A Wilson Family Tree
Notes for Thomas Graves
My Southern Family calls him Captain Thomas Graves of Virginia. They have notes about possible parents for Thomas.
According to My Southern Family, Thomas Graves was one of the original Adventurers (stockholders) of the Virginia Company of London, and one of the very early planters who founded Jamestown, VA. He was the first known person named Graves in North America. He arrived on the Mary and Margaret in 1608 in the Second Supply (the first relief to the original colony). He was a member of the first House of Burgesses of Virginia.
Still from My Southern Family... He apparently made several trips back to England. It is likely that he returned to England, possibly in Oct 1609. In that way he would have missed the "Starving Time" of the winter of 1609-1610, which so few survived. He may have been married in England in about 1610, remained for several years, and returned to Virginia around 1617. He may have been in England at the time of the Indian Massacre of Mar 1622, and upon returning to Virginia, settled on the Eastern Shore of Chesapeake Bay, where it was less dangerous.
There is quite a bit of additional information in My Southern Family, and it mentions books that have been written about Thomas Graves and his descendants.
Bill Vincent's ahnentafel also refers to him as Captain Thomas Graves and says that he came from England to Virginia in 1608 on the Mary & Margaret. Says that he was a founding member of the Second Charter of Virginia. He gives the parents of Captain Thomas as Thomas Graves and Joan Blagrove. My Southern Family gives those names, too, but they also include a discussion saying that it is not known for sure who his parents are -- the commonly found Thomas-Graves/Joan-Blagrove is not substantiated.
Note: Some of the information in these pages is uncertain. Please let me know of errors or omissions using the email link above. ...Mike Wilson
Page generated on 14 September 2024