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. 9, No. 6, June 9, 2007

 

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Copyright © 2007 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

** June 2007 Reunion in Williamsburg, VA

** Two More Major Reunions in 2007 after Williamsburg

** Expansion of Our DNA Study?

** New DNA Study Discoveries

** Follow-up to Discussion of Descendants of Capt. Thomas Graves of VA

** New Information About Connections Between Families of SC, AL & TN

** An Interesting Source for New and Used Books

** To Submit Material to this Bulletin & Other Things

 

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GENERAL COMMENTS

 

The main reason for this issue of the Bulletin so soon after the previous one is to let you know about the Sorenson DNA study we will be participating in, and to give you time to prepare your ancestor charts if you want to be tested at the reunion in Williamsburg.  There are also a number of other happenings and discoveries that I haven’t been able to share with you previously.

 

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JUNE 2007 REUNION IN WILLIAMSBURG, VA

 

It is still not too late to sign up for the June 14-17 reunion in Williamsburg, VA, although you might have to pay online via PayPal.  The schedule and registration form is on the GFA website.  The attendance is expected to be about 210 (somewhere between 190 and 230).  If you want to attend, it would be best for you to contact me first via email or phone (see GFA website), and then send your registration and payment immediately. (I will be leaving for Virginia about noon on Tuesday, June 12.)  If you have questions, contact me.  There may even be a room or two available at the Patrick Henry Inn because of a couple of recent cancellations.

 

For those who can’t get a room where they would prefer, or want to save some money, there are campgrounds in the area, and veterans can stay at military bases.

 

I have been asked by some of you whether Graves family books will be available at the reunion.  I will have a few of each volume, although the book on Capt. Thomas Graves of VA that many of those attending will be most interested in will not be available because it hasn’t yet been published.

 

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TWO MORE MAJOR REUNIONS IN 2007 AFTER WILLIAMSBURG

 

For those of you who can’t be at our reunion in Williamsburg this month, there are two more opportunities to get together.  There will be a reunion in Frankfort, KY on June 23-24, and another one in Waco, TX on July 27-28.  I will be at both of them, and I hope that many of you who aren’t able to join us in Virginia will be able to attend one of these.  To see more about these and to find out who to contact for more information, go to the reunions page of the website.

 

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EXPANSION OF OUR DNA STUDY

 

In the Feb. 13, 2007 issue of this Bulletin, I mentioned that we will be working with a non-profit organization called Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation.  This is not a replacement for our existing study but rather a valuable supplement.  Although they will be doing Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA testing (as in our present study), their most interesting program is for autosomal testing.  22 of the 23 pairs of human chromosomes are autosomal.  Although all the genetic material in these chromosomes is from our ancestors, it is very difficult to determine which part is from which ancestor.  The genetic material in each chromosome from the father is mixed in an unpredictable way with the genetic material from each matching chromosome from the mother.  However, by testing enough descendants of a family and using powerful computer processing on the test results, it is believed that ancestors can be determined many generations back.  One of the exciting aspects of this is everyone in a family can be tested, and there is the potential for the results to show all ancestors, not just one direct line.  You can see more about this study at www.smgf.org.  (If you go to that site, don’t request a test kit until we have finalized our procedure to maximize the benefits of participating in this study.)

 

Another big positive aspect of the Sorenson study is that it is free to participants.  There are also major drawbacks.  Since this study is not being done primarily for those who provide the samples but rather as a scientific investigation, it may be months or even years before all the samples are analyzed and all the results are posted; there will be no reporting of results to participants and none of the website pages that Family Tree DNA provides; and it will not be easy to retrieve and compare the results.  Regarding retrieval of the results, it is very important that all participants provide Ken Graves with a copy of the pedigree chart that is submitted; otherwise it will be very difficult to identify results.

 

Considering the objectives of Sorenson’s study, however, it is well worth our effort to take part in it.  Here is what you and other members of your family need to do and can expect:

(1) We will start with those of you who will be attending the reunion in Williamsburg next weekend and those of you who will be attending the reunion in Frankfort, KY June 23-24.  I will tell the rest of you what we will need to do to participate in the next GF Bulletin in early July.

(2) Everyone in your family can participate, both males and females.  The only requirement is that participants must be 7 years of age or older.

(3) Prepare and bring with you to the reunion an ancestry chart showing all your ancestral lines for at least 4 generations.  If you can go back farther, you should.  Many of you will be able to go back to the immigrant ancestor, at least on the Graves line.  This ancestry chart can be on paper or as a GEDCOM file on diskette.  The minimum information that should be included for everyone on the chart is name, and date and place of birth.

(4) At the reunion you will be asked to sign a consent form and provide a DNA sample by swishing a simple mouthwash rinse.

(5) I will be available at each reunion to help and to answer any questions.

 

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NEW DNA STUDY DISCOVERIES

 

We have found that gen. 336 (Peter Greaves and Elizabeth Hargrove of Greenhill, Norton, South Yorkshire) and gen. 197 (William Greaves, Susanna Parkin, and Ann Haigue of Ecclesfield, Yorkshire) share a common ancestor.  As a side comment, the first two generations of gen. 336 probably belong with a different genealogy, and they will probably be removed as soon as I can find time.  Also, if anyone can tell me where those first two generations belong, I would appreciate it.

 

We have just discovered that gen. 377 (John Grave and Elizabeth Fisher of Cumbria, England) is closely related to gen. 683 (Thomas Graves and Ann ------ of Cambridgeshire, England) and other families of the Cambridgeshire/Lancashire group shown on the GFA website.  That probably means that all the Grave families of Cumbria that are presumed to be related to gen. 377 are also closely related to the Cambridgeshire/Lancashire group.  Now we need descendants of these other Cumbria Grave families to participate in the DNA study to confirm their connections.

 

Not only was it found that genealogy 467 and genealogy 841 were part of the family of Capt. Thomas Graves of VA (genealogy 169) but the exact connections were found, and both genealogies have now been added to gen. 169.  It is interesting to see that the family of 467 lived in Williamsburg, VA, where our reunion this month will be.

 

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FOLLOWUP TO DISCUSSION OF DESCENDANTS OF CAPT. THOMAS GRAVES OF VA

 

William Thompson Graves of Charlotte, NC, a Capt. Thomas Graves descendant, reminded me of an article that he submitted in 1981.  The following information was previously published on pages 114, 118-119, 1981 Graves Family Newsletter.  The reason it is being published here is because it now seems as if it may be true.  In the line from Capt. Thomas1 Graves, John2, Thomas3, John4, the connection between the third and fourth generations may be incorrect.  If John4 was an immigrant to Virginia, as suggested by the following record in a family Bible, that would explain this situation.  The complete article is an appendix in the Capt. Thomas Graves genealogy, and you can go directly to it at http://www.gravesfa.org/gen169app6.htm.  [My recent comments are in square brackets below.]

 

It seems that sometimes family legends, no matter how implausible, sometimes turn out to be surprisingly true.  An example of this is the legend that John Graves of Randolph Co., NC, who married Margery Harvey (genealogy 77) was descended from John Graves of Concord, MA (genealogy 166).  I originally dismissed this as extremely unlikely.  However, when we began the DNA study, we found that both family groups had the same DNA, so it suddenly seemed very likely.

 

Mr. William T. Graves came across a record from the Bible of Solomon Graves, son of Rev. Barzillai Graves (who died 14 July 1827 in Caswell Co., NC).  The Bible belonged to Mrs. Elizabeth Burke (nee Graves) of Yanceyville, NC, and was copied by the N.C. Archives in 1971.  Although it is not certain, the record (at least in part) appears to be Solomon Graves’ attempt to recall his ancestry as of 1817.  Someone has added notes concerning family births and deaths occurring after 1817.  Mr. William T. Graves prepared the following transcription of the Bible record (with a few minor punctuation changes).  There are probably errors regarding Solomon’s birth.  For example, the record states that Joseph and Thomas Graves came to Virginia from England around 1700; that is unlikely [at least, it seemed very unlikely in 1981].

 

Ancestry, family, particulars -- according to the best information

that can be at present collected --- Anno D. 1817

 

It seems that about the year 1700, Joseph and Thomas Graves emigrated to America from England.  [This is the Thomas Graves, b. 1691, who married Ann Davenport.]  Being brothers, they both settled in the State of Virginia in the County of Spotsylvania.  Each of them married in that State and from them a numerous connection has descended.  Thomas intermarried with one Mary Perkins and had by this marriage only three children, two daughters and a son, and his wife died.  He then married a second time and by this marriage he had many sons.

 

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NEW INFORMATION ABOUT CONNECTIONS BETWEEN FAMILIES OF SC, AL & TN

 

Joseph A. Williams, Jr. recently sent me a genealogy for Joseph Greaves and Mary Bennett (genealogy 156) that was very interesting.  It shows 2 wives and 2 sets of children for John Graves, born 1746, son of Joseph.  Looking at the dates, the marriage to Susan would have had to have been his first, and the marriage to Charity his second. The interesting aspect of this is that John Graves who married Susan is genealogy 92 on the GFA website (at http://www.gravesfa.org/gen092.htm). It is apparent from looking at both genealogies, that the date of birth for both John Graveses are the same and the birthdates of the children fit nicely, so they certainly could be the same person. However, if both families are the same John Graves, then they are not related to the Graves families of Pike Co., AL.  And perhaps that is why John did not move to AL but to TN instead -- because he didn't have Graves relatives in Pike Co.  We have DNA test results for the Joseph Graves family (gen. 156) and for one of the Pike Co. Graves families (gen. 155). You can see these and other families that have been believed to be related on the charts page accessible from the main page of the GFA website. It has been believed that genealogy 92 was also part of this group of families in Pike Co., partly based on the Perkins family being related to both families. It appears that may be wrong, but it would be very helpful to find a male Graves descendant of gen. 92 to confirm that gen. 92 is part of gen. 156.  Help will be appreciated in finding a male descendant of genealogy 92 with the Graves surname who is willing to participate in the DNA study.

 

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AN INTERESTING SOURCE FOR NEW AND USED BOOKS

 

The minutes of the March 27, 2007 meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the GFA (available for viewing on the GFA website) mention an interesting website, http://www.abebooks.com.  The following description is from their site.

 

“At AbeBooks.com our mission is to help people find and buy any book from any bookseller anywhere.

 

AbeBooks, the world’s largest online marketplace for books, lists over 100 million new, used, rare, and out-of-print books from more than 13,500 booksellers. This great selection delivers value for all: readers find bestsellers, collectors find rare books, students find textbooks, and treasure hunters find books they’ve been seeking forever.”

 

Their search capability allows searching by various means.  When I searched by author, I got the following results for some of our surname variations.  Keep in mind that many of these are for multiple copies of the same book.

 

Graves -- 34, 640

Greaves – 4,974 (includes Greave & Graeve)

Grieve – 2,089 (not clear whether this includes Grieves)

Grieves – 2,036

Greve – 1,548

 

I even found several copies of books of mine that are still available from me.

 

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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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