REEVES, MANASSEH

REEVES, TOLLE

Posted By: County Coordinator
Date: 6/30/2019 at 15:12:36

MONTROSE TOWNSHIP

REEVES, MANASSEH, merchant and merchant tailor, Montrose; Mr. Reeves was born in Ohio in 1830; he came to Montrose in 1850, and engaged in the tailoring business, which he still continues in connection with a general mercantile business. He married in 1851 Chloe M. Tolle, a native of Kentucky ; born in 1831 ; they have six children—Alice E., Eugene, Julia W., Edmund H., Harry B. and Nellie ; have lost two children. Mr. Reeves, thrown upon his own resources at the early age of 9 years, is an example of what may be accomplished without the advantages of early education, by energy and honest industry. Mr. Reeves came to Montrose when quite a young man, with no capital but a trade, good health, and a determination to succeed ; he has built up a good trade, and acquired a fine property in Montrose ; an experience in the life of Mr. Reeves, proving that surely " truth is stranger than fiction," deserves mention here ; when he was but 2 years of age, his mother became insane, and was removed to an asylum ; she was soon after reported to be dead ; her children grew to manhood and womanhood, and passed on to middle life, never doubting (with one exception) that their mother had passed from this life when they were in their early child hood. Mr. Reeves could never remove the impression from his mind that his mother still lived ; after forty years, in some mysterious way, it was revealed to the subject of this sketch that his mother still lived; an investigation proved the truth of the revelation, and his long lost mother was restored to her children, as from the dead, and enjoyed their kindest care and affection for several years after.

Source: BIOGRAPHICAL DIRECTORY
HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY IOWA
CHICAGO: WESTERN HISTORICAL COMPANY, 1879

Transcription typed/proofed as article was originally published in 1879