Peter moved to Warren County with his father and mother in about 1815, when he was four or five years old.

On December 8, 1831, in Warren County, he married Sarah Ann (Sally) Hudnall,[2] the youngest of the eight children of James Hudnall, Jr., and Rhoda Chastain. Sally was born on December 1, 1814.[3]

On her mother’s side, Sally was the fifth great-granddaughter of John Hudnall who was born on the Isle of Wight in England in 1610 and on her father’s side was the fifth great-granddaughter of Estienne Chastain, born somewhere between about 1570 and 1580. Sally’s paternal great-great-grandfather was Pierre Chastain, Sr., a French Huguenot physician who was born in 1660 and who fled his home in the Province of Berri, France. He went to London, England, from which he sailed on the passenger vessel Mary and Ann, arriving in the Colony of Virginia in 1700.

Peter served nine years as a Warren County magistrate.[4] At the time, magistrates served two functions. First, they met on a regular basis, probably monthly or quarterly, to run the affairs of the county, much as a city commission does for a city. Second, they served as judges for misdemeanor criminal charges and small civil matters. He was also referred to as “Colonel.”[5] This probably was an honorary title, rather than an indication of military service. He was a Mason.

The 1840 Warren County census gave Peter Reeves’ occupation as farmer. His household consisted of a male and a female between the ages of 20 and 30 (Peter and Sally), two females between the ages of 5 and 10 and two males under age 5.[6] Ten years later, the 1850 census showed that the Peter Reeves family continued to grow and gave the names and approximate dates of birth of his first five children and indicated his year of birth as either 1810 or 1811.[7]

Their children were Elizabeth F. Reeves,[8] Mary Ann (Polly) Reeves,[9] James H. Reeves,[10] George Curtis Reeves,[11] Zerilda P. Reeves,[12] J.C. Reeves and Roberta Reeves.[13]

Peter received several land grants in Warren County, Kentucky. He also bought land there. Peter’s first acquisition was 60 acres on the north side of the Barren River in 1837, when he was 27 years old. He bought it from Ren and Sarah Hudnall and paid $75 for it.[14] Five years later, in 1842, he bought a land grant of 24 acres from “John Hendrick's heirs.”[15] In 1847, he bought another 35 acres.[16] Finally, in 1864, during the height of the Civil War, he received a land grant of an additional 200 acres on the south side of the Barren River.[17]

The only property sold by Peter was 30 acres on Big Barren River to James C. Johnson in 1863.[18] The sale price was $800.00 and the deed was signed by Peter M. Reeves and his wife Sarah A. Reeves. She signed by her mark, meaning she did not write her name. Many people of the time did not have formal schooling and did not know how to read and write, but many of them did learn to sign their own name, if nothing else.

A copy of Peter’s will is preserved in the Warren County Courthouse, as follows: