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.
9, No. 7, Sept. 30, 2007
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Copyright
© 2007 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
**
Let me know of Your Interest in Being Part of the Trip to England in 2009
**
Report on the Recent Reunion in Williamsburg, VA
**
Successful Reunion in Frankfort, KY & Start of the Ohio Valley Chapter of
the GFA
**
Graves Reunion in Waco, TX, July 27-28, 2007
**
First Book by Ron Graves of San Antonio, TX
**
To Submit Material to this Bulletin & Other Things
===============================================
GENERAL
COMMENTS
You
may have been wondering why you haven’t received a Bulletin since June. The main reason is that I have been trying
to recover from the ordeal of organizing the reunion in Williamsburg in June,
attending 2 more Graves reunions in KY and TX soon afterwards, and working on
various Graves and Greaves genealogies and the website. I needed to relax a little. This issue of the Bulletin does not include
everything it should, but I will follow up with more news in October.
===============================================
LET
ME KNOW OF YOUR INTEREST IN BEING PART OF THE TRIP TO ENGLAND IN 2009
There
will be a tour of England in 2009, probably in May of that year. This will be
about 12 days, starting from and ending in London. The cost will probably be only slightly more than the trip in
1995, which was about $2,400. More
information about that trip can be seen on the GFA website under Activities/Recent
Events. In the 2009 tour, we will be
visiting a few of the same places as in 1995, but in no way will this be a
repeat of that trip. Additional
locations will include Keswick and the beautiful Lake District, and the
Hertford/Nazeing area. Meetings with
members of the various Graves and Greaves families will be included. See also the discussion on the website under
Activities/Future Events.
One
of the big advantages of this trip will be that many of us now know where in
England our ancestors were from, and some of the various Graves and Greaves
families that are related. You will
probably get to meet distant relatives you never knew existed.
An
optional add-on tour of Scotland or Ireland may also be offered if there is
sufficient interest.
So
that we can get an idea of who is interested and how many to expect, it is
important that you complete the form on the website or send me an email message
with your name, address, and the likely number in your group. It is important that we know as soon as
possible about how many to expect. More
information on the trip will be communicated as it becomes available.
===============================================
REPORT
ON THE RECENT REUNION IN WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA
The reunion in Williamsburg, VA, June 14-17,
2007, was a wonderful experience for me and my wife Sarah. I so much appreciate the enthusiasm and
positive comments from so many of those who attended. Even though I didn’t have an attendance list to share with the
attendees (because of continuing changes, even after I arrived in
Williamsburg), I may still try to provide one to the attendees in the near
future.
If you took pictures or video that you would
like to share, please let me know.
Pictures can be uploaded to the GravesReunion2007 Yahoo list or another
site, or I can put them on the GFA website.
Emily Graves, Secretary of the Graves Family Association
Mid-Atlantic Chapter (GFAMAC), has written a report on the reunion. The full report is on the GFAMAC page of the
GFA website, and a portion of it is excerpted below.
Approximately
200 Graves (actually closer to 240) gathered for a weekend of visits to
historic sites and genealogical discussions led by Ken. There were guided tours of Colonial
Williamsburg, the original site of Jamestown Fort, and the Jamestown
Settlement, a recently completed replica of the historic site, and a bus trip
to the Eastern Shore of Virginia. Many
of the attendees trace their ancestry to Captain Thomas Graves (#169), who came
to Jamestown in 1608, later settled in what is today Northampton County, VA, on
the Eastern Shore, and was a vestryman of Hungar’s Parish.
The
weekend offered multiple opportunities for those interested to exchange
genealogical data with newly found cousins.
Some families made the Graves reunion an occasion for their own
immediate family reunions, so there were gatherings of multiple generations
from at least a half-dozen clans.
Graves and their relatives came from all over the Continental U.S., and
there was even a Graves family who traveled from Cambodia.
People
arrived at the Patrick Henry Inn in Williamsburg Thursday night, June 14th,
and Friday the 15th. This
hotel is conveniently located less than half a mile from the authentically
restored Colonial Williamsburg. Friday
morning the majority of the group enjoyed a very informative walking tour that
took them to the meeting house of the Presbyterian “Registered Dissenters,” the
local courthouse (with stocks and whipping post photo ops), the Bruton Parish
Church, the Governor’s Palace, and the saddle shop or the wig maker. In the Church was a plaque commemorating
Ralph Graves (grandson of Thomas #169) for being a vestryman before 1669 and a
pew bearing his and his brother William’s names. The square mile of Colonial Williamsburg, first restored to its
original state in the 1930s by Laurence Rockefeller, is a national
treasure.
After
lunch and some shopping, the group returned to the Inn for some genealogically
focused discussions. Serious
genealogical research is unending, and as we learn more, it sometimes becomes
apparent that even people considered to be authorities make mistakes. For example, in the case of Captain Thomas
Graves recent DNA research has revealed that many thought previously to be his
descendents may not be. Experienced
genealogists in the group stressed the need for conscientious research that
uncovers primary documentation to support lineages. Many attendees were looking to fill in gaps in their own
genealogies, such as maiden names of female ancestors, and enlisted the help of
others who were there.
The
second day was dedicated to Jamestown, and the group visited both the site of
the original fort and the Jamestown Settlement replica. The fort site has been developed
considerably in the last several years, since the archeological team led by
William Kelso discovered the entire footprint of the original palisade. There is now an excellent museum containing
dozens of artifacts selected from the thousands the team has dug up, including
pieces of military weapons, armor, and ceramics. There is a full human skeleton, thought to be Bartholomew
Gosnold, captain of the Susan Constant and a primary mover behind the Virginia
Company’s colonization at Jamestown.
At
the Jamestown Settlement everyone enjoyed the outstanding museum, tourist
support facilities, replicated Indian village and Jamestown fort, as well as
the three replicas of the ships Susan
Constant, Godspeed and Discovery docked at the James River
front. The many interpretive actors
dressed in period costumes were knowledgeable and added to the experience of
stepping back in time 400 years to the first successful English settlement in
America.
The
group ate dinner together each night and was entertained by some of the
attendees with music and stories. On
Friday night Chaplain (Major) Richard Graves from Fort Hood, Texas, played his
guitar and led the group in folk songs.
On Saturday Peter Graves, a professional musician who has accompanied
such notables as Frank Sinatra, Barry Gibb, and Barbara Streisand, shared with
us slides and the story of his career, which began as a horn player and matured
into band leader.
On
Sunday the group went across the 20-mile Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel to
the Eastern Shore of Virginia, first to the site of Arlington, a great estate
built on the shore of Old Plantation Creek by John Custis II in about
1670. Volunteers from the Arlington
Foundation, Inc., provided historical commentary about John Custis II and IV,
whose graves are the only remaining structures above ground. The conclusion of the weekend was a visit to
Hungar’s Parish Church and a delicious BBQ lunch provided by the
parishioners. Captain Thomas Graves
was a member of the Hungar’s Parish, and he represented this part of the
Virginia Eastern Shore at the Virginia House of Burgesses in the 1630s.
===============================================
SUCCESSFUL
REUNION IN FRANKFORT, KY & START OF THE OHIO VALLEY CHAPTER OF THE GFA
Jim Graves and Mary Lou Watkins organized a
wonderful reunion for all Graves/Greaves families in Frankfort, KY on Saturday
and Sunday, June 23-14. Jim wrote: “I
was very impressed with the spirit everyone brought with them. I heard several
comments on how nice the world would be if everyone was like each of you were
this last weekend. I sincerely hope everyone had a good time and that it was
worthwhile to each of you. There was a lot of sharing and talking among us. I
did not see anyone being left out and sure hope no one felt that way. Everyone
and every Graves line is very important to me
We
are considering starting up a chapter of "The Graves Family
Association" here in the Ohio Valley area. We want it to include our
neighbors as we did in this reunion. We had families come from Ohio, Kentucky,
Indiana, Virginia, Tennessee, Maryland and Mass. Anyone interested in being a
part of the Chapter please let me know. We would like to have at least 10-12 to
head it up. We will try to meet three or four times a year. It would be nice to
have a representative from each line or from each area to be active. This way
we can spread the word to more families and increase the work being
accomplished and benefit all Graves families in all locations.”
Let
Jim know of your interest in being involved and helping by contacting him at:
JimGraves, 1996 Bucks Run Road, Ghent, KY 41045, phone 1-502-347-0967, email jwgraves1@aol.com.
===============================================
GRAVES
REUNION IN WACO, TEXAS, JULY 27-28, 2007
Another very successful Graves Family Reunion
was held in Waco, Texas, July 27-28 at the Clarion Hotel. At this meeting the Southwest Chapter of the
Graves Family Association was officially formed. Ken Graves, Executive Director, GFA, attended and discussed DNA
testing, the Graves surname project, and the activities of the Graves Family
Association.
Registration
was Friday afternoon with hospitality room at the hotel and dinner as a group
that night. Registration also Saturday
morning with Ken Graves then making his presentations and others introducing
themselves, plus the organizational meeting.
A catered lunch was held at the hotel.
(Note from Ken Graves: Some of you who travel by air may have had similar
experiences to my trip home from Waco to Boston. The flight from Waco was delayed a couple of hours, causing me to
miss my flight from Dallas. All flights
after that from Dallas were cancelled, and I ended up sleeping in the
airport. Then they sent me to
Washington National, and the flight from there to Boston was delayed several
more hours, while the plane sat on the runway.
Quite an adventure!)
For
more information about the SW Chapter, GFA, and how you can become involved,
contact Ron Graves at gravesronn@cs.com
or Dick Graves at rwgravy@aol.com.
===============================================
FIRST
BOOK BY RON GRAVES OF SAN ANTONIO, TX
Ron Graves of San Antonio, TX wrote earlier
this year: “You may be interested to know that my first book on amazon.com hit
their list yesterday. Please go to
amazon.com and type in my name as Ron Graves then when the page comes up click
on the book title to read their editorial review.”
The
book is Adversity to Success!: 25 Optimistic People Who Overcame (Paperback) by Ron
Graves and Ron Palermo. The start of
the review states this “is a must read book for those who want to learn more
about how a positive outlook can make a tremendous difference in life.
By
reading this book, you will discover how some well-known and some not so well
known people confronted overwhelming adversity. During this process, they
learned not only how to survive, but to achieve greatness in their lives.
All of the twenty-five people profiled are
different. They vary by age, race, cultural background, socioeconomic status,
adversity faced, and in many other ways. All share, however, the basic success
story of overcoming a challenge through sheer determination, hard work, and a
positive attitude. They played the cards they were dealt--all losing hands--yet
managed to reshuffle these cards to become winners.”
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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
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