Person:Sarah Reaves (3)

birth parents: Osborn Reaves and Esther Osteen (1)

Sarah Reaves was also known by the name Sallie. According to T.S., Sarah's descendent through Sarah's son Henry Clay Reaves, Sarah never married. T.S. states that this information was passed down in the family and was told to her by her mother who was the grandaughter of Henry Clay Reaves. Also, T.S.'s research in Wayne Co Tennessee agrees with what she was told by her family. Sarah Reaves was also a Cherokee Indian. T.S. was told that the Reaves line has American Indian ancestry. This was confirmed by a great grandaughter of Henry Clay Reaves, Donna Cross Beck. She stated that Henry Clay Reaves was 1/4 Cherokee Indian and that his mother, Sarah Reaves, was 1/2 Cherokee Indian. Donna Cross Beck stated her Grandmother 1/8 Cherokee and Donna's Father 1/16 Cherokee, had some of the Indian traits, having darker complexions. But not herself. Sarah Reaves' brother, Jasper Reaves, served in the Union Army in the Civil War. Jasper Reaves' discharge papers gave this discription of him; "five foot six inches in height, black eyes, dark hair and dark complexion". I, Robert Degnen, have asian shovel teeth. That is a trait found among American Indians. IN SEPTEMBER 2003 SARAH REAVES' GREAT GREAT GRANDAUGHTER, THROUGH SARAH'S SON JAMES BARTON REAVES, IRENE REAVES DEGNEN, TOOK AN ANCESTRY DNA TEST BY DNAPRINT GENOMICS INC. THE RESULTS WERE 82% EUROPEAN DNA AND 18% NATIVE AMERICAN DNA. I ESTIMATE THAT 6 OF THE 18% WAS INHERITED FROM SARAH REAVES. THAT INDICATES THAT EITHER SARAH REAVES WAS ALL OR MOSTLY INDIAN OR THAT THE FATHER OF JAMES BARTON REAVES AND SARAH REAVES WERE BOTH ABOUT 1/2 INDIAN. Sarah Reaves lived in what was called Cromwells Mills, Wayne County TN. It is located a few miles south and west of Collinwood Tennessee. SEE THE NOTES OF JASPER REAVES, SARAH REAVES' BROTHER. SARAH'S GRANDPARENTS LEFT THE CAROLINAS SHORTLY AFTER THE AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY WAR. SINCE THE CHEROKEES SIDED WITH THE BRITISH DURING THE WAR AND THE NEW U.S. GOVERNMENT SET OUT TO PUNISH THE CHEROKEES FOR THAT, ONE HAS TO WONDER IF THE REASON SARAH'S GRANDPARENTS LEFT THE CAROLINAS FOR TENNESSEE IN THE 1790'S WAS TO DISTANCE THEMSELVES FROM ANY GOVERNMENT HARRASSMENT. ALSO, SARAH'S PARENTS MOVED FROM DAVIDSON COUNTY TENNESSEE TO WAYNE COUNTY TENNESSEE IN THE 1830'S. IN 1835 THE U.S. CONGRESS PASSED THE "INDIAN REMOVAL ACT" REQUIRING ALL INDIAN TRIBES, EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI, TO BE REMOVED TO INDIAN TERRITOY. THAT TERRITORY IS NOW THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA. IN 1838 PRESIDENT JACKSON USED THE U.S. ARMY TO FORCIBLY REMOVE THE CHEROKEES WEST TO INDIAN TERRITORY IN WHAT WAS LATER TO BE KNOWN AS THE "TRAIL OF TEARS". AGAIN I WONDER IF THE MOVE FROM DAVIDSON COUNTY TENNESSEE TO WAYNE COUNTY TENNESSEE IN THE 1830'S WAS DUE TO THOSE ANTI-INDIAN EVENTS. THOUGH SARAH'S PARENTS DID NOT LIVE ON CHEROKEE TRIBAL LANDS AND WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN IMMEDIATELY AFFECTED BY THE REMOVAL, THEY STILL MAY HAVE FELT IT NECESSARY TO SEEK REFUGE IN A COUNTY WHERE THEY MAY HAVE FELT SAFER. JAMES LAWSON, LATER TO BE THE FATHER OF SARAH'S CHILDREN, ALSO HAD ROOTS IN THE CAROLINAS AND MAY HAVE KNOWN SARAH'S FAMILY FROM THE CAROLINAS. SINCE HE WAS A WEALTHY LANDOWNER IN WAYNE COUNTY HE MAY HAVE BEEN ABLE TO PROVIDE SOME ASSISTANCE IN KEEPING SARAH'S FAMILY SHIELDED FROM ANY ATTEMPS TO REMOVE THEM TO INDIAN TERRITORY. WHILE THEY LIVED IN TENNESSEE SARAH'S FAMILY DID NOT LIVE ON CHEROKEE TRIBAL LANDS. HOWEVER, THEY DID LIVE ON WHAT HAD BEEN LANDS TRADITIONALY OWNED BY THE CHEROKEES PRIOR TO CHEROKEE LAND BEING SEIZED AND TRIBAL LANDS REDUCED TO WHAT EXISTED IN 1835.