Randolph County AlArchives Biographies.....Reaves, John 1809 - 1887 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/al/alfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: John Simmons http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00030.html#0007486 June 17, 2018, 5:28 pm Source: Personal research of author and Linda Benefield Author: John Simmons John was born on 27 Apr 1809 in Hancock County, Georgia. His parents were Willilam Reaves and Elizabeth Purvis. On 12 Feb 1828 when John was 18, he married '''Hannah McWhorter,''' in Hancock County. John and Hannah moved from Hancock County to Alabama and were settled at Bacon Level, Randolph County in the early 1840s near his younger brother, Stephen. John and Stephen studied law with Cicero Demosthenes Hudson. Cicero was also born in 1813 in Hancock County, Georgia and arrived in Chambers County in 1839 and moved to Hickory Flats, Randolph County. John moved his family to a thriving community in the county, Wedowee. The Muscogee Indian Chief Wah-wahwee or Wah-dow-wee whose village was adjacent to the stream also named Wedowee. The meaning in the Muscogee language has been defined as “rolling water” or “old water.” John Reaves was involved in the early government and churches of Randolph county: Judge of the Orphan’s Court on 18 Aug 1845; the legislature abolished the county clerk and the court of Orphanage by substituting Probate Judge. He was appointed Probate Judge in 1848; Register in Chancery in 1849. Clerk of Wedowee Baptist Church from 1847 until his death. His first wife, Hannah, died shortly after giving birth to their son, in 1843. John and Hannah had 8 children. On 4 Apr 1844 when John was 34, he married his second wife, Princess Ann Ussury, daughter of Peter Ussery & Elsie Davis, in Wedowee. She was born on 10 Jan 1823 in South Carolina. In 1846, the United States had invaded Mexico over the dispute of the 1845 annexation of Texas. The Mexican-American War lasted from 1846 until 2 February 1848. John’s eldest son '''William''', 16, enlisted with neighbor Travis Stallings in the First Alabama Regiment of volunteers for the Mexican War, was organized at Mobile, June 1846 for twelve months. William died of fever after reaching Texas on 10 February 1848. Two brothers from Jacksonville, Benton County, First Lieutenant William Henry Forney and Daniel Peter Forney, served with the boys from Wedowee. Travis died on the boat on route to Texas and Yellow fever, malaria, dysentery, smallpox,measles, and other diseases prevalent in Mexico killed far more soldiers than did Mexican bullets. John’s brother Stephen left for Texas April 1847 and settled in Tyler, Smith County, Texas. Judge John Reaves: state representative for Randolph County, 1851-52 & Circuit Court Clerk, 6 Sep 1853. John's second wife died in 1856. On 12 Nov 1857 when John was 48, he was married for a third time to the widow ''',Mrs. Jane Frances Garrett''' the daughter of John Lumpkin Garrett & Martha Jane Greet, in Chambers Co. Jane was the widow of Nathaniel B. ‘Nathan’ Garrett. Born in 1821 in Georgia. In 1858, Judge Reaves built a home in the eastern part of Wedowee, and was, at that time, the finest house in the county. War came to the south and to Alabama in April of 1861.John was a Representative from Randolph County from 1861-1862 in the Alabama Legislature. When Alabama seceded from the Union in 1861 and the war was beginning, four of Judge Reaves sons enlisted in the Confederate Army. They all served gallantly. Three years into the war, John at age 55, enlisted as a private in the local Home Guards in February of 1864 in Wylie McClendon's Volunteer Company, Randolph County Reserves. The record states his occupation was Clerk Circuit Court. About the time that Sherman’s troops were in the area, John enlisted in November 1864 in Jefferson Faulkner's Mounted Infantry, Company A of Randolph County Reserves as 1st Lieutenant. His occupation was Lawyer & Register in Chancery. After the war ended John was living in Randolph County and farming. His third wife, Jane, died in Wedowee in 1 Jan 1866; she was 45 leaving John a widower. When Jane died John was left with at least six children to rear, ages 18 to two years old. John married for a fourth time in 1871 in Randolph County to Mary White Cantrell Haynes. John and Mary had 4 children. She died in 1881. Judge John Reaves had been married 4 times and survived all of his wives. He died in 1887. Additional Comments: This biographical record was created with my own personal research and that of Linda Benefield from her compiled research on the family of Judge John Reaves. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/al/randolph/bios/reaves1106gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/alfiles/ File size: 5.0 Kb