Rev. James Rees

1801-1890

James Rees is buried in Pearce Chapel Cemetery, Harris County GA.
His date of death should be 1890.

Rebecca Mathews Smith is buried in the Turin Cemetery in Coweta County, GA

James Rees was my maternal third great grandfather. He was born in Edgefield, South Carolina on July 12, 1801. His father was John Rees (1770-1804) His mother, Judah/Judith Palmer was the daughter of Ellis Palmer and Ann Rudd. James had three siblings, Thomas, Sally and Herrod. John Rees died when James was three years old. His mother moved to Putnam County, GA where James was placed in the care of an uncle. His obituary alludes to the fact that he probably wasn't treated very well. In the care of his uncle, he grew up "uncultivated and uneducated." At the age of eighteen, James started attending a Baptist Church and was "converted." Through a friend's kindness he learned to read and write. On December 19, 1824 he married Rebecca Mathews Smith, the daughter of Henry Smith and Sally Mathews. He was licensed to preach in 1825. He and Rebecca settled in Pike County near Flat Shoals on the Flint River. In 1830 he was ordained by Macedonia Baptist Church in Jasper County, GA. In 1834 they moved to Russell County, Alabama and lived there until 1837. By the time they moved to Harris County, GA the couple had eight sons. In 1840, the Rees family moved into Muscogee County, GA where they remained and raised their family. In 1845 Herrod Rees passed away. James and Aaron Smith (Rebecca's brother) became the legal guardians of Herrod's son William B. Rees. In 1851, James Rees bought 3 acres of land from David Evans for $24.00 in the eighth district of Muscogee County, GA. The property contained a church. In that same year James Rees sold the three acres and church to his son Thomas and Edward C. Beers for five dollars. The deed had a stipulation that the church be used exclusively as a Baptist church and public schoolhouse. Three years later, James Rees's son Henry Smith Rees followed his father's footsteps into the ministry. He was ordained as a minister in the Sardis Baptist Church in Harris County, GA. As James and Rebecca aged they began to spend their time between their son's Thomas and Henry's homes. Henry had eventually settled in the community of Turin in Coweta County, GA. Rebecca died in Turin at the home of Henry Smith Rees on November 25, 1879. An interesting note is that Rebecca has two burial places, the Turin Cemetery and Pearce Chapel Cemetery. In July 1880, James was visiting his son Edmund in Columbus. He decided to go for a walk and was attacked by two dogs. They bit him viciously tearing flesh on his hand to the bone. (The Columbus Daily Enquirer-Sun July 21,1880,p.4) James continued preaching until his late eighties, he also continued to farm. A Columbus newspaper article in 1881 stated that James had planted 20-25 acres of cotton and also weeded them. According to his obituary James Rees preached the gospel for nearly fifty years. James Rees died at the home of son, Thomas, on September 19, 1890. He was buried with full Masonic honors at Pearce Chapel Methodist Church in Columbus, GA. In my research of the Rees family, I have never been able to find the answer to the question of Rees's turning from Baptist to Methodist. There are several Baptist and Methodist preachers in the Rees family.

Children:
1) William C. Rees 1825-1910
m. Martha P. Herron
(Civil War Service Company F, 64th GA Infantry)

2) John Palmer Rees 1828-1900
m Emily Elizabeth Moseley
(Civil War Service Company I, 37th GA Regiment)

3) Rev. Henry Smith Reese 1828-1922 (Henry and John were twins)
m. 1) Almedia A. Brawner
2) Martha Jane Brooks
(Civil War Service Company I, 37th GA Regiment)

4. Thomas Clopton Rees 1829-1893
m. 1) Martha Minerva Kimbrough
2) Martha Olivia Kimbrough
(Civil War Service Co. K, 12th GA Regiment )

5. Edmund Head Rees 1830-1911
m. 1) Sarah Palmer
2) Julia Bartlett

6. James Monroe Rees 1832- unknown
(Civil War Service Co. I, 3rd Reg. GA Calvary
Captured Nov. 29, 1863)

7. Hardy Vincent Rees 1834-after 1880
m. Sibella Cheshire
(Civil War Service Co. I, 3rd GA Calvary
also captured Nov. 29, 1863, took the Oath of Allegiance and later settled in Texas)

8. Joseph Butler "Buddy" Rees 1836-1862
died in 1862 in Richmond, VA