GRAVES FAMILY BULLETIN
Vol. 17, No. 3, April 28,
2015
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
© 2015 by the Graves Family Association and Kenneth V. Graves. All rights reserved.
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CONTENTS
**
General Comments
**
Proverbs From the Guild of One-Name Studies
**
Unique DNA and Family History Event In NY City
**
Special Offer From Family Tree DNA
**
New Source for British History
**
Updates to the GFA Website
**
Interesting Observation About Y-DNA Testing
**
More Help for Those Researching African-American Families
**
Architect Michael Graves Has Died
**
Discussion of How WeÕre All Related
**
New Feature for AncestryDNA
**
To Submit Material to this Bulletin & Other Things
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GENERAL
COMMENTS
This
is the first issue of this bulletin since Feb. 16. I hope you find it helpful and interesting. Note the special offer from Family Tree
DNA for a Big Y test, expiring the end of April.
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PROVERBS FROM
THE GUILD OF ONE-NAME STUDIES
The
following are a couple of genealogy-related proverbs recently quoted on the
Guild of One-Name Studies (GOONS) mailing list.
"To forget
one's ancestors is to be a brook
without a source,
a tree without a root."
- Chinese Proverb
"If you are
the last living link
Between your
grandparents and your grandchildren,
Don't break the
chain."
- unknown
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UNIQUE DNA AND
FAMILY HISTORY EVENT IN NY CITY ON JUNE 6
Family
Tree DNA issued an announcement on March 23 of the first-ever gathering that
will bring together genetically linked people. The announcement said: ÒFamily Tree DNA is
proud to offer you an opportunity to deepen your understanding of your genetic
past and meet your cousins from around the world - and have a blast doing
it!
Family Tree DNA has partnered with The Global Family Reunion to put on a unique
event: the first-ever gathering that brings together genetically linked people.
While at the gathering, you will get to hear from top scientists and
entertainers on all aspects of DNA and family.Ó There was an early-bird registration price, but that was
only good through April 1. The
event will be June 6, 2015 in the New York Hall of Science, New York City.
All proceeds from the Global Family Reunion go to
benefit the Cure Alzheimer's Fund and the Alzheimer's Association
NYC.
If you can't make it to New York, there will be simultaneous
festivals around the world with a livestream of the speakers.
The
Global Family Reunion will be an entertaining, eye-opening festival for all
ages - a TED conference meets a World's Fair - so bring
your kids, nephews, grandkids, and grandparents. All proceeds from the
event go toward fighting Alzheimer's disease.
What can you expect at Global Family
Reunion?
¥
See more than 30
top speakers with fascinating presentations on genetics and
family heritage, including Henry Louis Gates of PBS's Finding Your Roots,
filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, NPR host Scott Simon, and Family Tree DNA President
Bennett Greenspan
¥
Meet thousands of cousins and figure out
how you are related
¥
Explore more than 450 interactive science
exhibits from the New York Hall of Science
¥
Enjoy live entertainment, including music
by Sister Sledge, who will be singing "We Are Family," of course.
There will also be comedy from The New Yorker's Andy
Borowitz and comedian Nick Kroll
¥
Take part in family-themed trivia contests,
scavenger hunts, games, and potato sack races for those who are bold
¥
Help build the biggest family tree ever
¥
Meet the staff from Family Tree DNA, as
well as Family Tree DNA partners such as MyHeritage and Findmypast, and get
exclusive tutorials
¥ Break world records, including the biggest family photo ever
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SPECIAL OFFER
FROM FAMILY TREE DNA
On
April 24, 2015, Family Tree DNA sent the following announcement:
DNA Day 2015 is here! Every year
students, teachers, and the public take this day to learn more about genetics
and genomics!
Celebrate advances in the field of genetics
with a Family Finder test, and don't forget to tune in to CBS Sunday Morning
this Sunday, 4/26/2015 for an exciting DNA segment!
Family
Tree DNA is looking forward to offering many exciting deals beginning summer
2015. This DNA Day, use coupon code DNADayBigY to take $100
off Big Y. This coupon is valid from 12:00 AM 4/25/2015 through
11:59 PM 4/30/2015.
The
following image was included to answer the question of ÒWhy take the Big Y
test?Ó Although it is still fairly
early in the use of SNPs to determine the relationship of parts of the Graves
and Greaves families to each other, and the positioning of individuals within
family, this test is an important step along that road. Taking this test is encouraged. Only males can take this test since
only they have Y-chromosomes.
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NEW SOURCE FOR
BRITISH HISTORY
A
website called ÒIntriguing HistoryÓ
may be of interest to those of you who have British ancestry. It connects people, events and places
by period, century, and a wide range of historic themes, across 2,000 years of
British history (although their website says 1,000 years). This is a project that is experimenting
with mapping and connecting historical information across a wide range of
British historical themes of particular interest to family, local and social
historians. In addition to blog
articles on various subjects, the site map provides
links to a series of periods in history, historic themes, maps, etc.
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UPDATES TO THE
GFA WEBSITE
The
genealogies listed below have been revised or created. Note that some of the Grieve and
Grieves genealogies in this list pertain to the Grieve/Grieves article in the
previous GF Bulletin. Whenever the
name of a genealogy is changed or a new genealogy is added to the website, the
numerical index (charts page) is also updated. The alphabetical index is often also updated, but
(unfortunately) not always.
Genealogies
recently revised and updated:
¥ Gen. 10, Elijah Graves of
U.S. and Ontario, Canada
¥ Gen. 97, William Graves and
Tabitha Sanders of NC & AL
¥ Gen. 157, Parents of George
Clinton Graves of Lynchburg, VA
¥ Gen. 168, Thomas Graves of
Hartford, CT & Hatfield, MA
¥ Gen. 218, Warren Graves and
Harriette ------ of Caswell Co. & Rockingham Co., NC
¥ Gen. 447, Alexander Grieve
and Marion Gibson of Borthwick, Temple, and Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland
¥ Gen. 636, Parents of Alfred
Graves and Emily ------ of NC, VA & OH (probably part of gen. 22)
¥ Gen. 789, Alfred Graves and
Annie May Walden Spoon of Randolph Co., NC
New
genealogies created:
¥ Gen. 435, William Grieve and
Ann Patterson of Ceres, Fife, Scotland
¥ Gen. 446, John Grieve of
Dumfriesshire, Scotland
¥ Gen. 459, James Grieves and
Helin Williamson of St. Andrews and St. Leonards, Fife, Scotland
¥ Gen. 460, James Grieve and
Margaret Wood of Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland
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INTERESTING
OBSERVATION ABOUT Y-DNA TESTING
It
was recently pointed out on the ISOGG mailing list that men who are Y-DNA
matches may occasionally be in different Y-haplogroups (although I am not aware
of that ever happening in the Graves DNA project). When that happens, the men are not actually descended from a
common ancestor within genealogical time (that is, within the time that
surnames have been in use). The explanation
for that is called Òconvergent evolution.Ó (A Y-haplogroup as discussed here is defined as the most
recent SNP that all members of a surname group share.)
Convergent
evolution is defined in biology as the independent evolution of similar features
in species of different lineages.
This term may not be technically appropriate when applied to Y-DNA test
results, but what is meant is that the Y-DNA markers that were tested in two
different men were the same (or almost the same) by chance (similar to the
situation with autosomal DNA results where two DNA segments are said to be
Òidentical by stateÓ).
Although
this situation is probably unusual, it is one reason why testing more STR
(single tandem repeat) markers is sometimes a good idea. It is also a reminder that the ultimate
test for Y-DNA matching may someday be testing SNPs (single nucleotide
polymorhisms). We have generally
not yet found SNPs that distinguish one surname family from another, however,
but I am expecting we will eventually have that ability.
AN EXAMPLE FROM GRAVES
GENEALOGY GROUP R1-168
On
the Y-DNA master
chart for the Graves/Greaves DNA study, there is a column for haplogroup. A haplogroup in green has been confirmed
by SNP testing, and one in red are predicted from STR values. If a red haplogroup does not agree with
other haplogroups in a genealogy group, that should not be taken as proof that
the test with the red haplogroup does not belong in that genealogy group until
the haplogroup is confirmed. The
other thing to understand about the haplogroups within a genealogy group is
that the listing of a different SNP in the haplogroup does not necessarily mean
that the haplogroups are different, since one of those SNPs is usually
downstream (that is, more recent) from the other. For example, genealogy group R1-168 for the Graves families
of the Hertford/Harlow area of England (genealogies 65, 168, 169, etc.) has
haplogroups R-M269, R-U106, R-M173, R-L21, and R-P311. If you look at the Y-DNA SNP chart for
haplogroup R on the Graves Family Association website here (chart just updated),
you will see that L21 is downstream from P311, which is downstream from M269,
which is downstream from M173. But
U106 is also downstream from P311, and U106 and L21 are indeed different
haplogroups. So either the sample
with U106 or the one with L21 doesnÕt belong in this group, or one of them is
wrong. Since L21 is green, the
U106 is the one that should be checked.
In addition, since the U106 sample is a close match to 5 other samples
in this group, at least one other should also be confirmed, since the STR test
results of all 6 of these samples are significantly different from the rest of
this group to indicate that they may not really belong in the group.
WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE
Although
many SNPs can be tested for individually, the best thing for a person to do
whose haplogroup needs to be confirmed is to order a Deep Clade test at Family
Tree DNA. In the R1-168 group
discussed in the preceding paragraph, the haplogroups of only 2 tests have been
confirmed.
It
can be seen in the Graves/Greaves Y-DNA master chart that hardly any of the haplogroup
assignments have been confirmed.
At least a few people in every genealogy group should order a Deep Clade
test or specific SNPs to extend the line closer to the present and
differentiate the families from each other.
THE Y-DNA SNP CHART FOR HAPLOGROUP
R
For
those of you who have not looked at this chart (mentioned above in the R1-168 discussion) on the GFA
website, it is a greatly simplified version of the complete R-haplotree that
needs to be greatly enhanced by much more testing by Graves/Greaves male
descendants. The present version
is shown below and on the
GFA website.
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MORE HELP FOR
THOSE RESEARCHING AFRICAN-AMERICAN FAMILIES
ANCESTRY.COM BLOG
In
its blog of 27 Feb. 2015, Ancestry.com had an article called ÒRestoring
Slave Families Using USCT Pension RecordsÓ. This is a resource for learning more about those who served
in the U.S. Colored Troops and applied for a pension. The government generally requested much documentation, and
there can be up to 100 pages in some of these files. There are options to request a ÒPension Documents Packet,Ó
which contains only 8 documents or to order the entire pension file; the
recommendation is to request the entire file if you can afford it.
On
March 2, the Ancestry.com blog had an article titled ÒRich
Finds in FreedmanÕs Bank Records, 1865-1874.Ó The article mentions the information that might be found in
these records and how to search them.
All
archived articles are available on this blog, and can be found by searching by
category, date, subject, or name.
AMERICAN ANCESTORS VITA
BREVIS BLOG
Vita Brevis is a blog of the New England
Historic Genealogical Society, designed to offer the reader short essays by the
SocietyÕs expert staff on their own research as well as news of the greater
genealogical community. A brief
article dated 24 Feb. 2015 on Vita Brevis is called ÒResearching
Your African American Family.Ó
This is a fairly new blog, and searching for other articles of interest
by a couple methods is easy to do.
WEBINAR FROM NEW ENGLAND
HISTORIC GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY
A
free webinar called ÒAfrican American Resources at NEHGSÓ took place on
Thursday, March 26, 3 p.m. EST.
They will probably be having other events like this in the future.
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ARCHITECT
MICHAEL GRAVES HAS DIED
Celebrated
American architect Michael Graves has died at 80 years of age. Known for creating whimsical postmodern
structures, he designed more than 350 buildings around the world. He became well known to the masses
later in life for designing products for people with disabilities and household
goods such as whistling teakettles sold at Target and other stores. He died of natural causes at his home
in Princeton, NJ, on Thursday, March 12.
More
information is in articles in USA
Today and the New
York Times. Another article
about some of those more personally affected by Michael Graves was in the Town
Topics community newspaper in Princeton, NJ. He is included on the page of Famous Family Members on
the Graves Family Association website.
He is in genealogy 94 (Thomas Sims Graves of Culpeper Co., VA), which is
probably descended from genealogy 220 (Francis Graves of VA), and before that
from genealogy 228.
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DISCUSSION OF
HOW WEÕRE ALL RELATED
ANCESTRY AND RELATEDNESS OF
U.S. PRESIDENTS
We
all generally know that because of extensive intermarriage within populations,
anyone whose ancestors lived somewhere such as Colonial America for any length
of time is probably related to everyone else in that population, often in
multiple ways. And, of course, if
we go back far enough, we find that everyone in the world is apparently related
to everyone else, however distantly.
An interesting story about this appeared on March 17 in Elite Daily,
titled Ò12
Year Old Girl Discovers That All But One US President Are Directly Related to
Each Other.Ó
According
to this story, a 12-year-old girl, with the help of her grandfather, discovered
that all the presidents except for Martin Van Buren share a common ancestor,
King John of England (the king who signed the Magna Carta). There is always some uncertainty about
the correctness of lineages like this, but it does show my point. One place to see the actual lineages
from King John to each of the presidents is in this
article on the Reality Blogs website by Tim Dowling.
UPCOMING PRESENTATION ABOUT
ANCESTRY OF U.S. PRESIDENTS
Gary
Boyd Roberts, renowned genealogist, scholar, and author, gave a free lecture on
the ancestry of American presidents, with special emphasis on Abraham Lincoln,
on Wednesday, April 15, 6-7 p.m., at the New England Historic Genealogical
Society, 99-101 Newbury St., Boston, MA.
Although free, registration is required by clicking here
and then clicking ÒAdd to cart.Ó
(This bulletin was intended to be published before this event happened.)
HENRY LOUIS GATES AND HUMAN
INTERCONNECTEDNESS
An
article by Henry Louis Gates and Julie Granka on April 8 in the Ancestry blog
is called ÒThe
Interconnectedness of the Human Family.Ó The point is made that with each more distant generation on
our family tree, the number of potential ancestors is doubled. Going the other direction, if each
ancestor in your family tree had 2.5 children on average, you would have 8
first cousins and more than 110,000 seventh cousins. And if your ancestors averaged 4 children instead, you would
have over 6 million seventh cousins.
Allowing for Òpedigree collapseÓ, cousins marrying close or distant cousins
reduces those numbers significantly, but it is obvious that most people from
the same continent are related, probably multiple times, to everyone else in
the same population.
The
article goes on to try to make the point that AncestryDNA, the autosomal DNA
test from Ancestry, can help you find many of those relatives and ancestors
that could never be found by traditional document research. See the following article for more
discussion of that claim.
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NEW FEATURE
FOR ANCESTRYDNA
There
was an article in the April 2
issue of EastmanÕs Online Genealogy Newsletter about this titled ÒAncestryDNA
Launches Revolutionary New Technology to Power New Ancestor Discoveries.Ó On an April 9 article
in the DNAeXplained blog, Roberta Estes discussed AncestryDNA and Ancestry
Circles, how they work, and some of the shortcomings.
My
experience is that when you go to Ancestry.com now, the first thing that is
displayed is a screen that says: ÒWeÕre turning family history inside out. Now you can find new ancestors just
through your DNAÓ (referring to their ancestryDNA autosomal DNA test). If you click on the ÒShow me howÓ link
and are a paying member of Ancestry.com, the page that is displayed shows an
ethnicity estimate, DNA matches, new ancestor discoveries, and DNA Circles (for
people who are already in your family tree). In my case, I am in 13 DNA Circles based on my ancestry
chart plus DNA matches.
According
to Ancestry.com, ÒNew Ancestor DiscoveriesÓ are potential ancestors and
relatives that are found by comparing my DNA to people who have already built
family trees beyond parts of mine.
ÒClicking on the photo of your potential new ancestor or relative will
lead you on the path to discovering amazing new details of your family story as
you determine how they may fit into your family tree.Ó When I first looked at my potential
ancestors/relatives, I saw that I had 2, but when I looked again a few minutes
later, I had 4 - strange.
The 4 were John Henry Evans, Nancy Caroline Cantrell (wife of John Henry
Evans), William Blackburn Evans (brother of John Henry Evans), and China Capps
(wife of William Blackburn Evans).
John Henry Evans was a son of Charles Evans and Sarah Blackburn, and I
know I have Blackburn ancestry. My
conclusion is that they have identified a group of possible Blackburn
descendants, which is not a new discovery. These people are relatives but definitely not ancestors, and
unfortunately there is no revelation of a new ancestor or new discovery. Unfortunately I cannot see which
segments of which chromosomes are being shared, so there is no way for me to
evaluate this matching further.
My
conclusion is that these tools are interesting and of some help, but they have
a long way to go to be as helpful as they may be eventually, and they certainly
donÕt provide the proof that a chromosome browser would.
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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
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editor reserves the right to accept, edit or reject any material submitted.
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If
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Graves Family Association, 20 Binney Circle, Wrentham, MA 02093 (more details
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COPYRIGHTS:
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