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. 9, Dec. 17, 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

** Special Discount Offer for New DNA Tests

** Reminder of the Trip to England in 2009

** Graves Family Meetings In Your Area

** Graves Families of SC, GA, AL & AR

** Graves Families of Caroline Co. & Halifax Co., VA

** Grave/Graves Families of Norfolk, England

** Greaves Families of Yorkshire, England

** To Submit Material to this Bulletin & Other Things

 

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GENERAL COMMENTS

 

Here we are a week before Christmas, almost the end of 2007, and some of us are wondering where the year has gone.  Along with the holiday preparations, perhaps we are trying to get those things done that we had hoped to do long before now.

 

If you are still thinking about a holiday present for yourself or a family member, two suggestions are a DNA test (as mentioned in the first article below) or one of the Graves family books that have been published (go to the GFA website and click on the Products tab).  A book can still get to you in time for Christmas if you let me know very soon and perhaps also pay extra for expedited shipping.

 

We are continuing to make progress in piecing families together.  Discussions of four family groups are mentioned in this issue of the Bulletin.

 

I hope that I will have the opportunity to see some of you at one of our meetings, and perhaps also on our tour of England in 2009.  For now, Sarah and I wish you all a wonderful and blessed holiday season.

 

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SPECIAL DISCOUNT OFFER FOR NEW DNA TESTS

 

As mentioned in the previous issue of this Bulletin, Family Tree DNA is again offering the traditional Holiday Gift Certificates.

 

They have posted 6 credits to our project's General Fund for the following:

 

This means that if you or a family member place a new order between now and year-end, you may be able to get one of these discounts.  This does not apply to upgrades.  Take advantage of this, and act now.

 

To use the certificate:

 

The order must be placed and paid for by December 31, 2007.

 

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REMINDER OF THE TRIP TO ENGLAND IN 2009

 

The plans for our tour of England in 2009, in May or June of that year, are progressing.  Please let me know whether you may be interested in taking part. The tour will be about 12 days, starting from and ending in London.  The cost will probably be only slightly more than the trip in 1995, which was about $2,400 per person (not including air transportation to and from England).  More information about that trip can be seen on the GFA website under Activities/Recent Events.

 

For any of you who may have looked at the website but failed to see the link for the form to indicate preliminary interest, it is now easier to find.  It is in the first paragraph in the “What’s New” section of the main page.  There is also a link at the end of the sidebar section for “Next Events”.  If you have any problem with the form, just send me an email with your name, address, likely number in your group, and whether you might be interested in an optional add-on tour of Ireland and/or Scotland.

 

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GRAVES FAMILY MEETINGS IN YOUR AREA

 

There are several meetings scheduled for the next several months, all of which I will be speaking at.  For more information on some of them, see the GFA website.  The first is the meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the GFA on Saturday, Jan. 26, 2008, at the Army Navy Club in Arlington, VA.

 

There may be a meeting the next day, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2008, in Yanceyville, Caswell Co., NC.  I have been working with Rick Frederick to try to make that happen, but we don’t seem to be able to finalize anything.

 

In the event that the meeting in Yanceyville isn’t scheduled (or maybe even if it is), I would like to schedule a couple of meetings in various places in southern Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and/or Georgia, on our way to Florida.  The times would be Sunday afternoon, Jan. 27, and evenings Monday, Jan. 28 through Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2008.  If you would like to have a meeting in your area to talk about your part of the Graves/Greaves family and hear about some of the exciting things that are happening, let me know as soon as possible.  We can arrange to meet at a local library, in a motel conference room, or anywhere else that might be convenient.

 

Then, in March 2008, there will be a Graves gathering in Auburn, AL, probably on March 8.  More details will be announced on the website and in this bulletin.

 

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GRAVES FAMILIES OF SC, GA, AL & AR

 

As a result of our DNA study, we now know that genealogy 48 (James W. Graves and Melissa K. Ray of SC, MS & AR), 78 (James Graves and Sarah ‑‑‑‑‑‑ of SC & GA), 189 (Richard Graves and Polly Lucy ‑‑‑‑‑‑ of SC & AR), 258 (George William Graves of GA, MS & TX), and 920 (William P. Graves and Louisa F. Goss of SC, GA, AL & TX) all share a common ancestor.  I have done some conjecturing about how these families may be connected, and those results are shown on the summary chart that can be viewed from the charts page on the GFA website.

 

Largely as the result of research done over many years by Col. (Ret.) Roger B. Graves, a descendant, it appears that a John Graves of South Carolina may have been the common ancestor of all these families.  This John Graves, Sr. lived on Bear Creek in what was for a while Camden District, and is now Lancaster Co., SC, and received a land grant in 1785 for 200 acres, surveyed for him in 1775.  There were 4 younger Graves men (Patrick, James, William, and John) all living adjacent to or within 2 miles of the elder John Graves.  They were in the 1790 census for Camden District, SC, and may have all been sons of John Graves.

 

In addition to more documentary evidence for these families, it would be helpful to learn more about the descendants of presumed sons Patrick, William and John (James is gen. 78).  William Graves is known to have married Mary Shaver, and that turns out to be genealogy 381.  A descendant of that family is presently being tested to verify the connection.  We also need to upgrade all the existing DNA tests for these families to at least 37 markers, and preferably 67 to better tell how they are connected to each other.  Finally, we need to find and test family members in England to learn where this family came from and their ancestry.

 

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GRAVES FAMILIES OF CAROLINE CO. & HALIFAX CO., VA

 

This is another one of those success stories where we know that there are about 20 family segments (separate genealogies) that are all descended from a common ancestor.  We don’t yet know whether the common ancestor was in America or in England, but it appears that the latest he could have been born was about 1700.

 

To see more about this part of the Graves family, go to the charts page of the GFA website, and click on the link on the far right side for any of the genealogies involved, including 49, 145, 155, etc.  This will take you to the section where the related genealogies are grouped together.  The summary charts can be accessed from there.

 

The latest discovery is that the DNA test results for a descendant of John Graves and Martha Haskins of Albemarle Co., VA (gen. 906) exactly match the results for a descendant of Ira Graves (gen. 49, son of Snead Graves).  Ira was previously thought to probably be an uncle of John, so these test results confirm that belief.

 

We still have quite a few families in this group that have not been DNA-tested.  We would also like to find relatives in England.

 

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GRAVE/GRAVES FAMILIES OF NORFOLK, ENGLAND

 

In response to a question from a Grave/Graves family member, a new family grouping has been added to the charts page.  There are presently 7 genealogies included in this section.  None of them have a descendant who has taken part in our DNA study, and that is an urgent need.

 

In addition to the 5 existing genealogies in this group (genealogies 198, 199, 668, 682, and 757), two new genealogies have been created (965 and 966)).

 

It may well be that DNA testing will show that these families are not only related to each other, but also related to families of Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, or elsewhere in England.  Your help in adding to our knowledge of these families and finding descendants to do DNA testing will be greatly appreciated.

 

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GREAVES FAMILIES OF YORKSHIRE, ENGLAND

 

Another family group that has seen changes on the Graves Family Association website is the Greaves families of Yorkshire, England.  There is a large section on the charts page of the website.  Two Yorkshire families have been DNA-tested and found to match each other.  These are genealogy 197 (William Greaves, Susanna Parkin, and Ann Haigue of Ecclesfield) and genealogy 336 (Peter Greaves of Greenhill, Norton, South Yorkshire).  (With this second genealogy, there is some serious question about the validity of the first 2 generations, and they will probably have to be changed.)  A third genealogy that matches these two is genealogy 156 for Joseph Greaves of England and SC, USA.

 

In addition to these tested genealogies, there are 8 families from the Bradford/Leeds area and 4 families of the Ecclesfield/Sheffield area that have not been tested.  Undoubtedly, some of these will match the 3 families already tested.  We need your help!

 

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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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