Carnival of Genealogy - Reunions! - 79th Edition - September 2009

Welcome to the September 4, 2009 edition of the Carnival of Genealogy, the 79th Edition!. The theme this time was Reunions! and the response from genea-bloggers was tremendous.

This is obviously a topic that struck a chord with many. Some enjoy attending and remembering family reunions, others love planning reunions and just can’t wait for the next, then there are those of us who wonder why our family’s never ever even had one reunion.

Many good ideas here too for those of us who would like to have a reunion.

And there’s so much history as well as genealogy. Carol at Reflections From The Fence called one of her reunion notice finds a Genie-Jackpot. Working on this Carnival has made me think about how much these notices and articles in local newspapers could help people looking for lost family links. I've already started keeping a file of ones I run across in my regular British Columbia, Canada newspaper research and now I'll work out a way to index those and I'll make that index available somehow.

Here's the Reunion Carnival roundup:

Bill West presents SON OF ROAD TRIP" PT3 and SON OF ROAD TRIP PT4 posted at West in New England, saying, "I recently attended my first family reunion for the descendants of my great great grandparents Asa and Florilla Ellingwood and blogged about it. (Now, about those reindeer, Bill...)

Charles Hansen presents The First Hansen Family Reunion posted at Mikkel's Hus, saying, "Hard to believe this reunion was 18 years ago, seems like just a few years ago." Charles has one vivid description of a ‘not to do next time’.

Randy Seaver presents No Family Reunions in my family posted at Genea-Musings, saying, "My dad was from Massachusetts, my mom was an only child of only children, so we had no family reunions to enjoy as I grew up. I do love my cousins in New England!" There are a few of us like this, Randy.

Robert Lord presents Lord and Lady: OLYER REUNION 1940 posted at Lord and Lady, saying, "Olyer family first reunion 1940 were you there all descendants of John Olyer and Charlott Scutt" – love that big family photo, Bob!

Wendy Littrell presents When We Get Together posted at All My Branches Genealogy, saying, "In my life, I've experienced reunions from several branches of the family. In several posts, I've listed my experiences, information I've gleaned from news articles about past reunions, and how to make sure you leave the event richer in family history." Wendy has written about reunions often; follow her links to read her stories.

Cyndi Beane Henry presents The Monroe Bean's posted at Mountain Genealogists, saying, "Our family reunion occurs every other year. How fortunate am I that reunion was just held on August 8th this year! It's an event I live for!" And as a family reunion organizer, it sounds as if Cyndi’s done very well – another branch is now attending.

Dorene Paul presents Lindsey and Mary Ann Young House posted at Graveyard Rabbit of Sandusky Bay, saying, "This blog post about Lindsey and Mary Ann Young House features an article about one of the many reunions of the Young and House families held in Erie County, Ohio in the first half of the twentieth century." Lots of history here with the reunion news.

Midge Frazel presents Under the "Family Reunion" Tent posted at Granite in My Blood, saying, "Come under the reunion tent to visit with the Gallup Family and their great history at this 107th reunion. I was the newbie and was given a prize, had a yummy lunch and made new cousin friends." And Midge found a new cemetery project too.

Cheri L. Hopkins presents Memories To Last a Lifetime posted at THOSE OLD MEMORIES, saying, "A short story about my family reunion and why they can be so important for each of us. A bittersweet reunion for my family, but precious memories for a lifetime!" An inspiring post, Cheri.

Leslie Ann presents Carnival of Genealogy, 79th Edition-- Family Reunions posted at Lost Family Treasures, saying, "My family reunion memories." The Smedley reunion sounds great – family is family!

Linda Hughes Hiser presents Carnival of Genealogy, 79th Edition--"Family Reunions" posted at Flipside, saying, "The Pool or Poole Family of Morgantown, West Virginia Reunion that met annually and still does." Reunions must be a good way to look at name changes too.

Sean Lamb presents We're all bozos on this bus posted at Finding the Flock, saying, "I'm in the middle of a career change to become a professional photographer, so I was naturally asked to take the group photo last year at Thanksgiving. Knowing my family, I naturally couldn't let it go at just a formal photo of the group." I love it, Sean! And I bet the kids did too.

Jasia presents A Family Reunion That Wasn't a Family Reunion posted at Creative Gene, saying, "I had a wonderful opportunity to meet a branch of my family previously unknown to me. It may not have been called a family reunion but that's what it was for me!" Yes, I agree – make a visit a reunion whenever you can.

Carol presents 79th Carnival of Genealogy, Carnival of Family Reunions, Lashbrook style posted at Reflections From the Fence, saying, "This photo of a 1933 reunion was a bit before my time. That said, I have been able to use it to add faces to many names in my data base." Great find; great idea!

Brenda presents Dougall Part 4 posted at Brenda Dougall Merriman, saying, "A quick-witted 84-year-old created a poem to celebrate a 1984 family reunion. It was the 150th anniversary of John Dougall's arrival in Canada." Of course there was a piper.

Karen Hammer presents Family Reunions - Never a Dull Moment posted at Ancestor Soup, saying, "Reminiscences of family reunions..." Sound family philosophy here.

Earline Bradt presents COG #79 - Family Reunions - Our Next Family Reunion posted at Ancestral Notes, saying, "My first family reunion could have been a disaster, it poured rain the first day, all day, and the second day was the hottest most humid day of the year, but, attitude is everything! We were determined to have fun and we did!" Earline is planning the next two already.

Dru Pair presents Find Your Folks: 2009 Carroll Family Reunion posted at Find Your Folks, saying, "This year Professor Dru attended the family reunion of distant relatives and had a ball meeting them face-to-face, presenting them with family history information, and eating finger-lickin-good food!" Dru really has 3 posts here. One, a tribute, “ The Spiritual Legacy of Bessie Bullock Carroll (1901-1991)’”, was written for the reunion.

Ken Spangler presents I Love Family Reunions! posted at Beyond Fiction, saying, "It's been a while since I participated in a carnival but today I would like to share my thoughts on family reunions and share some pictures of past reunions on my Forbes side." Welcome back to the Carnival, Ken.

Janet Iles presents Janet the researcher: Family Reunions - Iles style posted at Janet the researcher, saying, "Fifteen years have passed since the last Iles family reunion, Janet recalls these reunions in her posting." I’d love to hear more about the family band sometime, Janet.

Lorine McGinnis Schulze is one of those who contributed several posts. Hers are full of reunion ideas, all posted at Olive Tree Genealogy Blog . What I would do differently at a Family Reunion Lorine says is "My conclusion after our Family Reunion was over!" There is Scavenger Hunt at Family Reunion – The Scavanger Hunt I planned for our Family Reunion" and Family Reunions & Genealogy Games – the Genealogy Games I created for our Family Reunion".

Vickie Everhart presents We're all here for a family reunion posted at .:BeNotForgot :: begotten & ne'er forgotten :., saying, "It was November of 1931 when descendants of William P. Henry (1836-1912) and Josephine Wingfield (Davis) Henry (1842-1899) gathered in Rockdale, Texas for their first reunion in twenty years. Mayhaps they were heeding the urging of President Hoover, who in October 1931 had appealed to the American people "to make November 26 next the outstanding Thanksgiving Day in the history of the United States."" Excellent post. I love the way the history is tied in.

Linda Stienstra presents Family Reunions? posted at From Axer to Ziegler, saying, "Family reunions was a foreign term to my family since we lived overseas." Very nice photos and what good memories.

My own family is another one that doesn’t have reunions – but sometimes they get together again –as in Irwin Family Reunites – Manitoba, Canada, right here at CanadaGenealogy, or, Jane's Your Aunt.

Jessica Oswalt presents A Family Reunion From A Child's Perspective ... posted at Jessica's Genejournal, saying, "Some memories of a family reunion I attended when I was a child." Jessica’s grandmother had a very interesting idea. My local newspaper would go for that, I think.

Vickie at BeNotForgot shares her research about a 1931 family reunion in Texas with We're all here for a family reunion.

This concludes the 79th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy. There is much to learn in this Edition and so much fun too. Hope you all enjoy this Edition as much as I have.

And now, heed the Call for Submissions for the 80th Edition!

The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy will be: Family Fun!

Research an event your ancestor may have attended. Did your ancestor live within a few blocks of the parade route for the annual Fourth of July parade in the town where they lived? If your family lived in a rural area, perhaps they attended a county or state fair. If they lived in a big city, perhaps they attended a play or movie opening. Was there an amusement park or traveling carnival near the area your family was from, one they might have visited? Were there fireworks displays in the town your family was from? How much do you know about the types of entertainment your ancestors might have enjoyed? Check into it then write it up! This "fun" edition of the Carnival of Genealogy will be hosted by Jasia on the Creative Gene blog. The deadline for submissions is September 15th.

Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy using the carnival submission form. Please use a descriptive phrase in the title of any articles you plan to submit and/or write a brief description/introduction to your articles in the "comment" box of the blog carnival submission form. This will give readers an idea of what you've written about and hopefully interest them in clicking on your link.

Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Carnival of Genealogy - IRWIN Family Reunites - Manitoba Canada

I’m not aware of any organized family reunion ever being held by members of my direct families. And nowadays, although there have been a few weddings and one big anniversary party a number of years ago, I’ve been sad to hear it said at several funerals— “This is the only time we get together.” I wonder if that’s often been the case in my family.

Sometimes, of course, it probably just wasn’t possible to ‘reunite’. Many of my relatives lived in straightened circumstances. I don’t think that William ROGERS and Mary Ann WHITE, for instance, living in Toronto, Canada, could have done more than dream of returning to England to see their kin again. (But wouldn’t that have been grand for me – especially if a report in a local newspaper had mentioned a WHITE reunion, which of the relatives had come from 'where' and exactly how they were all related. It does seem to me I often see these notes in newspapers for other people’s families).

I do have a report from a newspaper about one happy occasion when my IRWIN great great grandparents and their children were together again. This is from a newspaper clipping I received from a relative. I have not yet been able to find the article itself in a newspaper to confirm the date and place of publication. I believe this to be from the Canadian Post at Lindsay, Ontario, Canada.

NEEPAWA-MANITOBA. Correspondence of The Post.

A very happy and pleasing event took place at the new residence of Mr. James Irwin, Neepawa, Man., on Christmas Day. Mr. and Mrs. Irwin were formerly residents of Cambray, Ont., and spent over forty years of their life there. About fourteen years ago the family circle was first broken by two of their children leaving their home for the far west. As years passed on one after another of the family got married and started out in life for themselves, till all but three had left their parental roof and settled down in new homes in Manitoba. Mr. and Mrs. Irwin were anxious to spend their declining years among their children, and having sold their old homestead in the east a year ago last fall, moved to Manitoba (with the rest of the family) in the following spring....
On Christmas day the entire family of nine children gathered together once more around their father’s roof. After doing justice to a good Christmas dinner they presented their parents with two handsome easy chairs...."

The newspaper clipping includes the text of the presentation to the Irwins by their children which says, in part,

Dear Parents,- We, your children, are happy to be permitted to meet once more around the family circle, and to have you in our midst in this the land of our adoption, as you have left your home in the east to live in this country...it is the first time we have all met together for fourteen years...May you long live to enjoy the comfort of ...[the easy chairs] and the company of your children. Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Signed,

William Irwin [my great grandfather]
Samuel Irwin
Mrs. Jos. F. Brown [Elizabeth Anne]
Margaret J. [Jane] Irwin
Mrs. M. Murchison [Mary Ellen]
John Irwin
Mrs. A. Riches [Esther Delina]
James Irwin
David Irwin

Now, I’d have thought the family might have had their photograph taken at this long awaited reunion, but if so, there isn’t a copy known to me. However, there is a photograph which I believe would have been taken about 1909 showing all the children, their spouses and Mr. and Mrs. Irwin. See if you notice anything odd about it.






Yes, Mrs. Mary Jane Irwin wasn't really there. I have an ‘original’ copy of this photograph which was given to me by my cousin. We both believe this must have been taken after Mrs. Irwin’s death in April, 1909 as her image has been cut out of another photograph and pasted on. James Irwin died in July 1910 and he does seem to be right in the photo so this was likely taken between April 1909 and July 1910.

The group photograph was taken in a studio and it seems to me that space for mother Mary Jane’s image was deliberately left when arranging family members for the portrait. What do you think?

Was this the only copy or could there be ‘doctored’ copies around that look as if she is alive and in that room with her husband and family? If so, I have never seen one.

This post was written for the Carnival of Genealogy. This time the theme is Reunions! and the Carnival will be posted here at CanadaGenealogy, or, Jane's Your Aunt on 4 September 2009.

79th Carnival of Genealogy Coming Up Soon - Family Reunions!

SAGGERS sisters get together, 1948, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Private collection.

SAGGERS sisters only, get together, 1948, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Private collection.


The 79th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy will be hosted right here at 'CanadaGenealogy, or, Jane's Your Aunt'.

The theme this time is Family Reunions!

Have you been to a family reunion recently?

What do you know about past family reunions?

If your family doesn't have reunions, why do you think that is - family skeletons or feuds, perhaps, or just geography?

Or, has there been an important or intriguing family or other reunion in your community that you can tell us about?

The deadline for submissions is September 1st, 2009.

Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy using the carnival submission form.

Please use a descriptive phrase in the title of any articles you plan to submit and/or write a brief description/introduction to your articles in the "comment" box of the blog carnival submission form. This will give readers an idea of what you've written about and hopefully interest them in clicking on your link.

The latest edition is 'Pony Pictures!' To see those, go to Creative Gene.

Past posts and future hosts can be found on the Carnival of Genealogy blog carnival index page.