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. 7, No. 2, Feb. 10, 2005
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Copyright
© 2005 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 Gatherings in Virginia and Florida
**
DNA Presentation by Me in Chicopee, Massachusetts
**
Graves/Greaves DNA Study
**
Graves/Greaves Family Books
**
To Submit Material to this Bulletin & Other Things
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GRAVES
GATHERINGS IN VIRGINIA AND FLORIDA
VIRGINIA:
As
I mentioned in the previous Bulletin, my wife, Sarah, and I will be in
Bradenton, Florida from the middle of February until the middle of March. On the way to Florida we will be meeting
with Byron Graves and some of his family (descendants of Capt. Thomas Graves of
VA) at the student union of Randolph Macon College, 304 Henry St., Ashland,
VA. The time will be 11 a.m., Sunday
morning, Feb. 13. Anyone from any
Graves family who would like to join us there is welcome.
FLORIDA:
Several
people have expressed an interest in visiting us while we are in Florida. If you are interested in getting together to
talk about your Graves family and possibly even taking part in the Graves DNA
study sometime between Feb. 15 and March 15 in Bradenton, and have not already
contacted me, let me know.
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DNA
PRESENTATION BY ME IN CHICOPEE, MASSACHUSETTS
I
will be making a presentation on the subject of DNA testing for genealogy to
the Polish Genealogical Society of Massachusetts on Thursday, March 31, 2005,
at 6:30 p.m. This will be at Elms
College, 291 Springfield St., Chicopee, MA, 3rd floor of Berchmans
Hall. This will be an open meeting, and
there will be no charge. Anyone is
invited to attend. Although I won’t be talking
specifically about Graves genealogy, I will use some of our DNA research as
examples, and will be happy to answer any questions about our experience and
results. If any male with the Graves
surname would like to attend and take the DNA test at the meeting, that would
be of interest.
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GRAVES/GREAVES
DNA STUDY
ADDITIONS
TO DNA SECTION OF THE WEBSITE
(1)
The master DNA results table has been updated a couple of times recently.
(2)
Also updated and enhanced are some of the charts, including the ones for
genealogies 169 (Capt. Thomas Graves of VA), 168 (Thomas Graves of Hartford,
CT), and 83 (Samuel Graves of Lynn, MA).
The updates to the charts for genealogy 169 are especially significant. Anyone who is or may be descended from that
family should take a look at the charts.
They now more clearly show how the DNA study is revealing relationships
and the lack of relationships. There
will be more about this in the next Bulletin.
MORE
PARTICIPANTS NEEDED
If you have not yet returned your DNA
samples, PLEASE do so as soon as possible.
If
your part of the Graves, Greaves, or other spelling, family is not yet included
in the DNA study, it would be very helpful if you could either volunteer to
participate (if you are a male with the Graves, etc.) surname or find someone
else in your part of the family who would be willing to take part.
The
test is very easy to take. It just
involves swabbing the inside of your mouth with 2 plastic applicators, putting
the applicators in plastic vials, and returning them to the testing
company. If you want to take the test
but are concerned that you can’t afford it, let me know and we may be able to
provide the money.
WHO
CAN TAKE PART IN THE DNA STUDY?
Participants
must be males who are descended in a direct male line from a male Graves
ancestor. This means the participant
must have the Graves/Greaves surname unless there was a name change in the
lineage.
PARTICIPANTS
OUTSIDE THE U.S., ESPECIALLY IN ENGLAND
It
is important for families in the U.S. to have participants from England (or
from families in Australia and elsewhere who know their ancestry in England) so
that a link with English ancestors can be made. However, it is just as important for family members in England to
take part in the DNA study so that the various families in England can be
linked with each other. Tradition of
connection with an ancient family is nice, but DNA proof of that connection is
much more meaningful.
HOW
TO SIGN UP FOR THE STUDY
Go
to the GFA website at www.gravesfa.org,
click on the DNA link at the top of the main page, then click on the link in
the red-outlined box near the top of the next page. This will take you to a page on the Family Tree DNA page. Then just fill out the requested
information, and your testing kit will be mailed to you the next day. The 25-marker test is recommended, and the
37-marker test is even better (for most participants).
FINANCIAL
HELP STILL NEEDED
All
contributions toward the DNA study will be much appreciated. Many thanks to those of you who have already
contributed. We especially need funding
for testing of descendants in the British Isles, some of whom may be less
willing or able to pay the cost. You
may also want to consider sponsoring a relative as a way to get a test for your
part of the family. In response to
questions asked about the total amount of money needed over the next couple of
years to sponsor this testing program, the need is in the thousands of dollars,
but any contribution will be appreciated.
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GRAVES/GREAVES
FAMILY BOOKS
All
previously published books are still available. More description and ordering information is on the GFA
website. The seven books published so
far are:
**
Robert Graves of NC & SC (a branch from Capt. Thomas Graves)
**
Samuel Graves of Lynn, MA
**
Thomas Graves of Hartford, CT & Hatfield, MA
**
Rear Adm. Thomas Graves of Charlestown, MA
**
Deacon George Graves of Hartford, CT
**
Graves Families of the World
**
John Graves of Concord, MA
The
book on the Graves families of Randolph Co., NC will be ready sometime this
spring. It is expected to be a
print-on-demand book, which means it may be less expensive to buy. It will definitely be much less expensive
for me, since I will not have to print many more books than can be sold and
then have most of them sit in my attic for years.
The
book on Capt. Thomas Graves of VA will be the next book to be completed, and
will be ready in late 2006 or early 2007 (definitely before the 400th
anniversary celebration at Jamestown, VA).
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MISSING
PERSON
In
the previous GF Bulletin I mentioned that Mrs. Linda Crabtree wanted to locate
a distant cousin, Evelyn Rees (Mrs. Martin L. Rees), previously of Shreveport,
LA. Graves descendant Vern Paul
informed me that she died in 1996 (per Social Security Death Index). Thanks.
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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 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.
To
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