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THE REAMS, REAMES -FAMILY AND ALLIED FAMILIES 11 LIKE LEAVES ON TREES THE RACE OF MAN IS FOUND, NOW GREEN IN YOUTH, NOW WITHERING ON THE GROUND: ANOTHER RACE THE FOLLOWING SPRING SUPPLIES: THEY FALL SUCCESSIVE, AND SUCCESSIVE RISE: SO GENERATIONS IN THEIR COURSE DECAY; SO FLOURISH THESE WHEN THOSE HAVE PASSED AWAY. II Pope's Trai"lslation of Homer's Iliad. i DEDICATION To Sarah Elizabeth [Reams} Wilson, My Mother-in-law, and Bertie Isabel [Wilson] Smith, My Wife, Both of whom were very proud of their Reames-Reams ancestry, and to all others who have µride in that ancestry. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many members of the Family have, in the passing years, collected material with which to make record of the history of the Reames or Reams family in America. What has been gathered serves more for a basis upon which future family histories may build, rather than as a finished and sat­ isfactory product. It is our hope that it is sufficiently complete and interesting to inspire others to further strengthen and to continue to build upon our foundation. A keener interest in many instances, would have helped us to build a more satisfactory historical structure. Space permits of a brief mention of a fraction only of the goodly number who have given of their time, health, and pecuniary resources in assembling this Family data. , The following descendants of the Frederick Reams branch of the Family should be mentioned~ Viola R. Eanes (Col. Richard Henry, U.S. Army) Washington, D. C. Josephine Greene (Mrs. Joseph W., M. D.) Independence, Missouri. Ruth Hall (Mrs. Linwood B. ) Dallas, Texas. Margaret Zela, William David and Howard Roy Reams, Morristown, Tenn. Of the descendants of the Edward Reams branch: Hon. Alfred Evan Reames, former Congressman, and Hattie [Reames] White (Mrs. John Finley), Medford, Oregon. Harvey Reames, Roseburg, Kentucky. Laban Reames, Church Road, Virginia. Has many of E;dward Reames' records. Of the descendants of William Reames branch: Juanita Cupples (Mrs. John Wesley), Caldwell, Idaho. James Lee Reames, Edgefield, South Carolina. John Bass Reams, Louisville, Kentucky. Oswald K. Reames, former State Geologist of Ohio, who has covered the Quaker Records in large measure. Zanesfield, Ohio. iii PREFACE This compilation encompasses the present knowledge of the Reames - Reams Genealogy. It is meant to include only the English branch of the family, whose name has been spelled variously Reame, Reams, Reemes, and Reems. However, since some of the German branch of Ream, Reme, Rheam, Rheem, and Rheim have the name spelled Reams in public records, and a few have adopted that spelling, some of that branch may be inadvertently included. E. g., John Ream was born in Pennsylvania, moved to Bourbon County, Kentucky, where, as John Reams, he married, served in the Army, and later removed to Boone County, Missouri. His family has continued to spell the name Reams; e. g,, as a resident of Rocky Fork, Boone County, Missouri, this John Reams, living with another John Reams, applied for and received a pension in 1840. The following members of the family were married in Boone County: GEORGE REAMS m 3/8/1849 Polly A. Helms MORGAN REAMS m 1/3/1861 Catherine Cannon ARTEMISIA REAMS m 1/24/1864 James W. Robinson F. M. REAMS m 3/5/1868 Bettie Hulett JOSHUA REAMS also is mentioned as a resident of Boone Co. Definitely, this is not a complete history of the family for various and diverse reasons; but it is the result of years of travel and research and is an honest effort to make it so. Since Genealogy is a never-ending process, this at least is a foundation upon which some loyal Reames - Reams descendant can build. Undoubtedly, some one or more of them will be sufficiently interested to do so. iv INTRODUCTION In the first edition of Pioneers and Cavaliers, by Nell Nugent, early Virginia Immigrants included "John Reeme, to Charles River {later Charles City) County, Va., in 1637. Bonded by John Dennett" and "Thomas Reames, to Charles River {later Charles City) County, Va., in 1638. Bonded by Matthew Ireland." In a later, revised edition, Mrs. Nugent listed these immigrants as John Reeves and Thomas Reaves, respectively. The author of Pioneers and Cavaliers, for many years in the Virginia Land Office but, of late years, connected with the Virginia Historical Society, is recognized as an authority on early Virginia history; both by reason of her almost unlimited opportunities to consult original records at first hand and her inclination to do so. Curious as to her reason for changing her original interpretation of the record, an attempt was made to meet and consult with her. Unable to do so, because of the reported serious illness of Mr. Nugent and the consequent uncertainty of her return to the Historical Society, I obtained the original record; examined it carefully with a magnifying glass and examined other concurrent records for comparison. The records were made in a particularly flat, flowing hand, which require very careful study. I can agree with Mrs. Nugent that the John of 1637 was John Reeves; but could arrive at no other conclusion than that Thomas of 1638 was neither Reaves nor Reames, but Thomas Re~es. Mrs. Eanes, wife of Col. Richard H. Eanes, of Washington, D.C., has presented the following, which offers a possible solution, viz: Charles City Co., Va. p. 151 Abstract. "This Indenture made the third day of Aprill in the yeare of o'r Lord God 1685 Betweene Mary West of Appamattock in the Com of Henrico Co. Va., widd formerly the relict etc., of Jo: Butler Chirurgeon deed of the one part and Edd Ardington of Jordans in the Com of Charles Citty of the other part," Mrs. West sells Ardengton 150 acres at Baylyes Creek in the par. of Jordans. Bounded northerly by the creek, westerly by land of Wm. Reynes, southerly into the woods and easterly "on the land late in the tenure and occupacon of William Worsuham. wch sd land did formerly belong to Mr. Thomas Bayly and was purchased of him by the sd John Butler deed. 11 Wit: her Tho: Holford Mary X West John West mark James Warradine "Recognit in Cur Aug. 3, 1658 by John West for Mar' West present" Recorded 5 August 1658 The following lends probability to that as a solution: Analysis of The Domesday Book of Norfolk The Kings Land REAMS ORIGIN Immediately after the Conquest, William assumed to himself, the absolute property, with but few exceptions, of the whole territory of V England, retaining in his own hands considerable tracts of land, either to form chases or parks for field sports, or to yield him a certain revenue in money, or to be as farms for the provision of his household, or lastly, to be a reserve fund, out of what at some future period, to reward services which might be rendered to him, This "terra regis", as it is uniformly called in Domesday Book, consisted, for the most part, of lands that had been possessed by the Confessor in demesne, or in form, or had been held by his thains, and other servants, thus eight of the manors retained by the Conqueror in his own hands in Norfolk, had been ancient demesne of the crown. Four had belonged to Earl Harold, two to Earl Guert, the brother of Harold and who fell with him at the battle of Hastings; and fourteen to Archbishop Stigand. The rest had been the property of various Saxon nobles, and servants ofthe crown, whom the Conqueror had ejected, These lands formed the demesne of the crown, and are what are now meant when we speak of Ancient demesne of the crown. Accordingto Brady, the crown lands consisted, in all England, of fourteen hundred and twenty-two manors or lordships in several Counties besides abundance of farms and land in Middlesex, Shropshire, and Rutlandshire, and they yield a revenue so enormous, that the King is stated by Ordericus Vitalis to have been possessed of 1061 lb,, 10S, 11/2 d, per day, exclusive of presents made to himon various occasions, and of the fines paid to him by criminals as com­ posi±ions, or commutations, or commutations for the punishment of their crimes, not to mention the contingent profits that contributed so largely to fill the royal treasury. These various sums are estimated by Baron Maseres as equivalent to twenty-seven or twenty-eight millions of pounds sterling per annum, of present money, - a sum so enormous that it is hardly to be credited; it is certain, however, that William's income from these various sources, must have been ex­ ceeding great. Ninety-five manors, varying in size and value, with their num­ erous berewites?, scattered over every hundred in the County of Norfolk, were appropriated by the Conqueror to his share of the spoil. Of these, fourteen were in demesne, sixty-seven managed for the crown by Godric the steward and the remaining fourteen, from all which Archbishop Stigand had been ejected by William de Noiers. It should, however, be here observed, and the same holds good also in the case of the tenants in Capite, that the real amount of landed property held in possession, is to be estimated from the revenue of lands only that were actually held in demesne. Although from all the manors which were subtenanted, the lord received certain high or chief rents and privileges, as lord paramount. Analysis of the Domesday Book of Norfolk, England. XLII­ Roger de Ramis: 1086 This family came into England at the Conquest, and had the honour of barony of Raines, or Reynes, Consisting of ten knights' fees in Essex.

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