Prier Reeves is one of the many unsung heroes of the Restoration Movement. With a life that began at the end of the 18th century, and spanned through to the end of the Civil War, undoubtedly he saw many things, and had many experiences that are lost to the ages. Little is known of the day to day aspects of his life, his family and relatives. He is buried in a small cemetery a few miles south of Montgomery, Alabama in the Shady Ridge Community in Lowndes County.

     What is known of this preacher of old is that early in the 1840s he was a circuit minister among the Baptists in southeast Alabama. Preaching for the Shady Grove Baptist church around 1845 or 1846 he became aware that a preacher among the "Campbellites," a T.A. Cantrell, was troubling the neighborhoods among the Baptists. Reeves entered a debate with Cantrell at Shady Grove, and from it was converted to New Testament Christianity. He at once began teaching among the Baptists with whom he had influence, and very soon nine of the sixteen churches in the local Baptist Church Association withdrew, becoming churches after the ancient order. Not all at Shady Grove were convinced and a split resulted. For a while both churches met in the same building, but ultimately separated. The church of Christ at Shady Grove is one of the oldest churches in the Restoration Movement in south Alabama, located just four miles east of Opelika in Lee County.

     Reporting on Reeves conversion it was said, "Brother Reeves has long been an intelligent and able minister among the Baptists; but a few weeks ago he renounced every thing but the unmixed word of God, and is now proclaiming the gospel in its primitive purity, and is "contending earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints." A majority of all his churches go with him, and the prospect for the future seems to be flattering. Six months ago a teacher of the unmixed word had never been heard in this section of country; now there are two churches. and will be many. We want more light, and more of the teaching and “writings of the Disciples. —THOMAS M. SLAUGHTER. (MH 1845, p.571)

     No distance was too far or doctrine too inferior to intimidate this pioneer speaker for God. He once reported traveling over 60 miles each week to help one group of interested believers come out of denomination confusion into the light of the simple gospel of Christ. He regarded the greatest and most formidable foe of the cause of Christ as the "miserable ignorance of the ministry," in that area of the country, (MH, 1860, p.537,538). Reeves continued the rest of his life evangelizing among the people of South Alabama. He sent reports to the Millennial Harbinger and other brotherhood papers.

     Very soon after Brother Reeves' death, J.M. Barnes, close friend and fellow minister in Alabama, wrote to Alexander Campbell, not aware that the elder brother was shortly to take to his own deathbed never to rise again, reporting of the sad departure of his friend and co-worker. He said, "We are not without our troubles. The death of the energetic, zealous and indefatigable laborer and defender of the truth, Elder Prior Reeves, I suppose has not reached you. We lost much in his death." (MH, 1866, p.45,46)

—Sources: The Millennial Harbinger, History Of The Christian Churches In The Alabama Area, by George H. & Mildred B. Watson

Prier Reeves is buried in the little south Alabama community of Sandy Ridge. Take I-65 south of Montgomery. Just north of Fort Deposit, take Exit #151, Hwy. 97, and go east to Hwy. 31. Turn right on Hwy. 31, going south toward Sandy Ridge community. There will be a cemetery on the left hand side about 100 yards off the road called Payne Cemetery. Its got a fence around it. Enter the gate and head toward the rear of the cemetery. If you get to Hwy. 185, you've gone too far. Turn around and come back, and it will then be on your right. Another preacher, named William Payne is buried there as well.