Person:Benjamin Reaves (1)

birth parents: George Reaves and Francis Thornton (1)

The religion of Benjamin Reaves' family was said to be "black Methodists". It was a very strict form of the Methodist faith found in the South back then. BENJAMIN REAVES IS SAID TO HAVE TOLD CATHERINE SMITH HIS WIFE, AFTER THEIR MARRIAGE, THAT HIS FATHER OR OTHER MEMBERS OF HIS FAMILY WERE INVOLVED WITH VIGILANTIES IN ARKANSAS. HE MUST HAVE BEEN REFERRING TO A TIME PERIOD OF AROUND 1900 OR EARLIER. BENJAMIN REAVES WAS IN THE ARMY AND STATIONED AT MITCHELL FIELD ON LONG ISLAND NEW YORK WHEN HE MET AND MARRIED CATHERINE SMITH IN NOV 1919. CATHERIN SMITH-REAVES ALWAYS SAID BEN REAVES WAS A QUARTERMASTER IN RANK. HIS FEDERAL MILITARY FILES WERE DESTROYED IN A FIRE AT THE MILITARY RECORDS CENTER IN ST LOUISE MISSOURI IN THE 1970'S. HOWEVER, BENJAMIN J REAVES' MILITARY RECORD IS FOUND IN THE ARKANSAS STATE ARCHIVES IN THE ADJUTANT GENERAL'S WORLD WAR ONE RECORDS. IT IS ON FORM #724-2 1/2 AGO. THAT RECORD STATES "REAVES, BEN J. ENLISTED IN THE REGULAR ARMY IN JEFFERSON BKS MISSOURI FEB 23,1918. HIS ARMY SERIAL NUMBER WAS 461,325. THAT HE WAS BORN IN PIKE COUNTY ARKANSAS AND WAS 20 YEARS AND 6 MONTHS OLD AT THE TIME OF HIS ENLISTMENT. HE RECEIVED THE GRADE OF SARGENT MARCH 24,1919. THAT HE HAD NO OVERSEAS SERVICE AND WAS HORORABLY DISCHARGED APRIL 25,1919. IT STATES HE HAD NO WOUNDS OR INJURIES NOR WAS HE DISABLED. UNDER ORGANIZATIONS IT STATES 'QMC TO DISCH'". AT THE TIME THE ADJUTANT GENERAL RECORD WAS CREATED BENJAMIN J REAVES GAVE HIS RESIDENCE AS ANTOINE, ARKANSAS. THE DOCUMENT IS NUMBERED 2696 AND THE WAR DEPARTMENT SEAL ON THE RECORD IS DATED MAY 12,1921. IN THE SUMMER OF 1921 BENJAMIN JAMES REAVES RETURNED TO ARKANSAS LEAVING HIS PREGNANT WIFE AND A DAUGHTER BEHIND. MY GRANDMOTHER CATHERINE SMITH-REAVES REFUSED TO GO WITH HIM BACK TO ARKANSAS. BENJAMIN J REAVES' GREAT GRANDMOTHER, SARAH REAVES, WAS A CHEROKEE INDIAN. BENJAMIN REAVES' DAUGHTER, IRENE REAVES-DEGNEN, TO0K A DNA ANCESTRY TEST, BY DNAPRINT GENOMICS INC, ON SEPTEMBER 25,2003. THE RESULTS WERE 82% EUROPEAN AND 18% NATIVE AMERICAN. I BELIEVE THAT AT LEAST 6 0F THE 18% NATIVE AMERICAN WAS DUE TO SARAH REAVES. SARAH REAVES' BROTHER, JASPER REAVES, SERVED IN THE UNION ARMY DURING THE CIVIL WAR. JASPER REAVES' DISCHARGE PAPERS GIVE THIS DISCRIPTION OF HIM; "FIVE FOOT SIX INCHES IN HEIGHT, BLACK EYES, DARK HAIR AND DARK COMPLEXIONED" (SEE "WAYNE COUNTY TENNESSEE FAMILIES 1817-1999 VOL 2). BACK IN THE 1950'S AND LATER MY GRANDMOTHER, CATHERINE SMITH-REAVES, WOULD TELL US, HER GRANDCHILDREN, THAT WE WERE PART CHEROKEE. I, ROBERT F DEGNEN, JUST ASSUMED SHE WAS TALKING ABOUT HER INDIAN GRANDFATHER FROM CONNECTICUT, CHARLES JAMES SMITH. HOWEVER IN 1995 I BEGAN DOING GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH AND I REALIZED CHARLES JAMES SMITH WAS NOT CHEROKEE. I WAS PERPLEXED HOW MY GRANDMOTHER COULD HAVE BEEN SO MISTAKEN. HOWEVER, IN 1999 A DESCENDENT OF SARAH REAVES, THEDA SCHUTT FROM OKLAHOMA, TOLD ME THERE WAS INDIAN IN THE REAVES/OSTEEN FAMILY LINE. IN 2002 ANOTHER OF SARAH REAVES' DESCENDENTS, DONNA CROSS-BECK FROM TEXAS, CONFIRMED THAT SARAH REAVES WAS A CHEROKEE INDIAN. MY GRANDMOTHER, CATHERINE SMITH-REAVES, APPARENTLY HAD BEEN TOLD BY MY GRANDFATHER, BENJAMIN JAMES REAVES, THAT HE WAS PART CHEROKEE. MAKING US GRANDCHILDREN PART CHEROKEE AS WELL. THE MISTAKE WAS NOT MY GRANDMOTHER'S BUT MINE. I MISTAKENLY ASSUMED MY GRANDMOTHER WAS REFERRING TO HER CONNECTICUT INDIAN GRANDFATHER WHEN SHE TOLD US WE WERE PART CHEROKEE. I DIDN'T REALIZING SHE WAS TALKING ABOUT OUR GRANDFATHER'S INDIAN ANCESTRY AND NOT HER'S. MY GRANDMOTHER PROBABLY DIDN'T TELL US MORE AS SHE PROBABLY DIDN'T KNOW MORE. ALSO, TALKING ABOUT MY GRANDFATHER WAS A "SENSITIVE" FAMILY SUBJECT THAT EVERYONE IN THE FAMILY AVOIDED. YOU CAN SEE SOME INDIAN FEATURES IN BENJAMIN REAVES IN HIS WEDDING PICTURE TAKEN NOV 1919.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 [1], in Ancestry.com. Public Member Trees: (Note: not considered a reliable primary source).