Catharine Reece (1789-1834)

The tombstone of Catharine Reece, Rockway Cemetery

Catharine Reece, nee Turner or Tanner, was the wife of George Reece of Pelham Township.   She died in 1834 at the age of 45 and is buried, along with her infant twin children, in the Rockway Cemetery next to the Rockway Presbyterian Church.  

Catharine and George Reece had at least eight children: Samuel, Joseph, George, Sarah, Davis, Elizabeth, Eli, and Leonard. 

Very little is known about Catharine Reece.  Some genealogists give her maiden name as Tanner, others as Turner.   Though no Turners could be located in the Niagara district during this time.  There was one family named Tanner residing in Bertie Township. 

Stephen Tanner, a native of Pennsylvania, settled in Bertie Township and received Lots 9 & 10, Concession 13 as a settler in 1795.   His son Joseph would later petition for his own lands in 1811. 

In 1812 George Reece petitioned the president of Upper Canada, General Isaac Brock for land.   George Reece was a resident of Pelham Township and a native of Pennsylvania.  

George Reece was originally from Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  His father Jacob Reece and mother Elisabeth Shults/z arrived in Upper Canada in 1788 and petitioned for land in 1797.  Jacob Reece was granted land on Lots 14 & 15, Concession 3 of Pelham Township.   George Reece also petitioned for land in 1812.   The Reece family would remain on that land for many generations.  

After Catharine's death George Reece married Elizabeth Reavely.