SUCCESS STORIES

Success stories of individuals and families whose ancestry and connections have been determined as a result of the DNA study fall into several different categories, as shown below. These findings would probably never have been discovered by traditional genealogical searching, since much of the needed documentation was not available and some of the connections were not even suspected.

CONNECTIONS OF FAMILIES IN THE U.S. WITH EACH OTHER

• The families of Deacon George Graves of Hartford, CT (gen. 65) and Thomas Graves of Hartford, CT & Hatfield, MA (gen. 168) were found to be connected. They were probably brothers. This is especially significant because the probable origin of George Graves is believed to be in the area of Hertford, Hertfordshire, just north of London. He had relatives in London and probably in Nazeing. This means the origin of Thomas Graves should also be in this same area.
• The families of John Graves of Concord, MA (gen. 166), Rear Admiral Thomas Graves of Charlestown, MA (gen. 28), and John Greaves of St. Mary's Co., MD (gen. 247) are connected. This is important for determining ancestry in England, since much is known about the ancestry in England of Rear Adm. Thomas Graves.
• Humphrey Isaac Greaves of NC (gen. 50) and Thomas Graves of NC & Maury Co., TN (previously gen. 94) were found to be connected to the family of the Quaker family of Thomas Graves of New Castle Co., DE (gen. 85). The exact connection of Thomas Graves of NC & TN was previously suspected and has now been confirmed, and this family has been added to genealogy 85. The family of Thomas J. Graves of OH & DE (gen. 472) is also connected to this group, but the exact connection has not yet been found.
• The family of Marcus Graves and Betsey W. ------ of Bristol Co., MA (gen. 457) is closely related to that of Samuel Graves of Lynn, MA (gen. 83), and Marcus is almost definitely descended from Samuel.
• William M. Graves and Mary Holloway of TN (previously gen. 356) was found to descend from Johann Sebastian Graff (John Graves, gen. 105), and the genealogy was added to gen. 105.
• Beverly Graves of Caroline Co., VA (gen. 217), John Graves of Halifax Co., VA (was part of gen. 169, now gen. 145), and Archibald Pratt Graves and Martha Jane Caulder of SC (gen. 851) are all very closely related.
• Thomas Graves and Sarah Matilda Grider of KY (gen. 109), Basil Graves of GA and AL (gen. 172), Lewis Marion Graves and Martha Lisco of Newton Co., GA & FL (gen. 785), and Elijah Graves and Agnes Lacy of KY (gen. 443) were all found to be part the branch of the family of Capt. Thomas Graves of VA (gen. 169) descended from John⁴ Graves (who had sons John⁵ and Thomas⁵ who married Ann Davenport). The exact connections for the first 3 families have been found and those families have been added to the Capt. Thomas Graves genealogy.

CONNECTIONS OF FAMILIES IN U.S. AND ELSEWHERE TO FAMILIES IN ENGLAND

• The part of the family of Capt. Thomas Graves of VA (gen. 169) descended from John⁴ Graves (who had sons John⁵ and Thomas⁵ who married Ann Davenport) was shown to be closely related to William Greaves and Susanna ------ of Whitfield, Northamptonshire, England (gen. 47).
• John Graves of Frederick Co., VA (gen. 116) is closely related to Thomas Graves and Ann ------ of Cambridgeshire, England & Australia (gen. 683).
• The family of Samuel Graves of Lynn, MA (gen. 83) is closely related to Herbert Fletcher Graves/Greaves and Sarah Wright of Lincolnshire, England (gen. 428). This apparent connection to the family in Lincolnshire confirms an undocumented hypothesis of the origin of the family.
• In addition to the families of John Graves of Concord, MA (gen. 166), John Greaves of St. Mary's Co., MD (gen. 247), and Rear Adm. Thomas Graves of Charlestown, MA (gen. 28) being descended from known ancestors in England of Rear Adm. Thomas Graves, all these families are also closely related to the Greaves family of Macclesfield, Cheshire, England (gen. 334). The Macclesfield family may be descended from the Greaves family of Beeley, Derbyshire (gen. 228), although the first test on a descendant has not confirmed that connection.

DISPROVING OF PREVIOUSLY ACCEPTED ANCESTRAL CONNECTIONS

• DNA testing has shown that the previously accepted family of Capt. Thomas Graves of VA (gen. 169) actually consists of more than one family, and possibly as many as four. That is, the family is actually descended from more than one unrelated immigrant ancestors. Part of the family (apparently the part descended from Francis² Graves) is connected with that of John Graves of Concord, MA (gen. 166). This part is definitely not descended from Capt. Thomas Graves of VA. This contradicts a scholarly study published in 1936 and accepted by many hereditary societies since then.
  There are 3 other branches of the family. It is possible that all three of these are descended from Capt. Thomas Graves, but it seems more likely that they are descended from three different ancestors. A second part of the family (descended from John², Ralph³ Graves) is closely related to Thomas Graves of Hartford, CT (gen. 168) and George Graves of Hartford, CT (gen. 65). A third part of the family is probably descended from Thomas² Graves. This branch has not yet been found to connect with any other family. A fourth part of the family is descended from John⁴ Graves (who had sons John⁵ and Thomas⁵ who married Ann Davenport), and is closely related to William Greaves and Susanna ------ of Whitfield, Northamptonshire, England (gen. 47).

REARRANGEMENT OF BRANCHES WITHIN A FAMILY

• The most obvious example of this is for the family of Capt. Thomas Graves of VA (gen. 169). One line that was previously shown to be descended from Francis² Graves (because of a Bible record giving a date of birth as 1712 instead of 1706), was shown by DNA analysis to be descended from Thomas² Graves instead. In addition, a line from Thomas Sims Graves (descended from John² Graves) and another line from an unknown son of Ralph³ Graves were both determined to be from Francis² Graves.

DISCOVERY OR CONFIRMATION OF NON-PATERNAL EVENT

• Occasionally a branch of a family will carry a surname that is not that of the male ancestor of that branch. This can be because of adoption, name change, extra-marital affair, or other reason. For a line from the Quaker family of Thomas Graves of New Castle Co., DE (gen. 85), it was believed that the children of Polly⁵ Graves, daughter of Thomas⁴ Graves, was not married to a Graves man even though she gave the Graves name to all her children. This was confirmed by DNA testing.

Last updated 26 May 2003