John Graves

John Graves was born in England about 1605. He came to New England with his wife in 1635 and settled in Concord, Massachusetts. He belonged to the church of which Peter Bulkeley was teacher. He was one of the signers of a petition to the Church of Concord in 1643 "in behalfe of our brother Mr. Ambrose Martin". He also signed in 1644 a document pledging its signers to the support of the government.

It was stated by genealogist John Card Graves, a descendant of John Graves of Concord, that John Graves was a brother of Deacon George Graves of Hartford, Connecticut, and that their sister Sarah married Richard Lord of New London, Connecticut. They were related to widow Ann Graves of Great Minores St., St. Botolph Parish, Aldgate (or Olgate), London, England, who by will proven 20 March 1676 gave annuities to the children of Deacon George in case of failure of issue to her grandson Joseph Hardey.

It seems likely that John Graves and George Graves were brothers, or at least cousins, although that doesn't prove that they were brothers rather than cousins.

Concord was the first town carved out of the wilderness. Every other town in America had been close to the ocean or a tidal river, where goods could be transported by boat and natural features would mark the bounds with a minimum of exploration.

There was a constant shift in the population of Concord as newly-arrived immigrants came, stayed a while, then went to Connecticut or returned to the coastal towns, where those with a trade, but no knowledge of farming, could hope to make a living. Almost every deed to land in Concord listed the buyer as yeoman, except for the few gentlemen, whereas in coastal towns like Charlestown the identifying word would be that of a trade: glover, tanner, brickmaker, mason, etc.

In 1644 there was a split in the church at Concord, and John Jones, one of the two ministers at Concord, took his family and fifteen other men from Concord, to Fairfield, Connecticut. John Graves may have been among this group. Many of these people left for religious, or at least church-related reasons, but many also may have left because they had little knowledge of farming, and could better hope to make a living at a trade in a seacoast town.

The early records of Concord have been mostly lost, as the town voted in 1664 to obtain a new record book, and to transfer "...what is useful in the old book..." Apparently few items were considered useful enough to transfer.

GEDCOM Source

@R1050710867@ Web: Netherlands, GenealogieOnline Trees Index, 1000-Current Ancestry.com Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.

GEDCOM Source

1,9289::14138378

GEDCOM Source

@R1050710867@ Web: Netherlands, GenealogieOnline Trees Index, 1000-Current Ancestry.com Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.

GEDCOM Source

1,9289::14138378

GEDCOM Source

@R1050710867@ Web: Netherlands, GenealogieOnline Trees Index, 1000-Current Ancestry.com Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.

GEDCOM Source

1,9289::14138378

GEDCOM Source

@R1050710867@ Ancestry Family Trees Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members.

GEDCOM Source

Ancestry Family Tree http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=113334805&pi...