My Genealogy Hound

John C. Reeves, county court clerk of Fayette County, was born in Orange County, N. C., May 17, 1812, and is the son of Rev. Willis and Mary (Hill nee Clayton) Reeves, natives of North Carolina and Virginia. Our subject was raised and educated on a farm. In early life he learned the printer’s trade with Lawrence & Lemay, editors of the Raleigh Star, at Raleigh, N. C. In the fall of 1835 he came to Fayette County, and in January, 1836, went to Memphis and worked as a printer for some nine months, and then returned to Fayette County and spent a portion of his time at his father’s, near Somerville, and in Somerville, and in December, 1837, he bought the Somerville Reporter, and was editor and proprietor of that paper until March, 1844, when he formed a partnership with Robert J. Yancey, and they continued the publication up to March, 1848, when he sold out to Mr. Yancey, and was in no permanent business until April, 1859, when he established the Somerville Times, but discontinued its publication when the war commenced. In October, 1865, Mr. Reeves was county court clerk of Fayette County, being appointed by Gov. W. G. Brownlow, and held the office until September, 1874, when he turned his attention to farming, and in 1886 he was again elected county court clerk of Fayette County. In politics he is a Republican, and is an upright, substantial citizen, and stands well in the community.