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. 2, Feb. 18, 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
**
Successful Gathering in Annapolis, MD
**
Graves Gatherings in the Southeastern U.S. in Early 2006
**
Planning for 2007 Reunion in Williamsburg, VA
**
Reservations for 2007 Reunion in Williamsburg Ahead of Expectations
**
Back Copies of the Graves Family Bulletin
**
Planning and Discussing Graves Family Association Activities and How We Can Be
More Helpful
**
New DNA Study Results
**
To Submit Material to this Bulletin & Other Things
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GENERAL
COMMENTS
Happy
Valentine’s Day (several days late)! I
had hoped to send this on February 14 from my rented condo in Florida through
my dialup ISP. However, there were a
few problems, so I had to make some changes to my usual procedure. Not easy!
According to most authorities, Valentine’s Day is an outgrowth of a pagan Roman tradition in the third century or before. As Christianity became more prevalent, church officials changed the name to St. Valentine’s Day, in honor of one or perhaps as many as seven men named Valentine. Pope Gelasius declared February 14 as St. Valentine’s Day around 498 A.D.
I
will also be trying, for the first time, to update the Graves Family
Association website while I’m away from home.
I have just downloaded the necessary software to my laptop. Several sets of DNA results have been reported
in the last week, and I’m sure some of you would like to see the updated
results.
If
I don’t get everything done that I want to get done here in Florida, it’s
because I’m spending time playing tennis, bicycling, swimming, and other fun
stuff. Temperatures in the 70’s are
much nicer than the 15 degrees and 18-20 inches of snow we recently had at
home.
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SUCCESSFUL
GATHERING IN ANNAPOLIS, MD
ATTENDEES
A group of Graves descendants
ate dinner together at the Red Lobster restaurant in Annapolis, MD, on Feb. 1,
2006, and then continued the interesting discussion afterward. Attending were John F. Graves of Hampstead,
MD (gen. 231), Tina (Graves) Norwood of Vienna, VA (gen. 169), John J. Martin
and Sandra Martin of Laurel, MD (gen. 168), Richard ("Rick") King and
Katherine King of Alexandria, VA (gen. 169), Ken Graves (gen. 169) and Sarah
Graves (gen. 69), both of Wrentham, MA.
REGIONAL GFA CHAPTERS
The most important outcome of
the meeting was the suggestion to start regional chapters of the GFA. John
Graves volunteered to help start one in the Maryland-northern Virginia area,
possibly with help from Tina Norwood and John Martin. A second chapter that has already unofficially started is one in
the Texas area, with the reunion in San Antonio last summer.
The purpose of starting
regional chapters would be to help people get to know other Graves/Greaves
descendants in their area, and to otherwise further the goals of the Graves
Family Association. If you (or a relative)
are interested in helping in any way, including helping start a chapter in
another area, or if you have any ideas about this, please let me and others
know.
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GRAVES
GATHERING IN SUBURBAN ATLANTA, GA IN MARCH 2006
SUNDAY, MARCH 12, 1 PM: Reunion at Pleasant
Hill Baptist Church, 4278 Chamblee Tucker Rd., Doraville, GA. It is a little northeast of Atlanta, just a
short distance from the intersection of Routes 85 and 285.
Vicki Watkins is the one organizing the
gathering. She can be contacted at vmartine@bellsouth.net or on her cell phone at
770-841-7571.
To contact me with questions or to let me
know you want to attend or help, you can send email to ken.graves@gravesfa.org, or call my cell phone
number, 508-369-5217.
This gathering will be a good opportunity to
share family information, learn more about your Graves/Greaves ancestry, learn
about the DNA study and even take a DNA test, and ask me questions.
POSSIBLE FLORIDA GATHERING:
I may still organize a gathering in Florida
while we are there, perhaps in a private room at a restaurant. Can anyone help
find a place for that and help organize it?
If I don’t get a volunteer, I will probably not try to do it all myself.
===============================================
PLANNING
FOR 2007 REUNION IN WILLIAMSBURG
After our overnight stay in
Annapolis (mentioned above), we drove down the Delmarva Peninsula (so called
because it consists of parts of the states of Delaware, Maryland and Virginia).
We had a very interesting visit with Rev. Robert Johnson, pastor of both
Hungars Church and Christ Episcopal Church. He took us to Hungars Church and to
the Glebe House (the former parsonage for the church). It is now obvious to me
that we need to put the tour of that area either at the beginning or at the end
of the Williamsburg reunion, since it will take most of a day. Perhaps we can get an historian or
archaeologist to act as our tour guide on the bus.
Rev. Johnson did not know the
exact location of the first church or the cemetery, nor where Capt. Thomas
Graves lived, but we may be better able to determine those locations before the
2007 reunion.
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RESERVATIONS
FOR 2007 REUNION IN WILLIAMSBURG AHEAD OF EXPECTATIONS
On
January 15 I wrote about the Patrick Henry Inn being selected for our reunion
on the weekend of June 15-17, 2007. I was told on January 25 that 11 of the
rooms in our block of 75 had already been reserved! As of Feb. 14, 25 of the 75
rooms had been reserved. Wow! At this
rate we may have to increase the number of rooms and maybe even consider
reserving rooms at another nearby hotel (since there may be a limit on the
number of rooms the Patrick Henry Inn wants to dedicate for our function). It
might be a good idea to make your reservation soon. You can always make changes later.
The
block of rooms has been reserved at a group rate of $85, plus 10% tax and $2.00
occupancy tax, for a total of $95.50 per room per night. When making your reservation, mention that
it is part of the Graves Reunion block of rooms. An advance deposit of the first night's room rate will be
required when making reservations, and you will be able to cancel for a full
refund up to 72 hours before the event.
For
information and reservations, contact Best Western Patrick Henry Inn, York and
Page Sts., Route 60E, PO Drawer 3678, Williamsburg, VA 23187-3678; phone
(757)229-9540 or toll free (800)446-9228; Fax (757)220-0657. Email is sales@wmbgva.com and website is www.wmbgva.com.
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BACK COPIES OF THE GRAVES FAMILY BULLETIN
All back copies of the Graves Family Bulletin are available on the
Graves Family Association website. Just
go to the website and click on the link at the top of the main page for the GF
Bulletin. Then select the issue of
interest.
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PLANNING AND DISCUSSING GRAVES FAMILY ASSOCIATION ACTIVITIES AND HOW WE CAN BE MORE HELPFUL
It
is important that we have your help, suggestions, and feedback to make the
Graves Family Association as beneficial to you as it can be. The more input we have and the more people
who take part, the more we will all be helped.
A
new Yahoo group has been started for discussion of all Graves Family
Association activities, including promoting and publicizing the Association,
increasing membership and interest, traditional research, the
Graves/Greaves/Grieve DNA study, publications, the website, trips, reunions,
and any other programs of the Graves Family Association. We are looking for
your thoughts on what we should be doing, how it can be done, who will do it, etc.
To join the group and participate in the discussion, go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gravesfamilyassociation/
and follow the instructions to join.
This
group is not for queries about finding specific Graves/Greaves ancestors, since
that is covered by other mailing lists, bulletin boards, etc.
We
need your help and input to be successful and to do what you want to have
happen. Join the discussion group and
give us your opinions!
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NEW DNA STUDY RESULTS
In the past week or so (since we have arrived in Florida) there have
been 7 new sets of DNA test results reported.
Findings include the following:
(1) Genealogy 935, John Graves and Narnetta ------ of NC & Giles
Co., TN, is an exact match for me and others in my part of the Capt. Thomas
Graves of VA (gen. 169) family. The
line of descent may be Thomas1, John2, Thomas3,
John4, Thomas5, William6, Thomas7,
John8.
(2) Genealogy 56, John Graves of VA & Orange Co., NC, is an exact
match to genealogies 94 and 152 and, like them, is probably descended from
Francis Graves of Gloucester Co. & Essex Co., VA (genealogy 220).
(3) Genealogy 74, Alexander Graves of NC & GA,, matches genealogies
220, 166, 28, etc., 34 of 37, and is probably also descended from Francis
Graves (gen. 220).
(4) The ancestral haplotype of genealogy 70, Richard Greaves of
Bradfield, Yorkshire & Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England, has been
confirmed. This family does not closely
match any other that we have tested so far.
We now need to find other branches and descendants in England.
(5) Genealogy 934, Robert Greaves of Derbyshire & Nottinghamshire,
England, has no known matches in our study.
We will be trying to find and test others descended from this family.
(6) The test results from genealogy 208, Beala Curtis Graves and
Dorothy Wallace of VT, NY, OH & IL, match 10 of 12 with both gen. 376
(Richard Graves and Sarah Jane Hills of IA & KS) and gen. 919 (Leon Graves
and Rosella ------ of Quebec, Canada & Worcester Co., MA). However, that is not a close enough match
(without testing more than 12 markers) to have confidence that the families are
closely related.
(7) A new branch of the Capt. Thomas Graves family (genealogy 169) has
been tested that matches samples 10598, 21091, 31933 and 2233, all descendants
of Thomas2, Thomas3, John4, John5,
and either John6 or Isaac6.
If your part of the family (any spelling, including Graves, Greaves,
Grieve, etc.) has not yet been tested, now is the time to find a male
descendants with the Graves/Greaves/Grieve surname and get them to take
part. See the GFA website for
instructions.
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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
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address and information on your Graves/Greaves ancestry would also be
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