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Thomas Reeves I (1600 - 1650)

Thomas Reeves I
Born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, Englandmap
Son of [father unknown] and [mother unknown]
[sibling(s) unknown]
Husband of — married 15 Apr 1645 in Roxbury, Suffolk County, Massachusettsmap
Descendants descendants
Father of , and
Died at about age 50 in Springfield, Hampden, Massachusettsmap
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Profile last modified | Created 26 Sep 2012
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Contents

Biography

Thomas Reeves was born in 1600 in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, the son of Robert Reeves and Agnes (Humber) Reeves.

Thomas married Hannah Rowe on April 15, 1645 in Roxbury, Norfolk, Massachusetts. [1]

Thomas was the father of Mary (Reeve) Webster and Thomas Reeves Died November 5, 1650 in Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts.[2][3]


Excerpt from "Thomas Reeves" by Emma M. Reeves. Book located in the the NJ State Library, Trenton, NJ. Call no. A929.2 R332.2, page 1

Thomas Sr (generation #1 in America) came from Southampton, England in 1638 on the "Bevis" and arrived in Boston. He was an indentured servant to Henry Byley, but became the servant of John Gore and lived in Roxbury, MA until 1644 when he became a freeman. He married Hannah Rowe on Apr 15, 1645 at Roxbury. They moved to Springfield, MA where he was a blacksmith and the town drummer. He died at Springfield on Nov 5, 1650 in his late twenties after fathering three children, two of which survived to adulthood (Thomas, Mary, John). His wife later remarried Richard Excell (or Exile) of Springfield on June 4, 1651, by whom she had four children (Mary, John, Lydia, Abigail). She died in 1660 in Springfield. He was still in the Springfield are in 1681. Mr. Excell presumably then moved to Southampton, LI with his step-son Thomas Jr and died there Feb 24, 1714, after suffering financial problems, according to his will. He also suffered from wounds received in King Phillip's War.

There was another Thomas Reeves in MA who was born earlier and married a Mary Purrier.

Thomas Sr may have had an aunt Mary who immigrated with him and married William Webster, or the story about her is inaccurate in her age at death. Her husband was a the son of Gov. John Webster of Conn. She was accused of being a witch in Hadley 1n 1673 by the county court in Northampton, but was acquitted at her trial in Boston in 1683. She died in 1696, her husband dying in 1688.

Notes

Thomas Reeves

Born Southampton, England
Aboard Bevis 1638, servant of Henry Byley of Salesbury. He probably worked for Henry's sister.
Arrived Roxbury, Massachusetts. Became servant of John Gore, remained so until 1644.
Married Hannah Rowe, April 15, 1645 at Roxbury.
Town drummer at Springfield, Massachusetts.
Died November 5, 1650. Died before his second son was born.
Thomas and Hannah had three kids:
  1. Thomas Jr, born 1646, died 1685
  2. Hannah, born 1649
  3. John, born 1651, died 1652
Hannah Remarried Richard Axile (Exil) and they had four kids
Richard died at home of step-son Thomas, Southampton

Thomas Jr. progenitor. Married Rebecca, who died 1694. Five children
  1. John 1673-1753, married Rachel Foster
  2. Rebecca 1676-?
  3. Thomas 1679-?, married and had son David (1725-?)
  4. Hannah 1681-?, married Ricahrd Wood in 1704, had seven children
  5. Abigail 1684-?
---
Source: The Pioneers of Massachusetts be Charles Henry Pope
---
He was the servant of Henry Byley of Salisbury, Old England who died before April 1641. At Roxbury, MA, Thomas then became servant of John Gore until 1644.
As the family story goes, my ancestry in America was initiated by one Thomas Reeves, came to the new land on the Bevis, crossing the Atlantic from SouthHampton, Englandin 1638. It seems Thomas was in servitude to one Henry Byley of Salesbury. Whether he was at time of sailing is unknown, as the excerpt from the ship's transcribed manifest below indicates, the Byleys were headed to Salisbury while Thomas was destined for Roxbury.

The Bevis
May, 1638 The Bevis of (South) Hampton departed Southampton : for New England"by vertue of the Lord Treasurers warrant of the : second of May"
DESTINATION: Salisbury
Byley (or Biley), Henry . 26 tanner, of Salisbury, county Wiltshire
Byley (or Biley), Mary . . 22 (sister of Henry Byley)
Byley, John . . . . . . . 20 (servant, not listed in "Planters")

DESTINATION: Roxbury
Reeves, Thomas . . . . . . -- (Byley servant)

The Reeves family settled in Roxbury, Massachusetts and later, Thomas moved to Springfield, Massachusetts where he was the town drummer. He died at the age of 39 leaving a wife and three children. During his life he became the servant of one John Gore and in 1644 became a free man at which time he took a wife by the name of Hannah Rowe.

Eventually, the Reeves set up shop in Camden, NJ under the paternal head of Richard Seely Reeves. This following the family migrating from Springfield to Camden via Richard's father, Jarvis Davis Reeves and his wife Sarah Jane Noble; Jarvis's father Abijah Reeves & his wife Sarah Elwell; Abijah's father James Reeves and his wife Rebecca Peck; James father Thomas Reeves and his wife Rachel Foster; Thomas's father Thomas and his wife Rebecca ..??..(Reeves). It is at the corner of 4th and Main in Camden, NJ that I pick up the story for the purposes of this web site; as evidenced by the following photograph, taken about 1875 by my estimation of things known about some of the people in the picture.

Research Notes

Thomas Reeves arrived in 1638 on the Bevis from Salisbury, Wiltshire. The Bevis left Southampton May 1638 for New England with her master Robert Batten.[4][5] He resided in Newbury.[6]

Sources

  1. ↑ Massachusetts, Marriages, 1695-1910 index, FamilySearch, Thomas Reeve and Hanna Roe, 15 Apr 1645; citing reference p 118; FHL microfilm 741,320.
  2. ↑ Massachusetts, Springfield Vital Records, 1638-1887 index and images, FamilySearch, Thomas Reeves, Sep 1650; citing v 1 p 47, Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts, Springield City Hall; FHL microfilm 185,414.
  3. ↑ Burial Entry of Thomas Reeves
  4. ↑ Hotten, John Camden - The original lists of persons of quality, emigrants, religious exiles, political rebels, serving men sold for a term of years, apprentices, children stolen, maidens pressed, and others, who went from Great Britain to the American plantations, 1600-1700, Bevis pp. 298-299, p. 299: Thomas Reeves, servant of Henry Byley, passenger in the Ship Bevis Archive.org
  5. ↑ Pilgrim Ship Lists Early 1600's - Over 7100 families and 290 ships Bevis
    • Reemes Tho, Byley servant (Reeves, Thomas, from Salisbury, Wiltshire, boudn for Roxbury. Ref: Hotten. 36 pg 180)
  6. ↑ Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Directory, published 2015. Reference page 280, citing Drake's Founders, 60; Noyes-Gilman 271-74. (Savage and Pope claim that this passenger was identical with a Thomas Reeves who appeared at Roxbury in 1642. [Savage 3:523; Pope 382; GMN 21:13-14]




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Images: 2
Burial Entry of Thomas Reeves
Burial Entry of Thomas Reeves
Transcription of the Burial of Thomas Reeves, also son John
Transcription of the Burial of Thomas Reeves, also son John


Comments: 2

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Michaud-221 Karen (Michaud) Hoy
Reeves-927 and Reeve-602 appear to represent the same person because: These profiles represent the same person - just with a different spelling of the last name. The same holds true for his son Thomas Reeve (Reeve-601). The last name should be Reeves, with an 's'.
posted by Karen (Michaud) Hoy
McBeth-165 Emma (McBeth) MacBeath M.Ed MSM
Reeves-1076 and Reeves-927 appear to represent the same person because: Clear duplicate. Other profile has no manager so it can be merged into yours.
posted by Emma (McBeth) MacBeath M.Ed MSM

Rejected matches › Robert Francis Reeves (1580-1638)

Featured National Park champion connections: Thomas is 12 degrees from Theodore Roosevelt, 19 degrees from Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger, 8 degrees from George Catlin, 16 degrees from Marjory Douglas, 23 degrees from Sueko Embrey, 13 degrees from George Grinnell, 24 degrees from Anton Kröller, 13 degrees from Stephen Mather, 22 degrees from Kara McKean, 16 degrees from John Muir, 15 degrees from Victoria Hanover and 25 degrees from Charles Young on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.

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Categories: Puritan Great Migration Project Candidate