GRAVES FAMILY BULLETIN
Vol. 19, No. 5, July 31,
2017
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
© 2017 by the Graves Family Association and Kenneth V. Graves. All rights reserved.
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Click
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and our Facebook page.
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CONTENTS
**
General Comments
**
DNA Test Sale at Family Tree DNA
**
Graves Family Gathering in Virginia, Oct. 25-28, 2017
**
An Interesting Comment About Privacy, DNA and Family History
**
Some Comments About Visiting Ancestral Areas in England
**
We Need More Graves/Greaves Y-DNA Testers in England
**
The Big Tree for Males Descended from SNP R-P312
**
Updates to the GFA Website
**
Some Interesting Articles
**
Another Reason for Not Finding Surname Ancestry
** To Submit Material to this Bulletin & Other
Things
===============================================================
GENERAL
COMMENTS
I
had hoped to complete a couple of articles about DNA testing for this issue,
but they will have to wait for the next issue. On that general subject, however, we need people willing to
use their expertise (or to learn how), for both Y-DNA and autosomal DNA, to
move our DNA projects along. It
isnÕt very difficult to learn, but it requires people willing to spend time on
a regular basis. I donÕt have enough
time to do much of what is needed, but I can help provide guidance and overall
coordination.
In
addition to the announcement of the August DNA testing sale by Family Tree DNA,
this issue also has some articles on various subject of possible interest and
help.
===============================================================
DNA TEST SALE
AT FAMILY TREE DNA
If
you are already a customer of Family Tree DNA, you have probably already
received notification of their Friends and Family Sale, which will start Aug. 1
and will continue through the entire month of August. This is an opportunity for those males who are part of a
family that has not yet had a Y-DNA test (to find which ancestral
Graves/Greaves family they are part of) to take a test at a reduced price.
It
is also a really good opportunity to take a Big Y test to find or confirm your
place on the haplotree. The first
announcement I received as a group administrator said they were going to charge
a sale price of $449, but later today they changed that to $395, a very good
deal! Details of the sale items
and pricing are below.
For
anyone who orders a test as a new customer, be sure to join the Graves DNA
project. The easiest way to do
this is to go to the Family Tree DNA website by clicking here. Then enter Graves in the box for
ÒSearch your SurnameÓ and hit Enter.
Then click on the project called Graves. You should then be able to order the sale-priced test you
want as part of the Graves DNA project
NEW
TESTS & ADD-ONS |
UPGRADES |
||
Family
Finder |
$69 |
mt/mtPlus
to FMS |
$119 |
Y-37 |
$139 |
Big
Y |
$395 |
Y-37
+ FF |
$198 |
Y12
– 37 |
$69 |
FMS |
$159 |
Y25
– 37 |
$35 |
FMS
+ FF |
$218 |
Y37
– 67 |
$79 |
Y-67
+ FMS + FF |
$430 |
Y-37
– 111 |
$168 |
|
|
Y67
– 111 |
$99 |
===============================================================
GRAVES FAMILY
GATHERING IN VIRGINIA, OCT. 25-28, 2017
As
previously announced, there will be a Graves Family Association Gathering in
Virginia on Oct. 25-28, 2017. An
updated schedule with full information has been posted on the GFA website
(click here)
and on the GFA Facebook page. This
event is especially for all those whose ancestors lived in Virginia in the
1600s and 1700s, but all Graves descendants are welcome.
===============================================================
AN INTERESTING
COMMENT ABOUT PRIVACY, DNA AND FAMILY HISTORY
Doris
Wheeler just posted a comment on the ISOGG email list about Privacy and DNA
testing that echoed my feelings.
She wrote: ÒFor those who want privacy in this day and age... Do not buy
insurance products, do not visit a doctor or any medical facility, do not have
a bank account, do not apply for or carry credit cards, do not own property or
pay taxes, do not vote, do not work except for cash, do not access the
internet, and the list goes on. It's absurd to focus on DNA testing. The return
versus effort expended is minuscule compared to these others.Ó
These
comments were made in regard to a class action suite against Gene by Gene, the
parent company of Family Tree DNA.
There is potential for this
suit to severely impact the ability of Gene by Gene to conduct its
business, and of DNA testers to receive all the services that they have been
receiving.
This
issue of privacy also applies to publishing family history books. From 1980-2002, I published 7 books on
Graves families, only the first one about my own Graves family. In addition to the time and money
involved in publishing or updating any future books, the privacy issue is a
major problem. Unfortunately, I
believe that perception of danger far overrules real danger, and I have handled
the issue so far by not publishing more books. I am unsure about how to handle this issue in the future.
===============================================================
SOME COMMENTS
ABOUT VISITING ANCESTRAL AREAS IN ENGLAND
I
was hoping to visit some of the areas in England this summer where our Graves
and Greaves families originated and lived. Prior to and during this visit, I was hoping to meet with
descendants of these families.
This was intended to be a scouting trip to be followed up the next year
by a group tour for all those interested.
For several reasons, my trip wonÕt be happening this year, but I will
try to plan it for next summer.
My
original plan was to concentrate on the R1-047 family consisting of genealogies
47 and 270. This Greaves family
was found on both sides of the border between Northamptonshire and
Buckinghamshire. In addition to
having documented more descendants of the family than any other, this happens
to be the family I am descended from.
Partly
with the objective of attracting more people, I have been thinking that maybe
the trip should focus on 3 of the most important (i.e. largest) Graves/Greaves
families. All 3 locations are very
close together.
á
R1-168, which includes genealogies 168 and the best-documented part of
gen. 169 for Capt. Thomas Graves of VA. This family may be from the Hertford,
Hertfordshire/Harlow, Essex area, although that is not certain. We have n genealogy nor any DNA testers
of the family in England.
á
R1-047 (mentioned above)
á
R1-228b, with the emphasis on gen. 28 in London. Although this family group has the most
branches in the U.S. and Canada of any Graves/Greaves family, gen. 28 is the
only family in England proven to be part of this group.
Let
me know if you have any comments or suggestions about this subject.
===============================================================
WE NEED MORE
GRAVES/GREAVES Y-DNA TESTERS IN ENGLAND
Most
of those with the Graves, Greaves, and other spellings of our name who have
submitted genealogies and taken DNA tests, and are involved with the Graves
Family Association, live in the former British colonies (especially in the U.S.,
Canada, and Australia). A problem
is that many of the genealogies for families in England are sparse, most
overseas families (especially those in the U.S. who often emigrated earlier)
have difficulty connecting to families in England, and we have relatively few
people in England who have taken DNA tests (especially Y-DNA tests).
We
very much need more Y-DNA tests from people in England.
Recent
comments from Debbie Kennett (an ISOGG member who lives in England) were: ÒIf
you want to identify the point of origin in Great Britain you need to
proactively test people with your surname in Great Britain. This means using
electoral registers, telephone directories and other records to identify living
people with your surname and contacting them by post or by e-mail to encourage
them to test. Ideally you should provide funding for the tests. If you are able
to sponsor free tests, you can add the details to the list of free DNA tests in
the ISOGG Wiki.Ó (We have had an
offer of a free test there for years, but have never had any takers.)
ÒIf
people have a rare surname or an unusual forename then you can often find
contact details with a simple Google search. IÕve also been able to contact people on various social
networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. On Facebook itÕs
better if you can set up a group for your surname because if you try and send
messages to people who arenÕt your ÒfriendsÓ the message gets filtered into an
ÒOther messagesÓ folder, which people rarely look at. If you post an offer of a free test people will respond by
e-mail.Ó
ACTION PLAN – HELP US
CONTACT FAMILY MEMBERS IN ENGLAND:
I
have already contacted people on Ancestry and LinkedIn about this, with no
positive response. I will now put
occasional posts on our GFA Facebook page. Although I have a Twitter account, I
donÕt know how to use it effectively for something like this.
Can
those of you who live in England or have contacts there begin to publicize our
desire to get more testers in England?
Can you try to contact those on electoral registers and in telephone
directories? Can you find people
in England who can recruit testers and help spread the word?
Regarding
money to pay for free Y-DNA37 tests, we have some funds in the GFA account, and
there is an account on the Family Tree DNA website to contribute to this
effort. The instructions for
contributing to this fund are:
1. Go to the General
Fund Donation page.
2. In the first menu, select the
first letter of the projectÕs name.
3. In the second menu, select
the name of the project.
4. In the Donation Amount:
field, enter the amount you wish to donate.
5. Fill out the Donation Type:,
Donor Name:, and Note: fields.
6. Click the PayPal button and
complete their form.
===============================================================
THE BIG TREE
FOR MALES DESCENDED FROM SNP R-P312
Most
male descendants of Graves/Greaves genealogies are haplogroup R, and most of
those are either descended from SNP R-U106 or SNP R-P312. For those descended from R-P312, the
Big Tree is very helpful. This
includes R1-047 (for genealogies 47 and 270), R1-013 (for genealogies 13 and
591), R1-018 (for genealogies 84 and 145), and R1-168 (for genealogies 10, 65,
107, 168, 169).
The
Big Tree is managed by Alex Williamson and can be accessed here.
Participation in this project is encouraged. Instructions for submitting data can be accessed by clicking
the Instructions link at the top of the page.
===============================================================
UPDATES TO THE
GFA WEBSITE
Updated
pages:
á
charts.php, Numerical Listing of charts and genealogies
á
index.php, Main Page
New
charts
á
chart214.pdf, Joel Graves of NY (Gen. 214 & 506)
á
chart270a-Robert.pdf, Autosomal DNA chart for Robert Graves, descended
from John Graves of Northamptonshire, England & VA (Gen. 270)
Updated
charts:
á
DNAchart65.pdf, Deacon George Graves of Hartford, CT (Gen. 65)
á
chart116.pdf, John Graves of Frederick Co., VA (Gen. 116)
á
DNAchart116.pdf, Graves families of Cambridgeshire, England (Gen. 116,
231 & 683)
á
DNAchart166.pdf, John Graves of Concord, MA (Gen. 166)
á
DNAchart168.pdf, Thomas Graves of Hartford, CT (Gen. 168)
á
DNAchart247.pdf, John Greaves of St. MaryÕs Co., MD (Gen. 247)
á
chart270a.pdf, Autosomal DNA chart for John Graves of Northamptonshire,
England & VA (Gen. 270)
New
Genealogies:
á
Gen. 649, George Grave/Greaves and Dorothy Goodman of Cumbria &
Lancashire, England
Revised
genealogies:
á
Gen. 13, William Graves and Elizabeth ------ of VA, NC, TN & KY
á
Gen. 116, John Graves of Frederick Co., VA
á
Gen. 150, James Graves and Mary Copeland of VA and GA
á
Gen. 214, Joel Graves of NY
á
Gen. 363, Phillip Graves of KY
á
Gen. 372, Parents of Joseph Graves of TN who married Amanda Vaughn
á
Gen. 377, Reuben Grave of Cumbria, England
á
Gen. 391, Thomas Greaves and Elizabeth Healey of Hinckley,
Leicestershire, England
á
Gen. 506, William Graves and Elizabeth Donnelson of NY & Lenawee
Co., MI
===============================================================
SOME
INTERESTING ARTICLES
Ethnicity and Physical
Features Are NOT Accurate Predictors of Parentage or Heritage
This
blog article by Roberta Estes can be seen here. She reports in her article that, as the
result of ethnicity results from autosomal DNA testing, some people are
doubting their parentage or their earlier ancestry. She emphasizes that the results of ethnicity testing is not
an accurate predictor of parentage, and she explains why in considerable
detail. She also explains what
ethnicity testing does show, and how to test for paternity if desired.
Ancient Mummies Finally give
Up Their Genetic Secrets
This
article in the Smithsonian Magazine discusses DNA testing of two mummy
collections from German universities.
The mummies were 2,000 to 3,000 years old. This is interesting for at least two reasons. One is the historical information that
is being learned from these studies, and the other the increasing ability to
extract DNA from such ancient samples.
A Special Situation That May
Confuse DNA Testing
There
are certain situations where a personÕs body can contain the cells and DNA
identity of more than one individual.
According to Wikipedia ÒA genetic chimera is a single organism composed
of cells from different zygotes. This can result in male and female organs, two blood types,
or subtle variations in formÉ. Another way that chimerism can occur in animals
is by organ transplantationÉ For example, a bone marrow transplant can change
someoneÕs blood type.Ó
A 2012 article
from the International Journal of Legal Medicine, titled ÒGenetic investigation
of biological materials from patients after stem cell transplantation based on
autosomal as well as Y-chromosomal markersÓ showed that Ònot only
post-transplant blood and buccal swab, but also recipient hair, up to now
regarded as devoid of any donorÕs cells, do not constitute entirely safe
material for forensic purposes. Their analysis can lead to the false
identification of gender or male haplotype.Ó Therefore, other methods should be used to confirm results
obtained from crime scenes.
Regarding DNA tests for genealogy, it is possible that stem cell
transplants can sometimes give misleading results.
===============================================================
ANOTHER REASON
FOR NOT FINDING SURNAME ANCESTRY
Roberta
Estes has just published an article on her DNAeXpalined blog titled ÒEnforced
Bastardry in Colonial America – A DNA Monkey Wrench.Ó You can read it here. Something I was not fully aware of was
the complete nature of indentured servant practice in colonial America.
Roberta
wrote: ÒOne of the reasons surname matching issues can occur, but that we
seldom think of, is the situation in colonial American where indentured
servants, those who sold away from 5 to 9 years of their life in exchange for
passage to America, were forbidden to marry. Therefore, if a female became pregnant, she was forced to
have the child outside of marriage – meaning the child took her surname.
If
a male indentured servant impregnated someone, he too was forbidden to marry
– so the child took the motherÕs surname and life went on.
Based
on the court notes from Richmond County, Virginia, beginning in 1692, and from
Rappahannock County, before that, this was a lot more common that one would
think.Ó
There
is much more discussion of history and the implications of this practice in the
article.
===============================================================
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.