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Blood of My Ancestor Family Reunion!
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by Carolyn Ann Howard
Last year, 2019, I cooked up an idea and didn't know where it would end up. I was looking for ways to connect with the family I had found through writing Blood of My Ancestor. Some of the family members I heard from after writing "Blood" were the step-grandson of Earl Howard, the Brown family, who live in Evansville and are descended from the Cannons, as well as several descendants of my 4x great grandfather, Godfrey Howard. Although its good to be on Facebook with them, I was hoping for more! So I put the idea out there about having a family reunion, meeting together in Martin County, Indiana. I made a Facebook event page and sat back with anticipation watching to see if anyone would join. Click on photos to enlarge
When it looked like the event had some interest, I began to plan. What in the world would we do for two days in Martin County? Fortunately, I have friends in Martin County to help! Soon my plans came together, and the family reunion was all set! I didn't know going in, however, that it was going to be one of the highlights of my entire life!
Thursday evening, we all met together at Stoll's Restaurant (pictured above). Stoll's is located on the banks of West Boggs Lake in Loogootee, Indiana. Not only is the view gorgeous, but its also the best place to have a party like the one above. There's plenty of space to spread out and be comfortable, and they have something for everyone on their buffet. We had such a good time talking together!
Kenny and I stayed the next two nights in my friend Marie's cabin, and I think we were the last to do so as she sold the cabin in 2020. The cabin is special to me, because this is the area my ancestors first lived when they came to Martin County in or around 1850. Staying in the cabin held so much meaning for me and Marie went out of her way to make sure we were comfortable!
This is the view from the backyard of the cabin. The cabin is located on what's called The Overlook, because it looks over the East Fork of White River. Its my belief that my Howard ancestors came into Martin County from the East Fork of White River. When they saw how beautiful the countryside was, they stayed!
The next morning, Friday, Kenny and I ate at Velma's Diner in Shoals, Indiana. Velma's is a wonderful breakfast place, a fine diner. From biscuits and gravy to eggs over easy, they have anything you might want for breakfast, perfectly made to order!
Kenny and I then made our way to NSWC Crane Naval Base. Yep! Southern Indiana is home to a naval base! According to the Indianapolis Star, 21 Jun 2016, Crane employs around 5,000 civilians and adds around $800 million each year to our state economy. The base came into Martin County in or around 1941 and took the land of about three of Martin County's townships. They fenced off a lot of where my ancestors lived, including Goldsberry Hollow, where Joel Lyon lived with his wife, my grandaunt Adaline.
Fortunately, I had also learned because of Blood of My Ancestor, that the soldiers and staff at the naval base are gracious and kind. They had even reached out to me after I wrote "Blood" and threw a huge all-day event to celebrate the book! Because of this, I knew the odds were good that we'd be able to do cemetery visits as part of the reunion.
There are somewhere around 29 cemeteries behind the gates of the naval base. When I emailed them about a group of us taking a tour, the offer was made that we could tour three of the cemeteries. I chose Boggs Creek, West Union and Williams. Seven of us gathered at the naval base. Two others joined later, just for the Boggs Creek Cemetery tour.
I was super nervous, just on edge. I had six people counting on me to make it worth their while for all they had put into being a part of this reunion. The couple from Evansville, Indiana, Laura and Bill, were staying at a hotel in Washington, Indiana. Ann, from Pennsylvania and Greg and Mary from Wisconsin were staying in Jasper. What if it turned out that they had wasted their time? What if it turned out they were bored to tears? My anxiety level was through the roof!
Crane Naval Base is HUGE!!! It took us forever to get from cemetery to cemetery, and my anxiety level was still great. Was everyone having a good time? Was anyone bored with all the driving?
When we got to Boggs Creek cemetery, the decision was made to only allow the two people who had joined only to go to this cemetery. To get to this cemetery, you must climb a very steep and long hill. The soldiers decided one would take the extra couple up in the truck and, warning us that the road wasn't very good to
the cemetery, we were told to wait behind with the other soldier. They told me I could join in going up to Boggs Creek, but I decided to stay behind with the others. It was a good decision. For August, it was a particularly pleasant morning, and it was so much fun talking with my extended family. The soldier talked a little about how he had asked to be assigned to Crane, but he gave very little away. Greg would laugh later, saying that he made a very good soldier indeed, being a man of few words.
I don't have any family members buried in Williams, but it is one of the larger cemeteries and so I thought it would be fun.
This is an interesting stone in Williams Cemetery.
After we were finished with our tour of the three cemeteries behind the gates of Crane Naval Base, we traveled by caravan back to Loogootee to enjoy lunch together. I knew by this time that the two-day reunion was going to be successful, although I still didn't realize how much it was going to mean to me in the end.
All pictures in this blog posting are from the Carolyn Ann Howard Family Collection. The photos of the cemeteries in Crane Naval Base were taken with permission.
© 2022 by December Moonlight Publishing, LLC
