Thomas Graves Arrives in Jamestown (1608)
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| Captain Thomas Graves |
Well, our family has been in the country for a long time (for Europeans...)!
Before we continue with the Duvall line, I want to report on a branch I just discovered: I'll call it the Pearce-Graves line.
For some context: "The Emigrant," Mareen Duvall (1630-1694) [7th great grandfather; NextGen: 8th great grandfather] came to the North American English colonies (Maryland) from France, via England, around 1655, which is pretty early in the scheme of things. By comparison, the Mayflower arrived in New England 35 years earlier, in 1620. But the earliest permanent English settlement in North America was Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607. Our newly discovered ancestor, Thomas Graves (1580-1635) [8th great grandfather; NextGen: 9th great grandfather] arrived on the second supply ship, the Mary and Margaret, in October 1608, over 400 years ago!
(The first permanent European settlement on the mainland of what would become the United States was the Spanish town of Saint Augustine [Florida] in 1565.)
We met Sarah Eleanor Duvall (1800-1850) [2nd great grandmother; NextGen: 3rd great grandmother] and her parents briefly in our discussion of our relation to George Washington, who was cousins with Sarah's mother, Ann Ramsay (1765-1818) [3rd great grandmother; NextGen: 4th great grandmother]. I indicated that our other presidential cousins were related through her father, William Duvall (1754?-1815) [3rd great grandfather; NextGen: 4th great grandfather]. This line continues through William Duvall's father Samuel Duvall (1714-1783) [4th great grandfather; NextGen: 5th great grandfather], and we will return to this branch soon. But our descendance through the Pearce-Graves line proceeds from William's mother, and Samuel's wife, Eleanor Pearce (1716-1743) [4th great grandmother; NextGen: 5th great grandmother]. It was she who was descended from Thomas Graves, Eleanor's 2nd great grandfather. Here is the line per ancestry.com:
Captain Thomas Graves settled at Smythe's Hundred, situated on the north shore of the James River ten miles from Jamestown.
Governor George Yardley writing to Sir Edwin Sandys soon after April 29, 1619 of the affairs of Smythe's Hundred tells of a duel between Captain William Epes and Captain Stallings, in which Stallings was killed. This was the first duel between Englishmen in America. Captain Epes was placed under arrest and the governor placed Captain Graves in charge.
Capt. Thomas Graves was a member of the First Legislative Assembly in America, and, with Mr. Walter Shelley, sat for Smythe's Hundred when they met at Jamestown, Virginia on July 30, 1619. His name appears on a monument to the first House of Burgesses which stands at Jamestown today.
Smythe's Hundred was abandoned after the Indian uprising of 1622. The next record of Captain Graves showed him living on the Eastern Shore by February 16, 1623.
On February 8, 1627, Captain Francis West, Governor of Virginia, ordered that Thomas Graves have a commission to command the Plantation at Accomac. Graves was the second Commander. As an "Ancient Planter" he received one of the first patents there on March 14, 1628. He lived on Old Plantation Creek, now in Northhampton County, Virginia and served as Commissioner for Accomac in 1629.
So, since this is all new to me, I thought it important and interesting enough to share will everyone right away.
There is another complication! It turns out that two other presidents have to be added to our distant cousin list. According to the the Graves Family Association, the following are also descendants of Captain Thomas Graves of Virginia, via our 7th(8th) great-aunt, Verlinda Graves [who married William Stone, the 3rd colonial governor of Maryland]:
GEORGE WALKER BUSH is the oldest son of George H. W. Bush. He is descended from Capt. Thomas Graves of VA (Gen. 169) through his daughter Verlinda.
GEORGE HERBERT WALKER BUSH is descended from Capt. Thomas Graves of VA (Gen. 169) through his daughter Verlinda.
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