GRAVES FAMILY BULLETIN
Vol. 15, No. 5, April 19,
2013
A
Free, Occasional, Online Summary of Items of Interest to Descendants of all
Families of Graves, Greaves, Grieves, Grave, and other spelling variations
Worldwide
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Copyright
© 2013 by the Graves Family Association and Kenneth V. Graves. All rights reserved.
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CONTENTS
**
General Comments
**
Limited Time DNA Test Sale at Family Tree DNA
**
Be Sure Your Autosomal DNA Test Is On Charts
**
Uploading of Ancestry.com DNA Data to GEDmatch Now Available
**
Why It Is Important To Know What DNA Segments You Share With Your DNA Matches
**
Updates to the GFA Website
**
Mocavo’s Surname Groups and Other Features
**
How Do People Share Genealogical Information?
**
To Submit Material to this Bulletin & Other Things
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GENERAL
COMMENTS
We
have another DNA testing sale at Family Tree DNA that ends in 3 days. This is a good opportunity to take a
test or order one for a family member.
FTDNA is still the only company offering a full range of mitochondrial
DNA and Y-DNA tests form your direct female and male lines.
Although
I didn’t mention it elsewhere in this bulletin, if you haven’t already joined
our Facebook page, consider doing so.
If you have difficulty finding it, use the link on the GFA website. It can be an effective and helpful way
to communicate.
Please
be aware that, although I have mentioned the importance of uploading autosomal
DNA results and GEDCOMS to GEDmatch in this bulletin, as of right now, GEDmatch
is not available. Although I don’t
know what the problem is, I expect it will be back online soon.
===============================================
LIMITED TIME
DNA TEST SALE AT FAMILY TREE DNA
Family Tree DNA has just announced a sale on some
of their DNA testing. In addition
to the limited time reduced prices, the comments about the way to use
mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) test results to help find ancestors are interesting.
MY
COMMENTS ABOUT USING MITOCHONDRIAL DNA TO FIND ANCESTORS
We have known for a long time that mtDNA can be
used to determine ancient ancestry and population movements. However, with the advent of Full
Mitochondrial Sequencing (FMS), the matches you get are apt to be much more
meaningful for connections within genealogical time (that is, the past several
hundred years). A partial DNA
sequencing is sufficient if you want to find the ancient ancestral haplogroup
of your direct maternal line. It
will probably also be sufficient if you know the mtDNA haplogroup of one of the
probable ancestors in your maternal line (as a result of someone else testing)
and you want to verify that you are descended from that same ancestor.
However, if you want to find people related to
you on your all-female line, Full Mitochondrial Sequencing is much more likely
to give positive results. Even
then, you may not find a recent connection, depending on how far back you and
those who match you can trace ancestry, and how recently any mutations have
occurred.
FTDNA
ANNOUNCEMENT
We are pleased to announce our 2013 DNA DAY
Promotion. While the special
pricing features all the major tests, we’re placing particular emphasis on the
Full Mitochondrial Sequence and Family Finder. We’ll offer Y-DNA upgrades
during a Father’s Day (June 16 in the U.S.) sale and will give you those
details at that time.
In 2006, Family Tree DNA pioneered the use of
mitochondrial (mtDNA) full sequences to solve maternal genealogical puzzles and
to produce the deepest maternal haplogroups in the industry. At that time, only
a few academic researchers were using the power of the mtDNA full sequence for
anthropological studies.
Now 7 years later, all serious academic
researchers use mtDNA full sequences for their maternal lineage research.
Several prestigious institutions send their DNA samples to Family Tree DNA for
complete mtDNA sequencing.
Knowing that this testing level is the best value
for genealogy, we have preferred to see the mtDNA full sequencing used for all
genealogical purposes. However, limited lab capacity forced us to use pricing
as a mechanism to control the number of orders we receive. That’s about to
change!
We are proud to announce we have successfully
moved our mtDNA Full Sequencing line from Sanger DNA sequencing to what is
called Next Generation Sequencing (NGS). This gives us much greater capacity to
process tests, to reduce costs without sacrificing quality, and to ensure
shorter turnaround times.
For a limited time we
will be selling the FMS for $189 and whether you’ve tested HVR1 or HVR1+2, you’ll
be able to upgrade to the Full Sequence for just $129!
(How
about showing what prices were before?)
Full MtDNA Sequence….
$189
Upgrades to FMS….$129
Y-DNA37 (new and
add-on)…. $119
Y-DNA67 (new and
add-on)…. $199
Y-DNA37 + Full MtDNA
Sequence…. $308
Y-DNA12 + FF…. $218
Y-DNA37 + FF…. $288
Y-DNA67 + FF…. $368
Family Finder.... $169
Family Finder + Full
MtDNA Sequence…. $358
SuperDNA…. $388 (Y-67 +
FMS)
Comprehensive DNA….
$557 (Y-67 + FMS + FF)
The sale will begin tonight, April 18th, at 6PM
CDT and will conclude at 11:59PM CDT on Monday April 22nd. All orders must be
placed and paid for by the end of the sale to receive the promotional price.
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BE SURE YOUR
AUTOSOMAL DNA TEST IS ON CHARTS
If you have taken an autosomal DNA test at 23andMe
or at Family Tree DNA, check the charts on the autosomal DNA page of the Graves
Family Association website to be sure your Graves/Greaves lineage is shown on
the appropriate chart.
If you have tested at Ancestry.com or anywhere
else, please check and let me know also.
To determine matching DNA segments on Ancestry.com, you will need to
download your DNA raw data file from Ancestry.com and then upload it to
GEDmatch as discussed in the next article.
If you have taken an autosomal DNA test and you
have Graves or Greaves ancestry, no matter which company you have tested with,
it will be very helpful for you to download your DNA data and upload both your
DNA data and a GEDCOM to GEDmatch (as discussed in an article in the previous
GF Bulletin). I will help you or
do it for you if necessary.
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UPLOADING OF
ANCESTRY.COM DATA TO GEDMATCH NOW AVAILABLE
The
ability to upload your Ancestry.com DNA raw data file has now been added to the
GEDmatch website.
This is a very important development, since
Ancestry.com does not presently provide any way to know which DNA segments you
share on which chromosomes with your surname matches.
To download autosomal DNA results from Ancestry:
Go to Ancestry and sign in
if you need to. Then click on the
DNA tab at the top of the page.
Click on “Manage Text Settings” (next to the orange View Results
button). Click on “Get Started” in
the “Download your raw DNA data” section.
Then just follow the instructions.
Before downloading your data, it is necessary to re-enter your
password. Then you are sent an
email to confirm the download.
After that, the data is downloaded as a zip file and then needs to be
unzipped before you can look at it or upload it to GEDmatch.
To upload a GEDCOM and
autosomal DNA results to GEDmatch:
Go
to GEDmatch. Scroll down to the section to “Upload Your Data Files.” Select the upload option you want to
perform, and click on the link.
You should upload your raw data files and your GEDCOM file. (If you don’t have a GEDCOM file but
you do have your family tree in a genealogy program, you can create one with
that program.) You should be sure
to upload your GEDCOM with complete information that includes all known
descendants of ancestors, not just your direct ancestors. Unless you upload your complete file,
you may inadvertently omit the individual who links you to another person’s
genealogy. After you click on the
desired link for the upload, just follow the instructions.
After
you have uploaded results to GEDmatch, be sure to let me know the ID numbers
for your results and your GEDCOM, so that I can help you search.
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WHY IT IS IMPORTANT
TO KNOW WHAT DNA SEGMENTS YOU SHARE WITH YOUR DNA MATCHES
When
you take an autosomal DNA test, your first thought may be to find who you are
related to. Whether you order the
test from Family Tree DNA, 23andMe, or Ancestry, you get a list of people that
you match, meaning you share enough DNA with them to be considered related
within no more than perhaps 5 or 6 generations. Then you look to see what surnames you and each person who
matches you have in common. If you
are lucky, both you and the other person have done enough genealogical research
and posted a family tree or GEDCOM to allow you to identify a common
ancestor. You then may assume that
your shared surname or the identified common ancestor is the one causing the
DNA matching.
Sometimes
you may find more than one surname in common and more than one common
ancestor. If you have identified
how you are related to one of your matches, you may feel that it doesn’t make
any difference what DNA segment is inherited from the common ancestor. After all, your objective was just to
find connections.
However,
we all know the many errors in submitted genealogies and even the difficulties
in proving relationships in our own family trees. How do we know that the ancestors in common are actually
correct? And how about most of the
DNA matches where no common ancestor can be identified? The way to confirm the correctness of
genealogical (family tree) matches and to narrow the search for unknown matches
is to match shared DNA segments with a particular ancestor. Without that it is mostly guessing.
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UPDATES TO THE
GFA WEBSITE
New
and updated genealogies continue to be added to the GFA website. Recent ones include the following:
Revised
58,
Pinkney Graves and Susan ------ of Caswell Co., NC
73,
Hardy Graves of SC & Pike Co., AL
118,
Latham Graves of NC, TN & Blount Co., AL
127,
James Graves and Laura B. Anderson of Caswell Co., NC
270,
John Graves/Greaves of Northamptonshire, England and VA
368,
Phillip Graves and Elizabeth Strickland of TN & TX
400,
Thomas Greaves and Mary ------ of Radford, Nottinghamshire, England
574,
Nancy Graves and John William Cole of SC, Richmond Co., NC & Lincoln Co.,
TN
625,
William Graves and Harriet ------ of MS, LA & TX
New
259,
Doctor Graves and Mary ------ of Fayetteville, Fayette Co., GA
265,
Thomas Greaves and Alles Archer of Birmingham, Warwickshire, England
266,
Austin Graves and Mary Ann Bishop of NY
293,
Aaron Graves and Sarah Ann Harvey of OH and IA
294,
Spencer Graves and Rachel ------ of Caswell Co., NC
307,
Monjett Graves and Alice Henry of Caswell Co., NC
314,
Jacob Graves and Edy ------ of Caswell Co., NC
376,
Sam Graves and Lilia ------ of Caswell Co., NC
378,
Edward Graves and Mary Donnell of Memphis, TN and Alamance and Guilford Cos.,
NC
In
addition, some of the charts have been updated, and some minor changes have
been made to some of the other website pages.
Some
of the major changes and additions to the website that have been discussed over
the years have not yet been made.
However, I am hoping that there will be progress in the not-too-distant
future.
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MOCAVO’S
SURNAME GROUPS AND OTHER FEATURES
According
to the April 5 issue of Mocavo Genealogy Blog, Mocavo has
terminated Mocavo Forums and has started Mocavo Surname Groups.
They
wrote: “There’s also a new twist in our Surname Groups that allows the most
valuable content to float to the top of the page. You can vote positively or
negatively on each question and answer. As a result, the most popular
questions and most relevant answers rise to the top so that you don’t have to
dig through heaps of information to find the good stuff. Next to each question
or answer within a Surname Group, you will see arrows. If you find a
question you are interested in or response that is particularly helpful, you
can “vote it up” so that more people will see it. If you find a question to be
wildly off topic or unhelpful or if you think an answer is inaccurate, you can
“vote it down” so that it will migrate to the bottom of the page. The topics at
the top of the page will be the ones with the highest number of “up” votes so
that you can quickly see the most valuable questions and answers.”
The
Graves surname group is
presently at position 132 on the list of most popular groups. When I tried it, the Search function to
find a particular surname didn’t seem to work, but you can easily find any
surname of interest by going to Mocavo,
clicking on the link for Groups on the left, and then adding / and the surname
of interest to the end of the URL at the top of your browser. All surnames for which Mocavo has any
information seem to be included.
The
Surname Queries link for each surname is the Message Boards of
Ancestry.com. However, there also
seems to be a Mocavo Queries link, which you can get to by clicking on the “Go
to All Queries” link after the Surname Queries. Even for the most popular surnames, there were almost no
queries posted and no answers for those that were posted. But this is a new feature and it will
be interesting to see what success it has.
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HOW DO PEOPLE
SHARE GENEALOGICAL INFORMATION?
The
April 10 issue of The Weekly Genealogist
(vol. 16, no. 15), the online newsletter of the New England Historic
Genealogical Society, takes a reader survey every week. The April 3 survey asked
how people share their genealogical information. The responses from the 3,898
people who responded were:
94%, Email
63%, Postal mail
54%, Telephone calls
46%, Online message boards or forums
49%, Genealogical or historical website
18%, Published book or article
18%, Commercial website
12%, Lectures and presentations
10%, Personal website
11%, Social media website
5%, Personal blog
2%, Someone else's blog
2%, Instant messages
<1%, Twitter
14%, Other
The
reason this article was of interest to me is the apparent discrepancy between
these communications channels and those of the general population (especially
the younger part of the population) for non-genealogical purposes. Young people seem to prefer online
chats and text messaging, and social media sites such as Facebook, Google+,
Pinterest, and others. They want
to be able to share information quickly and easily and to get an immediate
response. For them, postal mail is
from the dark ages, and email and telephone calls aren’t much better. In addition, many business people are
overwhelmed with too many email messages and are looking for a better way to
communicate. I suspect that, as
these people get older and some of them get interested in genealogy, there will
be a large change in how they get and share genealogical information.
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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
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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.