I am excited about the topic for this week, "Earliest"! My family is currently vacationing in Virginia and will be visiting the Jamestown area. I will be trying to get more information about my "Earliest" ancestor in this New World, Captain Thomas Graves.
I first discovered this ancestor several years ago on a website, http://www.gravesfa.org/gen169.htm.
It contains descriptions of "Captain Graves, 1608 Settler of Jamestown, Virginia, and His Descendants (ca. 1580-2016)", including my 4th great grandfather, Jacob Wesley Reeder. Most lines of which have been proven by DNA to make it even more reliable. To make it even more exciting, this webpage is updated periodically removing sections of suspected descendants which have been proven by DNA to NOT be related, and updated by adding lines which have been proven to be connected. I am glad to report that my connections have stayed on the list through several iterations! It was last updated June 13, 2016.
The earliest record I can find is from a book by Captain John Smith, "A Map of Virginia: With a Description of the Countrey, the Commodities, People, Government and Religion (1612)",
http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm/ref/collection/aj/id/4406. On page 159 of this 171 page book, Captain Smith lists the persons who had arrived in the Fall of 1608 on the 2nd Supply Ship, the Mary and Margaret. Here is listed "Gentleman Thomas Graves".
An exciting find was in the "Proceedings of the general assembly of Virginia July 30 - August 4, 1619",
https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/493896-proceedings-of-the-general-assembly-of-virginia-july-30-august-4-1619?viewer=1&offset=0#page=12&viewer=picture&o=info&n=0&q=. This book contains copies of original pages of the proceedings and transcriptions to make reading easier. On pages 12 and 13 there begins a list of the elected Burgesses and the area they represent. "For Smythes Hundred - Captain Thomas Graves and Mr. Walter Shelley".
Another great source for information about Captain Thomas Graves is the book, "Eastern Shore of Virginia, 1603-1964"
https://archive.org/stream/easternshoreofvi00turm/easternshoreofvi00turm_djvu.txt. Here is one of the 29 statements about Captain Graves in this book:
Here is my direct line from Captain Thomas Graves to my father.
In the above chart you will notice that James and Martha Odell have the same parents, making them siblings. In the first chart the line goes through Martha Odell who married Jacob Duckett, Sr. and had a son named Thomas Duckett. The second chart goes through James Odell who married Martha Prather, and had a had a daughter, Mary Odell. Then Thomas Duckett married his 1st cousin, Mary Odell. That's why there are 2 charts! Confusing but also fun!
I am very grateful to be able to claim one of the original Jamestown Settlers as an ancestor and ecstatic that I was able to locate him and document my relationship to him. This is one of the most rewarding facets of doing Genealogy!
'Til Next Time!
#52Ancestors
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| Believed to be Captain Thomas Graves from FindAGrave Memorial 12712071, photo added by David Leadford |
I first discovered this ancestor several years ago on a website, http://www.gravesfa.org/gen169.htm.
It contains descriptions of "Captain Graves, 1608 Settler of Jamestown, Virginia, and His Descendants (ca. 1580-2016)", including my 4th great grandfather, Jacob Wesley Reeder. Most lines of which have been proven by DNA to make it even more reliable. To make it even more exciting, this webpage is updated periodically removing sections of suspected descendants which have been proven by DNA to NOT be related, and updated by adding lines which have been proven to be connected. I am glad to report that my connections have stayed on the list through several iterations! It was last updated June 13, 2016.
The earliest record I can find is from a book by Captain John Smith, "A Map of Virginia: With a Description of the Countrey, the Commodities, People, Government and Religion (1612)",
http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm/ref/collection/aj/id/4406. On page 159 of this 171 page book, Captain Smith lists the persons who had arrived in the Fall of 1608 on the 2nd Supply Ship, the Mary and Margaret. Here is listed "Gentleman Thomas Graves".
An exciting find was in the "Proceedings of the general assembly of Virginia July 30 - August 4, 1619",
https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/493896-proceedings-of-the-general-assembly-of-virginia-july-30-august-4-1619?viewer=1&offset=0#page=12&viewer=picture&o=info&n=0&q=. This book contains copies of original pages of the proceedings and transcriptions to make reading easier. On pages 12 and 13 there begins a list of the elected Burgesses and the area they represent. "For Smythes Hundred - Captain Thomas Graves and Mr. Walter Shelley".
Another great source for information about Captain Thomas Graves is the book, "Eastern Shore of Virginia, 1603-1964"
https://archive.org/stream/easternshoreofvi00turm/easternshoreofvi00turm_djvu.txt. Here is one of the 29 statements about Captain Graves in this book:
The latter part of this year of 1627, Captain Thomas Graves succeeded Captain Epps as commander of Accomack Plantation. He had been in Virginia since 1608 and had served as a Burgess when the General Assembly was organized in 1619. Since his name appeared in the census of 1625, he apparently had chosen the Eastern Shore as his home and was waiting to have his land surveyed and recorded. His authority in administering justice, like that of his successor, was limited to cases which showed promise of settlement by compromise.There are many other websites that mention and tell the story of Captain Thomas Graves. Some of them are well documented and some are not. But, there is a great deal of information out there.
Here is my direct line from Captain Thomas Graves to my father.
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| Created by the author using FamilyTreeMaker software. |
In the above chart you will notice that James and Martha Odell have the same parents, making them siblings. In the first chart the line goes through Martha Odell who married Jacob Duckett, Sr. and had a son named Thomas Duckett. The second chart goes through James Odell who married Martha Prather, and had a had a daughter, Mary Odell. Then Thomas Duckett married his 1st cousin, Mary Odell. That's why there are 2 charts! Confusing but also fun!
I am very grateful to be able to claim one of the original Jamestown Settlers as an ancestor and ecstatic that I was able to locate him and document my relationship to him. This is one of the most rewarding facets of doing Genealogy!
'Til Next Time!
#52Ancestors
this photo is of a later ancestor Sir Thomas Graves (1747–1814), Admiral
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Sir Thomas Graves (1747–1814), Admiral by James Northcote (1746–1831), 1801, from Government Art Collection