Mother - c1954
Grandmother - c1947
________________
I have been thinking a lot about our family getting together in June, so I thought I would write something about how we got started having annual family reunions.
First, about our family: We are basically a southern family with roots in North Carolina that date back to mid 18th century, when one Mr. Jacob Braswell (actually his name was spelled “Brassel” in the 1790 Census and in many other documents until early 19th century when it changed to the current spelling) migrated south from Isle of Wight County, Virginia. Today the family is scattered over many states: Florida, South Carolina, New Hampshire, New York, California, Georgia, Virginia, Nebraska, Kansas, Texas, Louisiana, and of course North Carolina where several members of our family still live within several miles of the original Braswell Family Farm purchased in 1778.
As early as I can remember, our family always got together at Thanksgiving to not only celebrates Thanksgiving but Mother’s Birthday, which happened to be on November 28th. However, when Mother passed away in 1997, we decided we had to change the date and we picked the first week-end in June 1998 and have had our reunions every year on that weekend or the second weekend. For several years we kept the reunions in Johnston County North Carolina (our home county) until in 2006 our sister Joan invited us to Pawleys Island, South Carolina. This year our reunion will be in New Bern, NC on June 5-7th.
Our extended family now totals about fifty-five and growing, but slower! We normally have about thirty to forty at our reunions; last year in Richmond, VA we had forty-four.
In my life I can count on one hand the people who have had the most influence on my life and pictured above are my mother and grandmother who rank at the very top.
First, about our family: We are basically a southern family with roots in North Carolina that date back to mid 18th century, when one Mr. Jacob Braswell (actually his name was spelled “Brassel” in the 1790 Census and in many other documents until early 19th century when it changed to the current spelling) migrated south from Isle of Wight County, Virginia. Today the family is scattered over many states: Florida, South Carolina, New Hampshire, New York, California, Georgia, Virginia, Nebraska, Kansas, Texas, Louisiana, and of course North Carolina where several members of our family still live within several miles of the original Braswell Family Farm purchased in 1778.
As early as I can remember, our family always got together at Thanksgiving to not only celebrates Thanksgiving but Mother’s Birthday, which happened to be on November 28th. However, when Mother passed away in 1997, we decided we had to change the date and we picked the first week-end in June 1998 and have had our reunions every year on that weekend or the second weekend. For several years we kept the reunions in Johnston County North Carolina (our home county) until in 2006 our sister Joan invited us to Pawleys Island, South Carolina. This year our reunion will be in New Bern, NC on June 5-7th.
Our extended family now totals about fifty-five and growing, but slower! We normally have about thirty to forty at our reunions; last year in Richmond, VA we had forty-four.
In my life I can count on one hand the people who have had the most influence on my life and pictured above are my mother and grandmother who rank at the very top.
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