How to read this Bass Reeves family tree
Read the Bass Reeves family tree from the top down. Bass Reeves is the centre, drawn with a double frame and his own photograph. Squares are men and circles are women. Everyone else has a silhouette, because no photograph of any of them has been identified.
The double frame is Bass Reeves
Born in July 1838 and died in January 1910.
Two couple lines, two marriages
Nellie Jennie from 1864 to 1896, Winnie Sumter from 1900 to 1910.
Every child descends from the first marriage
No source read records a child of the second.
Born into slavery, with the place in dispute
Bass Reeves was born into slavery in July 1838.14 The sources read do not agree on where. The Handbook of Texas places the birth near Paris, Texas, while Wikipedia and the Memorial Fund give Crawford County, Arkansas.143 The Bass Reeves family tree writes no birthplace for that reason.
No source read names his mother or his father. The Handbook says only that he was born to enslaved parents, and the Memorial Fund that he worked alongside his parents on the farm of William Reeves.13 Wikipedia adds that he was named after his grandfather, Bass Washington, but cites no record for it, so the grandfather is not drawn.4
The Reeves family held him. Wikipedia names William Steele Reeves, an Arkansas legislator, and his son George R. Reeves, who took Bass with him when he joined the Confederate army.4 The Oklahoma Historical Society names Colonel George R. Reeves of Lamar and Grayson counties in Texas.2 After a fight with his young master over a game of cards, Bass fled to the Indian Territory.13
Nellie Jennie and Winnie Sumter
In 1864 Reeves married Nellie Jennie, a native of Texas whose name the Handbook also writes as Jinney.13 Wikipedia dates her death to 1896, and its infobox calls her Jennie Haynes, a surname that no other source read gives.4 The Bass Reeves family tree uses the name the Handbook prints.
In 1900 he married Winnie Sumter of Muskogee.1 She was his widow when he died in 1910. No source read gives her years of birth or death, or a child of this marriage.
How many children Bass Reeves had
The count differs by source. The Handbook of Texas gives a family of ten, five boys and five girls, and the Memorial Fund also says ten.13 Wikipedia names eleven, from census records that its editors flag as needing a better source.4 The Bass Reeves family tree draws the eleven names, because only Wikipedia names any of them, and marks the disagreement here.
| Sons | Daughters |
|---|---|
| Newland | Lula |
| Benjamin, called Bennie | Sally |
| George | Harriet |
| Robert | Alice |
| Edgar | |
| Bass Jr. | |
| Homer |
The son he arrested
The best documented child is Benjamin, called Bennie. In 1902 he was charged with the murder of his wife, Castella Brown.4 A jury in Muskogee found him guilty on 22 January 1903, and he was sentenced to Fort Leavenworth for life.4 The Handbook of Texas says that Reeves himself arrested his son on the warrant and that the son was later pardoned.1
Accounts differ on the arrest. The Oklahoma Historical Society says Reeves brought his own son in once he received the warrant, and Wikipedia notes that other accounts say Bennie gave himself up.24 The Bass Reeves family tree does not draw Castella Brown, because the chart follows Bass Reeves and his wives and children.
Descendants and the television series
Wikipedia lists the athletes Willard Reaves, a great-great-grandson, and Ryan and Jordan Reaves, great-great-great-grandsons. It also names the judge Paul L. Brady as a great-nephew.4 It marks the claim that the family name changed from Reeves to Reaves as unverified by historians or genealogists, and it gives no line from any of them to a named child.4 None of them is drawn on the Bass Reeves family tree.
The family on screen in the series of 2023 is another matter. Several of the sites that rank for this family tree retell the series, and the chart takes nothing from it.
Reeves's life in dated records
Birth
Born into slavery, in Texas or in Arkansas by source.
First marriage
He marries Nellie Jennie.
Fort Smith
Judge Isaac C. Parker commissions him a deputy United States marshal.
Nellie Jennie dies
The first marriage ends with her death.
Muskogee
He moves to Muskogee after federal courts open in the territory.
Second marriage
He marries Winnie Sumter of Muskogee.
Bennie convicted
His son is found guilty of murder at Muskogee.
Statehood
His federal service ends with Oklahoma statehood.
Death
He dies at Muskogee of Bright's disease.
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Questions about the Bass Reeves family tree
How many children Bass Reeves had
The Handbook of Texas gives ten, five sons and five daughters. Wikipedia names eleven from census records.
Who the wives of Bass Reeves were
He married Nellie Jennie in 1864, and after her death he married Winnie Sumter of Muskogee in 1900.
Who the parents of Bass Reeves were
No source read names them. The Handbook of Texas says only that he was born to enslaved parents in July 1838.
People and sources
A page of its own lists all 14 people on the chart, each with a short note and the sources for it, and the four numbered sources this article cites. It also gives the credits of the portraits and this page as a reference in the APA, MLA, Chicago and Harvard styles, ready to copy.