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.