Our mission is to provide a platform to collect, communicate, document and preserve the history, heritage, and genealogical information associated with the Gleaves surname, any variants of the spelling, as well as others related by birth or marriage. 

While we assist in research on all the various lines, our emphasis is on the descendants of Matthew Gleaves, who immigrated to America from Cambridgeshire, England in the mid Eighteenth Century.

Use this link to find out how you can get your own personal copy of our family histories.

A Gleaves brother and sister married a Finley sister and brother, thus doubly connecting the two families.  A Finley cousin recently contacted us with some family pictures and additional information about the family.  Read what he has sent us here.

Also he is looking for descendants of Robert Finley and Sarah Brekenridge who settled in Blount County Tennessee in 1796.  Finley researches agree that this Robert was the son of John Finley and Thankful Doak. However researchers disagree whether the John Finley who married Mary Caldwell and lived on South River in Augusta County, Virginia was the son of John Finley and Thankful Doak who lived on Middle River in Augusta County, Virginia.  If you are a descendant of Robert and Sarah Brekenridge Finley, you are invited to participate in the Findley DNA study to resolve this question.  Use the Contact page to let us know of your interest and we will put you in touch with each other.

Several people have been diligently working to transcribe our amazing collection of letters with over 20 % of them now complete and searchable.  Story lines are unfolding with the addition of each letter.  There are births, marriages, deaths, disputes over inheritances.  There are fierce political discussions to rival those of today, only with different names.  Times are hard due to droughts, winter storms, low prices and wars. In spite of all these hardships, a prevailing love and affection for the family shines through

Mary Kegley has granted permission to use her map of the Cripple Creek area of Wythe County.  Viewing this map will given you a visual understanding of who the people are and why they continually appear in the documents.  You can find the link to this map at the top of the Letters listing.

Click here to begin following this unfolding drama.

From Owen Gleaves:

This picture came out in the Mt. Juliet News this past week. It shows the First Public School built about 1878 on Juliet Gleaves' property.  Her property at that time was considered the town center.  With the arrival of the railroad, community activities moved about a half mile north to the railroad. We refer to it as moving down to the railroad due to her property being on a hill.

This picture is of the east side of the school and shows the school water well.  The well was an old pump type that you had to pump a lever up and down to get the water. I remember them when I was a child (tells how old I really am). You were lucky to get more than a cup or two from each pump of the lever.  Rufus Page, a friend of ours, had one rigged up in a old galvanized washing tub at his annual Mt. Juliet Home Coming just a few weeks ago.
 
Juliet Gleaves was married to Guy Trigg Gleaves, a son of Absalom Gleaves.  The Gleaves have been around Mt. Juliet a long, long time. No one has ran us out of town yet. Think I will hang around just a few more years.

Family obituaries are now being added to the Family History page.

When you have a new obituary (including those from the past) that you would like added, please use the Contact page to send it to us.

Paula Poll, our cousin who lives in Venice, California, has a new passion...providing a habitat in her garden for the endangered Monarch Butterfly.  To read more about her story and see her photos, click here for the Gleaves Family Pages.

If you have a story and/or photographies that you would like to share with the family, then use the Contact page to let us know about it.

This content has been moved to the Gleaves Family Page which can be found by clicking here.