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. 4, No. 1, January 29, 2001

 

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Copyright © 2001 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 https://gravesfa.org

 

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CONTENTS:

 

**Graves Family Bulletin, Graves Family Newsletter, & Responses to Correspondence

**Graves Family Books

**Graves Family Association Membership & Information You May Not Be Aware Of

**Graves Family Association Web Site

**Volunteers and the Graves Family Association

**Trips and Reunions

**To Submit Material to this Bulletin & Other Things

 

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GRAVES FAMILY BULLETIN, GRAVES FAMILY NEWSLETTER, & RESPONSES TO CORRESPONDENCE

 

This bulletin is free, but sometimes you get what you pay for. Unfortunately, no issues were published last year, but they are now being resumed.  Although progress in genealogical research often seems excruciatingly slow, some exciting things have happened and are about to happen.  Some of them will be announced in this Bulletin, and others will continue to be discussed only in the Graves Family Newsletter.  The DNA Analysis project to be discussed in the next Bulletin is an example of a project with huge potential.

 

The Graves Family Newsletter got behind schedule in 2000, but the December issue is being mailed this week.  The February 2001 issue will be ready soon and will be mailed in February.

 

I apologize for not being able to respond to all correspondence I receive.  The staff available to respond is one person, me.  Please don't take that to mean that I am not interested.  I try to use this Bulletin and the Newsletter to answer some of the questions.

 

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GRAVES FAMILY BOOKS

 

At long last the publication date and price for the JOHN GRAVES of Concord, MA book can be announced!  It will be ready to be mailed in May 2001.  The book will be hardcover, 2 volumes, more than 1600 pages, fully indexed, and will contain pictures of many family members.  The price will be $65 for orders received by April 15, 2001, and $75 after that.  Checks for this and all other books should be made payable to Kenneth V. Graves.

 

A list of all books that have been published and a discussion of what will be published in the future is on the GFA website.  However, since I am often asked about the books, here are the ones that are available now.  More about them is on the website.

 

ROBERT GRAVES of Anson Co., NC and Chesterfield Co., SC (descended from Capt. Thomas Graves of VA)

Published in 1980, 408 pages, $26.00.

 

SAMUEL GRAVES of Lynn, MA

Published in 1985, 446 pages, $36.00.

 

THOMAS GRAVES of Hartford, CT and Hatfield, MA

Published in 1985, 710 pages, $46.00.

 

GRAVES FAMILIES OF THE WORLD

Published in 1994, 509 pages, $41.00.

 

REAR ADMIRAL THOMAS GRAVES of Charlestown, MA

Published in 1994, 267 pages, $23.00.

 

DEACON GEORGE GRAVES of Hartford, CT

Published March 1995, 446 pages, $35.00.

 

Books will be published in the future on ALL the various Graves. Greaves, Grave, etc., families.  After the publication of the John Graves of Concord, MA book, the planned order of publication is:

**Graves Families of Randolph Co., NC (by end of 2001)

**John Graves of Frederick Co., VA

**Capt. Thomas Graves of VA

**Others, including Johann Sebastian Graff (John Graves) and other German Graves families, Graves families of England and elsewhere, Thomas Graves of New Castle Co., DE, etc.

 

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GRAVES FAMILY ASSOCIATION MEMBERSHIP & INFORMATION YOU MAY NOT BE AWARE OF

 

If you are not already a member of the Graves Family Association, we encourage you to join.  Compared to paying someone to do research for you, buying books and CD's, or joining online information services, $20 per year is a great bargain.  Plus you will be specifically helping to promote Graves/Greaves research.

 

Life membership in the GFA is still available for a $600 one-time payment.  And there is no longer a minimum age requirement.

 

Back issues of all newsletters are still available from 1976 to the present (except for 1988 and 1989, when it was not published).  The price for last year's issues are the same as a current membership, at $20.  However, all years before that are now only $10 per year.

 

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GRAVES FAMILY ASSOCIATION WEB SITE

(https://gravesfa.org)

 

The section of Graves/Greaves ancestors and genealogies is constantly being added to.  The plan is to have genealogies or some information about every ancestor on the list.  New and revised genealogies are constantly being added.  If an ancestor of interest to you is listed but the genealogy itself has not yet been added, let me know and I can add it.

 

Information on the site is gradually being expanded.  If you want information or capability that is not there now, let me know and (even better) volunteer to add it.  In the future, we plan to add special interest and geographical pages, queries, and links to segments of genealogies from other pages.  As we have time, we will also be adding other sections and features to the website.  Eventually it will be redesigned to make it easier to find things and look better.

 

I am happy to report that we are beginning to get volunteers for various projects and tasks.  However, most of the need for volunteers discussed on the website still exists.

 

Take a look at the site, and let us have your comments and suggestions.

 

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VOLUNTEERS AND THE GRAVES FAMILY ASSOCIATION

 

Genealogy is very much about people sharing information and helping others.  This sharing is an important part of the Graves Family Association.  But the most important reason for the Association is that much more can be accomplished by working together in an organized manner than by working alone.  As an organization we can organize the tasks to be done, divide up the work, and record, organize, prove, preserve and publish the results.  But to do this we need your participation as a member and as a volunteer.

 

Your membership in the Graves Family Association not only gives you the Graves Family Newsletter 6 times per year and the latest membership directory, but also allows part of your money to fund research and record gathering.  However, what is needed even more is your involvement.  Two areas where volunteers are most needed are (1) doing and coordinating research and (2) locating and attracting people to the GFA and organizing Graves/Graves gatherings.  More information about these activities is on the GFA website at https://gravesfa.org.

 

(1) The area of research includes being a coordinator for all or part of a family group, gathering records from censuses, vital records, wills, etc., and planning and coordinating the efforts of professionals researchers that we hire.  These activities have lagged because we haven't had the volunteers to do them.

 

(2) The area of promoting the GFA, attracting members, and organizing gatherings is very important.  If we can meet other Graves/Greaves descendants, it will help us feel more like we are part of a larger family.  We can exchange information and cooperate on projects more easily.  And if we go looking for other descendants in our own geographical area, we can find lots more people who can help each other.  The gatherings can be either regional or national.  In addition to various places in the U.S. and Canada, activities and gatherings are needed in the U.K., Australia and New Zealand.

 

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TRIPS AND REUNIONS

 

There will be a future trip to England and Ireland.  We had one in 1995 and one was planned for 1998 but was cancelled because we didn't get quite enough people.  Let me know if any of you have any thoughts about a future trip.  We have the option of a professionally planned trip (like last time) that would be somewhat more expensive, or a more informal trip that would save some money and might not require a minimum number of participants.

 

We plan to have a reunion in 2007 or 2008 in Jamestown or Williamsburg, VA to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the 1608 arrival in the colony of Capt. Thomas Graves.  We need to start planning this considerably in advance.  Since there will be a celebration planned for 2007 for the 400th anniversary of the first landing in Jamestown, should we plan to have our gathering then instead of in 2008?  Would you like to help plan?

 

Other suggestions for reunions include a reunion for the descendants of a particular immigrant ancestor, perhaps in cooperation with the town or city where they arrived, or in cooperation with an appropriate historical society.  For instance, a reunion for the descendants of Thomas Graves of Hartford, CT and Hatfield, MA could be held in either of those places.  Is this of special interest to you?  What could we do to make it more exciting?

 

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ABOUT THIS BULLETIN:

This bulletin is written and edited by Kenneth V. Graves, ken.graves@gravesfa.org.  Ken Graves is also editor of the Graves Family Newsletter, the official publication of the Graves Family Association.  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 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 (for U.S. & Canada) or $30 per year (for all other countries) to Graves Family Association, 20 Binney Circle, Wrentham, MA 02093 (more details on GFA website).  Note that membership is for a calendar year so if you join late in the year be sure to specify which year dues are for.  Benefits include 6 issues of the newsletter, 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.

 

To remove your name from this subscription list, send an e-mail message to ken.graves@gravesfa.org asking to be removed.