Tags
DeMoss, Hutchenson, Ireland, NaBloPoMo, Reeve, Ryan, Sensabaugh, Smith
Today’s mystery ancestors are Joseph and Martha Richardson Reeve, my 5th great grandparents. Very little is known about this couple. I would estimate that they were both born circa 1780. Some sources have Joseph’s birth listed as New Jersey. It is thought that Martha was born in Pennsylvania, possibly in the Philadelphia area. According to a letter from Effie Reeve Sensabaugh to Vera Reeve dated October 19, 1939, Martha’s mother’s maiden name was Mary Hutchenson. There are entries in the Quaker Meeting Records from Bucks Co, Pennsylvania documenting the marriage of a Josiah Reeve to an Elizabeth Richardson in November 1802, but it’s not 100% clear if this is our couple.
According to Effie’s letter, Joseph was a ship captain working out of the Philadelphia port. In 1815, he took some money to cover expenses on his journey, but never showed up at his ship and wasn’t heard from again. It was assumed he was murdered during a robbery.
Joseph and Martha supposedly had three children:
- Joseph (1808-1887)
- Mary (1814-1907)
- Lucy (ca 1810-?)
It is believed that Martha remarried to a John Bower after Joseph’s death and at some point during the mid 1820s the family moved to Jackson Co, IN. It’s not clear what happened to them after that.
Joseph, the son, married Sarah Ireland in Jackson Co in 1829. Joseph and Sarah moved to Steele Township, Daviess Co in the 1830s and to Vigo Township, Knox Co during the 1850s, according to census records. They are my 4th great grandparents, their daughter Louisa Reeve marrying Isaac DeMoss. Joseph was married twice as mentioned in the Carnahan post.
Mary married George Ryan in 1834 in Cincinnati, OH. According to a letter from William S. Reeve to Vera Reeve dated September 1, 1941, the Ryans moved to Indianapolis around the time of the Civil War and finished out their lives there. Most of their children settled there as well, working as painters, according to city directories of the time.
Little is known of Lucy. According to William Reeve’s letter, she married a man by the name of Smith and they had three children: Howard, Ida, and Fanny. Howard worked as a baker for a Mr. Bryce in Indianapolis in the late 1870s, and according to a letter from Howard Smith to David Reeve dated March 16, 1879, Ida was married and living in Missouri.
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Jackson County, Indiana is in SE Indiana and includes the towns of Seymour and Brownstown. It is east of Bedford.
Steele Township is in NE Daviess County, across the White River from Vigo Township, Knox County. Plainville is in Steele Township.
Digging Up My Roots 
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Can you indicate the source for Martha remarrying to a Joh Bower? I am researching John Bower and was just wondering if Mary were his stepdaughter. She bought land from his two biological children (DNA confirmed) in 1846, but she seemingly is not genetically connected to John.
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Hi Barry…According to my files, this piece of information was obtained from a Family Group Sheet provided to me by another researcher in 1999. According to the notes on the FGS, this researcher had a death record that listed John Bower as Mary’s father. She also noted that she had an obituary from the Indianapolis Star for Mary. Mary died in 1907 so there is likely a death certificate for her. Finally, she mentions letters of Vera Reeve indicating that John Bower was Mary’s stepfather. Vera did put together a family history in 1974 called Reeve and Hulen Families that she researched with her aunt. It can be found on Ancestry. https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/22217/ I’ve looked through all the letters pertaining to the Reeve family and did not find reference to John Bower. The other researcher may have had direct correspondence with Vera Reeve after the family history was released in 1974 in which John Bower was mentioned. Vera died in 2008. I have no idea if the other researcher who provided the FGS is still living. I haven’t spent much time on this branch of my tree, so I unfortunately do not have more for you. Good luck in your research!
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Mary Ryan’s death certificate does list John Bowar as her father. The informant was her son. It’s likely that he didn’t know any better. Mary was an infant when Joseph Reeve Sr died. John Bower was likely present in his life in the capacity of a grandfather and he probably believed Mary was John’s daughter.
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