Tapping Reeve - Early Years

Early Years

Tapping Reeve was born in Brookhaven, New York, on Long Island, to Reverend Abner Reeve. He graduated from the College of New Jersey, now Princeton University, in 1763. While earning his Masters there (completed 1766), he also served as a headmaster of the grammar school associated with the college in nearby Elizabeth, New Jersey. He was hired to privately tutor the orphaned children of the Rev. Aaron Burr, Sr., the former President of the college, and his wife Esther Edwards Burr. Tapping Reeve taught young Aaron Burr and his sister Sally for several years.

Reeve developed a relationship with Sally Burr. He asked her guardian for her hand in marriage but was refused due to their age difference and Reeve's lack of steady employment. In 1771, Reeve moved to Hartford, Connecticut where he studied law with Judge Jesse Root. At this time, he again asked to marry Sally and was given permission. The couple wed on June 4, 1771. Reeve passed the Connecticut state bar the next year and the couple moved to Litchfield, Connecticut, where Reeve established a legal practice.

Reeve built a home on South Street across the street from Governor Oliver Wolcott. In 1774, Aaron Burr, who had been studying the ministry under Reverend Joseph Bellamy of Bethlehem, Connecticut, moved to Litchfield to study law under Reeve. Burr's stay in town was brief. He left only a year later to join the Continental Army on the outbreak of the Revolutionary War.

Reeve, while a fervent supporter of the patriot cause, did not enter active service early in the Revolutionary War. His wife's poor health kept him at home. However, in December of 1776, the Connecticut Assembly called upon him to travel the state to drum up volunteers for the Continental Army. He then accepted a commission as an officer and accompanied his recruits as far as New York before returning to his ailing wife.