GRAVES FAMILY BULLETIN
Vol. 16, No. 8, Aug. 11,
2014
A
Free, Occasional, Online Summary of Items of Interest to Descendants of all
Families of Graves, Greaves, Grieves, Grave, and other spelling variations
Worldwide
===============================================================
Copyright
© 2014 by the Graves Family Association and Kenneth V. Graves. All rights reserved.
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CONTENTS
**
General Comments
**
Graves Gathering in Arlington, VA, Sunday, August 17
**
Sorting Out the Descendants of William Graves and Sarah Fisher, Genealogy 270
or Genealogy 94?
**
Finding Content and Navigating in the GFA Website
**
Video About Surname Creation in Various Countries
**
Stuff About SNP Testing
**
Benefits and Shortcomings of Autosomal DNA Testing
**
Finding and Refining Autosomal DNA Matches on Family Finder from FTDNA
**
Are Family Characteristics Passed On From Our Ancestors?
Ancestry.com
**
Changing Boundaries of Countries in Europe
**
To Submit Material to this Bulletin & Other Things
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GENERAL
COMMENTS
As
usual, there are many subjects and much additional research results that I
would have liked to include in the issue of the GF Bulletin, but there are
never enough hours in the day.
The
most urgent article is about the Graves meeting for descendants of any Graves
or Greaves family this coming Sunday in Arlington, Virginia, just outside
Washington, DC. Be sure to attend
if you possibly can, and encourage others to attend also. I would love to see you there.
===============================================================
GRAVES MEETING
IN ARLINGTON, VA, SUNDAY, AUG. 17
A meeting of the
Graves Family Association Mid-Atlantic chapter (GFAMAC) will be held Sunday, August 17th, 2:45 PM to
6:00 PM, at the Army Navy Country Club in Arlington, VA. Ken Graves will be the featured
speaker. As with the July meeting
in Texas, this will be for all Graves/Greaves families. Refreshments will be available before
and during the meeting.
Registration starts
at 2:45 PM, followed by introductions at 3:00 PM, and the main program at 3:30-6:00
PM (consisting of presentations, discussions, and questions. If you are interested in attending,
contact John Graves, GFAMAC Coordinator, johngtmti@aol.com
for further information and directions.
===============================================================
SORTING OUT
THE DESCENDANTS OF WILLIAM GRAVES AND SARAH FISHER, GENEALOGY 270 OR GENEALOGY
94?
According to the information in genealogy 270: ÒWilliam Graves (40) was born
about 1755 in Culpeper Co., VA, and died in 1833 at the old home place in
Mackville, Washington Co., KY. It
is possible that his full name was William Thomas Graves, but there is no proof
of that. He married Sarah Fisher
of Culpeper Co., VA, possibly on 22 Dec. 1790 (although there is some belief
that that is the marriage date to a second wife).
It was
previously believed that the son Thomas was Thomas Sims Graves, born 13 July
1794 in Culpeper Co., VA, died 6 May 1859 in Nelson Co., KY, who first married
Harriet R. Gist and married second Mary E. Graves. Through DNA analysis, it has been conclusively proven that
Thomas Sims Graves was neither a descendant of Capt. Thomas Graves (genealogy
169) nor of genealogy 270. Uriah
Noah Graves was also confirmed by DNA testing to be a brother of Thomas Sims
Graves, and both have been put in genealogy 94. Both these men were sons of a William Graves. The
birth date of William Graves has been given as about 1755 by some researchers
and about 1776 by others, and he has been listed with different wives and
different children. The most
likely answer to this confusion is that there are two different men named
William Graves. We need to
separate the two families and perform DNA testing on any lines that are still
questionable. It is likely that
some of the other children listed below also belong in genealogy 94.Ó
I
had hoped to be able to write a fairly complete discussion of the research and
effort that has been put into separating these families by Debra (ÒDebÓ) Lowe
and others, but I have not been able to spend the time to do that. Perhaps one or more of those involved
in this effort can summarize the effort and the results so far. If so, I will be happy to include it in
a future issue of this bulletin.
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FINDING
CONTENT AND NAVIGATING IN THE GFA WEBSITE
FINDING GENEALOGIES AND
RELATED INFORMATION
When
you go to the GFA website at www.gravesfa.org,
there are a number of tabs at the top of the page. When you move your cursor
over any of those tabs, a drop-down menu will display. When you move your cursor to the
Research tab, one of the menu links displayed will be "Genealogies,
Numerical Listing and Charts". On that Charts page, you can go to any of the genealogies,
and then on the line for each genealogy will be a link to the actual genealogy
and sometimes a link to a chart for that genealogy (if there is a chart). Also,
at the end of the line for each genealogy will be an indication of whether that
genealogy is part of a related group. If it is part of a group, you can click
on the link to take you farther down the page to the group section, which may
have additional charts showing how the genealogies in the group may be related
to each other.
There
is also an alphabetical index of genealogies, also accessible from the Research
drop-down tab.
If
you know the genealogy number that you are looking for, you can always go
directly to it by using the URL (address of the website page) www.gravesfa.org/genxxx.htm,
where xxx should be replaced by the genealogy number. (For numbers less than 100, put a zero in front of the
number to make it three digits.)
FINDING CHARTS AND USING
THEM
A
question asked on the GFA Facebook page:
Where
is the chart for Francis Graves (genealogy 220) with all the yellow squares
with name & kit number, and my DNA match? I know you put Francis in genealogy
group 228. I have a copy of the original Francis chart, but the names and
numbers are too small to read. Where can I find my cousins and me?
My
response (with additions) was:
The
Y-DNA charts can all be found and accessed from the Charts page (also called
the Genealogies, Numerical Listing & Charts page) of the GFA website. Just
go to the GFA website, hover over the Research drop-down tab at the top of the
page, click on the Numerical Listing link, search for genealogy 220 or just
scroll down to it, and click on the Chart link. I know that some of the large
charts are very difficult to read because some PDF readers won't magnify more
that 400%, but I don't presently know a good way for everyone to avoid that
problem. For those who use the Safari browser on a Mac, there is no problem.
Perhaps using another browser would provide more magnification.
When
you print a large chart on one sheet of paper, the numbers will always be too
small to read. A solution to that
is to look at the chart online. If
you want to have a readable hard copy of the large chart, take or send a PDF of
the chart to a place that will print on larger size paper (such as an office
supply store) and have them print it for you.
When
looking at charts online, sometimes the print is too small because it canÕt be
enlarged enough. On my Mac,
FireFox and Chrome only magnify to 400%, and the printing on some of the charts
is too small to easily read.
However, Safari on my Mac displays the images much larger, and all
charts can be easily read. Most
browsers use an external PDF reader, so it is possible that using a reader
other than Adobe might be better for those browsers. Here is a link to some
other readers in case anyone would like to try this. However, some browsers have their own internal PDF
reader. I think FireFox is in that
category. In that situation it is still possible to use another reader but a
little more complicated to set it up.
Can anyone tell me a way to get more magnification of the charts for
everyone?
On
a Windows 7 computer that has both Internet Explorer and FireFox, Firefox zooms
to 6400% and IE zooms to 1000%.
Chrome also zooms to a reasonable level, probably about 1000%.
OTHER FINDING AIDS ON THE
GFA WEBSITE
In
addition to the indexes mentioned above, there is a search feature on the main
page of the GFA website that will let you search all genealogies or the entire
website. Toward the top left of
the main page is a rectangular green box that says Òclick here to search
website.Ó When you click it, you
get two options. The top one is
ÒSearch the Graves Family Association websiteÓ, which lets you search for any
string of characters on the entire site.
Below that is ÒClick to search genealogies.Ó When you click that you can search for a name of a Graves
descendant, a date associated with that person (date of birth, death or
marriage), and the name of the personÕs spouse. The information entered in any of these three fields must be
exactly the way the information appears in the genealogy, however, so sometimes
it is better to enter less information rather than more. For instance if Thomas Alexander Graves
married Mary Smith in July 1836, and I searched for Thomas Smith and spouse
Mary Smith, I wouldnÕt find them, whereas if I just entered Thomas and spouse
Smith, I would find them (and perhaps a couple of others also).
===============================================================
VIDEO ABOUT
SURNAME CREATION IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES
The
Gens Video Web
(The Genealogy Channel) is an interesting educational website that I wasnÕt
previously aware of. A very good
video about the history of surnames and surname creation in many different
countries can be found on the main page of the website or by clicking here. There are several other videos on this
website also.
===============================================================
STUFF ABOUT
SNP TESTING
FROM THE GENETIC GENEALOGIST
Blaine
Bettinger wrote in his blog article of 13 June 2014: ÒBig Y is the name given
to the incredible Y-DNA test that sequences 11-12 million base pairs of the Y
Chromosome in order to characterize known SNPs and to identify novel
SNPs.Ó [This test] Òis
already being used to find so-called Òfamily specificÓ Y-DNA SNPs and will help
genealogists further refine the Y-DNA Haplogroup Tree. Additionally, Family
Tree DNA just launched cousin matching using Big Y results! This is a huge
development, being able to find genetic cousins based on SNP testing.Ó
FROM ISOGG WIKI
Full
Genomes Corporation was founded in 2013 to make next generation sequencing
technology available for the DTC (direct to consumer) market focusing on the Y chromosome.
The founders are well known citizen scientists and active in the genetic
genealogy community. The headquarters are in Rockville, Maryland, in the USA. More information can be seen on their
website by clicking here or on their
Facebook page here.
FGC
introduced this service DTC (direct to consumer) in spring 2013. Key
information:
¥
$1,099 USD
¥
Sequencing is provided by the BGI in Hong Kong.
¥
Raw data (BAM file): Read length 100 base pairs, coverage 50x,
approximately 20-25 million bp are called from the ca. 58 million Y-chromosome
bp (the centromere and the huge q12 region are not included), ca. 14 million bp
with reliable mappings (high quality SNPs)
¥
SNP Report: approx. 1000 SNPs reported, check for known Y-SNPs, Y-DNA
haplogroup assignment, Report of private (new) SNPs, in common haplogroups
25-40 private SNPs are found
¥
Y-STR Report: 300+ Y chromosome STRs (Markers)
¥
Approx. 99% coverage of the mtDNA sequence
WHY TAKE A Y-DNA SNP TEST?
The
main reason to do it is to find "family specific" Y-DNA SNPs that
will allow us to verify existing lineages and relationships, and to connect
families that we know have common Graves ancestry but where the connection is
not known. For instance, I suspect that Joel Graves of NY (genealogy 214) is
descended from John Graves of Concord, MA (gen. 166), but as far as I know the
connection (if that is the connection) is unknown. The Big Y test isn't the
final answer to finding answers to problems like that, but it is a step in that
direction. The current Y-DNA testing (using STRs) is not going to get us there,
but I believe that SNP testing will eventually be the answer to many, if not
most, of the desired connecting. Another short-term problem, of course, is that
we need to get enough other people to do SNP testing so that we all have enough
to compare our results to.
As
new SNPs are discovered in the future, more testing will be needed to see who
has which SNPs that will allow families and lines within families to be
differentiated.
I
have recently posted a chart on the GFA website that shows an early example of
where finding a previously unknown SNP on my own line (gen. 270) has allowed
differentiation between two different branches of that Graves family. You can
see that by going to the GFA website, clicking on the Y-DNA link on the DNA
drop-down menu at the top of the page, and then clicking on the link for
"R Group Chart." My results are in the R1-047 group at the bottom of
that chart.
===============================================================
BENEFITS AND
SHORTCOMINGS OF AUTOSOMAL DNA TESTING
The
good things about autosomal DNA testing are:
¥
Anyone can take the test (unlike Y-DNA testing that only males can take).
¥
It tests all your ancestral lines.
¥
It finds many previously unknown cousins for almost everyone.
¥
It is often the only way to find or confirm descent from a particular
ancestor.
The
bad things about autosomal DNA testing (including limitations of testing at
only one company) are:
¥
It usually doesnÕt find many cousins beyond 5 or 6 generations back
¥
When you are looking for specific ancestry (such as Graves or Greaves),
only a small percentage of distant cousins descended from that ancestor will
show up as matches.
¥
Doing the work to try to match the known surname of matches with
specific DNA segments (to be confident that the matches really are on a
particular surname) is time consuming.
Creating a maintaining a spreadsheet is essential.
¥
The testing companies only count other people as matches when they have
more than a certain amount of TOTAL DNA in common. That means that it is possible for people to be relatively
close matches with others on one specific line and not have it picked up as a
match. At present, the easiest way
to find this kind of match is to download your test results from the website of
the company where you tested and upload your results to Gedmatch.com.
¥
By testing at one company, you will only get matches with people who
test at that company. Also, each
company has different tools for getting value from your tests. You can maximize your matches and the
ability to learn more about your results by testing at more than one company.
Your
chances of finding matches decrease as the relationship with related people
gets more remote. The following
table gives the probability of finding a match from autosomal DNA. You should be aware that these numbers
are averages, that some people will be more or less likely to find distant
ancestors than these numbers indicate.
You can see these numbers and some additional discussion in the Family
Tree DNA Learning Center here. You can find even more help at the
FTDNA Learning Center here.
Cousin Relationship |
Number of Generations Back |
Match Probability |
2nd or closer |
3 |
>99% |
3rd |
4 |
>90% |
4th |
5 |
>50% |
5th |
6 |
>10% |
6th and more
distant |
7+ |
<2% |
As
stated in an ISOGG wiki entry here, ÒAn
understanding of autosomal DNA statistics is helpful when trying to understand
results from an autosomal DNA test.
This discussion includes the amount of DNA shared by various relatives,
and other helpful information.
The
same wiki article states: ÒThe degree of sharing is measured by the testing
companies in units of genetic distance known as centiMorgans, although in
practice it is not the total number of centiMorgans which is more significant
but the length and number of shared segments.Ó
A
helpful article for various aspects of autosomal DNA testing, titled ÒOrganizing
Your Autosomal DNA Information with a Spreadsheet,Ó written by Jim
Bartlett, was published in January 2014 in Kitty CooperÕs Blog. Additional comments relating to
organizing results in a spreadsheet are in the comments to this article.
===============================================================
FINDING AND
REFINING AUTOSOMAL DNA MATCHES ON FAMILY FINDER FROM FTDNA
The
following is taken from the Family Tree DNA Learning Center.
The
Family Finder – Matches page is the main place to view your matching
genetic cousins from the Family Finder test. The page has two sections. The top
Filter section is where you can filter your matches. The bottom Matches section
is where you can view your matches. You also have the option to download your
Family Finder matches using the buttons at the bottom of the page. The
downloaded files are in CSV or Excel format.
¥
Character Card - This is an overview of information about your match.
It includes:
¥
Their name
¥
Their picture if they have uploaded it
¥
A link to their personal profile. Click on their picture to view their
profile
¥
A link to their e-mail address
¥
A link to add/view a note
¥
GEDCOM/Family Tree (if available)
¥
Match Date – This is when we matched you and your genetic cousin
in the Family Tree DNA database.
¥
Relationship Range - Family Finder predicts that your actual
relationship is highly likely to fall within these upper and lower limits.
¥
Known Relationship – Set (assign) your relationship based on
traditional genealogical records. This is a two-step process; once one of you
has set the relationship the other person needs to confirm it.
¥
Shared cM – This is the sum of the autosomal DNA given in
centiMorgans (cM) that you and your genetic match share.
¥
Ancestral Surnames – These are your matchesÕ surnames that they
have added. If both you and your match have added ancestral surnames, those you
have in common are shown in bold.
Each
matchÕs profile expands to Advanced View by clicking on the bar under their
Character Card. Advanced View contains the following information.
¥
Triangulate – Compare your match to find which genetic cousins
are in common or not in common.
¥
Tests Taken – These are the standard tests that your match has
taken.
¥
Compare in Chromosome Browser – Select up to 5 people to view in
the Chromosome Browser.
¥
Longest Block - This is the largest DNA segment given in centiMorgans
(cM) you and your genetic match share.
¥
Maternal and Paternal Haplogroups - Testing levels for their Family
Finder, mtDNA, and standard Y-DNA tests. Note that this indicates they have
tested and not that they match you. You may check for them as a match on the
respective matches page or on the Advanced Matches page.
===============================================================
ARE FAMILY
CHARACTERISTICS PASSED ON FROM OUR ANCESTORS?
In
a couple of recent issues of the Journal
of One-Name Studies (vol. 11, issues 9 and 11, magazine of the Guild of
One-Name Studies) were articles by Michael Stonehewer about a facial survey
project. As a result of interest
in the subject, there was much discussion on the GOONS email list about whether
facial and other characteristics are passed on from generation to generation
and whether it is possible to identify a living personÕs ancestry by their
appearance.
At
various genealogical and family gatherings I have heard this subject
discussed. My general opinion on
this is that much of it is Òwishful thinkingÓ, that is, seeing similarities because
you want to see them and ignoring those characteristics that tend to disprove
what you want to believe.
One
person in the GOONs discussion wrote: ÒI can't see that recognizable facial
features can go very far down a surname tree, given the "dilution" by
lots of women, and the fact that the Y chromosome doesn't carry many genes
apart from the sex determinant.
The famous "Habsburg Jaw" may be considered as the exception
that proves the rule, as they were grossly inbred, so the unfortunate child got
a cocktail of similar autosomal DNA from both sides.
What
is possibly more likely is a tendency to "assortative mating," i.e.
men having a preference (subconscious in most cases) for women with facial
features like their own. . Thus, facial features might be more persistent down
a tree than would otherwise be the case. However, I know that some, mainly
Freudians, have suggested the opposite - choosing someone quite unlike your
mother or sister, as a sort of unconscious incest taboo to prevent inbreeding.Ó
Another
person responded: ÒI think it is possible to make a bit too much of connecting facial
features with a surname. Such features are without doubt inherited, but just as
much from all the other ancestors with different surnames. If you are going to
do a proper comparison, you should consider those as well, and expect to find
just as many startling resemblances.Ó
A
commentator on another forum wrote: ÒI am as much my mother's son as my
father's, and I believe that with each generation the family face is forever
changed.Ó
LESS PERTINENT BUT RELATED
COMMENTARY
Thomas
Hardy (1840-1928), English novelist and poet, wrote the two-stanza poem below,
calling it Heredity. Although this
was used in the GOONS discussion as pertaining to inherited traits and is often
viewed that way, it appears that he is not really talking about himself and
inherited physical traits but about the insuperable "eternal thing"
in Mankind, the force that drives generations, perpetuates the species and
outlives individuals.
I
am the family face;
Flesh
perishes, I live on,
Projecting
trait and trace
Through
time to times anon,
And
leaping from place to place
Over
oblivion.
The
years-heired feature that can
In
curve and voice and eye
Despise
the human span
Of
durance -- that is I;
The
eternal thing in man,
That
heeds no call to die
Another
perspective on this poem is by Claire Yates on the blog of the Reader
Organisation. When she originally
read this poem, she Òliked the idea that such a short poem could encapsulate
such a vast stretch of time: the whole of manÕs existence so far- and beyond. Looking at it now, with a more seasoned
and experienced eye, I can see that the idea of qualities and traits being
passed on through perpetuity is not necessarily all to the good. Many people
have no idea of their family histories, including illnesses and conditions that
could affect them in life. Others know their families all too well, and perhaps
do not want to emulate them in any way. However, I like to think that, rather
than this portraying the negative aspects and frailties of human nature it
does, in fact, celebrate the better parts of mankind: resilience in the face of
adversity, resourcefulness and ingenuity, the desire to survive. It is, for me,
a poem that tingles with possibilities, and leapfrogs over death and loss to
carry on running.Ó
===============================================================
CHANGING BOUNDARIES
OF COUNTRIES IN EUROPE
A
article on 6 Aug. 2014 in Michael LeclercÕs genealogy blog on Mocavo was titled
ÒChasing National Boundaries on the European MapÓ and is here. He discussed the problems caused by constantly changing
national boundaries, the creation of new countries, and the disappearance of
others. He emphasized the
importance of getting as much information as possible about the place of
interest that you are looking for.
Much
more information on this subject can be found by searching for Òmaps of
changing boundaries in EuropeÓ or some similar search. When I did a search, some of the sites
I found were: the one on the Daily Mail
website, the Vicchi
website, and a Wikipedia
article.
A
completely different kind of map can be found here. It shows changing boundaries from
before 900 BC to the present from a genetic viewpoint. The Worldology
website containing this map is interesting and describes its content as
ÒThe People, Nations & Events that have shaped our world.Ó
===============================================================
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
be sent electronically to gfa@gravesfa.org via PayPal.
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.