GRAVES FAMILY BULLETIN

 

A Free, Occasional, Online Summary of Items of Interest to Descendants of all Families of Graves, Greaves, Grieves, Grave, and other spelling variations Worldwide

 

Vol. 11, No. 4, June 2, 2009

 

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Copyright © 2009 by the Graves Family Association and Kenneth V. Graves.  All rights reserved.

 

Information on how to start a free subscription to this bulletin and how to be removed from the subscription list is at the end of this bulletin.  If you received this bulletin directly, then you are already subscribed.

 

Visit the GFA web site at http://www.gravesfa.org

 

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CONTENTS:

 

** General Comments

** Reunion in San Antonio, Texas this August

** Details of the Trip to England in June

** Updates to the GFA Website

** William Graves and Sarah Smith of VA & AL (Gen. 220)

** Special DNA Testing Discount from Family Tree DNA

** To Submit Material to this Bulletin & Other Things

 

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GENERAL COMMENTS

 

This has been a very busy year for me, so some of the tasks involving the Graves Family Association have not happened, or at least not happened as quickly as preferred.  In addition to planning for the GFA tour of England, I am in charge of a program to re-establish the D.A.R.E. program in our 3-town regional school district (cut because of budget problems).  Then I decided to “upgrade” my computer to an Apple Mac, and that is continuing to be a very time-consuming effort.

 

As a result, this issue of the Bulletin is later than usual and somewhat shorter than I would prefer.  I plan to provide information about the tour of England and other news after I return.

 

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REUNION IN SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS THIS AUGUST

 

This is a reminder that a Graves Family Reunion will be held in San Antonio, TX, Aug. 7-9 (Friday-Sunday).  The Southwest Chapter of the Graves Family Association, headed by Ron Graves, is organizing this.  It will be for all Graves and Greaves families, not any specific family.  It will be at the Holiday Inn Select, 77 NE Loop 410, San Antonio TX, about ˝ mile from the airport.

 

The main meeting will be Saturday, Aug. 8, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., but it is hoped that many will be there for Friday and Saturday nights also.  There will be a room from 6-10 PM on Friday night to meet and greet.  There will be presentations and discussions led by Ken Graves and others.  We will be talking about the various Graves/Greaves families (including yours), the latest DNA study results, our research programs to connect families, find earlier ancestry, and resolve problems, and answering any questions anyone has.

 

Plan to be there, and tell your relatives and anyone else you think might be interested about the reunion!  50-60 people are needed to break even.  But the main thing is that this will be lots of fun, and we can learn much more about our Graves family.

 

A block of rooms has been set aside for Friday and Saturday nights at the Holiday Inn Select at $89 per night plus tax.  Continental breakfast, lunch and snack are included.  To reserve a room, call them at 888-615-0518 and tell them it is for the Graves Family Reunion.  Their website is www.hiselect.com/sat-intlapt.  You can obviously stay elsewhere if you prefer.  For all attendees, there will be a $30 per person registration fee.

 

For more information, contact Ron Graves at gravesronn@cs.com, with a copy to Dick Graves (rwgravy@aol.com), Eddie Graves (egraves@sw.rr.com), and Ken Graves (ken.graves@gravesfa.org).

 

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DETAILS OF THE TRIP TO ENGLAND IN JUNE

 

The Graves Family Association tour of England will be from Thursday, June 4 until Tuesday, June 16.  Most or all of us will probably be departing the U.S. on Wednesday, June 3.  An outline schedule is listed below.

 

We are anxious to meet with any descendants of Graves, Greaves, Grave, Grieves, etc. families.  If any of you living in England can help publicize this by talking to your relatives and associates who are members of these families, and by contacting local newspapers about when we will be meeting in your area, that will be very helpful and much appreciated.  We would love to have as many family members as possible join us.

 

The telephone numbers of the hotels are those used when calling from inside the U.K.  From outside the U.K., the first 0 needs to be replaced with the appropriate digits.

 

DAY 1, Thursday, 4 June.  Tour London in the afternoon.  Stay overnight at Millennium Baileys, London.

DAY 2, Friday, 5 June.  Tour Suffolk.  Visit Otley Hall, Otley, and Christchurch Mansion, Ipswich.  Overnight at Millennium Baileys.

DAY 3, Saturday, 6 June.  Visit Oxford, the Cotswold’s and Mickleton Manor (genealogy 68, family of poet and author Robert Graves).  Overnight at Best Western Studley Castle, Studley, Warwickshire, tel. 01527-853-111.

DAY 4, Sunday, 7 June.  Visit Bromsgrove, Kings Norton, and elsewhere in West Midlands.  This is especially pertinent to genealogy 333, William Greves and Mary Mow of Kings Norton.  Overnight at Best Western Studley Castle.  Tentative meeting about 8:30 p.m.

DAY 5, Monday, 8 June.  Visit Wedgwood factory, Stoke-on-Trent, and continue to Peak District.  Overnight at Barcelo Buxton Palace Hotel, Buxton, tel. 01298-22001.

DAY 6, Tuesday, 9 June.  Tour of the Peak District, Derbyshire, including Mayfield Hall, Haddon Hall, and Beeley Hilltop (genealogy 228).  Overnight at Buxton Palace Hotel.  Tentative meeting about 8:00 p.m.

DAY 7, Wednesday, 10 June.  Drive to the Lake District and cruise on Lake Windermere.  Overnight at McDonald Old England Hotel, Bowness-on-Windermere, Cumbria, tel. 01539-487-890.

DAY 8, Thursday, 11 June.  Tour the Lake District and Dove Cottage, the Wordsworth Museum & Art Gallery, Grasmere.  Overnight at Old England Hotel, Windermere.

DAY 9, Friday, 12 June.  Visit Bolton Abbey, Skipton, on the way to York.  Explore York.  Overnight at Ramada Jarvis Bradford/Leeds, Leeds, tel. 01274-567-123.

DAY 10, Saturday, 13 June.  Visit York Minster and Castle Howard near York.  Overnight at Ramada Jarvis Bradford/Leeds.  Meeting about 8:00 p.m.

DAY 11, Sunday, 14 June.  Travel through Lincolnshire and Norfolk, and visit Kings Lynn, Norfolk (genealogy 83, Samuel Graves of Lynn, MA).  Overnight at Menzies Cambridge Hotel and Golf Club, Cambridge, tel. 01954-249-988.

DAY 12, Monday, 15 June.  Tour Cambridge, and visit the Cambridge American Cemetery and Kings College.  Overnight at Millennium Baileys, Kensington, London, tel. 020-7373-6000.  Tentative meeting about 8:00 p.m.

DAY 13, Tuesday, 16 June.  Leave for home.

 

In addition to the suggested times and dates, if anyone wants to meet with me or the entire group at any other time, feel free to try to contact me at a hotel or by email to make arrangements.  Any meetings we have are apt to be very informal, since I have not made a huge effort to publicize the meetings.  Instead of meeting after dinner, we can get together for dinner also.

 

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UPDATES TO THE GFA WEBSITE

 

Information about Frank Murray Dixon, governor of Alabama from 1939 to 1943, has been added to the page for notable/famous family members.  He narrowly lost his first bid for governor in 1934, losing to David Bibb Graves (who is also on the website page).  In spite of being so closely associated, Frank and Bibb were not related on their Graves lines.  Frank was descended from genealogy 169 and Bibb was descended from genealogy 220.

 

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WILLIAM GRAVES AND SARAH SMITH OF VA & AL (GEN. 220)

 

Joyce Van Valkenburg recently sent several articles of interest from her local genealogy magazine, Autauga Ancestry, vol. 18, no. 2, Winter 2008, published by Autauga Genealogical Society, Prattville, Alabama.  The main article is “Descendants of William Graves.”  It is about the William Graves, born 9 July 1755 in Virginia, who married Sarah Smith.  This is part of genealogy 220 (Francis Graves of VA).

 

The other two articles are surveys of two Graves cemeteries in Lowndes Co., AL.

 

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SPECIAL DNA TESTING DISCCOUNT FROM FAMILY TREE DNA

 

Family Tree DNA offered a special discount for upgrades to DNA tests for existing customers earlier this spring.  I am very pleased at how many of you took advantage of this offer and upgraded to 37 or 67 markers.  When I have time to review all of the new DNA test results, I am hoping to find new information and maybe some new clues about connections.

 

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ABOUT THIS BULLETIN:

This bulletin is written and edited by Kenneth V. Graves, ken.graves@gravesfa.org.  Ken Graves was also editor of the Graves Family Newsletter (no longer published).  This bulletin will contain announcements and news of special interest to Graves descendants with Internet access.  It will not contain queries, genealogies, photos, and the kind of in-depth articles that used to appear in the Graves Family Newsletter.

 

TO SUBMIT MATERIAL TO THIS BULLETIN:

Send any material you would like to have included in this bulletin to ken.graves@gravesfa.org.  The editor reserves the right to accept, edit or reject any material submitted.

 

TO JOIN THE GRAVES FAMILY ASSOCIATION:

If you do not already belong to the GFA, you can join by sending $20 per year to Graves Family Association, 20 Binney Circle, Wrentham, MA 02093 (more details on GFA website).  Payment may also be sent electronically via PayPal by going to www.paypal.com and sending payment to gfa@gravesfa.org.  Benefits include access to the “members only” section of the website, membership directory, and help with learning more about your Graves/Greaves family.  The purpose of the GFA is to bring together as many descendants as possible to work toward learning more about the Graves/Greaves families, to help other descendants, and to instill pride in our ancestry.

 

COPYRIGHTS:

Although the contents of this bulletin are copyrighted by the Graves Family Association and Kenneth V. Graves, you are hereby granted rights, unless otherwise specified, to re-distribute articles to other parties for non-commercial purposes only.  Do not re-distribute the newsletter in its entirety.

 

TO SUBSCRIBE OR UNSUBSCRIBE TO THIS BULLETIN:

To subscribe to this bulletin, send an e-mail message to ken.graves@gravesfa.org.  Please include your full name.  Your postal mailing address and information on your Graves/Greaves ancestry would also be appreciated, although not essential.

 

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