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| Notes for Lucy Hayes | ||||||||||||
| Lucy Hayes 1792 - 1880 Lucy Hayes, the fourth daughter of Bosman Hayes Sr and Jane"Guiny"Foreman, was born about 1792 and raised on the west bank of BayouPlaquemineBruleein St Landry Parish, La., near the present town of Branch, Louisiana.Shewas a grandchild of two of the pioneer Southwest Louisiana settlers,WilliamHayes and Edwardo Foreman, both deeply religious men. Grandfather Hayes was a Lutheran and Grandfather Foreman was a Calvinist. Grandparents William and Sarah Celeste Bosman Hayes lived across thebayou. The prairie land around Plaquermine Brulee became to be knownasPrairieHayes, named after Lucy's father, Bosman Hayes Sr., who ran cattle ontheopenrange there. On February 15, 1809 she married James D Reeves, the son of EdmondandSarah (Doyel/Dial) Reeves of Lafayette, Louisiana. James was born about 1790upin Tennessee as Edmond and "Sally" were migrating from North Carolina,finally settling in Southwest Louisiana. Lucy and James set up house just up the Bayou from her folks andbymid1810 a son was born and recorded in the census. This son must havediedininfancy. By 1820 daughters Zilia Ann and Frances and sons ChristropherColumbusandWilliam Green were born. In 1820 the family was not in the StLandrycensus,probably living in Lafayette. Ellen and Isaac Monte were born in 1822 and 1823. James D prospered in a number of ventures. He had dealings withJimBowieand perhaps even Jean Lafitte. New settlers were arriving insouthwestLouisiana daily and land speculation was the place to make money. The landonthebayous both north and south of Opelousas was in large demand. James D andJimBowie were two of the biggest and best at promoting these land deals. One dealon Bayou Boeuf north of Opelousas landed Bowie and Reeves in Courtagainsteach other, not a good position for either. James D and his brother John also owned large tracts of land in and around Lafayette. One tract involved 226 acres around the presentFourCornersarea of Lafayette. Both brothers passed away around 1826 and this tract waspartofthe successions. Lucy was a 34-year-old widow with six children and her cattle.HerfatherBosman had just passed away and probably some of his cattle were amajorportionof her inheritance. In 1828 Lucy married David D "Black Dave" Simmons of WesternStLandryParish, a widower who had been previously married to Mary Cole. Dave andMaryhadlived on Bayou Plaquemine Brulee near James and Lucy when both coupleswerestartingout. Dave and Mary had ten children. In 1833, Sarah Ann Simmons was born to Lucy and Dave, giving atotalofsixteen children in the household. Large families were a blessing tofarmersandcattlemen. Dave and Lucy prospered. In 1840 ten children were still living at home. Zilia Ann Reeves had married Stephen Simmons, one of Dave'scousins,andthey had moved to Texas, settling in Harris County. The fates of Ellen and Frances Reeves are unknown. Many haveEllenmarryingJohn Hagar, a New York farmer, who settled north of Lake Charles.However,1850census data proves that Ellen Reeves Hagar was the daughter of IshamReevesandNancy Ann Bilbo. To further confuse folks, we also had a black Ellen Reevesinthearea, born in 1830, who married Andrew Botley. Christropher Reeves married Amelia Simmons and they homesteaded threemiles southwest of Oberlin, La. One of their sons, Christopher, movedtoTexas.Another, Dallas, moved across the Calcasieu River. The town of Reeves isnamedafterhis family. William Green Reeves married step sister Rachel Simmons in 1838inHarrisCounty, Texas, perhaps an elopement. The couple eventually returned homebeforethe1850 census. They later moved back to Texas, establishing a largeReevesfamilypresence in the Trinity River area of east Texas. Isaac Monte Reeves married Louise A Cole, the daughter ofJacobStampleyCole Senior and Denise Fruge', and they settled about four mileswestofOberlin. (See Louise's obit in the Obituary section.) Lucy and Dave's only child together, Sarah Ann Simmons, marriedAbnerCole,son of William "Grandpa Billy" Cole and his first wife EllinorNoland,in1850.There is a biography of Abner in "Cole Foot Print". Lucy is in the 1850 census as Lucy Rives, Widow, Age 58, livingbetweentwoof her sons, William Green and Christropher C. Dave had passed awaybetween1840and 1850. In the 1860 census Lucy was living in Hickory Flat between sonIsaacMonteReeves and daughter Sarah Ann Simmons Cole. Son Christopher's widow,Amelia,hadmarried William Teal and they were living on the other side of Sarah AnnandAbnerCole. Grandsons Livingston and Menton were staying with grandmother Lucy.Shewaslisted as a farmer, Age 67, with a comfortable estate. This erawasundoubtedlyher granny years, as she saw her Reeves and Simmons children marry andbegintheirfamilies. In 1870, Lucy was living in the home of son-in-law Abner ColeanddaughterSarah in Hickory Flat. The 1870 censustaker was probably interviewingSarah,whostated that her mother's name was Lucy Simmons, Age 77. In 1880, the censustaker for the Hickory Flat area was David ReidJr.,thefuture Sheriff of Calcasieu Parish. On 4 June 1880, he was in the homeofHickoryFlat's new postmaster, Abner Cole. He first recorded Lucy asLucySimmons,mother-in-law, Age 87. Her name was then marked through and a note stated she wasdead.Wedo not know the exact day of her death. We do know that Abner Cole had lost his father, Grandpa Billy,justtwoweeks before the census visit and now his wife, Sarah, had lost hermother.Twosouthwest Louisiana pioneers lost in Hickory Flat, probably within a month. __________________ Gen. Notes: Four Corners is the intersection of US 90(Cameron St.) andLA182(CarencroHwy) just northwest of downtown Lafayette. Years ago, directions toplacesinLafayette and the surrounding area were given from this point. We do not know the reason for Black Dave's nickname. Tradition hasitthat,since there were two David Simmons in the area, the nicknames Big DaveandBlackDave were used to distinguish between them. The birthplace of the last children of Black Dave and Mary were recordedas Western St Landry Parish, probably the Prairie Soileau/BayouDuBonneareaon the eastern edge of the present Allen Parish and far west Evangeline Parish. Southwest Louisiana has three major Reeves families: descendantsofGeorgeand Mary Ann Ryan Reeves, descendants of Isham and Nancy Ann Bilbo Reeves and descendants of Edmond and Sarah Dial Reeves. Our Reeves mentioned aboveare descendants of Edmond and Sarah. | ||||||||||||
| Last Modified New | Created 5 Jan 2008 using Reunion for Macintosh |