52 Ancestors: Reunion

This weeks' blog post, Reunion, conjures up visions of a very large family gathering, complete with plaid tablecloths, fried chicken, and potato salad.  Unfortunately, as part of a VERY small family, that vision is just one from books and something that never actually happened for me.

My mother was an only child and after her parent's divorce and second marriage for both, she did have two half siblings from her father and his new wife; however, I only remember meeting my grandfather once and to my knowledge, never met his new children.  And since my grandmother never had any more children, that left any cousins on that side essentially non-existent to me.

My dad had one brother who had two children so those were really my only cousins.  And since they lived in Kentucky and we lived in California, we didn't see each other much.  My uncle would make the trek out west on occasion and at one time or another he brought one of his daughters with him.  Sadly, there were very few times when all five cousins were together.

But as this picture proves, there was at least once!

Back, left to right:  Me, Sister, Cousin V
Front, left to right:  Brother, Cousin M
c.1963

Here we are - the Levy cousins!  This looks to be sometime about 1963 since my brother was born in November, 1961 and looks to be somewhere around 2 years old here.  I was notorious for closing my eyes when the camera snapped.

Several years ago I connected with a distant cousin on my mother's side - her grandfather was the younger brother of my great grandfather.  And just like that, she was GONE.  But she did share with me some information about our common ancestors and a reunion that occurred in 1979.  What a gift to have this newspaper article - unfortunately, I do not know the newspaper it was printed in.

The Horgan family, descendants of Jerry and Maggie Horgan of Ireland, who never immigrated to this country, held a family reunion at the Zamora town hall on June 2.  More than 100 descendants of the Horgan clan were present for the potluck dinner.  They came from Dinuba, Livermore, Redwood City, Sunol, Red Bluff, Sacramento, Salinas, Esparto, San Jose, Newark, Fresno, Arbuckle, Merced, Davis, Knight's Landing, Woodland and Zamora.  A few older friends of the family around Zamora were also invited.

The oldest member present was Irene Fitzgerald Johnson of Arbuckle.  Youngest members were Kelly Barnard of Livermore and Bonnie Hilleby of Woodland.  Traveling the farthest was Viola Fitzgerald Crawford of Fresno.

Father Elwood Geary said Mass for the family in St. Agnes Catholic Church in Zamora on Sunday morning.  The church was built by John, Cornelius and Andrew Horgan.

Planning the reunion were Betty Dall of Dinuba, Edith Heidrick, Mary Croll and Mable Hermle.  Mrs. Hermle is the second generation Horgan in this country and the only one in her generation that is living today.  The Ireland couple were her grandparents.

How cool is that?  Can you imagine finding 100 descendants 40 years ago and then planning a reunion and notifying them all to gather on a specific date????

And then there was a photo of the St. Agnes Catholic Church, built by my 2x great grandmother's brothers John, Cornelius, and Andrew.

What a great little church!  I'd sure love to see inside.

Look at this - a current photo!

St. Agnes Catholic Church, Zamora, California
from google maps

But best of all is this photo of some of the Horgan descendants who gathered that day - and labeled with the names!  Only problem is I can't be sure of who is who with one exception - my grandmother's sister, Viola Fitzgerald Crawford who is third from the right.  And I know this only because she looks EXACTLY like my grandmother!

Clifford E. Johnson, Irene Fitzgerald Johnson, Harry Johnson, Jack John E. Fitzgerald (Patti's grandfather), Elfie Johnson, Lorraine Follett (Viola's daughter), Clarence Follet (Lorraine's husband), Viola M. Crawford, Jane Fitzgerald Schneider, Carla Schneider.  Note - Irene Johnson died a few months after reunion

I enlarged it so I could see it better.

I'm guessing that Lorraine is to Viola's right with her husband, Clarence, standing behind her.  And if Irene Johnson was the eldest, I would guess her to be 2nd from the left.

Interesting to note that in all the times we visited my grandmother in Fresno, I don't remember ever meeting Viola.  And being that my grandmother was still living in 1979 (and quite active), I wonder why she didn't attend?  Could it be that there was some sort of rift between she and Viola?  Another question I will probably never have answered.

As my family grows and grows due to this journey I'm on, maybe one day I'll have a chance to attend my own family reunion.