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.
8, No. 10, Dec. 29, 2006
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Copyright
© 2006 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:
**
General Comments
**
Special Offer for New DNA Tests Ordered by December 31
**
GFA Website Changes
**
Regional GFA Chapter News
**
Ancestral Research Project for the Hertford/Harlow Area of England
**
June 2007 Reunion in Williamsburg, VA: The Program and Registration
**
DNA Testing -- One of the Next Steps
**
Answers to Questions about Interpretation of DNA Test Results
**
The Importance of Doing Needed Research or Seeing that it Gets Done
**
To Submit Material to this Bulletin & Other Things
===============================================
GENERAL
COMMENTS
This
is the last Bulletin of 2006. So many
things have happened and been accomplished, but I can’t help thinking of the
things I wanted to do but didn’t have the time or money to do. The DNA study has continued with many
exciting discoveries. Through DNA and
traditional research, many genealogies have been updated and expanded, and some
have been connected to others and their ancestors. I made a too-brief trip to England in May, gathering genealogical
information, getting new DNA participants, and meeting some wonderful people.
As
we approach the New Year, we can look forward to more exciting discoveries, an
upgraded website, the publication of at least one new Graves family book, an
International Reunion in Williamsburg, VA next June, and other reunions and
meetings in many different places.
May
you all have a happy, prosperous and blessed New Year!
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SPECIAL
OFFER FOR NEW DNA TESTS ORDERED BY DECEMBER 31
Our
DNA testing company, Family Tree DNA, has provided us with 6 gift certificates
for new DNA test orders. These provide
for a discount on the appropriate tests if ordered by Dec. 31, 2006. If ordered by invoice, payment does not have
to be made until Jan. 31, 2007. One
certificate has already been used. The
remaining certificates are:
1
for $30 for Y-DNA37 or 67
2
for $20 for Y-DNA25
2
for $15 for mtDNA
These
certificates are not valid for test upgrades or in conjunction with any other
special offer. To take advantage of
this, check with me to be sure the certificate you want to use is still
available, order your kit from FTDNA, and then let me know the kit number
(which will be emailed to you) so that I can claim the discount for you. The special prices under this order are $129
for Y-DNA 25 ($149 minus $20), $159 for Y-DNA37 ($189 minus $30), $239 for
Y-DNA67 ($269 minus $30), and $114 for mtDNA ($129 minus $15).
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GFA
WEBSITE CHANGES
I
hope to get more additions and changes to the GFA website at least started in
January. Although I do all of the
maintenance, addition of content, and much of the upgrading of the site, some
of the new features I want to add require professional expertise. The most important feature I want to add is
a password protected section for members only.
This will allow you to check the status of your Graves Family
Association membership, find and contact others from your part of the family,
and access helpful databases. This and
other features have been a long time coming, but I am very hopeful that 2007
will be the year they will really happen.
===============================================
REGIONAL
GFA CHAPTER NEWS
The
Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the GFA (with meetings in the Washington, DC area) has
been conducting monthly meetings with much interest and success. The next meeting will be 3 PM, Sunday, Jan.
28, in Arlington, VA at the Army Navy Club, with Ken Graves as the
speaker. See the GFA website or contact
John Graves at johngtmti@aol.com for
more information.
There
has been talk of starting chapters in Texas, in Virginia, and even in
England. Recently, Linda McPike
(descended from Lt. William Graves of MA, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick,
Canada, gen. 238) suggested starting a Canadian Chapter.
If
you would like information about how to start a chapter of the Graves Family
Association, you can contact Ken Graves at ken.graves@gravesfa.org, or John
Graves (director of the Mid-Atlantic chapter) at johngtmti@aol.com. If you would like to pursue starting a
chapter in Canada, contact Linda McPike at eljay43@aol.com.
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ANCESTRAL
RESEARCH PROJECT FOR THE GRAVES FAMILY OF THE HERTFORD/HARLOW AREA OF ENGLAND
Ron
Graves of Seminole, OK, a descendant of immigrant Thomas Graves of Hartford, CT
& Hatfield, MA (genealogy 168) recently wrote me. One of the things he said was that he believes that this Thomas
Graves was the same person as Thomas Graves, the engineer, who was hired by the
Massachusetts Bay Colony to perform various engineering duties. If you look at genealogy 131 for Thomas
Graves, the engineer, you will see that I agree.
We
have much information about this part of the Graves family. On the charts page of the GFA website, you
can see the families that are believed to be related, and the summary chart for
the group of families of the Hertford/Harlow area of England shows how they are
probably connected. In addition to the
family of Thomas Graves of Hartford, CT, the families include his brother,
Deacon George Graves (genealogy 65), John Graves of Nazeing, Essex, and Roxbury,
MA (genealogy 337), and Capt. Thomas Graves of VA (genealogy 169). A summary of most of the information we know
can be seen by clicking on the Research Projects link on the Ancestral Research
page of the website, taking you to https://gravesfa.org/research.html.
The
important observation is that we have a lot of information that can lead us to
the ancestry and the English branch of the family of three of the major Graves
families in America. We know much about
the immigrants to America, we know some of their relatives in England, at least
one of the immigrants was probably fairly prominent professionally (the
engineer) and another was involved with the London Company (Capt. Thomas Graves
of VA), and we know the area where most of them lived in England. What we now need are a few people who will
step forward to organize and coordinate this research effort. The rewards will be significant for all
descendants.
===============================================
JUNE
2007 REUNION IN WILLIAMSBURG, VA: THE PROGRAM AND REGISTRATION
There
has been some uncertainty about the dates and events for the reunion, and some
of you may need to make some adjustments to the dates of your stay. The reunion will be held at the Patrick
Henry Inn, Williamsburg, VA.
Registration will be in the lobby of the Inn on Thursday, June 14,
2007. A bare-bones schedule is
below. See the GFA website for more
details.
Thurs.,
June 14 – Registration and Reception
Fri.,
June 15 – Morning: Guided tour of Historic Williamsburg
Afternoon
and evening: meetings and dinner
Sat.,
June 16 – Morning: Guided tour of Jamestown
Afternoon
and evening: meetings and dinner
Sun.,
June 17 – Bus tour to the Eastern Shore of VA
There
will be a registration fee for the reunion, and for each tour and dinner you
choose to attend. The exact costs are
not yet known, but they will be communicated on the website and in this
bulletin as soon as possible. As an aid
to planning (and estimating costs), it is important to register your intentions
as soon as you can. A form will be on
the website within the next couple days for that purpose. Those of you who have made your room
reservations at the Patrick Henry Inn (or elsewhere) need to send in your
reunion reservations also. The Inn
provides me with a list of name of those who have reserved rooms, but they
don’t provide any other information, so I don’t have any idea who many of you
are or how to contact you. In addition,
I don’t know anything about those of you staying elsewhere or commuting from
home.
Please
complete your preliminary reunion reservations as soon as possible. Thanks.
===============================================
DNA
TESTING -- ONE OF THE NEXT STEPS
As
a result of the DNA test results, we have been able to connect many of the
Graves and Greaves families. We have
found that many others share a common ancestor but have not been able to find
exactly how they connect. The largest
group of families that share a common ancestor is that which is probably
descended from the Greaves family of Beeley, Derbyshire, England, and is the
large blue group at the bottom of the DNA test results summary table on the
website. A summary chart (accessible
from the charts page of the website) shows how it is believed that all the
related families are connected, but there is still much speculation on the
chart. It is believed that there may be
DNA markers that are specific for each line.
If those could be found, then it would be known for sure what the
connections are; for instance, that genealogies 150 and 152 are descended from
220, or that genealogy 77 is really descended from 166. There are many other examples on this chart
and also for other groups of families.
To
find the needed markers we would select one or two samples that have already
been tested from the families that we are most anxious to prove the connections
for. We should probably try this on a
handful of families first and, if it is successful, expand it to include more
families. Our testing company, Family
Tree DNA, is prepared to help us do this additional testing.
A
major obstacle to doing this is money.
I am not sure of the exact cost at this time. However, we are presently more than $1,200 overdrawn with our DNA
testing assistance program, so money is obviously needed. I will appreciate any ideas you have for
financing this needed effort.
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ANSWERS
TO QUESTIONS ABOUT INTERPRETATION OF DNA TEST RESULTS
I
recently received some questions from Kay Allgood, descended from William Lynch
Graves of Albemarle Co., VA and Madison Co., TN (genealogy 84). Since they relate to issues that many of you
may have about how to interpret DNA test results and what the potential of DNA
testing is, I decided to share them and my answers here.
QUESTION: Now you can give me a ‘crash course’ on what I’m seeing
on the chart labeled ‘Graves Family of Caroline Co. and Halifax Co., Va.’ with
respect to genealogies 49, 84, 103 and 169/188 which correspond to DNA ID’s
39257, 60909, 28236, 19872. When I view the
DNA ‘Test Results’ page showing specifically the four above, they are all the
‘burnt orange’ color, but on the summary chart these four are shown each with a
different color.
ANSWER: The purpose of the colors in the test results table is to show which test results are part of the same group. So no matter how many differences there are between samples, if I have determined that they are all close enough to be part of the same group, they will have the same color.
On the summary charts, I am trying to show more subtle differences
within each group. Unfortunately, there aren't enough colors to do this well
and we usually don't have the same number of markers tested for each sample, so
it is difficult to do this as well as I would like.
QUESTION: Is the only value to this DNA testing to say that
certain genealogies descend from a certain common ancestor, or will this lead
to determining closer relationships, for example, whether Wm. Lynch (G84) and
Richard (G169/188) could possibly be brothers?
ANSWER: In many cases, with the present technology and with the
present level of testing, we can only say that descendants who are tested
descend from a common ancestor within some reasonable time frame. In some
cases, when a line has a distinctive mutation, we can distinguish a descendant
of that line from a descendant of another, even though they are both from the
same known common ancestor. As we gather more data and as testing improves, we
will be able to pinpoint relationships much more accurately. Whether we will
ever be able to say with certainty that 2 men who lived 300 years ago were
brothers rather than first cousins is questionable. We may always need some
additional information from historical records.
QUESTION: According to the Test Results page, Wm. Lynch and
Richard have the same values in each of their markers through marker 20. What
is the significance of Richard changing to different values from Wm. Lynch at
marker 21 and marker 24, but having the same values as Wm. Lynch in markers 22 and
23, and then picking up the same as Wm. Lynch from marker 25 thru 31?
ANSWER: Looking
at the summary chart for your group (www.gravesfa.org/DNAchart145-217.pdf),
a value of 14 on marker 6 distinguishes genealogies 49, 84, 103, and 169/188
from all the others in the group. A value of 15 on marker 24 shows that 103 and
169/188 share a common ancestor. Other mutations for 84 and 169/188 are those
that occurred more recently than the common ancestor and could possibly be used
to distinguish between different lines within each family/genealogy.
===============================================
THE
IMPORTANCE OF DOING NEEDED RESEARCH OR SEEING THAT IT GETS DONE
It
is absolutely necessary for research to be done to prove and document existing
lineages and families, to connect related families to each other, and to
discover earlier ancestries. The DNA
study has given us a tremendous advantage over researchers of the last century,
since we can now know which families share a common ancestor. However, research is still essential, and
all of you reading this article can do some of what needs to be done.
Some
of the tasks that are needed are:
(1)
Find and critically examine all information about the Graves or Greaves family
of interest that has been published in books, magazines, on the Internet and
elsewhere. This includes searching for
pertinent census and vital records information for all parts of your family.
(2)
Contact as many Graves/Greaves/Grieve descendants as possible to get them
interested in learning more about their ancestry and to gather any family
records they may have. For example, on
the subject of contacting descendants, it is easiest to contact those who have
the Graves or Greaves surname. In
addition to contacting through local genealogy societies and contacting people
near where you live, you could contact people in the areas where your ancestors
lived and you may find that some distant groups of relatives have lived in the
same place for a long time.
(3)
Find and search through original records on paper, microfilm, or other
media. These should include records
pertaining to your ancestors’ activities and lives, such as wills and probate
records, deeds, military records, church records, and others. When the obvious records don’t provide the
information you are looking for, records for neighbors and associates should
also be searched.
(4)
If you don’t know how to do research, your local library, genealogy society, or
LDS Family History Center can probably help.
If you aren’t interested in doing research yourself, or aren’t able or
don’t have time, you can try to convince someone else to do it for you, you can
hire someone to do it, or you can band together with other family researchers to
do the research.
(5)
Finally, be sure to work with the Graves Family Association in doing your
research, and send the results to the Association so that they may be shared
with all of us.
Please
contact me if you have any questions.
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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.
To
remove your name from this subscription list, send an e-mail message to
ken.graves@gravesfa.org asking to be removed.