EMail from Robert Baird, to Family@Ivey-Ivie-Ivy.Org, November 24, 2004

Here's a synopsis of the prior discussions regarding Jacob R. Ivey, Reuben Ivey, et al, of Robeson County:

(1)  The only occurrence of the name Reuben Ivey in Robeson/Bladen, other than the one in question, was the son of Thomas Ivey Sr.   In 1781 Thomas Ivey Sr. appointed Jacob Rhodes as his attorney to collect pay owed to his deceased son Reuben Ivey for Revolutionary service [North Carolina Genealogical Society Journal, Vol. X, p241].  This Reuben Ivey had bought land in 1780 adjoining Jacob Rhodes [Bladen DB 37, p6] which was sold in 1800 by Thomas Ivey Jr. as the eldest brother and heir of his deceased brother Reuben Ivey [Robeson DB M, p261].  Clearly, this Reuben Ivey left no heirs of his body.

(2)  No one named Reuben Ivey or Jacob Ivey was a head of household in Robeson or surrounding counties 1790 through 1830.  No one with these names is mentioned in any other record, other than in the marriage records of the 1820s (see below), except for the court records for 1801 and 1802. 

On 8 July 1802, "Reuben Ivey, Jacob Ivey and Randol Bradley being presented as children in the care of those who might neglect there morels, ordered constable to bring them to court" [Minute Book 1, p163].  At the next court, on 6 Oct 1801, there is only the notation that "court of opinion that Reuben and Jacob Ivey should not be bound" [p170].  The following year, on 7 April 1802, Reuben Ivey "alias Kennedy", age 12, was bound apprentice to James Russell until the age of 21 [p199].  (I might note that James Russell of Lumberton, was a neighbor of Thomas Ivey Sr. and Jacob Rhodes.) 

(3)  Where were these two Ivey children in 1800? It seems a reasonable guess that both Reuben and Jacob were close to one another in age, born 1790-ish.  I note that no Kennedy or Bradley family appears in the 1800 or 1810 census with children in the household, so it is not at all clear with whom these children were living.  The only Ivey household in 1800 with unidentified males of the right age was that of Edith Ivey.  In 1800, Edith Ivey (not the widow of Benjamin, but the other Edith Ivey) was head of a household consisting of a male under 10, a male 10-16, and a female under 10.  A plausible but unprovable theory is that these three children were Jacob, Reuben, and Ailsey.

(4)  Now let's divert briefly to Jacob Rhodes.  Jacob Rhodes came to Robeson County (from Sampson) about 1785, quickly becoming the largest landowner in the county with nearly all his land in and around the Saddletree Swamp area off the Lumber River.  The following year he laid out the town of Lumberton and was one of it's initial commissioners.  We know that his Lumberton land adjoined Thomas Ivey Sr. and at least some of his sons, for there are several purchases by Rhodes mentioning Thomas Ivey as an adjoining landowner.  Indeed, Thomas Ivey Sr. sold land to Jacob Rhodes in 1796 and again in 1799 adjoining Rhodes' own land [Robeson DB F, p169 and G, p216].  Thomas Ivey Sr.'s 640 acres which he sold to John Ivey in 1800 also adjoined Rhodes [Robeson DB Q, p268].  The land of Reuben Ivey, when sold by his brother Thomas Ivey Jr. in 1800, was also described as adjoining Jacob Rhodes [see above].  

(5)  Since there is no further mention of any Jacob Ivey or Reuben Ivey in Robeson or Bladen for twenty years after the 1801 court record, it is plausible to assume Jacob was relatively young when mentioned in 1801.  Perhaps both Reuben and Jacob were born around 1790, give or take a few years.   The next mention of Jacob (that we know of) is as Jacob R. Ivey on 1 November 1821 when he was bondsman for the marriage of Ailsey Ivey and Henry Feran.  Jacob R. Ivey's will, dated 8 April 1822 and proved 1 July 1822, appointed Jacob Rhodes as his executor.  It is not clear where the will was written, but it was proved in Jones County, Georgia and was later recorded in Robeson County, North Carolina as well.  The language of this will strongly indicates that the three named legatees were not his own children, and were perhaps siblings or other relatives.  The will left to Edith Ivey "the house and lot where she now resides in North Carolina and $600 to be collected and paid out of my estate to her and her heirs".  The remainder was left to "Findal and Reuben Ivey the balance of my estate to be equally divided between them and their heirs".   All three legatees were residents of Robeson County, and all three appointed Thomas Rhodes their attorney to settle the estate. 

(6)  Of these three legatees:  Edith Ivey is apparently the same person who was head of the 1800 household mentioned above.  In 1810 she was head of a household of five "free other", was a single head of household in 1820, and was head of a household of two older women in 1830.  She was evidently located in Lumberton in each census.  Findal Ivey (aka Findle Ivey) was married in Robeson County 21 Oct 1828 to Mary Pope and later lived in Cumberland County.   Reuben Ivey is likely the same Reuben Ivey who married Elizabeth Hudson in Robeson by bond dated 2 January 1821.  (The bondsman was John Hammons, a mixed-race neighbor of Edith Ivey.)   This Reuben Ivey was apparently the same person as in Covington County, MS by 1827 and his family is later in Carroll County.  (Reuben's children are believed to have included Jacob, William Thomas, Jason, and Julia from his widow's 1850 census household.)

(7) Jacob Ivey (apparently the same person as Jacob R. Ivey) was a legatee in the will of Jacob Rhodes, dated 17 Feb 1822 and proved 23 Nov 1824.  [see Ivey DNA website for the link to the text of the will].   Note that Jacob Rhodes' will was written while Jacob R. Ivey was alive, but was proved well after his death.  The will left two separate legacies to Jacob Ivey, both of which would revert to others in the event Jacob Ivey died without heirs of his own.  This is apparently exactly what happened, for we found no indication among the Rhodes estate records that any heir of Jacob Ivey was paid by the Rhodes estate.

(8)  Jacob Rhodes' will is worth reading carefully.  The bulk of the estate was left to his only child who was specifically identified:  his son Richard Clinton Rhodes.  Nine other legatees are mentioned, but their relationship to Jacob Rhodes is unidentified.   Among the nine were Thomas Rhodes and Owen Rhodes, who may have been sons.  Of the seven other legatees, the majority were minors, some or all of whom may have been his illegitimate children.  One so mentioned was Benjamin B. Council, aged 14, who subsequently changed his name to Benjamin Council Rhodes.  His apparent sister Emily R. Council, also a legatee, was also later sometimes known as Rhodes.  Two infant sons of Susanna Davis were also legatees, whom descendants believe were illegitimate sons of Jacob Rhodes.  The will's language regarding a single woman named Calie Pope and her infant son John Pope also implies (or at least suggests) illegitimacy.  He also mentions the infant daughter of "Mrs. Mary Ivey" as perhaps having "the favor of the Rhodes family", a code-phrase sometimes used for illegitimate children.

 

The bottom line is that there is insufficient evidence to reach any conclusion with certainty, but enough evidence to form a plausible hypothesis or two.  Given the evidence we have, a reasonable hypothesis is that Jacob R. Ivey's will named siblings or cousins as legatees, and that he himself was unmarried and without children.   It is likewise plausible that Jacob R. Ivey was an illegitimate son of Jacob Rhodes.  (One might even wonder if the "R" stood for "Rhodes".) 

Reuben Ivey and Jacob R. Ivey appear likely to have been brothers, though perhaps by different fathers.  (In fact, the DNA result for a descendant of Reuben Ivey suggests that his father was not Rhodes, and perhaps not any known Ivey either.)  Their mother may have been Edith Ivey, who appears in censuses within a few names of Thomas Rhodes, John Hammons, and others mentioned above -- and whose 1800 census household appears to have included two males of the right approximate ages. 

Ailsey Ivey Feran was perhaps their sister, and the female under 10 in Edith Ivey's 1800 household.  She was widowed in 1836 and seems to have disappeared from Robeson County. 

Findle Ivey, born after 1800 and thus not in the 1800 household, may have been a younger brother.  Note that Edith Ivey's household grew by one person between 1800 and 1810, and that Findle Ivey is aged 20-30 in the 1830 Cumberland County census.  He died not long afterward in Cumberland County, where his widow Mary and son Henry are in the 1850 household of a married daughter.

 
 
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