Sentimental Sunday

This is a rare photograph, if not the only photograph, of my Mom's family all together at once.

Mom was the youngest of five children. The eldest was 14 years older than Mom, and she used to recall her brother Billy as being the one to whom she was closest, as he was only 2 years older.

The photograph was taken with a Kodak Instamatic camera about 1968. It is a little fuzzy, but I treasure it still.

From left to right:
My grandpa, Henry C. Dreher (1902-1977)
Ethel Dreher McCutchen (1924-2012)
Arthur C. Dreher (1926-2013)
Laura Marion "Maryann" Dreher Grose (1931-2006)
Billy Leon Dreher (b. 1936)
Lois Dreher Beane (1938-2015)
My grandma, Irene Banet Dreher (1906-1989)

The occasion was the only family reunion I remember Mom's family having. My grandparents lived on a farm then, and we all camped about in one way or another to stay. Little Indian River ran through the property and we swam for hours! We also canoed. And we had a giant fish fry! I remember Mom being the fish "fryer". Dad had caught a big old catfish, and Mom was frying it up, and it flipped out of the skillet (any of you fisherpeople know what I'm talking about when you fry fresh fish!). It landed on Mom's foot, and as I recall blistered it pretty good.

It was such a precious time! If I could revisit a time in my life when "all was well with the world", this would be it!

Do you have such a time you would like to be able to revisit? If so what would you do differently, if anything.

I would sit down and ask my Grandpa more questions about his family. I'd love to find about more about his grandparents and great-grandparents.

Yep, it was a great time!

The Monroe Bean's

The 79th Carnival of Genealogy issued the challenge to post a blog regarding our family reunions. How fortunate for me, our biennial family reunion was just held on August 8th!And so, I humbly submit the following entry.

The Monroe Bean's

It only happens every other year. Those “odd-numbered” ones. And so, the biennial family reunion rolled around on August 8th this year.

Our family holds its roots in the mountains of West Virginia. It was here, sometime in the 1790’s that the Bean family came to settle. From William Bean [b. 1792, d. 1864] and Rachel Wiseman [b. 1790, d. 1856] comes the group of descendants who fall upon the tiny town of Waiteville in Monroe County. William and Rachel were the parents of thirteen children. Never have all thirteen lines been represented in a single family reunion.

This year I was the first to arrive at the old Waiteville school house, which is now known as the “Community Center”. At one time, the old block building held four classrooms, a kitchen, rest rooms and a basement. Today, the top floor is converted into two large spacious meeting rooms, a small gym, a kitchen and two restrooms. The basement is no longer used. It was here that my Dad went to school as a boy. It was open as a school until about 1968. It sat empty for many years until the community purchased it.

I arrived at 8:30 Saturday morning. I’ve been planning the event for several years now. [I say “planning” rather loosely, as the family members use this event as a chance to get together, eat a meal, get a door prize, and then leave. Nope, they aren’t very interactive!] My cousin, Betty, arrived only minutes after I did. And we began to set up.

We chose the smaller of the two meeting rooms to set up displays, books and mementos. I also sat up my laptop so that I could access files in a jiffy.

Next we sat up buffet tables for the meal. And family members began to dwindle in as we worked.

The heat was horrendous this summer! The temperature soared into the 90’s well before noon, and the old schoolhouse is not air-conditioned. We turned on fans, and opened doors to let the breezes hopefully cool the old building somewhat. [Note to self: next reunion, I plan to order Chinese fans to distribute to everyone!]

At a desk sat up by the front entrance, I sat Betty with a guest book, nametags, a roll of raffle tickets, and my camera. She was to get everyone to sign in [making sure to get updated addresses, phone numbers and email addresses], give them a nametag, a raffle ticket, and take their photograph. This way we have a record, in photo, of everyone who comes to our reunion. [I take the photographs and make them into a printed photo book through Lulu.com which is available to everyone then.]

By noon, everyone had assembled and mingled for at least an hour. We all gathered together in the main room and had Uncle Bill [92 years young!] ask the blessing over the meal. At our last reunion we did not get a group photo, so this year, after the blessing was given for the meal, I had everyone file outside onto the front steps of the building to pose for a group snapshot before we would begin to serve the meal. There were a couple of people who grumbled, but the majority felt it was a good idea. This way we caught just about everyone who attended.

Every reunion I am known for my “exotic” dishes. And this year was no different. This year I made barbecued bear haunch. Yep. I cooked a bear haunch then shredded it and smothered it in homemade barbecue sauce, made with tomatoes from my Dad’s garden. And my dessert was a green tomato cake, thanks to a wonderful recipe from Paula Deen! [No one is told what my curious dishes are, until after the meal.]

Following the meal comes our business meeting. It is here that a report is given on our genealogy, which I cover. The highlight this year was an update on our DNA project. [We’ve had absolutely no luck with our DNA testing so far. We had 3 individuals test. And our only matches have been with those 3. While all major Bean lines have tested in the US, we have not matched with any of them. Nor have we had any matches with others without the name. So, for our family, it’s been a bit of a let down.]

A report was given on the Clan MacBean, through which we associate ourselves. My cousin, Phillip, is the Vice-President of Clan MacBean. So, we always have the best reports on the Clan’s progress!

We then brought up the possibility of having our reunion last for an entire weekend. It was met with overwhelming approval! So, for the first time, our 2011 reunion will be a weekend long event!

Next, we acknowledge the oldest, youngest, and the ones who have traveled the farthest to attend our reunion. Our oldest was Aunt Margaret, at 95. Our youngest was 4 weeks old. And the one who traveled the farthest was my cousins’ daughter, Angela, who traveled all the way from London, England to attend!

This year I presented certificates and gifts for the Family Matriarch [Aunt Margaret – 95 years young!]; Family Patriarch [Uncle Bill – 92 years young!]; and Perpetuator of the Bean Name [Jidaya Beane – born 4 weeks earlier]. Yeah, just a little twist on the old acknowledgments.

Lastly we nominated and elected new officers. My cousin Phillip became Vice-President. My aunt, Vivian, was re-elected as Secretary/ Treasurer, and I was elected as the first female President of our Bean Family Reunion Committee; a post for which I am honored to hold.

I presented two door prizes this year. One was a “Remembrance Book” for a person to fill out and give to their family. It was won by very special aunt, Mildred, who is 85. I was so glad to see her win this book. The other prize was a family genealogy book, for an individual to fill out all of their genealogy. My cousin Darrell’s wife, Robin, won this prize. [Robin is never seen without a smile for everyone! If she’s ever down, in over 30 years, I’ve never seen it!]
After the meeting, we all broke off into little groups and mingled.

Attending for the first time were descendants of our Sarah Bean line. Four sisters, with whom I’ve been corresponding with, attended from Utah, Colorado, and two were from New Mexico. [On Sunday, Dad and I gave them a tour of Monroe County, so that they could get a feel for the area, and see some of the highlights for our family.]

Also attending was one descendant from Archibald Bean’s line. And the remainder of the group, including me, were from the William Bean, Jr. and Margaret Smith Perkins line.

All total, we had 64 attendees. That’s 10 more than our last reunion. [My goal had been 75. We compromised with “almost” reaching that amount.]

Since I have been planning the event, I have tried to integrate games and a party atmosphere. It’s gone nowhere. But I’m hoping with our weekend long event that I can actually get people to participate!

The group began to dissipate about 5p.m. And I hated to see everyone leave. For me, it had been like Christmas! I had anticipated the event for months. And I was certainly not let down!

And you can bet, I’m already at work planning the next reunion! I can’t wait for 2011 to get here!!!

Bean Family Reunion

Tomorrow is our Bean Family Reunion. This reunion is held every two years. And it only lasts for an afternoon.

But I'm hoping I can change things a bit.

Tomorrow I fully intend to petition for our reunion to be held for an entire weekend beginning with our 2011 event. Lasting from Friday afternoon through Sunday afternoon.

Our little reunion is held in the mountains of West Virginia. In the very rural county of Monroe [where there is literally not a single stoplight in the entire county!]. In the very tiny hamlet of Waiteville, where there is neither store nor post office.

This once bustling community was literally carved out of a tiny valley in Virginia. Peter's Mountain is the state line for as far as it runs, except for Waiteville. Waiteville at one time was reknown for its virgin timber and mineral ore. And then shortly after 1910 that all changed. The timber was cut out. The ore ran out. And the railroad, which had been used to haul out both, tore up its tracks and left. Up until the 1970's there was a single store which also housed the little post office. Today, these individuals have their mail delivered by the Union postal carrier. And either go into New Castle or Pearisburg, Virginia, or into Union, West Virginia for their groceries. [No late night trips to grab a snack!]

But it's from this tiny place in the mountains that my heritage is layed.

About 1790 came an Irishman who had served as a Loyalist in the American Revolution. He received several land grants. One rather strange grant was for a tract of land near Waiteville known as "Stoney Creek". This is a mountainous range of land that was literally carved through the mountains thousands of years ago by the swirling waters of the creek that continues to flow through. The steep, stony walls lining this valley [more like a passage!] makes one pause and wonder why anyone would want so much land here! Perhaps at that time trapping would have been good here? Who knows.

To this Irishman and his bride were born 2 sons. John and William. And then, suddenly in February of 1804, John is placed in indenture. His father is gone. We don't know if he died or what happened to him. The same year, in September, William is placed for indenture as well.

The next year, the mother is found on the personal property list as a widow. Amount owed is listed as "nothng atall". Under possession "just her clothes and spinning wheel". And then she disappears from history.

The following year, the property on Stoney Creek is sold for back taxes.

And then, in 1813, William is released from his indenture. He has reached the age of majority. Just 2 months after that release, he marries the daughter of a prominent family within the country. The following year they have their first child. And William begins to purchase property.

William brought a suit against the former owner of his indenture, and obtained a large financial settlement. Family legend states that there was actually a 3rd brother to John and William, and his name was Roy. He was younger than William. And shortly after the 1804 indenture, Roy ran away and was never heard from again. [I've not found any record to prove this however. Many others have also searched.]

With his new found gains, William purchased even more property. By 1836, when his last child [the 13th] was born, he was considered quite the gentleman farmer, and owned over 1600 acres of land in the valley.

It is the descendants of these 13 children who meet every two years in the very same valley.

We meet the last standing school house for this community. It was here that my Dad went to school as a young boy. Just 3 rooms and a kitchen. At one point it handled grades 1-12. In its last years of function, it handled grade school only.

Our hope is to "camp out" in this remote area for our weekend long reunion in 2011.

But tomorrow, we begin at 10 a.m. and last till about 5 or so.

Of my 5 children, I had hoped for 3 to arrive. One has already let me know, they won't be there. I still have hope for the other 2. My husband, a long-haul truck driver, is doing his best to get here. We still don't know if he'll make it or not.

One cousin was due to arrive today. She phoned to say she'd missed her flight by 24-hours. A date mix up.

Another cousin called, and has to work. Another, fell in her yard and literally broke her neck! [She'll recover, but it's going to take time!] And yet another is sick. Two have health problems and can't be here. And one has moved too great a distance away for him to be able to get here [financial constraints].

Still, we're hoping for a crowd of about 75.

I am so looking forward to tomorrow! Even knowing that not everyone can be here, I am so excited! It's like the eager anticipation of a child on Christmas Eve! I can hardly wait!!!

I'll let you all know how it goes!