The Reese name comes from the Old Welsh, and was often spelled Rees, Rys, or even Rice. The Reese Family of our Reese bible are traced back to the town of Warren, Herkimer County, in the Mohawk Valley of New York. German immigrants settled in this area in 1710 soon after New York became an English colony in 1664, after England took New Nederland from the Dutch. The Reese family from Wales joined New York colonists and sometimes intermarried with German families, which makes things interesting as I try to trace the family further back.
I don't have all the specifics yet, but there are plenty of hints about Reese men fighting in the French and Indian War, and later in the American Revolution. Colonial New York has numerous Reese households, making it a challenge to ascertain how, or if, they are related.
Adam Reese's father and grandfather are born in New York. Adam's mother comes from an equally long line of New York born Bells. Adam himself marries into the Bass family. The Reese, Bell, and Bass families all are well represented in Herkimer County.
WISCONSIN. Despite American Independence, the British still controlled northwestern lands bordering Canada. In the Treaty that ended the War of 1812, the British promised to return to the U.S. millions of acres between Lake Superior and Lake Michigan. Following the organization of the Wisconsin Territory in 1836, Congress passes the Preemption Act of 1841 that allowed settlers to purchase up to 160 acres at a very low price.
Evidently, Adam Reese's father Samuel Reese is only a tenant of the farm his family lives on in New York. Motivated by the opportunity to go buy cheap land in the new territories, Samuel takes his wife and children in 1844 to the new territory on the far side of Lake Michigan, about 1,000 miles away. They probably traveled by wagon over an extremely rough road in the company of many New York pioneers making the same migration.
Samuel's son, Adam, follows his father and younger siblings to Wisconsin in 1845 with his own wife and 3 children. The Reese family carve new homes out of a wilderness.
In Dodge County, Wisconsin, Adam Reese becomes a leading citizen and entrepreneur. Using his own funds he surveys a plat of land for a railroad route, to ensure that the railroad will cross his farm. Adam becomes the first stationmaster, and opens a store. Initially the township is named Lowell, but Adam names the station Reeseville for his father. The railroad eventually connects Reeseville with a growing city called Chicago, about 120 miles south in Illinois. Adam buys supplies from Chicago to resell in his small store in Reeseville. Possibly he orders a big fancy bible that he gives to his wife.
Chicago must have tempting business opportunities for a smart man like Adam. He sells his interests in Dodge County and buys land in Sycamore, DeKalb County, Illinois, near Chicago. In 1869 he moves his wife and children to Sycamore.
ILLINOIS.
