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. 12, No. 4, June 28, 2010

 

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Copyright © 2010 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

** Special Offer for DNA Testing

** Autosomal DNA Testing and Graves/Greaves Ancestry

** Research Puzzle: Possible Descent from John Graves of Concord, MA

** Some of the Things You Can Do To Help

** Research in the British Isles

** Most Records Are Not on the Internet

** To Submit Material to this Bulletin & Other Things

 

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GENERAL COMMENTS

 

There are only a couple days left to take advantage of the special offer for Y-DNA testing, discussed in the first article.  It is strongly recommended for men descended from a Graves/Greaves line or genealogy that has not yet been tested.

 

This issue also includes further discussion of the new autosomal DNA testing, plus an interesting genealogy puzzle that you may be able to help solve.

 

We wish you all a happy summer season (for those of you in the northern hemisphere) and an enjoyable winter if you are in Australia or elsewhere in the southern hemisphere.

 

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SPECIAL OFFER FOR DNA TESTING

 

Family Tree DNA is the DNA testing company we have used for most of our DNA study.  They are offering a special promotion on DNA testing through June 30.  This offer started earlier this month and I left for a long trip right before it started, but there is still time to take advantage of the offer.  This is oriented mainly toward the Y-DNA test that is the basis of our surname study.  I strongly urge those of you who have not yet tested to do so, especially if your Graves/Greaves ancestor is in a genealogy that has not yet had anyone tested.  The Y-DNA test is for males only, and to have the test results meaningful for showing your Graves ancestry, your descent from a Graves/Greaves ancestor must be in a direct, all-male line (usually meaning that your surname will be Graves or Greaves).  If you are a female or anyone not descended in a direct, all-male line from a Graves/Greaves ancestor, you can try to find a cousin who does meet the requirements to take the test.  The details are:

·     Y-DNA37 for $110 (regular price $149)

·     Y-DNA67 for $199  (regular price $239)

·     Y-DNA37+mtDNA for $159 (regular price $238)

 

You can see whether your genealogy has had anyone DNA-tested by going to the Charts page at http://www.gravesfa.org/charts.html and scrolling down to your genealogy.

 

To sign up for the test, the easiest way is to go to the Graves Family Association website at http://www.gravesfa.org, scroll down to the DNA Study section, and click on the link for “How to sign up.”  Then just follow the instructions.  While there, consider ordering the Family Finder test also, as discussed in the next article.

 

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AUTOSOMAL DNA TESTING AND GRAVES/GREAVES ANCESTRY

 

I strongly urge all of you to take one of the autosomal DNA tests if you can afford it.  Although you can take either the Relative Finder test from 23andMe or the Family Finder test from Family Tree DNA, the Family Finder test will probably be more helpful.  The reason I recommend the Family Finder test is because of the additional information and support that FTDNA provides, the fact that they provide the capability for you to contact all of those that you match (with names and email addresses), and the greater flexibility of the matching tool that allows you to easily see all DNA segments that match.

 

This test has great potential for helping you find and confirm many of your ancestral connection that you didn’t even know about before.  It shows the DNA segments that you inherit from all your ancestors, not just those in your all-male or all-female lines.  It also has tremendous potential for finding and confirming Graves /Greaves family trees, and connecting families that are presently unconnected.

 

You can see more about autosomal DNA testing in the article in GF Bulletin issue of May 20, 2010, and on the Family Tree DNA website at http://www.familytreedna.com.  The instructions for ordering the test from FTDNA are the same as at the end of the preceding article about Y-DNA tests.

 

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RESEARCH PUZZLE: POSSIBLE DESCENT FROM JOHN GRAVES OF CONCORD, MA

 

Jeff Whittaker is descended from Jane Graves, born about 1827 in NY, who married Daniel Dodge in 1856 (genealogy 633).  He has proposed that Jane Graves of genealogy 633 is a daughter of Norman Graves of genealogy 734.  It also appears that gen. 734 is the same as genealogy 296, both headed by the same Norman Graves.  Jeff also proposes that Norman Graves, b. 1803 in VT, was a son of Simeon Graves and Mary Jennings of genealogy 143.  Finally, he proposes that Simeon Graves of genealogy 143 was the same as Simeon Graves (#200), son of Joshua Graves and Rhoda Bronson in genealogy 166 (John Graves of Concord, MA).  So, in summary, his proposed lineage is (1) John Graves, (2) Benjamin Graves, b. 1645, (3) Joseph Graves, b. 1679, (4) Joshua Graves, b. 1723, m. Rhoda Bronson, (5) Simeon Graves, b. 1752, m. Mary Jennings, (6) Norman Graves, b. 1803, m. Roxanna ------, (7) Jane Deborah Graves, b.c. 1825, m. Daniel Dodge.

 

We could test part of this proposed lineage by trying to get some DNA samples from some of the descendants of various parts of this family.  But the best approach would be to find documentation to support or disprove the proposed relationships.  Can anyone do some research to help Jeff?  This is a great opportunity to make a contribution.

 

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SOME OF THE THINGS YOU CAN DO TO HELP

 

This is a list I made a while ago that includes some of the helpful things you can do to help other Graves family members and make the Graves Family Association website more helpful.

 

•Compile list of all immigrants to America

•Find more descendants, and get their family histories and their DNA samples.

•Try to find ancestors of genealogies on charts page.

•Try to connect families shown on charts to be closely related.

 

•Create communities on social networking sites.

•Research and add to genealogies, find descendants, and gather their information and DNA.

•Put census and other records on website, and key them to individuals in genealogies.

Gather and post all Graves and Greaves family information in all areas of U.K., and try to determine how they are related.

 

Get information from U.K. Family Members

•IDENTIFY AND CONTACT THEM

-Look at online phone and address lists.

-Contact and join regional family history societies.

-Get contacts from Graves, Greaves, Grieves mailing lists and bulletin boards and contact submitters.

-Write letters to newspapers and magazines.

-Participate in pedigree-sharing websites like Ancestry.com, Genes Reunited, and others specializing in U.K. ancestry, and contact those submitting U.K. genealogies.

 

•Get information and DNA participation

-Contact them.

-Offer to share information.

-Tell them about the GFA and how we can help them learn more.

-Ask them for their family information.

-Get them to take part in our DNA study, and offer to pay (or say the GFA will pay).

 

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RESEARCH IN THE BRITISH ISLES

 

I compiled the following summary a while ago in response to those who have asked how research in the British Isles can be pursued to find ancestors and other family members.  There are many articles, books, and courses that can be found both online and offline (including sessions at genealogy conferences).

 

•Guild of One Name Studies (GOONS)

•Extract data and add to databases on website

-Free BMD, censuses, IGI, and other

•Our research (hire researchers)

•Contests to encourage people to collect and contribute data

 

Finding records in England

•Search online

-Probably less than 10% of all records are online

•Search on microfilm and microfiche at LDS Family History Centers and the Family History Library in Salt Lake City

•Search in other places, including libraries, archives, courthouses, etc.

•Hire genealogists (such as Price & Associates)

 

Online resources for English research

•Price & Associates has a website of more than 500 links at http://www.pricegen.com/english_genealogy.html.  Their categories include: Genuki (for every English county), Civil Registration (birth, marriage, death), Census and Census Substitutes, Baptism Indexes, Marriage Indexes, Historic Newspapers, Records of the Poor, Burial Indexes, Probate Records, Emigration Records, Migration Records, Monumental Inscriptions, Military Records, Local Histories, Land and Court Records, Heraldry and Nobility, and more.

 

•The Internet for Family Historians at http://www.rowberry.org/3wlinks.html

 

The Federation of Family History Societies at http://www.ffhs.org.uk. The information is in their document referenced in the middle of the main page toward the top and called “Our Really Useful Information Leaflet.”

 

LDS Family History Centers and Library

•Contact and location information for the Family History Centers and the library in Salt Lake City can be found on their website at http://www.familysearch.org

A new website under development with expanded capabilities is now available at http://pilot.familysearch.org.

 

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MOST RECORDS ARE NOT ON THE INTERNET

 

I have mentioned in previous GF Bulletins that most information that has been recorded and preserved over the centuries is not on the Internet.  In the May 20, 2010 issue I even pointed out that for the largest Graves/Greaves genealogies, much less than half the material we have compiled is on the website because of privacy concerns.

 

The reasons for most records and other information not being online include: (1) it is not known to those who would be interested in it, (2) permission has not been given to copy or digitize it, (3) no one has taken the time or spent the money to put it online.

 

What this means is that if you don’t find what you are looking for on the Internet, that certainly doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist.  That is why we need to search records in many places (archives, churches, courthouses, libraries, etc.) if we want to do a more complete search for our ancestors and other relatives.  If we are limited in the time we want to spend searching (as most of us are), it is encouraging that many, many records are being added to the Internet every day, but they will continue to be only a small percentage of the total records available.

 

For more discussion of this subject, see an article by Julie Miller in the Broomfield Enterprise at http://www.broomfieldenterprise.com/ci_15379828.  One of her comments is: “Many of the indexes are online, but the digitized records are less likely to be there.”

 

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ABOUT THIS BULLETIN:

This bulletin is written and edited by Kenneth V. Graves, ken.graves@gravesfa.org.

 

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. 

 

COPYRIGHTS:

Although the contents of this bulletin are copyrighted by the Graves Family Association and Kenneth V. Graves, you are hereby granted permission, unless otherwise specified, to re-distribute part or all to other parties for non-commercial purposes only.

 

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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