Abraham Reece, Sr.

Abraham Reece BIRTH 1746 Pennsylvania, USA DEATH 6 Nov 1822 (aged 75–76) Surry County, North Carolina, USA BURIAL Deep Creek Friends Meeting Cemetery Yadkinville, Yadkin County, North Carolina, USA MEMORIAL ID 36229138 · View Source

MEMORIAL PHOTOS 2 FLOWERS 10 There is much speculation as to Abraham's parentage. According to Michael D. Nestor, "Previous traditions were that Abraham was supposedly a s/o Solomon Reece of Surry Co, NC and Sarah Boone, of the Daniel Boone family. Another tradition is that he came to NC as a 'bound boy,' and that he was born out of wedlock to a Pennsylvania Quaker girl, and was supposedly the illegitimate son of the legendary Daniel Boone. No proof of any of these. However a recent book, Reece-Reese Forebears and Descendants, 1993, Dr. Saford H. Landreth, reportedly states that Abraham's father was Thomas Reece, b ca 1720, who lived in NC and had sons Abraham, John, David, Daniel, and Thomas Reeece Jr."

It is doubtful that we will ever know with absolute certainty the truth of Abraham's parentage. What we do know is that he was a devout Christian man, baptized into the Society of Friends in 1817 (Deep Creek Monthly Meeting).

He died of (traditionally thought to be) typhoid in the 1822 epidemic.

The portion of Surry County where Abraham died is now in Yadkin County.

Family Members Spouse Mary Huff Reece 1753–1830

Children Photo Jemima Reece Dobbins 1772–1824

Photo Daniel Reece 1773–1822

Photo Levi Reece 1777–1860

Abraham Reece 1782–1852

Photo Keziah Reece Walker 1787–1846

Photo Sarah Reece Marshall 1791–1857

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/36229138/abraham-reece

Name: Abraham REECE 1 2 3 4 Sex: M Birth: ABT 1750 in Pennsylvania Death: 6 NOV 1822 in Booneville, Surry Co., North Carolina 5 Burial: Quaker Deep Creek, Monthly Meeting Cemetery (Row E, Position 1) off of Nebo Road, Nebo, Yadkin Co., North Carolina Event: Ancestral File No. 1975-Z2 Event: Note Died In Epidemic, Probably Typhoid Event: Parents (Facts Pg) Solomon Reece And Sarah Boone As Parents Of Abraham Reece Is Highly Questionable (SeeNotes) Event: Parents (Facts Pg) Abraham Reece was most probably the illegitimate child of a Pennsylvania Quaker girl and was "bound out" by the courts and brought to Surry Co., NC as a child in 1755. Event: Burial Location The Deep Creek Friends Church Cemetery is located South of Booneville. From Yadkinville, go North on Hwy 601 for about 4 miles to County Road 1503, turn left onto County Road 1503. Church is about 2 miles. Note: Name: Abraham REECE Sex: M Birth: ABT. 1750 in Pennsylvania? Death: 6 NOV 1822 in Yadkin County, North Carolina of Typhoid CEME: Deep Creek Friend's Burying Ground Occupation: Ran Grist mill, farmed Baptism: 1817 Society of Friends, Deep Creek Monthly Meeting Military Service: Forage Master for E. Gamble Adam in Revolutionary War

Abraham and Mary (Huff) Reece

The early life of Abraham Reece is shrouded in mystery. The earliest account we have was related by a granddaughter-in-law, Mary Ann (Dobbins) Reece (1816-1912) of New Providence, Iowa in 1908. She stated that Abraham was born in Pennsylvania, and was brought to Surry County, North Carolina as a "bound boy" in the 1750's. Another tradition, among the descendants of Abraham's oldest son, Daniel Reece, says that he was born out of wedlock to a Pennsylvania Quaker girl. The two accounts are not mutually exclusive since it was not unusual in colonial times for illegitimate children to be bound out by the courts. At this time all we can say with certainty about Abraham's origins is that he was probably born in Pennsylvania about 1750 and that there is nothing to connect him with any other North Carolina Reece family.

We can surmise that Abraham was married to Mary Huff, daughter of Daniel and Mary (Worley) Huff, sometime in 1770 or 1771, since their first child, Jemima Reece, was born July 9, 1772. It was also in 1772 that Abraham makes his first undisputed appearance on the surry County tax list. Information about the early life of Mary (Huff) Reece is almost as fragmentary as that of her husband. Again the earliest record of her maiden name is from Mary Ann (Dobbins) Reece, but it is a tradition found among other descendants as well as among descendants of Daniel Huff. We know that she was born between 1750 and 1755, probably in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, and came to Orange County, North Carolina with her parents at an early age, where her mother died about 1758. When her father died in Stokes County, North Carolina in 1793 he mentioned Mary in his will. Mary's ties to her family seem to have remained close, since Abraham and Mary named many of their children for various Huff relatives. Near their home on Deep Creek lived Mary's brother Daniel Huff and her sister Jemima Jones.

In 1780 Abraham Reece began to enter land in what was then Surry but now Yadkin County, all of it along North Deep Creek east of the present site of Boonville. From the warrants we can locate his home farm at the three forks of Deep Creek. Here Abraham also operated a girst mill, and built a log house which, considerably enlarged and improved, was long occupied by descendents. Today the ruins of a fireplace and chimney still remain. Some of the land remains in the family to this day.

Our picture of Abraham Reece from surviving records is extremely sketchy. We know that he owned land (at one time almost a thousand acres), viewed roads, testified in court, witnessed wills and deeds. and served as a guardian for fatherless children, but little more. From the inventory of his estate we know that he owned a clock, a definite status symbol, along with the guns, furniture, and livestock omnipresent on all farms. There is a vague tradition that during the Revolution he served as a forage master for the Surry County Militia. Receipts still in existence show that he paid for services rendered. His early religious leanings are unknown. Most of his children inclined towards some form of the Primitive Baptist Church, but in 1817 he became a member of the Society of Friends under Deep Creek Monthly Meeting, Mary Reece followed her husband two years later. Both remained Friends until their deaths. They may have been attending the Friends meetings at Deep Creek many years before this. The neighbors into whose families their children and grandchildren married – the Hinshaw, Hadley, Marshall, Hobson, Adams, Brown, Walker, Martin, Mackie, Vestal, and Davis families – were all Quakers.

In the autumn of 1822 an epidemic sickness which tradition identifies as typhoid appeared in the Deep Creek settlement. Several members of the Reece family fell victim to it. Among them on November 6, 1822 was Abraham Reece. He was buried in the Deep Creek Friends Burying Ground. A crude stone still quite legible marks his grave. Next to him lies Simon Hadley, Junior, his old neighbor and father-in-law of his son Jesse Reece. Abraham's marker reads simply "Abraham Reece, 6 11th No. 1822."

Abraham Reece made his will December 8, 1821. His personal property and home "plantation" were left to his widow. He bequeathed various sums of money and land to his sons Eli and Thomas, his son-in-law David Walker and his children Elizabeth, Jemimah, and John, and the children of his deceased son Joel. His sons Abraham and Daniel were named as executors; witnesses were Thomas Marshall and Joseph Keys, Sr., both prominent Deep Creek Friends. Abraham signed with his mark, as he did all other documents requiring a signature which have survived. All indications are that both he and Mary were illiterate.

We do not know when Mary Reece died. She was still the head of a Household in the 1830 Surly County census, when she gave her age as 70-80. Two young females, probably granddaughters, were living with her. She does not appear in the 1840 census, either as a head of household or in the households of any of her children. It seems safe to assume that she died in the 1830's. She undoubtedly was buried at Deep Creek, but no marker for her has survived there. Over the years, however, the road running past the cemetery has been graded so that it cuts almost up to Abraham Reece's grave. If she was buried next to him her grave may have been destroyed.

Abraham and Mary (Huff) Reece were the parents of twelve children. Some are mentioned in his will. All appear in the settlement of his estate. The complete list was given by Mary Ann Reece in 1908. It seems likely that she was personally acqauinted with most of them, since most seem to have remained on Deep Creek until 1830. Other accounts by descendants who were born early enough to have known some of Abraham's children confirm this list