Franklin County, Alabama - Biographies

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03 Nov 2010 - 16 Dec 2010

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Robert L. Reaves, son of the late Stephen and Elizabeth (Cobb) Reaves, was a successful teacher in Franklin as well as several other Alabama counties. Mr. Reaves was reared in the Dillard’s Mill and Ebenezer communities north of Russellville, and attended the rural schools of those communities. Having been born about the time of the Civil War, he, as many others, lacked many of the present-day educational opportunities, or the opportunities of those days enjoyed by the more wealthy. But his mother was a woman of remarkable industry, energy and ambition. She pushed her children through the rural schools and encouraged them to attend higher schools. So Mr. Reaves, acting on this inspiration, began to teach in the rural schools of Franklin County when quite a young man. He won considerable praise for being a successful teacher. In 1895 he graduated from the Florence State Normal College and was then able to teach in higher schools. He was principal of the high school at Reform; president of the First District Agricultural School at Jackson; principal of the Fayette County High School at Fayette; and principal of the Fayette Grammar School when his death occurred in the fall of 1922. He also served Fayette County as superintendent of education a few years prior to his death.

Mr. Reaves was one of the finest looking men in the teaching profession in Alabama and was recognized as an honorable man. He was twice married, each time to a Franklin County girl. His first wife was Miss Addie Pace, a daughter of J. O. A. Pace, the Baptist minister; his second wife was Miss Flora Walker, daughter of Alpha W. Walker, of Russellville, He survived both wives. Several children, one by the first marriage, survive their father.

Source: "Distinguished Men, Women and Families of Franklin Co., Alabama" by R. L. James, Pub. circa. 1927-1930, page 33. Copy of book located in the Franklin County Library, Russellville, Alabama but not in very good shape as of June 2002. In May 2004, I visited the new Franklin County Archives Building in Russellville, Alabama, and found they had procured a copy of the original hardbound book by R. L. James and it was in excellent condition.
……Ann Glasgow