was born in Orange County, North Carolina, on the sixth day of March, 1793, and, in early life, came to Henderson with his father, Walter Alves, one of the signers of the Richard Henderson & Co. ordinance, establishing the Town of Henderson. In 1815 he married Miss Maria Davis, daughter of General Thomas Davis, of North Carolina, and raised a large family of children, three of whom are now living, namely: James, twice married, first, to Miss Bettie H. and secondly to Miss Emily Sneed, daughters of Dr. Richard Sneed, of North Carolina; Maria D., wife of James P. Breckenridge, and John W., who married Miss Juliet Holloway. Each of these have children. Mrs. Arabella Alves, widow of Thomas, the eldest son, is living and has five children, all married; James S., Superintendent Henderson Mining & Manufacturing Company; Maria, wife of Thomas L. Norris, of Kansas; Joseph B., Secretary and Treasurer Henderson Woolen Mills; Gaston M., Secretary and Treasurer Henderson Mining and Manufacturing Company, and Eliza, wife of Honorable M. Merritt. Mrs. Alves, wife of James Alves, was born in the month of September, 1795, and, at the age of nineteen, married in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and came with her husband to this county, where she departed this life, many years after, at the residence of her daughter, Mrs. Breckenridge, having arrived at a ripe old age. She was a most noble woman, possessing every grace requisite to adorn life. Her husband, during life, was a man of extended influence, greatly beloved and universally esteemed. He died suddenly, on the thirtieth day of July, 1853, leaving to his children a large, and very valuable landed estate.
The History of Henderson County, Kentucky by Starling 1887 page 801-02;