JACOB GROVE OF THE NEW RIVER BRETHREN SETTLEMENT OF NORTH CAROLINA In my article, "Formation of the New River Brethren Settlement in North Carolina, 1787-1790, MENNONITE FAMILY HISTORY, April 2010, pp. 83-95, Jacob Grove was identified as head of the Grove family Brethren who settled in Wilkes/Ashe County, NC, on New River waters in 1788 along with the Bowers, Garber, Dick, Eller, Huntsinger, Shutt, and Younce Brethren families. Until now, I have not gone public with the probable ancestry of this Jacob Grove. Bear with me that the story of Jacob Grove involves using results of DNA testing. Willis "Pat" Oliver (died 2009) had two Groves cousins (unknown to me) who were DNA tested (User ID M9BNS and User ID DK2F4). They were descendants of Jacob Grove(s) of Wilkes/Ashe County, NC, who died circa 1805 according to Pat Oliver. Their DNA tests placed them in the Baretswill, Zurich, Switzerland Graf/Graff/Groff family line. Darvin Martin has identified both Hans Graff/Groff (d.1746) of Earl Township and his brother Martin Groff (d.1759) also of Earl Township as having the same ancestral DNA signature as Jacob Grove of NC based on other DNA tests (User ID 9VMGT in the case of Hans, and User ID HFUWX in the case of Martin). See Darvin Martin's article, "Unveiling the Deep Ancestry of Swiss Anabaptist Forebears," PENNSYLVANIA MENNONITE HERITAGE, July 2010, especially pages 7-9, for discussion of the Groff families. Darvin Martin has written to me that "the data proves a very close relationship between Jacob Groves (of NC) and both Hans Groff and his brother Martin Groff. The data cannot completely prove from which brother Jacob Groves descends." I submit that Jacob Grove of the New River Brethren of NC was the grandson of Hans Groff (d.1746) of Earl Township. In my article, "Jacob Graff (1699-1776) of Ephrata," MENNONITE FAMILY HISTORY, April 2009, pp. 74-80, I prove that Jacob Graff of Ephrata was the son of Hans Graff (d.1746) by his first wife, and that he was not the son of Christian Graff (d.1748) of Ephrata as posited by both Jane Evans Best in the Groff book (1997) and Richard Warren Davis on his MennoSearch website. Jacob Graff of Ephrata was disowned by his father Hans (Mennonite) subsequent to Jacob's joining the Seventh-Day Brethren at Ephrata. Little is known about the children of Jacob Graff (1699-1776) of Ephrata. His oldest son, Joseph, was the only child named in his will. Prior to his death, Jacob Graff Sr. sold his lands to his oldest son Joseph. The "Sr." designation suggests that he may have had a son by the same name. It was this possibility that led me to associate the Jacob Grove (d.c1805) of NC as a likely son of Jacob Graff of Ephrata. Why likely? Mostly because both the alleged father and the alleged son were Brethren. I have studied the early Graf/Graff/Groff families of Pennsylvania and have found that only a handful of them became Brethren. But now, with the DNA results, there is even greater reason to believe that Jacob Grove of North Carolina was the son of Jacob Graff of Ephrata, who, in turn, was the son of Hans Graff of Earl Township. Although I know next to nothing about DNA testing, Darvin Martin and my friend (and distant cousin) Carol Tefft both assure me that if enough Graffs/Groffs/Groves get tested, it should be possible some day to prove conclusively that my story is true. Dwayne Wrightsman, gggg-grandson of Jacob Grove of Wilkes/Ashe County, NC