Beeks line: Thomas Rees born sometime,, died 1783

Do you remember the cat who would weekly proclaim "I hate meeces to pieces!"  I believe Pixie and Dixie were the mice in question but I don't remember the name of the cat.  Anyway, "Reeses" rhymes with "meeses".  While I don't necessarily "hate" this line, it is enough to make me pull my hair out.  Sorry about the vent, but at the moment my local genealogist/librarians are not available to soothe me.

So I'm writing about Thomas Rees today.  Several sites say he was born in 1705 and died in 1783.  But they also say he was married to Margaret Bowen, and that Thomas Rees and Margaret were married for several (the document says "many") years when Thomas and Margaret asked for a certificate from the Radnor Monthly Meeting to send to the Goshen Monthly Meeting.  It states that "Whereas Thomas Reese and his wife Margaret Reese inhabitants within the verge of your meeting have made application unto us for something by way of Certificate unto you.  These are therefore to certifie on their behalf that they was both of them educated amongst us and esteemed of us until they joined in marriage contrary to the order and departure of Friends which they these are satisfied unto this that they have been under trouble and exorcised of mind for many years as well as for the conduct of their lives desiring their sorrows for the same and that they took the blame and shame thereof on themselves and that they hoped through divine assistance to take care for the future not to do anything as may bring a reproach upon truth or a grief to friends, so desiring their insofar and that they who make their profession to the Divine Principal of Truth may be conducted and prospered by it to the end of their day, we remain your friends from our Monthly Meeting, at Radnor this 14th of 1st mo year 1722/1723."

Note:  I did not transcribe this, but I sure do thank the unknown person who did.  In copying it I have changed capitalizations but not the punctuation, or lack thereof.  There are also the signatures of several members of the Radnor Monthly Meeting on this letter.  I found this fascinating, but the main point is that Thomas was likely not born in 1705 in order to have married Margaret and be "under trouble and exorcized of mind for many years" by 1722/23.  So, either this is not the Thomas Reese and Margaret Bowen who are said to have lived later, or there is another Thomas and Margaret that would be the parents of the Thomas and Margaret I think I'm writing about.

The children of Thomas and Margaret were born mostly in the 1730s and 1740s.  It does appear that this was a Quaker family because they are later found at Hopewell Monthly Meeting in Frederick County, Virginia, in the far north "point" of the state.  This is in the area of Opequon Creek.  Early records there were lost in a fire so we don't know how early the Reese's arrived there.  They seem to have been there by 1743, so they would have been in place for the battles of both the French and Indian war and the Revolutionary War. As a Quaker, Thomas wouldn't have been in the militia and he may have had to make a decision as to whether or not he would support the British in the first war and the patriots in the second war.  Some Quakers were happy to supply materials and food for the troops, and some were not willing to do so, as they opposed any violence, or supporting any violence.  It was a decision each man would have to make for himself.  This area would have been under frequent, if not constant, threat of attack by native Americans. 

Thomas and Margaret had 10 children who lived to adulthood.  Two of them are direct ancestors, through this line.  Thomas's uncle, Morris is also in the Beeks line.  All of these trace back to David Rees.  Theyr may be another line, also, for there is another wife of a Thomas Reese named Rebecca Price, and Price is a common contraction for ap Rhys.  (These are Welsh names).

Thomas died in 1783 in Frederick County, Virginia and Margaret died two years later, probably in Washington County, Pennsylvania, where she had gone to visit or live with two of her sons.  Obviously, there are still several records for me to look at for Thomas, especially land records and his will or estate records.  But this is a start, to help us understand a little a very confusing set of families.

The line of descent is:

Thomas Reese-Margaret Bowen
Thomas Reese-Hannah Reese (she is the daughter of Morris Reese, who is a brother to the first
     Thomas)
Solomon Reese=Anna possibly McNeal
Owen T Reese-Margaret Ellen Moon
Eliza Matilda Reese-Samuel Dunham
Margaret Catherine Dunham-Harvey Aldridge
Cleo Aldridge-Wilbur Beeks
Mary Beeks-Cleveland Harshaber
Their descendants