I would like to meet anyone who might have an ancestral connection to Pennina REEVES who was born between 1790-1800 in North Carolina and is listed in 1840 as Pennina RIVES, with a son under 5 and a daughter 5-10 years old in the 1840 Census of Randolph County, NC. She seems to have been a 2nd wife to Thomas RIVES, listed in the 1830 Census, who may have died shortly afterwards. I have some relevant information on this Pennina RIVES / REEVES that may help jog memories. She was listed on a bastardy bond as a single woman, naming William MCGEE as the father, in 1834. The first person summoned to appear as witness was Wiley WALL. Isaac LEE was also summoned. This baby was evidently a girl, as the census in 1840 showed. She was, however, not a single woman, but rather a widow, as a bastardy bond in 1839, in which a Pennina REAVES, widow, refused to name the father of her base born baby, evidently a boy. On this bond, Isaac LEE posted bond. A marriage bond on the web sites showed that a Penny WALL m. a Thomas GRAVES in 1803. The timing of this marriage bond is suspect. It may have been as early as 1813, but I do not feel it was 1803 and perhaps a mistake was made in transcribing this marriage bond. A Thomas RIVES was listed in 1830 Randolph County, NC. He is listed as born 1770-1780, with a 1 in that column for his age, 50-60, and a 0 in the column for age 40-50, indicating perhaps that the enumerator had made a mistake at first putting him into the 40-50 column and then overwriting the 1 into a 0, then putting him into the 50-60 years old column. I am led to think that this Thomas RIVES was born probably in the late 1770's and would have been about age 52 at this time, which would not have been too old, at age 35, to take Pennina as a wife as early as 1813, when she might have been of marrying age. Unfortunately we do not have the 1820 census to look at for this county. 1830: Thomas RIVES had 1 boy under 5, 1 boy 5-10, 1 girl under 5, and a female aged 30-40. This does fit the age range of Pennina RIVES/REEVES in 1840 and 1850. The children in this household do seem to be Pennina's children. In exploring who these various children might be, I looked at RIVES and REEVES in the area of Randolph County. I also looked in surrounding counties. There was a Sarah REEVES living with Pennina REEVES in 1850. Sarah was aged 15, which fits the first bastardy bond of 1834, so presumably she was the daughter of William MCGEE. A Jefferson JOHNSON has been found in Chatham County. This Jefferson JOHNSON has been investigated carefully because a Pennine JOHNSON, aged 57, was living in the next household in 1850 and living with Jefferson's family in 1860. This Pennine JOHNSON is identified as mother-in-law to Jefferson's wife in 1880 (Alamance County). In 1900, fortunately, Jefferson and his wife were still living and listed their respective birthdates as May 1839 and June 1839. The May 1839 birth does fit the bastardy bond of Pennina RIVES in 1839. Perhaps Jefferson's father was a JOHNSON, but his mother certainly was named Pennina or Pennine. In a peculiar twist to this story, there was a marriage bond for Pennina REEVES to Isaac YORK in December 1850. This marriage bond seems to be repeated on August 21, 1851 with Pennina RIVES and Isaac YORK. I checked the 1860 Census and Isaac YORK, aged 50, is listed with a female, Huldah P YORK, aged 60. (Does the P stand for Pennina?) I can find no evidence of death for either Isaac YORK nor Huldah YORK in the Randolph County Cemetery Books. They seem to just disappear. There are three children remaining to identify. I checked Randolph County, NC 1850 for other REEVES or RIVES and found none other than Pennina REEVES and her daughter Sarah, in the north part. However, in the south part of the county, Perry REEVES, aged 25, Laborer, born about 1825, was living in the household of Calvin E. GRAVES, aged 27, a physician with wife Caroline, aged 25, and very young children Henry L. and Anne M. GRAVES. This is the only other REEVES listed in Randolph County, NC. It seems possible this Perry REEVES could be the boy aged 5-10 in 1830. (I do not yet know who Calvin GRAVES is.) Another possibility is in Chatham County, NC. All the REEVES of Chatham County were living in the Lower Divison, notably Robert E. REEVES, aged 38, born NC. This Robert E. REEVES is notable because he lived next door to Edmund GARNER, aged 23, and wife Margaret GARNER, aged 27. Mary GARNER, aged 26, lived next door to both families. Edmund GARNER's daughter Phebe GARNER is the 19 year old Phebe GARNER who was a servant in the same household as Wiley WALL's grandson, William Wall, aged 18, servant, in 1880 Henry County, NC. Edmund had moved with his family to Hancock County, Indiana at the same time that Wiley WALL did. It is possible that Robert was a son of Thomas RIVES and Pennina but evidently about 18 years old in 1830 so may have left the nest by then. In 1820's Census for North Carolina, which did not include Randolph County, there were three RIVES (Hannah and John, both of Chatham, and John of Orange County). There were also George and John REEVES of Orange County and one Jeddie REEVES in Moore County. Cumberland had one Zachariah REEVES. Other REEVES were in Bladen and Brunswick. 1810 shows no REEVES, RIVES, or men named Thomas who fit Thomas RIVES in Randolph County. However, in Chatham County a Thomas REAVES was listed at age 26-45, which might fit a late 1770's birth. Here he had a wife aged 26-45, who could be a first wife, and seven children; 4 males under 10, 2 males 10-16, 1 female 10-16. Based on the children's ages, this Thomas REAVES married about 1794, making his likely date of birth a bit earlier, perhaps 1774. Anyone who is researching this family, please email me so I might figure out this puzzle. Thanks, Tim