Person:Thomas Graves (4)

Thomas Graves
b.Bef 1585
  • F.  Graves (add)
m.
  1. Thomas GravesBef 1585 - 1662
  2. Deacon George GravesBef 1606 - Bef 1673
  • HThomas GravesBef 1585 - 1662
  • WSarah ScottEst 1599 - 1666
m. Est 1621
  1. Mary GravesEst 1622 -
  2. Isaac Graves1623/24 - 1677
  3. John Graves1626 - 1677
  4. Elizabeth GravesEst 1628 -
  5. Nathaniel GravesAbt 1629 - 1682
Facts and Events
Name[2][3][4] Thomas Graves
Gender Male
Birth[4] Bef 1585
Marriage Est 1621 Based on estimated date of birth of eldest child.
to Sarah Scott
Residence[2] 1645 Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut, United States
Residence[2] 1661 Hatfield, Hampshire, Massachusetts, United States
Death[3] Nov 1662 Hatfield, Hampshire, Massachusetts, United States
DNA? GRAVES FAMILY DNA STUDY - GRAVES FAMILIES OF HERTFORD/HARLOW AREA, ENGLAND, HARTFORD, CT & VA from Graves Family Assoication http://www.gravesfa.org/Hertford.php WHAT IS KNOWN: It has been found through the Graves DNA study that Thomas Graves of Hartford, CT (genealogy 168) and Deacon George Graves of Hartford, CT (genealogy 65) shared a common ancestor, and were apparently brothers. Thomas Graves (genealogy 168) is believed to have been born before 1585 in England. He may have settled in Cambridge, MA (then called New Town), then moved to Hartford, CT by 1645, and later moved to Hatfield, CT. It is probably more than coincidence that Thomas Graves lived in Hartford and then Hatfield, both in the area of England where he is believed to have originated. None of this family has yet been found in England. WHAT IS NEEDED: An attempt needs to be made to find descendants of Graves families from the Hertford, England area to participate in the DNA study to try to find a match. Traditional research needs to be undertaken in the Hertford, England area to try to learn more about this family in England.

"The first official record of the family in this country was at Hartford, Conn., in 1645, when the family was located there. Thomas owned three separate pieces of real estate there, one described as being the one 'whereon his house standeth.' Isaac also took up his residence in Hartford and had land there. John took up his residence in Wethersfield, the adjoining town, and it is probable that the three homes were not far apart.

The lands granted to John in 1652 were described as those 'whereon his house standeth.'

Nathaniel also settled in Wethersfield, where he married in 1655.

The family remained together as far as it is known until the removal to Hatfield, Mass. The son Samuel never married, and probably did not live to accompany the rest at the time of removal. The family to which Nathaniel's wife belonged lived near him and were largely interested in lands there, and for the sake of remaining near his wife's relations, Nathaniel did not move with the rest of the family to Hatfield. The family at Hartford and Wethersfield occupied a prominent position and took active part in political and religious matters - serving on juries, acting as surveyors and fence viewers, running boundary lines between towns, and generally filling those places that stalwart, intelligent and respected citizens usually are called upon to fill. The exception was that Thomas was exempted from "training, watching, and warding" because he was over sixty, which was the age limit for that kind of service.

From all that can be learned, the family was prospering at Hartford as well as any family could in a new country, and there must have been some strong reason that would induce them to give up their lands and houses and enter upon a new life in an undeveloped country and suffer the hardships incident to the undertaking, and we find it in the strong religious convictions that impelled the early settlers in this country.

A schism had arisen in the church at Hartford and Wethersfield, and the dissenters from the views entertained by the majority concluded to break away from their homes and found a settlement where their views would prevail.

We find it extremely difficult to express our appreciation of the characteristics of the noble old head of this family, Thomas Graves. His modesty, together with the lapse of time, over 230 years, prevents us from mentioning many things about his daily life that make biography so entertaining. We are therefore compelled to speak of and delineate those qualities of heart and mind that become apparent to us from the standpoint of his well-known ideas upon religious matters, in fact his close adherence to what we now too often stigmatize as puritanism. It, however, hardly becomes us of the present to criticize too closely the views entertained by that noble band of men who held so lovingly to their theories that no conditions or inducements would make them swerve from their conscientious views of the requirements of duty. It was really tantamount to an express "thus saith the Lord" to them, for this was in many instances the cause of their leaving their homes and personal friends in England, and coming to our land that they might enjoy that freedom to worship God in what they deemed the only true way. And so when we find schismatic views of church polity were being advocated, that they deemed destructive to the church of God, we find them again ready to leave their pleasant surroundings in Hartford and seek new homes away on the frontier of civilized life. Perhaps we shall be excused if we here state briefly the cause of the removal to Hatfield, Mass. A practice had grown up in the churches of allowing persons who had been baptized, if not of a "scandalous character," to consent to the covenant, and this permitted them to have the sacrament of baptism administered to their infant children. On this question hot discussions were held, as well as on some others of minor importance. It was upon this division of sentiment that our ancestors determined to move to Hatfield, animated by what they supposed was their bounden duty. Yet we cannot but be satisfied that these pioneers knew that in their new undertaking they were to enter upon pleasant places. They selected the beautiful and fertile lands of the valley of the Connecticut for their new home, which have more than fulfilled the most ardent expectations of the settlers.

But notwithstanding the advanced age of Thomas Graves, we find him a promoter and organizer in this new country. They left their houses and lands in Hartford and Wethersfield unsold, and uniting themselves in a band of daring emigrants, started for their new home with wives and children. Their household effects were loaded on carts drawn by oxen, and they took with them their domestic animals. The determined cavalcade started out for their new homes. It was not far from the middle of September 1661. The journey, of not over fifty miles, occupied nearly or quite ten days. Creeks and brooks had to be crossed, swamps and morasses had to be avoided or crossed as best they could be. They reached their destination about the first of October 1661.

Exposed to all the dangers incident to a frontier settlement, amid the habitations of wild beasts and wilder men, the Indians, who resided in their immediate vicinity, and had a fort and village only about two miles from where the settlement was made. Foremost among these hardy emigrants were Thomas Graves, with his aged wife, and his two stalwart sons, Isaac and John, with their wives and families of five children each. And now we find them without a house or where to lay their heads and winter approaching rapidly. They at once set to work to provide homes for their families and barns for their animals. There were no saw mills to manufacture the lumber, and the only method of sawing planks or boards was by making a pit, and by using the cross-cut saw, with one man on the top of the log, and one man in the pit. In this way a few boards were made that would serve for tables and doors. The logs were speedily shaped into convenient homes for the accommodation of these brave people.

Thomas Graves was now an aged yet honored member of this community, and from this time forward lived with the family of his son Isaac. He was then past his 76th birthday. He remained, with his wife, in Isaac's family until his death in November 1662, a little more than a year from the time of their removal to their new home.

It is very probable that a few of these settlers at Hatfield had located there, previous to the general removal. A committee had been appointed January 1st, 1661, to lay out house lots in Hatfield, and it appears that Richard Fellows was there early in 1661. It is quite probable that each engager knew the number of his house lot. Thomas Graves was not assigned any lands, but was counted in with Isaac, his oldest son, whose estate was thus increased to 150 pounds, while his brother John's was voted at 100 pounds. This did not affect the size or location of their respective house lots, as they were contiguous, but did in the division of common lands. After the death of Thomas Graves, his son Isaac administered upon his estate in Massachusetts, while his son Nathaniel performed the same service on his estate in Connecticut. His wife, Sarah Graves, survived him for four years, and Isaac administered upon her estate. A very curious inventory of her effects is spread upon the probate records at Northampton. Views of the lots on which Thomas and his son Isaac located their house in Hatfield and the lot on which John placed his new home there, together with general views of the beautiful village of Hatfield, which the settlers had shown so much wisdom in selecting, appeared as illustrations in the 1896 book by John Card Graves."[1]

References
  1. Graves Family Association, http://www.gravesfa.org/gen168.htm.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Wells, Daniel White, and Reuben Field Wells. A History of Hatfield, Massachusetts (1660-1910): in Three Parts. (Springfield, Massachusetts: F.C.H. Gibbons, 1910)
    409.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Boltwood, Lucius M. (Lucius Manlius). Genealogies of Hadley Families: Embracing the Early Settlers of the Towns of Hatfield, South Hadley, Amherst and Granby. (Northampton, Massachusetts: Metcalf & Company, Printers, 1862)
    59.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Graves, John Card. Genealogy of the Graves family in America: sketch of the family in England : genealogy of the family of Thomas Graves of Hatfield, Mass. (Buffalo, N.Y.: Baker, Jones & Co., 1896)
    1:1-7.
  5.   Savage, James. A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England: Showing Three Generations of Those Who Came Before May, 1692, on the Basis of Farmer's Register. (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co, 1860-1862)
    2:296-297.

    "THOMAS, Hartford, not an orig. propr. an old man, excus. from train. 1645, rem. to Hadley, perhaps had not any ch. b. here, yet had brot. from Eng. Isaac, John, and perhaps Samuel, and a d. whose name is unkn. and possib. Nathaniel; as all, ex. this last, rem. with him. He d. Nov. 1662; and his wid. Sarah d. 1666."

  6.   Graves Family Association DNA Testing project.