John Graves (2)
Born: abt. 1605
Died abt. 1650
Father: Captain Thomas Graves
Mother: Katherine _?_ Graves
Married
Our Child: Thomas Graves

The following courtesy of Joyce Hetrick

John Graves-2

[before 1616-1637]

Captain Thomas Graves-1; John-2; Thomas-3; John-4; Thomas-5; John-6; Ann-7

JOHN GRAVES-2 was the oldest son of THOMAS-1 and KATHERINE GRAVES. His birth date is estimated as early as 1605 but no later than 1616. He was "of age"  i.e. at least 21   by February 19, 1634/5     because he sued a man in Acchawmacke Court on that date [Fleet, Virginia. Colonial. Abstracts. Vol. XVIII p 26.]

Little is known about JOHN-2 except what the court and land records reveal. He had land in Elizabeth City County in 1636. His will was probated in 1640, only a few years after we suppose his father died. JOHN-2 left five children we know of and probably died a fairly young man, leaving a young family. During this period of time, there was an average of about two and one-half years between the births of children. If that were the case, JOHN-2 had been married about 12 years when he died. This and other information would indicate that he was well on the sunny side of forty years old when he died.

Children of John Graves-2

  1. Ralph Graves-3

  2. William Graves-3

  3. THOMAS GRAVES-3

  4. Sarah Graves-3

  5. Unnamed daughter-3.

JOHN-2 owned land in Elizabeth City County and died intestate there between 1639 and 1640. In 1637, he had patented 600 acres that was due in right of his father, and named the people his father had imported. This patent is proof that the family had not come to the colony until after 1616 [at least] because they would have gotten 100 acres each instead of 50.

The land JOHN-2 owned was very near the York County line, and almost directly opposite Hunger’s Creek in Northampton County [formerly Accawmacke] on the Eastern Shore, where his father had lived and where his sisters still lived at that time. JOHN-2 also got land for bringing in three people himself.

Since the names "John" and "Thomas" seem to be passed from generation to generation in the Graves family, it isn't out of line to speculate that these names might have also been handed down for several generations before THOMAS-1 named his own sons. We may wonder if THOMAS-1’s father or favorite brother were named "John." Perhaps future research will bear this out.