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Matthews - Reeves Connections
Mississippi > Louisiana
LINEAGE My maternal grandmother, Marie Annette Kelly, was descended from Benajah Matthews of the Hugh Matthews lineage and from Jephtha Daniel Reeves, the s/o Richard Reeves and Sarah McGehee. The gentlemen in this photo are of these lineages.
Benjamin Ajah Matthews
& Harrison Timothy Reeves
 | Jephtha Daniel Reeves (March 18, 1861 - November 1900) was the son of Richard Calvin Reeves and Sarah McGehee (variously spelled McGehee, McGehe, McGhee and McGee), the grandson of Annie and James G. Reeves of South Carolina. Sarah was the daughter of Seaborn McGehe and Mary A. Whittington, whose marriage is recorded in Crawford County, Georgia as having occurred on the 11th October 1829.
Sarah McGehe and Richard Calvin Reeves are recorded by Strickland as having lived in Jones County, Mississippi. Of their union, six known children. Nine children were born of the marriage of their son, Jephtha Daniel Reeves, and my 2nd great-grandmother, Mary Catherine Welch (October 27, 1862 - January 10, 1947). Three of Jephtha & Mary Catherine's daughters married Matthews brothers, all sons of Mary and John R. Matthews (1852 - 1906).
Family tradition is John R. Matthew's wife, Mary, is Mary Elizabeth Reeves (November 07, 1855 - November 07, 1912), sister to Jeptha Daniel Reeves. Our family bible records include her dates, but record no maiden name for her. My family also thinks John R.'s name was John Arthur Matthews. He and Mary Elizabeth had a son, John Arthur Matthews, who also was commonly called John R.
Benjamin Ajah Matthews (left) was born on the 6th of January 1876 and died the 4th of September 1958 in Ferriday, Concordia Parish, Louisiana. He married one of Jephtha & Mary Catherine's daughters, Emma Jane Reeves. He and Emma Jane were married on 08 April 1907. Emma Jane was born on December 25, 1879 in south Mississippi and died the 19th February 1935, when my mother was still a young girl. Of their union, six children. Benjamin Ajah and Emma Jane were the grandparents of James Robert Weatherly, who is married to one of my mother's sister.
Harrison Timothy "Tim" Reeves (1889 - September 16, 1957), who is shown here with Benjamin Ajah, was a brother to Emma Jane. Harrison's wife was Minnie Montgomery. Of their union, five children. Minnie and Harrison both died in 1957 in Franklin Parish, Louisiana. Minnie died on November 20, 1957. John died on September 16, 1957. They are buried at Harris Cemetery (Franklin Par., Louisiana).
Mention is made of Benjamin Ajah in my grandmother's Marie Kelly Tarver's diary:
"... also went out to Captola's to pray for uncle Ben who is a very sick old fellow." - (21 Sep 1956) Later that year, she again wrote, "... Uncle Ben had a very bad spell and I don't suppose there will be any prayer meeting tonight." - (7 Nov 1956) The next day she wrote: "... We went and prayed for Quilly this morning, also for myself & Bea and Uncle Ben ... It's cold and rainy today." - (8 Nov 1956) There are quite a few notations dealing with Uncle Ben throughout the year.
Quilly, whom my grandmother mentions above, was Oquilla Geraldine Matthews, the dau. of Benjamin Ajah, pictured above. She married George Edward Goins, Sr. They are buried at Heard Cem., Manifest, Catahoula Par., Louisiana. Aunt Bea is Beatrice McCullem, who was the wife of Fred DeWitt Matthews (son of William Ira and Nancy Jane). Aunt Bea is lives with a daughter in Vidalia, Concordia Par., Louisiana now (2002). Her husband, "Freddie D" (July 02, 1918 - February 21, 1949) is buried at Chalk Hill Cem., LaSalle Par., Louisiana.
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CHILDREN OF JEPTHA DANIEL REEVES AND MARY CATHERINE WELCH*
- Emma Jane Reeves, m. Benjamin Ajah Matthews
- Nancy Jane Reeves, m. William Ira Matthews
- Mary Elizabeth Reeves, m. John Robert Kelly, Jr.
- Harrison Timothy Reeves, m. Minnie Montgomery
- Mary Etta Reeves, m. Andrew Jackson Matthews
- Violet Reeves, m. Calvin Thacker
- Luther Gilbert Reeves, m. Barbara Lawson
- George Wyatt Reeves, m. Mary Ellen Lawson.
- Jeptha Daniel Reeves, Jr., m. Ruth Mayo.
* Mary Catherine Welch marr (2) Ephraim Thomas McVey, September 16, 1903, Franklin Par., Louisiana. One child of their union: Tommie Bell McVay (1904 - 1997) marr. Rev. John Thomas Mayo, Sr. (1901 - 1974). Tommie Bell and Tom Mayo are buried at Jena Cem., Jena, LaSalle Par., Louisiana. Nine children born to Rev. Tom Mayo and Tommie Bell McVey.
Mary Catherine Welch was the daughter of Timothy Lawrence Welch and Mary Etta Matthews, the granddaughter of Benagah Matthews and Mary Ann Stewart, whose marriage is recorded on January 07, 1841 in Upson Co., Georgia.
Benagah Matthews was the son of John Matthews and Mary Rogers who married on August 07, 1808 in Warren Co., Georgia, the grandson of Benjamin Matthews II (Virginia) and Mary Elizabeth Sauls (Nash Co., North Carolina), and great grandson of Benjamin Matthews I of Edgecombe Co., North Carolina.
MATTHEWS - REEVES COUPLES
- John R. Matthews (December 31, 1852 - November 24, 1906), marr. Mary Elizabeth Reeves (November 07, 1855 - November 07, 1912), 1871.
- William Ira Matthews (March 11, 1878 - May 27, 1949) marr. Nancy Jane Reeves (ca 1883 - January 07, 1949), 1899 in Natchez, Adams Co., Mississippi.
- Benjamin Ajah Matthews (January 06, 1876 - September 04, 1958) marr. Emma Jane Reeves (December 25, 1879 - February 19, 1935), April 08, 1907
- Andrew Jackson Matthews (July 03, 1889 - March 1967) marr. Mary Etta Reeves (February 12, 1892 - November 1981), July 12, 1908.
REFERENCE
- Ainsworth, Lucille Dickinson, Cemeteries of Franklin Par., Louisiana: Public, Private & Abandoned, (n.p.: n.pub).
- Bible record of Andrew Jackson Matthews & Mary Etta Reeves. Currently owned by great-granddaughter, Nelia Anderson Pitre, 2002.
- Bible record of Eunice Marie Matthews Tarver (1912-1989), daughter of Benjamin Ajah Matthews and Emma Jane Reeves. Currently owned by son James Robert Weatherly, Harrisonburg, LaSalle Par., Louisiana, 2002.
- Bible record of Tommie Bell McVay & John Thomas Mayo, Sr. Currently owned by daughter-in-law Louella Dupreast Mayo, 2002.
- Bible record of Margaret Kelly Decausey (1916-1999), daughter of Mary Elizabeth Reeves and John Robert Kelly Jr. Currently owned by son Steve Marion Decausey, Biloxi, Mississippi, 2002.
- Cemetery survey, Chalk Hill Cem., Lasalle Par., Louisiana, by Bessie Ferrell & Betty Jo Keith, 17 Oct 1995.
- Cemetery surveys: Jena Cemetery, Heard Cemetery, & Crowville Cemetery, by Lotus Cirilo & Adina Tarver Cirilo, July 1999 & September 2001.
- Diary of Marie Annette Kelly Tarver (1903-1959), daughter of Mary Elizabeth Reeves and John Robert Kelly Jr. Currently owned by daughter Maxine Olivia Tarver Weatherly, Harrisonburg, Louisiana, 2002.
- Death certificate of Catherine McVay, (Harrisonburg, Catahoula Par., La, no.1 645, informant, Mrs. Doris Wright), DOB 27 Oct 1861, age 85 years, 2 months, 14 days, widow, usual residence, rural near Harrisonburg, parents Timothy Lawrence and Mary Welch, both born in Miss.
- Family group sheets, Louella Dupreast Mayo, HC 76 Box 108, Aimwell, LA 71401, ph. (318) 992-8512, June 21 , 1987. Granddaughter of Mary Catherine Welch and (2) Ephraim Thomas McVey.
- Family knowledge, ldc, (known by author and or other immediate family member).
- Carter, M.H., Georgia Pioneers, volume 5, (Privately Published. Georgia. 1968), 156.
- Interviews & correspondence with Nelia Anderson Pitre, Sept. 1999, re: MATTHEWS. Neely stated she has a note in her papers where her grandmother, Mary Etta Matthews, told her she was born in Orockland, Texas.
- Johnson, Eddis and Hugh Buckner Johnston, Johnsons and Johnstons of Corrowauch in Isle of Wright Co., Virginia, Vol. 1, (Privately Published. 840 East Columbus Street, Martinsville, Indiana 46151, 1979).
- Loderick Matthews The Name That Binds, 5th edition, by William A. Matthews Jr., comp. (Irving, TX: priv. publ., 2001).
- Photo from Maradee Cryer, <McCry@aol.com>, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
- Marriage records, Warren Co., Georgia Marriages, 1784-1850, 32, MATTHEWS, John marr. ROGERS, Polly 08/07/1808.
- McVey-Reeves marriage, 1903, (Franklin Par., LA, Ephraim T. McVey to Mrs. Catherine Reeves by T M Ellerbe, minister, wit. S. Ballew, B A Matthews, B A Welch, 16 Sep 1903).
- Strickland, Jean & Patricia N. Edwards, Who Married Whom: Jones Co., Mississippi 1827-1880, (Mosspoint, Mississippi: 1987).
- Upson Co, Georgia Marriages, 1824 to 1850, 14.
- U.S. Social Security Administration, Social Security Death Index, "Electronic."
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