Thomas (Reeves) Reeve (abt.1611-abt.1665) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree

Thomas Reeve formerly Reeves

Born about 1611 in Caldecote by Towcester, Northamptonshire, England

Ancestors

Son of Robert Francis Reeves and Agnes (Humber) Reeves

Brother of Walter Reeves and Joan (Reeve) Leeds [half]

Husband of Mary (Unknown) Reeve — married about 1644 [location unknown]

Descendants

Father of Thomas Reeve, John Reeve, Joseph Reeve, Hannah (Reeves) Reeve and Jonathan Reeve

Died about 1665 at about age 54 in Southold, Suffolk, New York

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Profile last modified 21 Apr 2024 | Created 7 Apr 2015

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Biography

Thomas Reeve was born about 1611^[1], possibly at Caldercote, Northamptonshire, England, and the son of Robert Reeves and Agnes.

Thomas Reeve, age 24, sailed from London to St. Christopher (West indies) aboard the Matthew on 21 May 1635. Also aboard were fellow future Southold settlers William Salmon and Thomas Terrill.^[2] From there all three traveled to North Carolina where in 1636 they joined Thomas Benedict, Thomas Osman, William Purrier, James Reeve, and Henry Whitney before all of them travelled on to Southold, NY, according to a deposition by Thomas Osman.^[3]

The children of Thomas and Mary Reeve:^[4]

Thomas born about 1646; married Annis Ryder; died 1 December 1682
John born about 1652; married 1st Hannah Brown; married 2nd Martha _______; died 15 December 1712
Joseph born about 1656; married 1st Abigail _______; married 2nd Deliverance (Homan) Whitehair; died 1736 age 80
Hannah born about 1657, no further record found
Jonathan born about 1658 or 1659 (of age in 1680); married Martha _______; died 16 February 1707

Thomas Reeve died about 1665.^[5] There are 21 references to Thomas Reeve in the existing Town land records, the latest in 1665 in which year he apparently died and "Widow Reeve" appears. She is shown 7 times, the latest in 1677, and her name seems to have been Mary (first record 1666 Plum Island deed).^[6]^[7]

Note: A possible brother Walter Reeves has been linked to this profile, although the lack of sources and some DNA findings place that relationship in doubt.

Research Notes

Thomas and James Reeve

Note that an ongoing question exists regarding whether Thomas Reeve was the sole Reeve progenitor in Southold, NY at this time, or if there was a second Reeve Southold line beginning with a James Reeve, a contemporary of Thomas. There have been many genealogies published over the centuries supporting one or the other scenario.

Further note that WikiTree has likewise flip-flopped on this issue, with Thomas Reeve and James Reeve profiles being merged and separated repeatedly over the years. The current state is separate, distinct profiles for a Thomas Reeve and a James Reeve.

Further discussion and research should be presented on these pages before reversing the current family structure again.

Mary Purrier

There has been an ongoing question of who Mary Purrier was married to - Thomas Reeve or James Reeve? Thomas Reeve was surely wed to a “Mary” per numerous existing records, but whether this is Mary Purrier or a different Mary may also be tied to the question of the existence of James Reeve noted above. Again, there have been many genealogies published over the centuries supporting one or the other scenario, and WikiTree continues to vacillate on this issue.

Wesley L. Baker, in his exhaustively researched, including the Osman Deposition, and sourced genealogy 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, states:^[8]

" . . we found a number of items to support the proposition that there were two Reeve settlers, or at least that the early members of that family were of two different branches."
"Some 50 years later another Thomas 'Reeves' (notice the different spelling) appeared in Southold who apparently came from Southampton and descended from a New England family."
"The Southold settler, Thomas Reeve, first appears in the Town records in 1652 (page 12); an inventory of his lands was entered in 1656 (page 12)."

Baker also states that James Reeve, not Thomas Reeve, was the son-in-law of William Purrier. He cites the statements, found in the Osman Deposition , of Thomas Osman in which he describes William Purrier as "his now father in law" and James Reeve as "his brother in ye law".^[9] A copy of this Deposition appears in the 1636-1939 Southold Commemorative Book and on page 5 of our study.^[10]^[3]

The following is now in question:

He married Mary Purrier, daughter of William Purrier and Alice Knight, in 1645 at Southold, Suffolk, NY. Thomas Reeves died on 7 May 1697 at Southold, Suffolk, NY, was buried at Mattituck, Suffolk, NY. ^[11]

The following contains many inaccuracies:

The Early Germans of New Jersey - Their History, Churches and Genealogies by Theodore Frelinghuysen Chambers, (Dover, NJ 1895)^[12]

James Reeves, from Wales, d 7 May 1697, m. Mary (dau. of Wm. Purrier); 1662 "Goodman Reeves" freeman of Conn.: 1686, 5 males and 4 females in family; had ch.:

I. James (Capt.) b 1673 d 14 March 1732 [names wife and children]

II. Thomas (perhaps son of Thomas of Mass.)d 4 Feb 1705 [names wife]

III. William [names two wives]

IV. John d 16 Dec 1711 [names two wives and children and grandchildren]

V. Isaac [names wife]

VI. Joseph b 1656 d 22 April 1736 [names two wives, children and grandchildren and more]

VII. Jonathan (perhaps) d 16 Feb 1708 [names wife and children]

Sources

↑ Baker, Wesley Logan, 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, 1970 - Birth page 340 - Children of Thomas Reeve I page 343 - death page 341 - Two Reeve settlers page 340 - James Reeve & William Purrier page 340 Archive.org (one hour borrow with login) - or - FamilySearch.org (view, print, download) - or - Ancestry.com
↑ Hotten, John Camden, The Original Lists Of Persons Of Quality (John Camden Hotten, 1874), p 80-81
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 Baker, Wesley Logan, with Arthur Channing Downs, Jr., Study of the 1658 and 1686 Depositions of Thomas Osman and Early History of Hashamomuck in the Town of Southold, Long Island, N.Y., 1969 pdf at LongIslandGenealogy
↑ Baker Study, p. 343
↑ Baker Study, p. 341
↑ Baker Study, p. 341
↑ Thomas Reeve profile at FamilySearch.org
↑ Baker Study, p. 340
↑ Baker Study, p. 340
↑ Baker Study, p. 5
↑ Genealogical Society of Bergen County
↑ Chambers,Theodore Frelinghuysen The Early Germans of New Jersey (Chambers, Dover, New Jersey, 1895), p.468 Archive.org

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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Thomas by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA. Y-chromosome DNA test-takers in his direct paternal line on WikiTree:

Robert Johnson : Family Tree DNA Y-DNA Test 111 markers, haplogroup I1-M253, FTDNA kit #852118
Craig Johnson : Family Tree DNA Y-DNA Test 111 markers, haplogroup I1-M253, FTDNA kit #852118

Have you taken a DNA test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.

Comments on Thomas (Reeves) Reeve and Walter Reeves Apr 17, 2022.
Conflation of Thomas Reeve and James Reeve Jul 8, 2020.

Comments: 10

Leave a message for others who see this profile.

Roberta Johnson

Hi. I am working on clearing up Reeves paternal lines. My brother, Craig Johnson, who descends from Walter Reeves (1654), has done a Big Y test on FTDNA. His haplogroup is different than that of males who claim descent from Thomas Reeves. I think this proves that Walter Reeves was in fact not related to Thomas, but from another line. Sadly, someone has connected Walter to Thomas, which I think is incorrect based on the Y dna results. I think whoever the appropriate person is should disconnect these two.

Thanks - Roberta Johnson Killeen

posted Oct 20, 2021 by Roberta Johnson

Isaac Taylor

While I understand what you mean about the male line DNA, there are just too many generations in between to draw any genealogical conclusions. It is a huge leap of logic to assert that a paternal haplogroup mismatch observed today between two living men was caused by a lack of common paternity in the 1600s. (For example, in the simplest sense, just one secret infidelity or nephew/orphan adoption hypothetically during WW1 etc would cause same test disparity. There are other more scandalous reasons, some of which assure permanent secrecy.)

The converse is also true that even had the Big Y matched, in our generation, it would not genealogically prove anything about origins or placements for two men in the 1600s; absent supporting test results and a lot of traditional genealogy for every generation between.

Disclosures. Not an expert. No investment in these family groups. Only slightly experienced with the Big Y and this type of genetic testing as a genealogy research aid over this (exact) number of intervening generations (for the same reasons).

posted Apr 08, 2024 by Isaac Taylor

Roberta Johnson

Hi Isaac, thanks for your note! This message was from several years ago. Since then, we’ve made lots of progress on it. We have 7 matching big y tests, showing connection going back to a common ancestor sometime in the 1600s in the UK.

All of these are in a different haplogroup than those who claim descent from Thomas Reeves. Looking carefully at this set of tests (and the mutations that developed as a function of time), it appears their most recent common paternal ancestor is an ancestor of Edward Reeves of Goring, Oxfordshire (1751-1805).

There are two clear NPEs sometime in 1800s here in the states leading to two of these tests (not counting the one on my line). We are group 20 in the Reeves group on FTDNA, and I coordinate that group. Sadly I can’t attach a graphic here, which shows the relationship among these tests as a function of time.

posted Apr 08, 2024 by Roberta Johnson

Vincent King

Death date of 1665 - from source "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" - by Baker, Wesley Logan, 1905 - published 1970 - page 341 - which states:

There are 21 references to Thomas Reeve in the existing Town land records, the latest in 1665 in which year he apparently died and "Widow Reeve" appears. She is shown 7 times, the latest in 1677, and her name seems to have been Mary (see 1666 Plum Island deed, p15). (https://archive.org/details/studyofreevefami00bake - i hour book borrow)

posted Jan 07, 2021 by Vincent King

Lorene (Stasheen) Anonymous

Thomas Reeves married Hannah Roe in April 15, 1645 in Massachusetts -- source U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900. Genealogical Publishing Co.; Baltimore, MD, USA; Volume Title: New England Marriages Prior to 1700 show his death at 1650. I think Hannah is the mother of Genia, based upon the dates and Mary may be the wife of a brother where the names were intermixed.

posted Dec 04, 2020 by Lorene (Stasheen) Anonymous

Joe Murray

Thanks Lorene. I think you may be referring to a different Thomas Reeves, though his son, Thomas Reeves Jr. did settle in nearby Southampton.

posted Feb 03, 2021 by Joe Murray

Joe Murray

Not sure if this has been explored much here...

Wesley Baker has made a thorough case for there being a Thomas Reeve and James Reeve - likely brothers - who have been conflated in most past genealogical histories. Baker's work is based on documents uncovered later and unknown to most previous historians, and which are the subject of his works cited below. According to these works, James Reeve is the husband of Mary Purrier, while Thomas Reeve is married to a completely different "Mary" (surname unknown), thus exists two separate lines of descendancy. Here on WikiTree they are also conflated as one.*Edit 30 Jan 2021: The two Reeves again have separate profiles.

Baker, Wesley Logan. 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, NY, unknown, 1970)

Baker, Wesley Logan, with Arthur Channing Downs, Jr. Study of the 1658 and 1686 Depositions of Thomas Osman and Early History of Hashamomuck in the Town of Southold, Long Island, N.Y. (Publ. unknown, 1969)

G2G discussion here

posted Jul 08, 2020 by Joe Murray
edited Jan 30, 2021 by Joe Murray

Cheryl (Aldrich) Skordahl

Hi, leaving you a note to say that people in the 1600's didn't use middle names, unless perhaps they were nobility.

Anderson in "The Great Migration" says the husband of Mary Purrier was Thomas Reeves, married by 1646.

https://www.americanancestors.org/databases/great-migration-immigrants-to-new-england-1634-1635-volume-v-m-p/image?pageName=546&volumeId=12155&rId=23909078

If you're just not sure, or if you've found a source that says his name was James, I would suggest you go with the name Thomas and leave a research note about the name James (with the source link) in the biography.

Thanks.

posted Sep 06, 2019 by Cheryl (Aldrich) Skordahl