Pieces of the puzzle...

**UPDATE:  May theories about Silas of Palmyra were in correct.  Additional I have discovered no evidence that any of the Indiana Reeves are connected to my line.

So I noticed something interesting this week. I'm on a quest to fit my Bethuel in to Solomon Reeve and Sarah Rumsey's family. There is no direct evidence to link Bethuel to Solomon, it's likely if there once was, it was destroyed during the British occupation of Long Island. Having hit a brick wall with Bethuel, I've been chasing down sidelines to mine. Most recently, I've been working on Silas Reeve(s).

Silas's will lists his children, two of who are Annie Reeve and Eden Reeve. Annie marrys Thomas Franklin and both her family and her brother Eden's family end up about ten miles apart from each other in Vigo Co, Indiana. Thomas and Annie Franklin settle in Sugar Creek and Edan and his family settle in Harrison. These two townships are part of twelve townships that ring Terre Haute Indiana.

Vigo County Indiana sparked something in my memory about Zadock. If you look back in my blog here Zadok, you'll see a passage about him from my favorite source, Baker. Notice there's a notation about Vigo, County. How interesting.....

A little more research show Zadock, probably Zadok's son, living in Lost Creek, Vigo Co. Indiana. Well, Lost Creek also happens to be one of the twelve townships surrounding Terre Haute, in fact Zadock Jr. is living only about ten miles from Annie and Eden. Now isn't that a coincidence, in all the country, these Reeve descendants end up living 10 miles apart. Except that experience has taught me that in genealogy coincidence is often more that coincidence. Might there be more here than an odd coincidence.

It's my theory that Bethuel and Zadok were brothers. Bethuel had son Silas who moved to the Palmyra, New York area. Zadock had son Zadock Jr. who moved to the Vigo Co. Indiana area. Silas and Zadock Jr. were cousins. Silas had Annie and Eden. Something traumatic happens to the family and Silas, his wife and Rufus his first born son die within the first three months of 1813. The British burn almost the whole town of Sodus, NY, where they were living in June of 1813. Annie and Eden also end up in Vigo, Co. Indiana just ten miles from Zadock Jr.

How do we choose where to go, where to live, where to settle down? Sometimes we stay put. Sometimes we stay near family. Sometimes we venture out to find new territory with friends or family members. Maybe family members tell us about how nice it is where they live and we decide to go try it out.

In the Reeve line, Rumsey and Wines followed their brother Bethuel to Renslaerville (all sons of Joel). Silas and possibly Zebulon (Bethuel's sons) followed David Haines Foster to Palmyra. They were distant cousins and Silas and David's children eventually married. I can rattle off names and example, some times close family, sometimes more distant, sometimes just friends or neighbors. As humans, we tend to follow what is familiar or know to us in some way, even when we strike out into new territory. Now, I could be completely wrong here, but it's quite coincidental to have them all within ten miles. Really, you have to ask what made Eden and Annie up and move to Vigo Co. Indiana when their other siblings stayed in the Palmyra area. Did they just stick a pin in the map? Or did a family member mention, oh I think Cousin Zadock moved to Vigo Co., Indiana, he always writes how beautiful it is there. Maybe there was some other reason, maybe more will be come clear as I dig deeper.