Graves Family Association

The tracing of ancestry for African Americans is especially difficult. Genealogists face not only the usual difficulties, but also those caused by slavery and discrimination. This page will identify some of the resources available for genealogical research, as well as some of the information available on this website.

Genealogies on the GFA Website

These are the families with African ancestry that we know about. There are undoubtedly sections of other genealogies that belong here also. If your family is not included here but should be, please let us know and send information.

All of the genealogies listed below are incomplete, and additions and corrections will be appreciated. There is some confusion between genealogy 67 and genealogy 79, and some of the families are connected with others in unknown ways. Your help is needed.

DNA testing is very useful for showing what ancient ancestral group (for example, African or European) a person is descended from, and also showing whether two or more people are descended from a common male ancestor (though an all-male line) or a common female ancestor (through an all-female line). We need to have at least one male with the Graves surname tested in each family to determine the ancestral group (called a haplogroup). A 12-marker Y-DNA test is sufficient for that, but a 37-marker Y-DNA test is needed to conclusively show whether two Graves men (or two Graves families) share a common male Graves ancestor, and a 67-marker Y-DNA test is usually even better.

For the majority of descendants who don't have a direct male or female line back to a Graves ancestor, an autosomal DNA test can be very helpful in determining Graves ancestry. It will show relationships with relatives on all ancestral lines back as far as 5 or 6 generations (and sometimes much farther), and it works equally well for males and females. It will also show ancient ethnic ancestry and give an indication of where your ancestors were living thousands of years ago.

Thomas Graves and Mollie ------ of Lauderdale Co., TN & Mississippi Co., AR (genealogy 4) & chart -- No DNA tests
James Graves and Melvina ------ of Caswell Co., NC (genealogy 22) & chart -- No DNA tests
Pinkney Graves and Susan ------ of Caswell Co., NC (genealogy 58) & chart -- 1 Y-DNA test
Nathan Graves and Adaline ------ of Caswell Co., NC (genealogy 66) & chart -- No DNA tests
Susan Catherine Desnoozes Graves of Caswell Co., NC (genealogy 67) & chart -- No DNA tests -- possibly descended from genealogy 270, perhaps from Henry Major Graves (b. 1817)
Margaret Boyd Graves of Caswell Co., NC (genealogy 79) & chart -- No DNA tests -- possibly descended from genealogy 270, perhaps from Henry Major Graves (b. 1817)
Simpson Graves and Harriett ------ of Caswell Co., NC (genealogy 88) -- No DNA tests
Wilson Graves and Melvina ------ of Caswell Co., NC (genealogy 108) -- No DNA tests
Nancy Ann Graves and Josiah Thomas Settle of NC, TN, MS & OH (genealogy 115) -- No DNA tests -- possibly descended from genealogy 270, perhaps from Azariah Graves (b.1768).
George Graves and Esther Tate of Caswell Co., NC (genealogy 127) -- No DNA tests
Warren Graves and Harriette ------ of SC and Caswell Co. & Rockingham Co., NC (genealogy 218) & chart -- 2 Y-DNA tests
Booker Graves and Celia ------ of Pittsylvania Co., VA (genealogy 250) -- No DNA tests
Doctor Graves and Mary ------ of Fayetteville, Fayette Co., GA (genealogy 259) -- No DNA tests
Madison Graves and Sylvia ------ of Caswell Co., NC (genealogy 294) -- No DNA tests
Isaac Washington and Elmira Russell of Caswell Co., NC (Parents of Monjett Graves) (genealogy 307) -- No DNA tests
Smith Graves and Charlotte ------ of Prince George & Sussex Co., VA (genealogy 313) & chart -- No DNA tests
Jacob Graves and Edy ------ of Caswell Co., NC (genealogy 314) -- No DNA tests
Sam Graves and Lilia ------ of Caswell Co., NC (genealogy 376) -- No DNA tests
Edward Graves and Mary Donnell of Memphis, TN, and Alamance and Guilford Cos., NC (genealogy 378) -- No DNA tests
Owens C. Graves and Mary Stewart of MS, TX & LA (genealogy 427) & chart -- No DNA tests
William Graves and Georgia Smith of TN(genealogy 431) -- 1 Y-DNA test
Henry Graves and Rosetta ------ of Haywood Co., TN (genealogy 438) & chart -- No DNA tests
Parents of Harry Graves and Aquilla Graves of Caswell Co., NC (genealogy 455) & chart -- No DNA tests
Sidney Graves and Mariah ------ of Gilmer, Guilford Co., NC (genealogy 464) -- No DNA tests
Samuel Graves and Tempy ------ of Caswell Co., NC (genealogy 469) -- No DNA tests
Thomas Graves and Barbara------ of Caswell Co., NC (genealogy 471) -- No DNA tests
Walter Graves and Ella Venson of Caswell Co., NC (genealogy 569) -- No DNA tests -- probably descended from genealogy 270, perhaps from Barzillai Walter Graves (b. 1852)
Hercules Graves and Emaline ------ of NC (genealogy 613) & chart -- No DNA tests
Parents of Alfred Graves and Emily ------ of NC, VA & OH (genealogy 636) & chart -- No DNA tests
Parents of John Graves and Samuel Graves of Caswell Co., NC (genealogy 658) & chart -- No DNA tests
Alfred Graves and Annie May Walden Spoon of Randolph Co., NC (genealogy 789) & chart -- 1 Y-DNA test
Stepney Graves and Adeline ------ of TN & KY (genealogy 824) & chart -- No DNA tests
Joseph Graves of Hancock Co., MS (genealogy 912) -- No DNA tests
Ned Graves and Virginia ------ of Campbell Co., VA (genealogy 969) -- No DNA tests
Benjamin Graves and Judy Graves of Brunswick Co., VA (genealogy 979) & chart -- No DNA tests

DNA Testing and Test Results

Only a few of the descendants who are known to have African ancestry have taken part in our DNA study. Almost all this testing has been for Y-DNA (requiring the person tested to be a male with an unbroken male lineage from a male Graves ancestor) because the Y-chromosome is the only one passed on from father to son essentially unchanged. Most of those so far tested are E1b1a (previously called E3a). Haplogroup E1b1a is an African lineage. It is currently hypothesized that this haplogroup dispersed south from northern Africa within the last 3,000 years with the Bantu agricultural expansion. E1b1a is also the most common lineage among African Americans. It is an old, diverse haplogroup with many branches and is found distributed throughout Africa today. It is also found at a very low frequency in North Africa and the Middle East.

More recently, it has become possible to test autosomal DNA, which gives information about all the ancestral lines of the person being tested about 5-6 generations back. This is called Relative Finder at 23andMe and Family Finder at Family Tree DNA (the company that is most used for genealogical DNA testing). Ancestry just started offering autosomal DNA testing in mid-2012, and those test results will also be used as they become available. A summary of our autosomal DNA testing can be seen on the Autosomal DNA page of this website.

It would be very helpful to have genealogies for the families of all people tested. If we have matching DNA test results but no genealogies, there will be no way to know how these people may be related.

DNA sample N19423, 12 markers, haplogroup E1b1a (previously E3a), genealogy 218, 4 matches with 1 in Graves group
DNA sample 32262, 12 markers, haplogroup E1b1a (previously E3a), genealogy unknown, no matches in FTDNA database
DNA sample 32505, 12 markers, haplogroup E1b1a (previously E3a), genealogy 789, 1 match in FTDNA database
DNA sample 129642, 12 markers, haplogroup E1b1a (previously E3a), genealogy 218, 4 matches with 1 in Graves group
DNA sample 210487, 37 markers, haplogroup R1b1a2, genealogy 58, possible matches with family of John E. Brown in Caswell Co., NC

Slave Records

U.S. Federal census records of 1860 and earlier do not give names of slaves, but do list gender, age, and other information about them.

1860 census, North District, Pittsylvania Co., VA, Slaves of Dinney Graves

References to African Americans on this Website

Famous/Notable Family Members Page

Denyce Graves, opera singer
Clinton Greaves, Buffalo soldier and recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor
Alex Haley, American author

Current News Page. Stories about African Americans include:

June 15, 2008, Joseph Graves
June 13, 2008, Reuben Graves
June 3, 2007, Earl Graves
June 1, 2007, Denyce Graves

Sources for learning more

Family Tree DNA website. If you want to order a DNA test, do it as part of the Graves DNA project, since it will be less expensive and we will help you interpret the results.
African American Research article in Ancestry Magazine here.
Afrigeneas is a site devoted to African American genealogy.
CAAGRI, the Center for African American Genealogical Research, Inc.
Free African Americans of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland and Delaware from a book about the history of the free African American community as told through the family history of most African Americans who were free in the Southeast during the colonial period.
Cyndi's List of Genealogy sites for African American Research

Other interesting and helpful information (blogs, etc.)

"How Misunderstanding Genealogy DNA Tests Can Cause Unnecessary Ethnic Confusion" is an interesting blog entry on Axinar.

Graves Family Association

African Ancestry

Ancestral Research

Traditional research

DNA research