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Tennessee Germanna Descendants Reunion 2001 |
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A LITTLE BACKGROUND.
The Philadelphia Cumberland Presbyterian Church has been holding an annual SIMEON BROYLES Reunion and Family Dinner on the second FULL weekend in September for many years. Saturday was usually devoted to a hamburger and hot dog cookout, sponsored and put on by the youth of the Church, some old-fashioned country singing, and just a nice get-together of all the "cousins" in the area. Sunday was for attending Church services, and participation in a "pot-luck" dinner on the grounds, with various religious singers performing for everyone.
Gradually, over the years, cousins from other areas and states started visiting also. Then, some of those who attended started talking about all the other "cousins", those who descended from Simeon's brothers and sisters, from Simeon's grandfather's brothers and sisters, and on back through the generations. It soon became apparent that just about everyone in lower Washington County and upper Greene County was related, not only through the Broyles clan, but through most of the other Germanna families that had settled in the area at the same time the Broyles did.
Then, after several Tennessee Germanna descendants really became genealogy addicts, and started communicating with cousins from all over the country, it was found that many, many Tennessee Germanna descendants were extremely interested in the area from which their ancestors had come. This included not only Broyles descendants, but descendants from virtually all other Tennessee Germanna families. It is a rare East Tennessee descendant who does not have an ancestor from one of the families in the table, at the
Anyway, all the Tennessee Germanna descendants we could contact were invited to this year's Reunion and we had over 50 adult visitors for Saturday's session. In addition to cousins from the immediate area, we had visitors from PA, KS, VA, NC, and GA. Next year we would like to see more states represented.
The following Germanna families were represented. (Keep in mind that most of the cousins attending had several families in their ancestry.)
We started Saturday off by gathering at the church's picnic area and getting acquainted. Several visitors brought pictures of their ancestors, genealogy charts and family trees, genealogy books, and computer databases and photos on disks. We had a great time looking at the various pictures and family trees.
We were supposed to have a cookout at 2:00 PM, but, due to a mixup, it wasn't held until 5:00 PM. So, we adjourned to the Broylesville Community, which is located across the Nolichucky River, about 3 miles away. (Actual driving distance was about 6 miles.) We were able to see many of the original Broylesville buildings, including the Broyles Mercantile Establishment, the Broylesville Inn, the Cobler's House, and the Bashore Mill. The home of Adam Broyles, founder of Broylesville, is still standing and is occupied; however, we didn't have a chance to visit it, nor did we get to visit the Ira Green House, the Thomas Telford House, the Garst House, or the four Nineteenth Century farm buildings (two log barns, a frame barn, and a log corn crib).
The old Inn, although structurally sound, is in a scandalous state inside. It was built c.1797 and the foundation, walls, and roof are in great shape. It is the interior that has suffered, due to neglect and to "remodeling" attempts by several previous owners.
The Broylesville Community has been accepted by the National Register, under criteria A and C, for it's historical and architectural significance. You can read the history of the community by going to the Broylesville web page. There you can read about the magnificent interior decoration of the Inn, which is still evident, and which we all were fortunate to see.
After the tour we returned to the church. Unfortunately, we did not have time to visit any of the local graveyards where many Germanna ancestors are buried. As a matter of information, the Broyles Family Graveyard at Broylesville was obliterated years ago. It was a very large cemetery, holding many branches of Germanna families in addition to the Adam Broyles family.
Upon our return, we had our cookout and then went into the church for our formal get-together. I introduced our guest speakers. We were exceedingly fortunate to have as speakers, John Blankenbaker, the unofficial Germanna "guru", and writer of the now famous "Germanna Notes"; and Thom Faircloth the new President and CEO of "The Memorial Foundation of the Germanna Colonies of Virginia", otherwise known as "The Germanna Foundation".
John's presentation was not only interesting and informative, it was mesmerizing! He spoke about the importance of not concentrating on one Germanna family, but on applying a broader approach to doing genealogy research and study. Basically, he said that in order to really learn about our ancestors and their history, and to make the most of genealogy research we must study the community. One's lineage is not limited to one surname; it is about all of our ancestors, and all of the people with whom they lived in the community. (Sorry, I didn't record either of the talks so that I could better report on them, but you can bet I will do so next year!)
Even though John and Thom had not collaborated before hand concerning their talks, it was amazing how in synch they were. Thom's talk was also centered on studying the whole of ancestral history, not just on one's branch of a family. He spoke of the origins of the "Germanna Foundation" -- how it came about, its history through the years, and expectations for the future. He then covered the southern migration of Germanna families out of Virginia, including why and how they "left for greener pastures"; the main migration routes from Virginia to the Carolinas and to Tennessee, and then on to Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, and points West. He gave a history of all the Germanna Foundation publications, and had many of them for sale. He also explained the importance of becoming a member of the Foundation and signed up many new members.
After the talks, everyone in attendance introduced themselves, told us where they were from, and identified their Germanna ancestors.
At 10:30 AM the previous day's visitors joined the local congregation at the church. There was no sermon, but we enjoyed choir singing, devotional services, and gospel singing by the "New Broyles Trio" (composed of Lon Broyles, the Church's pastor; his brother, John Broyles; and their cousin, Connie Broyles).
About 12:00 we all adjourned to the picnic area for a table-breaking-dinner. All our cousins brought their favorite dishes and we had a feast. In addition to all the kinfolk we had met on Saturday, we got to meet a couple hundred more local cousins.
If you plan to attend the 2002 Reunion, PLEASE RSVP early, AND start making your plans NOW!!!!! Since we need to know how many cousins to cook for on Saturday, and how many chairs & tables are needed both days, we ask you to reply as soon as possible if you plan to attend. I'll be keeping a list of all out-of-the-area visitors, and would appreciate the following information:
(To send me your RSVP, click here.)
(To view the web page for the 2002 Reunion, to be held on 14 & 15 Sep., click here.)
(If you can possibly make it, we WANT to see you at the Reunion. Start planning NOW !!!!! SgtGeorge, George W. Durman)
(Maps, driving directions, and area lodging are found here.)
This page contains information on the Tennessee Germanna Families Reunion, which was held at the Philadelphia Cumberland Presbyterian Church, in Washington Co., TN, on the 8th & 9th of September, 2001. This Reunion was held in conjunction with the annual SIMEON BROYLES Descendants Reunion.
(If I omitted any families above, it was inadvertent.)
Blankenbaker
Bowman
Briles
Brown
Broyles
Click
Clore
Cook
Copp
Crim
Crum
Fleshman
Hoffman
Huffman
Holt
Klug
Kupp
Martin
Mauk
Miller
Painter
Rush
Snapp
Waddell
Walters
Wayland
Wilhite
Wilhoit
Yeager
Yowell
SATURDAY:
SUNDAY:
Name
Address
Germanna Connections
Number in Party
Any other information you would like to send
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