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George Robertson Reeves (1826-1882), legislator and soldier, was born on January 3, 1826, in Hickman County, Tennessee, the fifth child of William Steel and Nancy (Totty) Reeves. The family moved to Crawford County, Arkansas, where, on October 31, 1844, Reeves married Jane Moore; the couple eventually had twelve children. In 1846 he moved to Grayson County, Texas; he subsequently held several county offices there. The community that developed around Fort Johnston in Grayson County was called Georgetown in Reeves's honor. He represented the county in the Texas legislature from 1856 to 1858. He raised a company for William C. Young's Eleventh Cavalry and later became colonel in command. The unit fought in Indian Territory and at Pea Ridge under Benjamin McCulloch, and at Corinth, Murfreesboro, Chattanooga, Chickamauga, Knoxville, and Tunnel Hill as part of Ross's Texas Brigade. Confederate Camp Reeves, in Grayson County, was named for Reeves. Reeves again served the legislature in 1870, 1875, 1879, and 1881-82. In his last term he was speaker of the House. Reeves County, Texas, is named for him. The George R. Reeves Masonic Lodge of Pottsboro, where he was once master, is also named in his honor. After being bitten by a rabid dog, Reeves died of hydrophobia on September 5, 1882, and is buried in the Georgetown cemetery. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Tom Bomar, Glimpses of Grayson County from the Early Days (Sherman, Texas, 1894). Morris L. Britton Reprinted with permission from the Handbook of Texas Online, a joint project of the Texas State Historical Association and the General Libraries at the University of Texas at Austin. © 2003, The Texas State Historical Association.
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