and Descendants which gives considerable data of Bethuel’s descendants (Daniel was a son), but gives no further details of his ancestors than stated above”.

The will of Bethuel Reeve of Southampton, dated July 25, 1776 was proved July 3, 1782 in Suffolk County and was recorded in New York in Liber 35, page 88. It is not included in our Study because it was a Southampton will and we doubt he was a descendant of the Southold Reeve family. We have not found any reference to him in Southold Records. If he was born or lived there, we suppose he was a son of the Southampton Reeves Family who moved to the western portion (Riverhead) of the Town of Southold in the 1700’s.

There are a number of references to Bethuel in Volume III of the printed Southampton Town Records, the earliest in 1753 when he recorded his ear mark. This was transferred to his son Joel in 1788. In 1776 Southamton Census in said Volume III, Bethuel shows of Watermill with 5 males and 3 females."

--From Baker's Study.

Currently Bethuel's parentage is unknown, no one seems to be able to link him solidly to any family in Southold or Southampton. Nor is there any evidence he was an immigrant, but we discuss this another day.

Just within this one family Bethuel uses the "Reeve" spelling, his son Joel and grandson Jeremiah who live on the North Sea land, adopt the "Reeves" spelling. However, other grandsons who leave the Suffolk County area maintain the "Reeve" spelling. The differences in the spelling of Reeve is not so much an indication of family associations as it may be a localized convenience. Perhaps the Reeves of Suffolk county adopted this naming convention for convenience rather than accuracy.

**Update, as it turns out, Joel and Jeremiah did actually use the "Reeve" spelling it was census workers and others that added the "s"

In my mothers line there is a Finish family that lived in the same area, for convenience sake, to keep the families straight they adopted their own naming tradition. One family group took the surname Josephs, and the other took Josephson. Neither name was their true surname, Steirna which was not so much a surname but a military title an early ancestor was awarded.

In the end, researchers cannot depend on the spelling of names to denote who is related. There are so many things that can effect spelling, including illiterate, illegible or non-English speaking clerks and officials, and familial or regional spelling conventions.