More work to do for the GRAVES family

Watching what's happening in Ottawa this week makes me remember driving on Sussex Drive before going to the airport in April and I realize that I'm desperate to get back to Kingston. While it is was a trip of a lifetime and I hope to take my son there sometime because of the military history, the money spent on the cost of a trip could be spent other ways to get the same information I could get if I lived in Kingston, so it's not likely that I'm going back anytime soon.

I think over the past months, the best piece of advice I got was to look at film #199690 from the LDS FHC. What a jackpot of information. I'm going to keep it for a permanent loan at my local FHL. The film is an index of who owned the land by Concession and Lot. It lists who too and who from, how it was owned (i.e. patent, purchase, will, mortgage) how much was paid for it. I think I've got some good leads as to how the GRAVES family fits together and maybe that Elizabeth's McLean's parents were Joseph McLean & Mary Anderson. I think 199690 is an index to films #199634 to #199646 and #199691 to #199695.

Right now the GRAVES are my number one priority. I'm confident that brothers Adam Graves & George Graves who were in Maryland in 1781 are my ancestors. After they were traitors to the newly formed USA, they escaped to Canada and went to Sorel, Quebec with other Loyalists of the time. I found what I think is Adam's death and a number of other GRAVES family life events on the film #1430819 , but I'm not yet sure how they all fit together.

I also Googled Adam and George GRAVES and got the following interesting websites:

A description of why Adam and George GRAVES were tried for treason. This story is consistent with the information from the book American Migrations talked about in a previous post. What I find ironic about the story is that the new government (which wanted to be rid of the British) used the British laws as to determine the traitors punishment to hang and quarter the seven men convicted of conspiracy. It does call to the men Adam Graves and John George Graves, not as George Graves.

This capture of the conspirators must have been a big deal. A book called The Loyalists of Pennsylvania by Wilbur H. Siebert also talks about George & Adam Graves very briefly on page 15.

The On-Line Institute for Advanced Loyalist Studies has a few letters that talks about Adam Graves, George Graves and Nicholas Andres and, if I'm reading it correctly, allowed them to get land in Canada since their land and possessions were confiscated and sold.

George and Adam Graves are listed as part of the index to The Old United Empire Loyalist List.

The details of a legal battle between James Graves and residents of Pittsburgh who supposedly owned the land. It looks like it took place in about 1862. Unfortunately the notes did not always include the first names of those involved so it was a little confusing. From what I understand, James Graves pretened to the heir to the land because he hadn't heard from his brother, George Graves, who was the legitimate heir, in over 7 years (was George a sailor?). Then George returned from England and was upset that James had his land, but in the meantime they figured out that it wasn't James or George's land because their father Adam had sold it without ever going to Pittsburgh Township, so really there was nothing anyone could do about it. Apparently Adam exchanged it for land in Sorel, Lower Canada, so I should find out how to look at those land records as well.

I also found a Maryland books look up page, but I can't find it again. I emailed some of volunteers and got one response.

From the book Inhabitants of Frederick County, MD

"Fees received by Mr. Martin [Frederick County Clerk?] from the Sherrif [sic] of Washington County, and paid to C. Edelson, Sherrif of Frederick County, November 1781: ...Jno. Geo. Graves, Adam Graves..." (p. 185)

"Frederick County Subpoena Docket 1781: ...July 26, 1781: The State of Maryland vs. Doct. Woolse. Witnesses: Mary Elizth, Graves the wife of Jno. Geo. Graves, Christena Graves the wife of Adam Graves, notation "Washington [County] for both." (p. 188)

"Judicial Writs Returnable 29th October 1781: ... State of Maryland vs. Jno. Geo. Graves, Washington [County]; State of Maryland vs. Adam Graves, Washington [County]." (p. 189)

"Recognizances to the Especial Court Begun and Held at Frederick Town ..6th of July 1781: July 4 1781 [sic]: Philip Erehart, to testify for the State vs. Adam Graves." (p. 191)

The Christ Church Sorel film mentions the death of Christena, wife of Adam Graves, so that's consistent with this information, so from this it could be that George Graves wife's name was Mary Elizabeth. That is if the man I called George Graves is the same man as John George Graves mentioned in this book.

This article gives information on the Loyalists of Sorel. It's interesting background information.

I think it would be helpful if the Graves named their children something other than George. And if I could find a marriage for George Graves who married Catherine Percy about 1820. Unfortunately, there appeared to be no such information in the records of Christ-Church at Sorel. So somewhere, I'm assuming between Sorel and Pittsburgh Township along the St. Lawrence, George Graves met and married Catherine Percy of Upper Canada. There is a Percy Township originally named for a Percy family, but it is seems very out of the way from the St. Lawrence so I'm hesitant about searching in that area.

What I need to do is figure out how George & Adam link with my Henry Graves born in 1825. Right now the best information I will have is the land records since it appears that Henry and his brother Michael were given their land in their father George Graves' will. I'm back to waiting for films..... #199634 should be on it's way from Salt Lake.

Directions to the Milton Cemetery

Today I realized that there were comments to some of my posts. Someone asked "How do you get to the Milton Cemetery?"

As far as I know, the Milton Cemetery is on private land but from what we were told when we went there, the landowner allows access to the cemetery.

To get to Milton Cemetery from Kingston drive east along Hwy 2. After the road "Glen Lawrence Crescent" there are two large lions on the south side of the road and I think a sign that says "Pineledge". Drive through the two lions towards the St. Lawrence River. Stay to the right. There's a small sign that says CEMETERY and a small parking area. From there you have to walk west into the brush for about 5 minutes but the trail was very good. There's a map at the entrance of the cemetery marking the tombstones. If you get to the Milton subdivision on Highway 2 then you've gone too far.

GRAVES of Sorel?

It's very possibly the the Graves family lived in Sorel, Quebec before coming to Pittsburgh Township.

Today I was looking at LDS FHL film 1430819 and there is a George Graves born in Sorel and christened in the Anglican Church called Christ Church. He was born in 1805 which is the right age to have been the George Graves who married Catherine Percy.

I've been doing some seaching on the internet about Sorel, Quebec. There is an article called The Loyalists of Sorel that says when the time came to divide the land in Sorel among the Loyalists, they were given a small amount of land in Sorel and then the remainder due to them was given at Cataraqui which became Kingston.

Sorel to Kingston is a fair distance, but from other things I've read, the British government was anxious to inhabit their side of of North America to protect it from the Americans.


View Larger Map

I did not find a marriage or a death on the film for this George Graves so if it the man who married Catherine Percy, they did not get married at Christ Church in Sorel.

On the 1852 and 1861 censuses Catherine says her birthplace is Upper Canada. There is a Percy Township in Upper Canada so maybe her family originated from that township, but the township is west of Kingston. Is it likely that someone born as far east as Sorel would meet and marry someone as far west as Percy Township? They would have married about 1820. It makes sense that if this is the George Graves who married Catherine Percy, that they would have been married at her church. I will try to search the neighboring counties to Pittsburgh for Percy names. Perhaps I will get lucky and find what I'm looking for. She could have been a Methodist or Anglican.

In the meantime, I've now got film 199690 of Pittsburgh Township land abstracts ready to go. With any luck I will be able to find something about the Graves family from the land records.

Notes to self about Pittsburgh Township

I finally got a copy of Tracing your Ancestors in Frontenac and Lennox & Addington Counties by Barbara B. Aitken and H. Dawn Broughton (ISBN 1-55034-007-7) from my public library. I wish I had a copy of this book before we went to Kingston, but now I have more reasons to go back. The book was written in 1987 so I hope the information is still valid.

These are my "notes to self" of additional things I could search for. Comments in parenthesis are for my benefit.

Family Research (page 5-7)

• best general handbook for Ontario genealogical research is Genealogy in Ontario: Searching the Sources by Brenda D. Merriman (look at a copy of this book from the library or amazon.ca)
  

Examples of "Primary Sources" (previous to this I thought a Primary Source was only a life event i.e. birth, marriage, death. Obviously some primary sources are better than others, but I'm glad the list is longer than I thought)

• Birth records (used ancestry.ca for civil birth registrations; Anglican Diocese for earlier christening records)
  
• Marriage records (used ancestry.ca for civil marriage registrations; Anglican Diocese for earlier marriages)
  
• Death records (ancestry.ca again)
  
• Census records (ancestry.ca)
  
• Wills & Probate records (have found some in 2 different indexes; need to figure out how to get a copy of them)
• Land records (ordered LDS film 199690 to get the Instrument for the Concessions & Lots of my ancestors)
  
• Tax assessment records
• Military records (exploring this option; a lot of films to go through from the LAC)
  
• Church records
• Cemetery records (used these)
• Funeral home records
• Burials and transport permits
• Court records

Secondary sources (not acceptable as proof but provide valuable information)

• Bible records
• Obituaries
• Newspaper clippings
• Published family histories
  
• Published county histories (i.e. Lilacs and Limestone)
• Directories
• Personal papers
• Tombstone inscriptions
• Atlases and land ownership maps (1878 Atlas of Frontenac)

REPOSITORIES p. 8-9 (I'm only mentioning the ones that I still need to do)

• Contact the Frontenac County Registry Office for copy of the wills I would like (613-548-3230).
• Marine Museum of the Great Lakes at Kingston (613-542-2261) for early records of... shipbuilding companies (check here for John Wilmot b. 1790 since he worked in the Kingston dockyard)
• Queen's University Archives Guide (get a copy of this if we ever go back to Kingston)

Find out what a Tweedsmuir history is for Pittsburgh Township?

CHURCH REGISTERS: p. 12

• Free Methodist - Pinegrove Free Methodist, Pinegrove Road, Pittsburgh Township register 1905-1966 (dates are too late for who I'm looking for)
• Methodist - Early Methodist Records 1805-1853, Methodist Episcopal Chruch includeing Smith's Creek, Bay of Quinte & Napanee circuits (looks like can get a copy from the Kingston OGS)
• There are other Methodist Churches listed under the UNITED Church, but the earliest dates are not early enough. There is a guide to the United Church Archives by Neil Semple from the Kingston OGS that might be helpful in determining if I should contact the United Church Archives. The oldest dates for Methodist are from the Sydenham Street Methodist/United Circut Register marriages from 1831-1850 but a church in that location would have been very far away from where my ancestors lived on Concession 1 Lot 11/12 of Pittsburgh Township (I think it would have been almost closer to go to Ganonoque since they didn't have to go to Kingston Mills to get across the Cataraqui River?)

CIVIL REGISTRATIONS

• More notices from Methodist Newspapers 1830-1857 (Graves family? looks like the Kingston OGS has a copy)

CEMETERIES

• Pine Grove, Concession VIII, Lot 33 (I think the Pine Grove church was a Methodist church. Depending on the dates, perhaps the Pine Grove cemetery might have some GRAVES family names).

LAND RECORDS

(I think I have this one finally figured out but if not I will have to get this book out of the library again)

WILLS

• All wills prior to 1940 are at the Archives of Ontario. (how do I order a film from the AO to look at the will???)

MILITARY RECORDS (page 41)

• The key to obtaining information is finding out the regiment or corps to which the man belonged. I need to find a copy of Searching for a Soilder in the British Army or Canadian Militia by John Grenville. There was once a copy at the Kignston OGS.

On page 61 there is a map of Pittsburgh Township

So basically I've got some clues of where to go for probate and military records which after I get my land records sorted out, is all I think I can do at this point.

GRAVES in Lower Canada (Quebec)

H-1161
Lower Canada Land Petitions 1637 - 1842

Lower Canada Land Index for the land Petitions in HG1, L3
QUEBEC and LOWER CANADA land petitions and related records 1637-1842

Volumes 1-210

Petitions for land grants submitted to the Land Comitte of the Executive Council in Quebec and Lower Canada, 1764-1841, together with related and supporting documentations, 1637-1842, form a relatively unified series. Included are many reports and schedules prepared by the Surveyor General, documents relating to the administration of the Jesuit Estates, draft and duplicate minutes and reports of the land Committee, and regulations of the land granting office, 1780-1840. Petitions submitted after 1841 are to be found in series L3. The land Books (series L1) generally give only a brief mention of the decision taken on the application for land. Thus they have very limited value for genealogical and biographical research.

The original order of the petitions has not been preserved. The petitions (volumes 29-209) were reorganized into an alphabetic sequence by name of petitioner or group leader in the early 1960's. Acess is to be had through the Index.

FINDING AIDS
The nominal card index in the Reference Room provides the name of individuals and the pages of the petitions which refer to each. In the case of group petitions, the page references are to the whole file and not to mentions of specific individuals.

The original arrangement of the petitions was essentially geographic, by the township in which the grant or lease was made. Finding Aid 619 provides lists according to the original order, alphabetically arranged by township and by name within each township. It can be used in conjunction with the nominal index to obtain page reference for all settlers ina specific township.

Finding Aid 876 is a copy of the "list of Lands Grnated by the Crown in ... Quebec", 1763-1890, for which the records are held by the Service de l'enregistrement des documents de l'Etat at Quebec. The published list is in two parts, arranged alphabetically by township and by name of grantee.

USE OF THE INDEX

1. Consult the Index under all possible Variant spellings of the names of interest. Note page numbers given there.
2. Consult the shelf list to determine the microfilm reel on wich the pages will appear. RESEARCHERS MUST USE THE MICROFILM.
3. Consult the microfilm in the Self-Service Reading room. The reels may also be borrowed through the inter-library loan arrangement.

MICROFILM

The complete series has been microfilmed. Reel numbers are given in the Slef List which follows this description. An earlier version of this shelf list was microfilmed (as reel C-623). The nominal card index will be microfilmed in 1981.

PHOTOCOPIES

Since the series has been withdrawn from circulation for conservation purposes, xerox copies cannot be made. Reader printer copies will be supplied at the standard charge of rxerox. When special cpies are required for pulication or exhibition, photographs can be supplied at the standard charge for such copies. Please specify the reel number as well as page numbers w3hen ordering photocopies.

CITATIONS

The recomended format is as follows:

PAC, RG 1, L3L vol. 201, pages 94801-94802; on reel C-2568

or

PAC, Lower Canada Land Petitions, vol. 201 pp 94801-802; reel C-2568

1822-1828
Graves, ---
Lower Canada Land
23846-23863
Shelf list 23765-24265 C-2511 (Bowen Hugh - Breyner, David) No dates

1792
Graves, Abner
Lower Canada Land
pp46314-46326
Shelf list 45933-46403 C-2529 (Gilman, Moses - Gongere, Joseph) No dates

1792
Graves, Adam
Lower Canada Land
3206-3211
shelf list 3108-3336 C-2495 (Minutes & reports of the land committee: drafts and extracts of minutes etc) 1792

1792-1797
Graves, Adam
Lower Canada Land
pp 47576-47588
shelf list 47246-47656 C-2530 (Grant, Donald - Grant, Thomina) no dates

1792-1821
Graves, Adam
Lower Canada Land
pp. 46771-46834
shelf list 46404-46866 C-2529 (Goodfellow, Robert - Goupille, Louis) no dates

1797
Graves, Adam
Lower Canada Land
p. 406
shelf list 374-449 C-2493 (Lists of petitons for land: Petitions &c for land and reference to the land committee with index) 1796-1799

1799
Graves, Adam
Lower Canada Land
pp. 58-64
shelf list 58-64 C-2493 (List of petions laid before Council) 1799

1799
Graves, Adam
Lower Canada Land
pp. 4522-4527
shelf list 4493-4706 C-2496 (Minutes & Reports of the land committee drafts and extracts of minutes) 1798-1800

1801-1802
Graves, Adam
Lower Canada Land
pp. 35733-35788
shelf list 35645-35916 C-2521 (Davidson, James - Desjarlais, Marie J.) no dates

1802-03
Graves, Adam
Lower Canada Land
pp. 756-759
shelf list 629-787 C-2493 (Lists of applicants who had taken the oath of allegiance) 1795-1806

1802-1825
Graves, Adam
Lower Canada Land
p. 1540
shelf list 1410-1616 C-2494 (lists of the Patentees in the Townships for which Patents have been issued) 1802-1825

1805-1806
Graves, Adam
Lower Canada Land
pp. 16603-16610
shelf list 16312-16931 C-2505 (Allsopp, James - Antrobus, John) no dates

1806
Graves, Adam
Lower Canada Land
p. 1309
shelf list 1239-1409 C-2494 (List of Patentees... Book 1 duplicates pp 1217-1264) no dates (1809)

1806
Graves, Adam
Lower Canada Land
p. 2118
shelf list 1962-2299 C-2494 (scrip book listing grants with index) 1796-1832

1792
Graves, Adam & others
Lower Canada Land
pp. 170
shelf list 141-273 C-2493 (Memorials &c for land and references to the land committee with dates of warrants of survey) 1792-1793

1787-1829
Graves, George
Lower Canada Land
pp. 24766-24769
shelf list 24511-24777 C-2512 (Briand, Thomas - Brooks, John) no dates

Other GRAVES names like Agnes & Edward, John, John Jr, Josiah, Levinah, Lydia, Martha, Mary, Nancy, Nathaniel, Randel, Peres, Richard, William also but I'm not sure how or where they might fit in the family tree.

1792
Greaves, Adam
Lower Canada Land
pp 11-26
shelf list 11-26 C-2493 (orders for specific quantities of lands in Sundry Township) 1792

1801
Greaves, Adam
Lower Canada Land
p. 1651
shelf list 1617-1738 C-2494 (orders of the govenor in council specific quanties of land with index) 1801

1799
Greaves, Adam
Lower Canada Land
2352-59
shelf list 2345-2365 C-2494 (lists of names of grantees proposed to be published in the Gazette) 1799

1800
Greaves, Adam & Others
Lower Canada Land
47807-47810
shelf list 47657-48227 C-2530 (Grant, William - Green, James) no dates

1837
Groves, George
Lower Canada Land
pp. 48659-48666
48546-48666 C-2531 (Green, John - Groves, George) no dates

no other Groves (this one doesn't match the year I'm looking for)

Trying to find the right land records

While trying to find land information for Adam and George Graves, I thought that LAC film C-2741 might have what I was looking for, but no such luck. There was mention of George & Adam Graves, but it has more to do with a question about Adam & George's land. I copied the letter because I thought it was interesting. Some of the spelling mistakes are my transcription errors and some of the spelling mistakes are the way the word was spelled, so I've left it the way I typed it originally; unfortunately I didn't have time to proof read and compare to the film.

Bundle 6 Claim 19B page 10 is a letter with the names of a number of people and the description of their land

Entered in land book No 5 pages 305 & 306

Inspector Generals Office

York 26 October 1803

Sir

In obedience to your Excellencys Commands to make Examination with respect to the privilages and fees payable on Patents for Land remciming in the Secretarys Office, that had been signed during the Administration of Mr President Rufsell

I have the honor to Report, that for Seven of the Patents mentioned in the minutes of Search herewith transmitted the half fee appears to have been paid by Government. Two hundred and sixty four appears intitled to receive their Deeds free of expence, but of this number ten of them are stated as not to have buss seen by the secretaery or have paper the great seal. Five hundred and five are subject to prepayment of full fee. Three of these have not the paped the seal: and one is stated to have been cancelled. One has been resinded on account of Onstarory. One for which a Patent has been made out was relinquished in a petition to the land board of the Midland District. For fifty two, I have no document to direct me to decide of this number there are six for whom no Patents have paper the seal. One is not privlidged to the extend of land mentioned in the Patent. Two are misnomers. Two require further authority. Five ought not to ifree owing in some instances to the grantee having died long before the date of the Patent. For Two the land was granted to the wife and the deed made in the name of the husband. Eight are subject to the order in Council of the 11 June 1799, and one on account of his Father having been suspersded the UE list is uscroed for Enquirey. Making in the whole Eight hundred and fifty one Patents or suppossed Patents that are now reported upon.

I have the honour to be very Respectfully

Sir

Your Excellencys

Most Obedient

and Most humble servant

______ Gill

Insp Genl

His Excellency Peter Hunter Esq

Liuetenant Govonor of Upper Canada

and Lieutenant General Comnanding

His Majestys Forces in both the Cannadas

page 6

Report of a committee of the whole of the executive councin on the report of the inspector general on Examinations made by him in regard to priviledge on 851 grants of land.

Council Chamber York 2nd December 1803

The Honorable Henry Allcock Esquire Chief Justice

The Honorable Peter Sussell Esquire

The Honorable Erneas Shaw Esqure

The Honorabel John McGill Equire

To his excellency Peter Hunter Esquire Lieuntenant Govonver of His Majesty's Province of Upper Canada and Lieutenant General Commanding His Majesty's Forces in the Province of Upper Canada and Lower Canada.

May it please your excellency

Your excellency having by order dated the first day of November 1803 been pleased to refer to the consideration of the board the report of the inspector general on examinations made by him in regard to priviledge on 851 grants of land signed by his excellency Lieutenant Govonor Simcoe and Mr. President Anssell as received by the said inspector genreeal for mthe Auditor General (Mr Russell) 23 July 1803 and which said 857 grants are stated to be now in the possession of the secretary of the Province or his deputies. The baord took the said report to the said inspector general into considerant and after examingin discussing and deliberating on the same on many days to which they from time to time adjorned. Thie board has agreed to report to your excellency as follows:

That they find that there are 851 grants that are now in the hands of the secretary and his deputies. Two hundred and seventy three of the grantees in which are entitled or claim to be intitled to privlidge on which two hundred and seventy three the board submits toe following observations:

page 8

Fourty nine deeds are without description of Grantees and the six next following are without deed or description of the respective grantees (continues to list 6 names)

page 9

The remainder of the said 49/Viz/43 want further description the names of the said 43 are what next follow and for the land hereafter next specified (viz:)

page 10

Lieut George Graves Nos 11 & 12 in the 2nd Con & Broken Fronts Nos 11 & 12 in the 1st Concession 670 acres in Pittsburgh

Captain Adam Graves Nos 17 & 18 in the 1&2 Concessions with Broken fronts 980 acres in Pittsburgh

GRAVES from Maryland part II

If the GRAVES family is from Maryland, this is some background information on Maryland that might be useful. These are all answers I received after sending an email to the MDWASHING rootsweb mailing list.

This is the message I sent. I got three responses.

I'm new to these lists and I hope that I have the right ones; there are a lot of choices for the state of Maryland. I am looking for resources available for my ancestors who may have lived in Maryland during the revolutionary war.

I had hit a dead end with my 4x great grandfather George GRAVES (b. abt 1800 in USA died before 1851 in Ontario, Canada) but recently through another rootsweb mailing list have found that there is a GRAVES family association and it has George's ancestry back 2 generations. I would like to verify the information as none of it is sourced AND there are no dates so all I've got to go on now is names.

According to the book American Migrations 1765-1799, Lt. George GRAVES & Capt. Adam GRAVES were brothers who were alive in the 1780's living in Frederick County, Maryland. They were loyal to the British and were trying recruit men to their cause when they were captured, condemned to die but instead they were reprieved on condition of being transported to France. They escaped to New York, then sailed to England on 10 Sep 1783.

If these are my ancestors, they eventually received land in 1797 in Pittsburgh Township, Frontenac County, Upper Canada just north of the St. Lawrence River, east of present day Kingston, Ontario.

Again from the book American Migrations, George & Adam GRAVES made a claim for 428 acres of land in Frederick, Washington Co in 1783. The last bit of information from the book is that George GRAVES died in Canada in 1789 (if he died in 1789 how was it that he received land in 1797? did he have a son also named George who got his land?)

Does anyone know if Frederick, Washington County has good land records that far back? If yes, any suggestions where I could start to find the land claim records by Adam & George GRAVES?

Does anyone know if there are British Revolutionary war military records in Maryland?

Apparently Adam GRAVES brother, Joseph GRAVES was an Admiral for the British and his sister (no name) owned a plantation worked by slaves. Was Maryland a state that had plantations? I would have thought that plantations would have been farther south than Maryland but I don't know much about early American history or the eastern states geography.

It looks like there is a lot of information for the Maryland area on the LDS familysearch catalog so I will also start with those films but if anyone on the list has some helpful hints, I would be grateful for the information since I haven't done any genealogy searching outside of Ontario, Canada!

Response #1

(re: Adam & Joseph GRAVES sister owned a plantation worked by slaves, assumed in Maryland)

Maryland was a slave state. Anything below the Mason & Dixon line (separating Md. De.,Va. and Pa.) was considered a slave state. They were also found in the northern states too. Maryland was considered a English state as it was originally settled mainly by the English, so when the American Revolution came along the citizens of the State were greatly divided on which side to take. Mine are mainly French Hugenots and Ulsterscots so we were 100% for the revolution.

Response #2

Washington County Maryland county evolution:
Washington from Frederick in 1776
Frederick from Prince George in 1748
Prince George from Calvert and Charles in 1695.
Records prior to 1776 will be in Frederick Co.

You need to check with the Frederick County website to get a more full response. Many of us work back and forth between surrounding counties because people moved around, but I believe your best responses will be from those who have resources for Frederick County.

One resource for Frederick County that I have is Rice's THIS IS THE WAY IT WAS, Excerpts from the Judgment Records of Fred. Co. MD 1848-1765. On page 183:
[during the August Court of 1758] "Ordered that bench warrant issue for searching Thomas GRAVES' house." There is a marriage license record for a Thomas GRAVES to Elizabeth CARTNAIL Oct. 9, 1783 in Myers, MARRIAGE LICENSES OF FREDERICK CO MD. 1778-1810.

There are 7 GRAVES grooms is Morrow & Morrow's WASHINGTON COUNTY MARYLAND MARRIAGES, 1799-1860. One is for Joseph GRAVES/Catherine BROSIUS on 1/9/1817. That is the earliest - the latest is in 1857.

The Washington Spy (Hagerstown)
October 5, 1796
"Tract for sale, 400a., adj Pennsylvania line and lands of Samuel GRAVES, 2 miles from Hancocktown - William TONG."

In 1808 there was a petition to straighten a road near Hancock and this location tied to Samuel GRAVES is mentioned. In 1815 a mention is made of a John GRAVES living 1/2 mile from Hancock.

Maryland land records are online and you might investigate those.

In Clement's and Wright's, THE MARYLAND MILITIA IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR six GRAVES patriots fought in the Maryland Militia - some from St. Mary's County, Kent, and Montgomery.

In Ridenour's WASHINGTON COUNTY MD OBIT LOCATOR, 1790-1940 there are some GRAVES obits running from 1896-1940.

In Morrow & Morrow's WILLS OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, the only entry for GRAVES is for George who had estate documents in 1858.

From Passano's SOURCE RECORDS OF MARYLAND:
"Graves. Md. tombstone rec. Md. Geneal. Rec. Com., 1937, Parran, p. 3 Mss. DAR.
Thurman, Graves, Jones. Descendants of John Thurman of Va., William Graves of Va., and John Jones of Sc., J.D. Humprihes, 1938. DAR."

From INVENTORY OF MARYLAND BIBLE RECORDS, The Genealogical Council of MD.

GRAVES Bible, eb. 1713, em 1841, on STANSBURY, BOYD, COLGATE, MERRITT; res. Baltimore Co. Md. dep. MHS/FCA

GRAVES Bible eb 1749, on THOMPSON, JONES, BAKER, res. Westmoreland, Wales; Baltimore, MD. dep. MHS/FCA.

MHS = Maryland Historical Society
FCA = Filing case A.

Response #3
Frederick county has wonderful land records. I have not used the
on-line database but I have researched there in person. To use the on-line
records go to:
http://www.mdlandrec.net/msa/stagser/s1700/s1741/cfm/index.cfm?CFID=13965908

Response #4

Sorry for the delay. I checked the land record indexes for Frederick Co., MD 1778-1803 and also Washington Co. and did not find any listing for an Adam or George Graves, or any other Graves in that time frame.

Now to follow up on their leads.

GRAVES from Maryland?

Well, from the information on the Graves Family Site and the book American Revolutions it's possible that my GRAVES family lines were British loyalists in Maryland and went to Montreal before coming to Pittsburgh. So I'm exploring my options. I don't know how or if I will verify any of it, but it's interesting none-the-less and if it is provable or not maybe someone in the future will be able to find something I didn't.

The Graves Family Site does not have dates for any of the people. Jean Graves who submitted the information only included names. Jean never married and died in 2003. I wonder what happened to her genealogy notes; perhaps she has a nephew or a niece alive in Kingston who knows what became of it. It frustrates me to think that five years ago I could have talked with someone who knew my relatives when they still lived in the Kingston area. Her name and phone number are included in a notebook that my great-grandfather took to Kingston in the 1960's. Since she was his first cousin they must have visited together.

Anyway, I want to include the information I got from the Graves Family Site and add the notes or questions and comments I have. The information I received is in regular print and my additions are italicized in blue.

The father (1) of Adam Graves married. Based on their living in Maryland and the connection with the British Navy, it seems likely that this family is descended from the Graves family of Mickleton, Gloucestershire, England (gen. 68). It may also be part of or closely related to the family of John Graves, that settled in St. Mary's Co., Maryland (gen. 247). (R 1)
Children - Graves
+2. Adam Graves, m. .
3. Joseph Graves; an Admiral in the British Navy. Commanded a ship, the Pauley (could not find a reference to this ship on the internet). He is said to have had a consultation during the American Revolution with British General [John] Burgoyne (1722-1792) on the subject of the necessity of preventing a store of ammunition from falling into the hands of the revolutionaries. Evidently, before it was moved to a safer place, it was seized by Paul Revere (1735-1818) and stored in an old cellar for use by General [George] Washington's (1732-1799) troops.
4. daughter; owned a plantation worked by slaves.

CHILDREN OF GRAVES (1)
Capt. Adam Graves (2) married ?. He and his family moved to Canada with the U.E.L. (United Empire Loyalist) migration, and settled in Montreal where his son George is said to have attended McGill University (McGill University did not begin offering classes until 1829; George was having children before 1829 so it’s doubtful he went to McGill) and studied to be an engineer. When the government machinery was set up for granting land to the Loyalists, Adam went with a negro slave to Pittsburgh Township, where according to the Crown Records Dept. in Toronto, he received a grant of land in 1816, on the St. Lawrence River. (need to check land records).

Names and generations of the GRAVES family from Ken Graves

(1) GRAVES, M
1. (2) Adam GRAVES, M (m) unknown
2. (5) George GRAVES, M, (m1) Betsy, (m2) Catherine PERCY
3. (6) Ellen GRAVES, F
3. (7) George GRAVES, M
3. (8) Henry GRAVES, M, (m) unknown
4. (17) George GRAVES, M, (m) Sitney Van HORNE
5. (23) Sarah GRAVES, F, (m) Robert BRASH
6. (34) Howard BRASH, M
6. (35) William BRASH, M
6. (36) George BRASH, M
6. (37) Maude BRASH, F
6. (38) Tina BRASH, F
6. (39) Emma BRASH, F
5. (24) William GRAVES, M
5. (25) George GRAVES, M, (m) Elizabeth MILTON
6. (40) Stanley GRAVES, M
6. (41) Annette Marie GRAVES, F
6. (42) Harvey GRAVES, M, (m) Mary BARKER
7. (46) Nancy GRAVES, F
7. (47) Alan GRAVES, M
7. (48) John GRAVES, M
7. (49) Ted GRAVES, M
7. (50) Mary GRAVES, F
7. (51) James GRAVES, M
6. (43) Dorothea GRAVES, F
6. (44) Jean GRAVES, F
5. (26) Catherine GRAVES, F, (m) HARDING
6. (45) Alden GRAVES, M
7. (52) Hugh GRAVES, M
7. (53) Marjorie GRAVES, F
5. (27) Joseph GRAVES, M
5. (28) John GRAVES, M
5. (29) Minnie GRAVES, F, (m) Bauer Wilmot
5. (30) Alfred GRAVES, M, (m) Hattie Van Horne
5. (31) Anne GRAVES, F, (m1) unknown, (m2) unknown
5. (32) Frank GRAVES, M
5. (33) Herbert GRAVES, M
3. (9) Michael GRAVES, M
4. (18) George GRAVES, M
4. (19) Charles GRAVES, M
4. (20) Tom GRAVES, M
4. (21) John GRAVES, M
4. (22) Edward GRAVES, M
3. (10) John GRAVES, M
3. (11) William GRAVES, M
3. (12) Jane GRAVES, F, (m) TAYLOR
3. (13) Mary GRAVES, F
3. (14) Sarah GRAVES, F, (m) HILTON or MILTON
3. (15) Hannah GRAVES, F, (m) DAVENPORT
3. (16) Susan GRAVES, F, (m) STEVENSON
1. (3) Joseph GRAVES, M
1. (4) GRAVES, F

Did Adam have a brother named George who would have been the Lieut. George Graves to receive land in Pittsburgh Township in 1797?

• American Migrations has Adam & George Graves as brothers, not father & son
• American Migrations states that George Graves died in Canada in or before June 1789
• Lilacs & Limestone Adam & George received land in Pittsburgh Township in 1797; Jean Graves’ date is 1816

If George Graves died in 1789, is it possible that his son (who may have been also named George) could have received the crown land in Pittsburgh Township on behalf of his deceased father and it was the son George Graves (nephew of Adam) that was married to Catherine Percy?

Based on Henry Graves and Michael Graves birth years in the 1820’s, and Catherine Percy’s birth date between 1799-1807, it would make sense that her husband was born no earlier than about 1780 and more likely that he was closer to her age and born about 1800. If he was born as early as 1770, that would make him about 27 years old in 1797 when he received land for his loyalist efforts, but he would have been a young boy when the beginning of the Revolutionary War begun in the late 1770’s.

However, if Catherine Percy was his second marriage, he might have had a very young second wife (but then he would have been a very old man when they had eight children together before his death between 1844-1851).

On one page Catherine Percy is called "LADY" Catherine Percy. That sounds like an awfully big title for a woman born in British North America. Perhaps that's a clue to her ancestry.

Before I knew about the Graves Family Site the following is what I know/believe to be true about the Graves family. The numbers in brackets are the corresponding numbers to the Graves Family site above.

GRAVES, M
1. Adam GRAVES, M (believe that the George & Adam that received land in 1797 are brothers, not father & son)
1. George GRAVES, M (is this the George that married Betsy and his son George married Catherine Percy?)
2. (5 or 7) George GRAVES, M, b. abt 1800, d. aft 1842, (m) Catherine PERCY
3. (no #) Elizabeth GRAVES, F, b. abt 1822
3. (8 or 17 ) Henry GRAVES, M, b. 01 Feb 1825, d. 21 Jan 1891, (m) Citney Ann VANHORN
4. (23) Sarah Jane GRAVES, F, b. 10 Aug 1856, d. 24 Aug 1933, (m) Robert BRASH
5. (37) Alice Maud BRASH, F, b. 08 Apr 1877, (m) John Henry MILLIONS
6. (no #) Percy MILLIONS, F, b. 20 Oct 1902
6. (no #) Sarah Alma MILLIONS, F, b. 28 Apr 1904
5. (39) Emma Citney BRASH, F, b. 05 Apr 1879
5. (38) Christina BRASH, F, b. 19 Jan 1881
5. (34) William Howard BRASH, M, b. 24 Dec 1882
5. (35) William Graves BRASH, M, b. 20 Mar 1887, (m) Maud Elise BELL
5. (36) George BRASH, M, b. 08 Mar 1896, (m) Eva Alice THOMSON
4. (24) William Henry GRAVES, M, b. 13 Oct 1858
4. (no #) Elizabeth Anne GRAVES, F, b. 20 May 1860, d. 12 Dec 1880
4. (25) George Alexander GRAVES, M, b. 28 Nov 1861, (m) Elizabeth MILTON
5. (40) Stanley Milton GRAVES, M, b. 12 Sep 1901, d. 23 Jan 1928
5. (41) Marie Anita GRAVES, F, b. 02 Apr 1903, d. 14 Apr 1903
5. (42) Harvey Allan GRAVES, M, b. 07 Apr 1904, d. 1956
5. (43) Dorothy GRAVES, F, b. Jun 1905, d. 1982, (m) G. Ronald ADAMS
5. (44) Jean GRAVES, F, b. May 1909, d. 2003
4. (26) Catherine Susan GRAVES, F, b. 27 Aug 1863, (m) Harding
4. (27) Joseph Charles GRAVES, M, b. 02 Oct 1865
4. (28) John Thomas GRAVES, M, b. 02 Jun 1868, d. 18 Mar 1882
4. (29) MARY AGNES GRAVES, F, b. 08 Aug 1870, d. 20 Aug 1950, (m) Albert Boyer WILMOT
5. (no #) CLIFFORD ROY WILMOT, M, b. 04 Sep 1898, d. 26 May 1991, (m) RHUEMMA OVARD
6. (no #) , M, (m)
6. (no #) Lyle Harvey WILMOT, M, b. 19 Mar 1931, d. 26 Jan 1978, (m)
5. (no #) Roscoe Harvey WILMOT, M, b. 11 Dec 1902, d. 12 Sep 1957, (m)
4. (31) Citney Ann GRAVES, F, b. 13 Dec 1871
4. (30) Henry Alfred GRAVES, M, b. 13 Dec 1871, (m) Hattie Louise PATTERSON
5. (no #) Vera GRAVES, F, b. 20 Sep 1896
5. (no #) Audrey GRAVES, F, b. 15 Sep 1900
5. (no #) Katherline GRAVES, F, b. Sep 1904
5. (no #) Alfreda GRAVES, F, b. Oct 1907
5. (no #) Philippe GRAVES, M, b. Feb 1910
4. (32) Michael Francis GRAVES, M, b. 08 Sep 1873
4. (33) Herbert Douglas GRAVES, M, b. 14 Mar 1875, d. 25 May 1876
3. (9) Michael GRAVES, M, b. abt 1832, d. 27 Oct 1892, (m) Margaret MCFADDEN
4. (18) George GRAVES, M, b. 10 Aug 1857, d. 1932
4. (21) Thomas John GRAVES, M, b. abt 1859, d. 29 Oct 1930
4. (no #) Eliza GRAVES, F, b. abt 1860
4. (20) Thomas GRAVES, M, b. 1862
4. (19) Charles GRAVES, M, b. 04 Mar 1865, d. 1940
4. (22?) Edwin James GRAVES, M, b. 11 Dec 1868
3. (10) John GRAVES, M, b. abt 1834
3. (11) William GRAVES, M, b. abt 1837
3. (15) Hannah GRAVES, F, b. abt 1839, d. aft 1911, (m) Devenport
3. (14) Sarah Bryant GRAVES, F, b. 19 Mar 1843
3. (16) Susan GRAVES, F, b. abt 1846

As for my questions, I contacted McGill University, and they do not have a record of George Graves attending (that's not a surprise based on my dates).

I looked at Canadian Military records, and there are a lot of Adam Graves and George Graves living in Sorel, Quebec (near Montreal) at the right time period. I ordered a film from the LDS FHC of Sorel baptisms. Perhaps at that time they were still Church of England/Anglican and bapitized their children as such.

I used Yahoo groups to find out how Catherine Percy could be called a "Lady". I got an answer that I think is pretty good and at least gives a direction to start looking. If George Graves lived near Montreal at some point in time, it's possible she wasn't born in or near Pittsburgh Township and they were married near Montreal. So far I haven't found any Percy families in Pittsburgh Township.

I ordered the land film from the LAC that Joanna said to check out. It should arrive at the public library in a few weeks.

So now to do:

1. Search Canadian land records for Adam & George Graves in Sorel, Quebec
   
2. Search Maryland land records for Adam & George.
3. Other possible Maryland records???
   

Notes on LAC film C-11818, C-11835, C-11839, C-11844, C-11866, C-11870

I ordered film C-11818 etc of military records from the Library and Archives Canada. There were a number of GRAVES family living in Sorel, Quebec (aka William-Henry).

Unfortunately I haven't figured out what to do next. I would have thought that number "C.694" was the LAC film number of the complete information, but when I look at the list of records, the numbers don't seem to match what I wrote down from the index.

NAME
Summary of the information
Place, Date
LAC Film number to find the information, page number

SOREL is located on the South side of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec and was also called William Henry
CHAZY is located on the South side of the St. Lawrence River in New York

GRAVES, Adam
arrears of cons & rentee in the Seigniery of Sorel due to the 11 Nov 1797
Sorel, 22-12-1797
C.279 p. 41

GRAVES, Adam
lot sold to Robert Jones in Sorel Seigniery
14 Sep 1798 (date blured, guessing the year)
C.278 p. 103

GRAVES, Adam
transfer of a lot in Seigniory of Sorel to L. Rainville
1797-1806
C.279 p. 78

GRAVES, Adam, Captain
Annual rent paid for land in Sorel Seigniery
1802
C.279, p. 60 (page number blurry)

GRAVES Adam
lot sold to P. Smith in Sorel Seigniery
19 May 1803
C. 279, p.107

GRAVES Adam
difference between General & Annual rent for year ending
11 Nov 1806
C. 279 p. 83

GRAVES Adam
arrears of cens & rentes in Seigniery of Sorel remaining due 24 Mar 1806
Sorel, 24-3-1806
C. 279 p. 81 (page number blury)

GRAVES Adam
certificate as to Martin Dunnavan's character
Sorel 30-4-1814
C.279 p. 239

GRAVES Benjamin M.D.S. Plattsburgh, N.Y.
certificate of facts contained in petition of George and requests his prayer be granted
10-8-1813
C.505, p.163

GRAVES Charles F. Lieutenant & Quartermaster
longue point division
2-11-1812
C.1695, p.84

GRAVES Charles F.
Lieutenant in the 1st or Grendi Cr Co of Col. Deschmanbault's Corps Sedantary Inc.
Militia Div of Blainville
Beauharhois, 23-11-1813
C.1894, p.5

GRAVES Charles F
certificate of services
Montreal, 1-4-1824
C.1694, p.35

there are other GRAVES but the dates are later and the given names are unfamiliar

GRAVES Elisabeth
Twp of Drummond, Bathurst, District C.W.
married Alexander Thomas by William Bell Presbyterian, 9-1-1832

GRAVES George
from Hugh Finlay, D'ty Post Mr. Gen'l to point a mode that would effectively remedy the inconvenience in conveying mail between Berthier & Sorel
Quebec 10-9-1798
C.278, p. 154

GRAVES George Junior
to Hugh Finlay D'ty post Mr. General
Sorel 24-9-1798
C.278, p. 156

GRAVES Geo Jr
witness to signing contract between 2 men to supply hard wood
5-1-1810
C.549, p. 88

GRAVES George
Quartermaster St. Ours Batt'n L.C. Militia
1812-1812
M.661, p. 30 (M.661 wasn't clear, could be N.661 or W.661)

GRAVES George
certificate as to Mary Tilson's character
Sorel 14-4-1812
C.279, p. 203

GRAVES George
recomends Sarah Leach to be admitted in Sore Asylum
Sorel 27-4-1812
C.279, p.207

GRAVES George
Lieutenant and QM St. Ours division
1-9-1812
C.1695, p.131

GRAVES George
Lieuntenant 7th Batt'n or Deachambault's L.C. Militia
1812-1816
M.661, p.30

GRAVES George
R.O. Member of a court inquiry to assemble on Oct 24 at Major Mondelet's quarters for deciding a ration of bread for Captain Brown's Company
Pointe de Lac 23-10-1813
C.1203 1/2 Q, p. 25

GRAVES George
R.O. member of court martial for inquiring into the conduct of David Petty, Issac Proctor & Sylvester Hill of Capt'n Browns Company
Prentice Point 3-11-1813
C.1203 1/2Q, p.55

GRAVES George
C.1203 1/2Q, p. 63

GRAVES George
details of his duty for company at Prentice Point
18 Nov 1813
C.1203 1/2Q, p. 75

GRAVES George
details of his duty for company at Prentice Point
22 Nov 1813
C.1203 1/2Q, p.96

GRAVES George
certificate as to Martin Dunnavan's character
Sorel 30-4-1814
C.279, p. 288

GRAVES, George
Concering claim of Messurs. Linthorne & Jelliffe against Engineer Dept. Sorel.
William Henry, 23-3-1815
C.389 pp.218-219

GRAVES, George
Possessor of Town lot in Sorel.
John K. Welles, agnt for the Deigniery.
Sorel 16-11-1829
C. 634 p.91

GRAVES, George F
General Order. Appointing him to be Ensign to the 89th Regt. vice Graves promoted.
Kingston 7-6-1813
C.1170 p.251

GRAVES, George F. Ensign, 89th Foot.
General Order. To be Ensign in 5th Regt vice Ensign Jame Oughton who exchanges. April 15th 1813.
Adjt General Baynes. Montreal, Oct 17 1813
C.1171 p.73

GRAVES, George, (D.S.) Churchwarden, William Henry L.C.
Affidavit of Rebecca Hall of her marriage to V.L. Hall late Lieut. 99th Regt. and that she is in receipt of no pension, etc.
29-7-1822
C.195 p.50

GRAVES, Henry
Claim for losses, sustained through H.N. Troops, Chasy 1-11-1814
C.85 pp234-235

GRAVES, Henry
makes affidavit re peaceable conduct of Jerooneaue Seyer toward Sir. Geo Provost
Chasy 8-11-1814
C.85 p.232A

GRAVES, John
King's American Dragoons
1782-83
C.1901 p6 10 37 41 51 54 67 76 77 85

GRAVES, John
Lot promised him in Seigniory of Sorel, but remained unimproved.
Sorel 9-7-1810
C.279 p. 20

GRAVES, John
to receive wages of Wm. Graves artificer at the Kingston dockyards.
Quebec 7-12-1813
C.681 p216b

GRAVES, John
position of lockmaster on Rideau Canal 27-6-1837
C.82 p.227

GRAVES, John Pte 14th Regt
Volunteer from 32nd Regt claim fr winter cloting against that corps.
N. Everand, Lt. Col Con'dg'
Kingston 29-11-1841
C.838 p.70

GRAVES, Joseph
Sergeant - Volunteers of Ireland
1779-80-81-82
C.1886 p.20-37-43-63
C.1887 p.5-14-27-39-47

GRAVES P Graham Ensign USA
his parole of honor H.H.C. "Malabar"
Quebec 10-6-1813
C.689 p.92

GRAVES, Seth
makes depositions re peaceable conduct of certain inhabitants of Chasy towards Sir George Provost
Chasy, N.Y 2-11-1814
C.85 pp. 224A 225A 226, 229, 230A, 231

checked for GREAVES and GROVES but the names there did not seems to match what I'm looking for.

C-11835
MILTON, John has a number of entries but no MILTON, Thomas

C-11839
McLEAN
Private - Vernonis Troup
1782
C.1884 p 32-73
C.1885 p.52

McLEAN _____
Maryland Loyalists
1779
C.1904 p.44

McLEAN
relative to a letter addressed to Judge Posell supposed to have been mislaid
Captain Porter to Major LaMaistre
Kingston 8-8-1791
C.930 p.92

McLEAN _____ Wood Contractor
H. Mackenzie to James Green
Kingston 20-10-1801
Contract for fuel for the garrison at Kingston
has agreed to supply wood at 8/6? per cord.
Capt. A Mackenzie 41st Regt to the Mil'y Sec'y
C.107 p.194

McLEAN Joseph
born in Ireland, Montreal 1765. Clerk
M.96 p.13

McLEAN Jospeh
Private, Loyal American Regiment
12-11-1777
C.1867 p.2

McLean Joseph
Private, Loyal American Regiment
27-6-1778
C.1867 p.47

McLEAN Jospeh Act'g Seurgon?
Naval Establishment, L. Erie
16-10-1815
C.736 p 31b

*** get film for MacLEAN***

C-11844
no PERCY that looks like the right time period

C-11866
Vanhorne/Van Horn or Vanhorn/Van Horne
no William

C-11870
Willmot
Willmott
Wilmot

no John Wilmot (he must not have been an officer???)

An Update on the GRAVES Family

When I decided that I'd try genealogy as a hobby I looked at my family tree and set a goal to get each of my family lines out of North America. As I studied the information, the biggest gap was on my mother's paternal grandfather's 4-generation chart and since they all lived in the same area on the St. Lawrence River, I thought it would be easy to find out where they came from. I was sure that after only a few months I would be looking for family lines across the Atlantic. (That was before I talked to Ellen, who is also searching for family in Eastern Ontario who looked for one relative for 30 years). Here I am 15 months later still working on the family lines in Pittsburgh Township. There are just two more families that I don't know enough about to know where they came from. The families are the ancestry of George GRAVES & Catherine PERCY and Joseph McLEAN and his wife (whoever she may be).

As for George GRAVES and Catherine PERCY a few weeks ago I was ready to give up on them. Since there are no dates on their tombstone nor church records (I think they were Methodist if they were anything) there really isn't a lot to go on for BMD's. My last good option is land records and George GRAVES is talked about as owning land in the book Lilacs and Limestone. However, when I tried to look at the land records, I could not find him in the index. As a last resort I sent an email to the Frontenac mailing list to see if anyone there knows more about how to access land records for information. If no suggestions came back from the mailing list I was going to put this family aside for the time being and move onto a different family line. But, as I said in my original post about George & Catherine, this is genealogy and miracles do happen.

This is my email message regarding the Ontario land records:

I have a question about land records for Upper Canada. I have gone through the UPPER CANADA LAND PETITIONS INDEX (Library and Archives Canada Finding Aid 1802) looking for my ancestor, GEORGE GRAVES but he's not in the index. I would have expected him to be on film C-10820 but the only George Graves on that film was for the year 1843. In the book Lilacs and Limestone An Illustrated History of Pittsburgh Township 1787-1987 by William J. Patterson Appendix One Part One is a list of Patent Holders (Crown Grantees) and GEORGE GRAVES was given (purchased?) Concession 1 Lot 11 in February 1797. This is the same Concession and Lot that my ancestor, HENRY GRAVES was living on in 1878 and I'd like to see the original record for George Graves, if I can find it. The source for Appendix One is FCLRO, Land Title Abstract Index - Pittsburgh Township. Does anyone know how to obtain a copy of this index?

I received two responses from Joanna, the same Joanna who helped me with determining who the minister was for Albert Bower Wilmot & Mary Agnes Graves wedding. She has been very helpful to do for me what she has done and I so appreciate the time that she took. These were her responses to my question.

Response #1

If you don't live near Kingston, you can look at the abstract Index of Deeds through the LDS FHC library by borrowing the film. You can see the film # on their catalogue. The index will give you the instrument #'s for the land transactions you are interested in for that lot and you can also check if there were any wills registered on title at the same time. It gives a history of the land transactions.

There is also an Index to the Upper Canada Land Books published by the OGS which does include 2 Graves men in Pittsburgh:

Graves Adam (Captain) Residence - not given, Location Pittsburgh, Date 2 Dec 1803 Book E p324 Petition R19

Graves George (Lieutenant) and exactly same details

Response #2

Hi Jill, I took a look at your blog where you discussed Adam and George Graves. Peter Wilson Coldham in his book American Migrations 1765-1799 mentions a Captain Adam Graves and his brother Lieutenant George Graves. They were loyalists from Maryland who were imprisoned and escaped to NY. George is supposed to have gone to Canada. I'll send you a copy.


The book says the following: "“Graves, Adam & George, and Andres, Nicholas of Frederick Co. Memorials 1783; by Adam Graves 1784; by Adam and George Graves 1784. The claimants were freeholders in Frederick Co. [Maryland] and being loyalist officers were condemned to die for enlisting men to the British cause. After being in gaol for seven weeks in irons, they were reprieved on condition of being transported to France aboard a French warship but then imprisoned in the hold of the Romulus, a former English man-of-war on York River fore three months before escaping to NY. They were awarded a free passage to England and sailed on 10 September 1783. They are in the utmost distress in London. The Graves brothers are natives of High Germany who emigrated to America many years ago: Adam was commissioned a Capt in 1779 and appointed George as his Lieut. Together they went about making recruits to the Army on a promise of three guineas bounty, pay and clothing, and 150 acres each on the conclusion of the war. Claim by the Graves brothers for 428 acres in Frederick, Washington Co. Supporting affidavits signed in NY: undated by Hugh Kelly, Barrack Master at Brooklyn, late of MD; 11 August 1783 by Thomas Stewart of Washington Co., MD; 4 September 1783 by Joseph Sands late of MD; 5 September 1783 by Joseph McCoy of Washington Co, MD. Note dated June 1789 that George Graves has died in Canada (12/8/1 & 15, 100/3, 109/72 & 150; 13/40/41-53, 60(II)/204-226, 137/272-273). See also under Andres.”

Unfortunately I don't know what the numbers in brackets mean. When I first read this, I wondered if this description of George and Adam GRAVES were possibly the same two men talked about in the book Lilacs & Limestone. I immediately emailed Joanna back to find out more about this book. This is what she sent back to me.

The book American Migrations is all about evidence of loyalist claims. The title is a little misleading. I thought since the date for the land was so early, the family might be loyalists.

After I sent that page, I found another reference to these 2 brothers on the Graves Family Association website. So it is definitely the same family that went to Pittsburg. http://www.gravesfa.org/gen043.htm

I don't think the Abstract index is available through the LAC or the AO. The AO has a good description of Ontario land records. http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/english/guides/rg_299_family_sources.htm#registry

I am more familiar with using the LDS films since it is easier for me. The film # would be 199690.

For the land books, the index is just a finding aid. All the petitions are different. Some have family information. Others are brief. The land petitions you can order from LAC. I didn't give you the bundle number from the book. It is bundle 6. The book said "Land petitions were filed within "bundles", therefore it's important to know the bundle number for your ancestor's petition. Note the Date and Book of your entry of interest and consult the Table of Concordance on page 6. Once you've obtained the bundle number, insert this number within the petition number. For example, petition number W29 in bundle number 5, will look like W5/29. "

So I think the film # to order from LAC is C-2741 Vol 425 Bundle R 6 Petition#1 to 22 1803-1804

This may also be a group petition since the Letter is R not G for Graves.

Another index to look at is explained in the AO guide - the Ontario Land record index. It names the patent owner for each lot and you can check this for Pittsburg.

If you do look at the Abstract index of deeds for con 1 lot 11, also check for Con 1 lots 12, 17, 18 and in con 2 lots 11 &12, con 2 lots 17 &18. I have a list in a book by Linda Corupe "Land Board alphabetical schedule of the granted land in the township of Pittsburgh, district of Mecklenburg 1789". It names Greaves, Graves George Lieutenant for 800 acres all in con 1 lots 11&12, con 2 11&12 and for Captain Greaves, the 800 acres of Con 1 lots 17&18 and con 2 lots 17 &18.

Good luck
Joanna

I had no idea there is a Graves Family Association website. I went to check it out. Apparently Jean Graves (who is Clifford Roy Wilmot's first cousin) submitted this information in the 1980's. According to the host of the Graves Family Association website NO ONE has ever contacted him about that particular page of Graves family genealogy. Unfortunately Jean did not include dates or sources but at least I have names and it is a lead. I am not giving up on the GRAVES family quite yet...

Now that I've been in contact with the website administrator I'm trying to update Jean's information with the sources that I know. When I've got it all together I'll include what I send him on this blog. I'm also going to have to check out the LDS film of the land records, or try the LAC films again. There is also a chance that I might find some information on these brothers (or was Adam the father and George the son?) in military records, but there are so many films I don't know where to begin. I also could look for information of early Maryland records and perhaps there is a church there that might have kept records, I don't know. I'm also still hoping the United Church Archives finds Methodist records for Pittsburgh Township and I'll have birth dates or christening dates for George GRAVES and Catherine PERCY's children. Let the search begin!

1891 census results

So it would appear that I can attach a picture and movie but I can't see how to attach an XL spreadsheet. If I copy and paste the information it just makes a mess, so I guess for now I'll include the most pertinent information that could possibly extend family lines.

Elizabeth McLean's father and mother were born in the USA. That does start to make me think he could have been a loyalist or a son of a loyalist ~ the birth place and time period were right (Elizabeth was born in 1810, so her father would have been born between 1770-1790). As for her mother it's possible that Elizabeth's parents were married in the USA and then came to Pittsburgh. Perhaps she also has loyalist roots?

Michael Graves' (Henry's brother) father was born in the USA. Their mother was born in Canada. I've recently been in contact with the host of the GRAVES family website and I have some more information on Henry and Michael's father.

1891 Canadian Census

Fantastic! The 1891 Canadian Census is now online from ancestry.ca

I found out about it from the uppercanada mailing list that had this link to a genealogy blog and now I have 14 free days to get whatever I want from the census. Here goes...

WILLIAM VAN HORN & ELIZABETH McLEAN

To end the four generations that begat Clifford Roy Wilmot we have William Van Horn & Elizabeth McLean. William came from Ohio and Elizabeth for all intents and purposes was a local girl, perhaps the daughter of a United Empire Loyalist, but that hasn't been proven to the best of my knowledge.

It is unknown who Elizabeth's parents are. From census records and her tombstone she was born in 1810 in Upper Canada. There were a lot of McLean's in the Pittsburgh area and Sam Vanhorne says her father's name was Joseph McLean (Lilac's and Limestone talks about a Joseph McLean who owned land in Pittsburgh in the right time frame to be her father) but no mention of her mother. According to Sam Vanhorne, Joseph McLean was a United Empire Loyalist, and he had another daughter (Elizabeth's sister) who married a man with the last name of Stewart and they had a son named Joseph Stewart. I'm trying to prove this but with not much luck. If Elizabeth was the eldest in her family, and her father was Joseph McLean, her mother could be Mary Anderson and Joseph McLean & Mary Anderson were married on 19 Aug 1809 by the Church of England Reverend, John Stuart, in Kingston.

The ancestry of William Van Horn is documented in the LDS Ancestral File and Pedigree Resource file. More than one person submitted information on this family line back to Holland. I have not checked the sources for any of this; for some reason it feels like they don't belong to me and I have kept my focus on the Ontario relatives.

A descendant of William Van Horn named Sam Vanhorne wrote an article for the Pittsburgh Historical Society about 1978 about the Van Horn family. He said that William came to Canada in the early 1820's with his brothers Thomas & Smith. Interesting to me is that the submitters on the Pedigree Resource File have a brother as Thomas, but never is there a brother named Smith. Apparently Smith settled in Prince Edward County around Demorestville, Upper Canada. Demorestville is about 50 miles East of Kingston south of the Bay of Quinte. In 1978, Smith Van Horn's land was still occupied by one of his descendants.

According to Sam Vanhorne, Thomas moved to Whitby, Upper Canada and he was a blacksmith. I believe Thomas was 50 years old and living with with William on the 1861 census and he doesn't seem to have his own family with him. Sam Vanhorne said that he met one of Thomas from Witby's descendants in WWII. William's son, Thomas went to work with Uncle Thomas in Whitby.

The family chronology is as follows:

22 Jun 1826: William Van Horn and Elizabeth McLean were married at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Kingston (LDS film 1307512). He was 24 and she was only 16. Their marriage entry says they were both from Pittsburgh. This was the first piece of information that I found for my direct line ancestor and I was very excited to have it. Unfortunately the marriage record does not say who their parents were, but the witnesses were William McLean & Basil D. Rorison, so perhaps her brother or a cousin was a witness. In the book Lilacs and Limestone it says the only bridge get into Kingston City was at Kingston Mills and the bridge across the the Cataraqui River from the Front Road (Highway #2 today) wasn't built until 1829 so they would have gone to Kingston Mills to get over the river or taken a ferry from Barriefield to Kingston.

Also interesting is after they got married in the Presbyterian church (and I think this was her church since there were a lot of McLean names in the register) there are not any entries for the baptism of their children at the same church. The first eight of their children were baptized on 29 January 1842 and then Joseph on 18 Apr 1844 by Reverend S. Miles in a Pittsburgh Methodist Church. The children with the "abt" birth-dates come from census records and there is no known baptism record.

• 25 May 1827 Alexander Vanhorn
  
• 26 Jan 1829 George Vanhorn
  
• 13 Jan 1831 Mary Vanhorn
  
• 27 Feb 1833 Citney Vanhorn
  
• 20 Dec 1834 Elizabeth Vanhorn
  
• 29 Mar 1837 Sarah Vanhorn
  
• 29 Jun 1839 Jane Vanhorn
  
• 15 Jul 1841 William Vanhorn
  
• 14 Jul 1843 Jospeh McLean Vanhorn
  
• abt 1845 John Vanhorn
• abt 1847 Margaret Vanhorn
• abt 1849 Thomas Vanhorn
• abt 1851 Charles Gamble Vanhorn
• abt 1855 Abigail Vanhorn

Other events are as follows:

1831 Concession 3 Lot 15 deeded to William Van Horn

1836 William bought a portion of Concession 3 Lot 16

abt 1853 Alexander maybe married a woman named Agnes. Their children were

• 9 Feb 1855 Mary Elizabeth Vanhorn
  
• 9 Sep 1856 Agnes Hunter Vanhorn
  
• 18 Apr 1859 William Alexander Vanhorn
  
• 27 Oct 1860 George Vanhorn
• 31 Mar 1867 Samuel Van Horn

The 1861 census shows Alexander & Agnes (b. abt 1835) and their four children living together. She is dead or left him before the 1871 census and he is a widow. Strange to me is Sam Vanhorne (who is a direct descendant of Alexander) said that Alexander was married to Nancy McAdoo. On Samuel's marriage registration to Alison Grice, he said that his mother was Nancy McAdoo, but on the baptism records at the Anglican Diocese in Kingston, all of the children's mother's name is Agnes. Being that the second daughter had HUNTER as her middle name, I checked the Pittsburgh 1851 census for an Agnes Hunter and there is one that matches the year born but your guess is as good as mine if this is the Agnes Hunter who married Alexander Vanhorn. My original guess was Alexander had 4 children with Agnes, she died between 1861-1865 (large gap in the birth of the children) but then Alexander remarried Nancy McAdoo and they had Samuel in 1867, then Nancy died before the 1871 census. This isn't provable since Samuel's baptism entry shows Agnes, not Nancy, as his mother and it's all confusing mess. Nancy died on 4 May 1869 and is buried in the Cataraqui Cemetery with Alexander. It's unknown when Agnes died or where she is buried.

1854 William transfered land to son Alex & George

12 Feb 1855 George Vanhorn dies and is buried in the Milton Cemetery. It appears he was never married.

8 Nov 1855 Citney Ann marries Henry Graves. They have their own post.

before 1861 Mary Vanhorn is not with the family on the 1861 census. I assume she was married to ____ Smith before the census.

before 1861 Elizabeth Vanhorn is not with the family on the 1861 census. I assume she was married to John McFadden before the census and the man William Vanhorn McFadden was probably their child.

2 Nov 1867 William married Harriet Beaton and had five children:

• abt 1869 Donald Beaton Vanhorn
  
• abt 1872 Ann E Vanhorn
  
• abt 1874 William A Vanhorn
  
• abt 1876 Charles Vanhorn
  
• 6 Jun 1877 Bella Jane Vanhorn
  
• 4 Aug 1879 George Henry Vanhorn
• 12 Sep 1881 Milford Andrews Vanhorn
  
• 13 Jun 1884 Walter Ernest Vanhorn

Funny to me is William registered the births of three of his children, Bella, George & Milford in January 1882 when they were born many years prior. Apparently some of William's children all moved west about the year 1900 and some even resided in the Lethbridge area (perhaps they associated with our Wilmot/Graves relatives from Pittsburgh while in Lethbidge).

23 Aug 1868 Margaret Vanhorn marries Richard or Robert Patterson. They had at least two children.

• 11 Mar 1869 Citney Jane Patterson
• 7 Jul 1872 Helen Agusta Patterson
  

17 Sep 1872 Alexander marries for the 2nd or 3rd time to Mary Ann Beaton. They had one daughter

• abt 1874 Sarah Jane Van Horn who died on 7 Oct 1898
  

24 Dec 1872 Thomas marries Mary Mission in Port Hope, Northumberland. They have at least seven children

• 26 Oct 1873 Citney Emma Vanhorn
• 9 Mar 1876 Carrie Vanhorn
• 20 Apr 1878 Francis W Vanhorn
• abt 1880 Charles Vanhorn
• abt 1882 Edith Vanhorn
• 17 Sep 1882 Ethel Vanhorn (is Ethel & Edith the same person or possibly twins?)
• 14 Feb 1884 L. George Vanhorn
• 21 Sep 1888 Russel R. Vanhorn
  

1876 William transfered land to son John

21 Aug 1878 Margaret Vanhorn Patterson dies.

1878 Vanhorn house burns down on C3 L15

1879 Vanhorn house rebuilt and was still standing in 1978

1880 Joseph moved to Ohio

1882 John moved to Detroit

1884 Father William transferred the land to his son, Charlie

27 May 1887 father William dies and is buried in the Milton Cemetery


20 Nov 1887 Mary Ann (Beaton) Vanhorn dies and is buried in the Cataraqui Cemetery with Nancy McAdoo (other wife of Alexander Vanhorn)

3 Nov 1889 Harriet (Beaton) Vanhorn dies and is buried in the Milton Cemetery

abt 1889 Charles marries Helena or Lena Patteron. They have one daughter before moving to Waterton, New York

• 10 Apr 1891 Mabel Irene Vanhorn
  

21 Jan 1891 Henry Graves dies and is buried in the Cataraqui Cemetery

1893 Mary (Mission) Vanhorn died

19 Jul 1900 Sarah Vanhorn dies and is buried in the Milton Cemetery. It appears she did not marry

1901 Jane Vanhorn dies and is buried in the Milton Cemetery. It appears she did not marry

15 Jul 1901 Elizabeth McLean Vanhorn dies and is buried in the Milton Cemetery


19 Sep 1910 Citney Vanhorn Graves dies and is buried in the Cataraqui Cemetery

1914 Alexander dies and is buried in the Cataraqui Cemetery

30 Oct 1914 William (who married Harriet) dies and is buried in the Milton Cemetery

13 Oct 1915 Thomas Vanhorn died

1916 Abigal Vanhorn dies and is buried in the Milton Cemetery

13 Apr 1830 Robert Henry Patterson dies

William and Elizabeth in 28 years had 14 children. I imagine that life in Pittsburgh was hard for them.

JAMES DUNLOP & MARY ANN MCFADDEN

James Dunlop & Mary Ann McFadden are another end of the line for my Pittsburgh area family. As they were both born in Ireland, I am okay with this since my goal was to find out everyone born on the North American continent. So far they are the only family lines from Ireland and it will be awhile before I get to Ireland to find out more about them. From what I hear, good Irish records are hard to locate for a number of different reasons.

Chances area good since his last name is Dunlop and their religion is Presbyterian his ancestors originally came from Scotland but in the meantime, this is what I know.

James Dunlop was born in Antrim, Ireland about 1793 and Mary Ann McFadden was born in Ireland about 1797. They could have been married in Ireland and then come to Canada before starting their family. I have not found a marriage record for them in the Pittsburgh area.

From what I've read in the early 1820's the English were desperate to get Canada settled and protect it from the Americans. They were paying the Irish with free land if they would move to Canada. Whether my people were part of this I don't know, but I'm inclined to believe that they were. From what I understand, things in Ireland were not ideal politically or economically and people were ready to get out. If the promise of free land was that attractive, I wonder what they thought when they got to Pittsburgh and all they had around them was brush, trees, and rocky soil which took years to make into a decent farming operation.

As for their children, James & Mary Ann had eight all of which they had baptized at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Kingston. The great thing about the St. Andrew's Records are they had their birth date and christening date. The first date is their birth and the second is their christening date.

3 Feb 1820 7 Jun 1820 James McFadden Dunlop

4 Jul 1822 11 Aug 1822 Nancy Jane Dunlop
1 Feb 1824 14 Mar 1824 Robert John Dunlop
2 Apr 1826 12 Jun 1826 Mary Dunlop
22 Jan 1828 18 Feb 1828 Elizabeth Dunlop
25 Oct 1829 1 Dec 1829 Alexander Dunlop
30 Jun 1831 14 Aug 1831 Andrew Dunlop
27 Mar 1834 15 Apr 18134 Anne Dunlop

I don't have as many details of this family as I do of the other families. I suppose that's only natural the father the generations are as the records become less reliable.

I have no further record of James McFadden Dunlop. It's possible that he had a son also named James Dunlop, and his son James died in 1883. If it's the same person, he calls himself James Maxwell Dunlop not James McFadden Dunlop. James Maxwell Dunlop used Robert John Dunlop of the Township of Pittsburgh as a witness for the transactions in the will of James Dunlop.

There is also no further record of Nancy Jane Dunlop. There is an Agnes Jane Dunlop that married Andrew McAdoo at St. Andrew's church on 24 Sep 1844. Agnes Jane's age on subsequent census' matches the age of Nancy Jane; on the 1901 census, Agnes says her birthday was 24 Jul 1822 which is awfully close to Nancy Jane's age. I would like to know who Agnes' parents were to see if maybe between her christening and marriage they changed her name from Nancy to Agnes.

It would appear that Robert John never married but he seems very connected with his family. He was the informant for his mother's death in in 1876 and his brother Alexander in 1880. On the 1881 and 1901 census, he's living with his unmarried sister, Elizabeth. I can't find a death record for Robert John.

Mary Dunlop married Samuel Chestnut 10 May 1842 at St. Andrew's church. She was only 16 years old. They had five children who were also christened at St. Andrew's church:

• 1844 Anne Jane
• 1846 Samuel George
• 1847 Robert John
• 1849 Mary
• 1850 William Alexander

I'm told that Mary and Samuel are buried in the Cataraqui Cemetery.

Elizabeth Dunlop died a spinster on 15 Oct 1909. She was 81 years old and what she died of is not clear, but it looks like some sort of decay. Her brother, Andrew Dunlop was the informant for her death. She's buried in the Cataraqui Cemetery as well.

Alexander Dunlop died 8 Oct 1880. He was probably a bachelor. It doesn't say on his death record if he was married. On the 1861 census he lived with his mother. His brother, Robert John was the informant for his death and he is buried in the Milton Cemetery.

Andrew Dunlop did get married and his descendants have put together an excellent website about their Dunlop family ancestors. I have enjoyed talking with the host of the website. She knows a lot about the Kingston area that she was more than willing to share her family information with me.

Their last child, Anne is my direct line and she has her own post with John Wilmot. Of interest to me about her name is on her christening record it's only recorded as Anne Dunlop, but on her death record Ross was added as a second name.

Father James Dunlop died on 3 Mar 1852 and is buried beside his wife, Mary McFadden Dunlop in the Milton Cemetery. Mary died on 22 May 1876. Their tombstones are very worn. Luckily the Pittsburgh Historical Society transcribed the cemetery in the late 1970's, and from James Dunlop's tombstone we learn that he was born in the county Antrim, Ireland. That, at least, narrows the Irish search when it comes time.

About 1998 my grandfather (Clifford Roy's son) hired a genealogist to find his Pittsburgh area ancestors. She mostly used Canadian census' to find the records and did a good job. Using the 1851 census she found James & Mary Ann Dunlop's family.

Name, occupation, born, religion, age, gender

Family #1, page 43 (22a) Lines 9-13

<1794> James Dunlop, farmer, Ireland, Presbyterian, 58, male

<1798> Mary Ann Dunlop, wife, Ireland, Presbyterian, 54, female

<1826> Robert John Dunlop, farmer, Canada West, Presbyterian, 26, male

<1831> Alex Dunlop, farmer, Canada West, Presbyterian, 21, male

<1835> Anne Dunlop, Canada West, Presbyterian, 17, female

She also used the 1901 census to determine that Robert John had a sister, Elizabeth so we thought there were 4 children in this family.

When I started looking at this family in 2006, it was strange to me that someone submitted the children of James Dunlop & Mary Ann McFadden to the LDS IGI using christening dates

7 Jun 1822 James McFadden
11 Aug 1822 Nancy Jane
12 Jun 1826 Mary
18 Feb 1828 Elizabeth

Unfortunately the submitter of this information did not include a contact name. Being that he or she used christening dates for the information I knew there must be a record of christening information somewhere. A kind man from the Frontenac mailing list did a look up for me at his local LDS FHL where they have a copy of the St. Andrew's church transcriptions. Sure enough, that's where the information came from. I ordered the film 1307512 from the Salt Lake Library, and not only found the eight children of James and Mary Ann, but marriage dates of three couples from the family tree not previously known.

Other Dunlop's in the Frontenac area from the 1851 census are as follows. I don't think I will follow up on any of them until I know they are related:

Family #2, Pittsburgh Township, page 43 (22a) Lines 41-42 were Lucy & Nancy Dunlop (mother & daughter?) who were visiting from the USA.

The other Dunlop family in Frontenac county lived in Kingston Township but I don't know how they fit in, and they're also Catholic, not Presbyterian, so unless proven otherwise, I don't think they were related.

There were a number of McFadden's in the Pittsburgh area in 1851 as well. Some of them could be brothers of Mary as they also came from Ireland. I do believe that Margaret McFadden who married Michael Graves (Henry's brother) was the daughter of Hugh and Rose McFadden and that she is possibly Mary Ann McFadden Dunlop's niece.