Davidson Family Reunion

Davidson Rosedale Family Reunion in Salisbury and Charlotte, North Carolina

“Four things come not back:

The sped arrow, the spoken word,

Time past, and neglected opportunity.”

Arabian Proverb

After years of thinking about a Davidson Reunion, we finally found the “critical mass” of interested family to start the planning for the event. It was scheduled for October 19 and 20, 2013.

A BIG thanks to everyone, your presence helped to make it the success that it was.

The following is a link to the reunion slideshow hopefully with music from days gone by:
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=116522393952536603607&target=ALBUM&id=5972112840067636305&authkey=Gv1sRgCL2UIZmllKpm&feat=email

The organization of this event was a shared effort. Here are some of the key people that were involved in the planning and execution:

Roberta, Deborah and Catherine – they conceived the idea.

Helen Fisher Jacobs – reluctant but wonderfully helpful contacting family, providing flowers & birthday cake, receiving and organizing fund raiser supplies, .

Helen Louise Kikker and Therese Young – jumped on the organizing bandwagon.

Deborah - provided cemetery flowers, doing headstone etchings, welcoming family.

Michael Zarzecki – printed T-shirts and mugs for fund raising.

Peter Zarzecki – chauffeur for the 2 days and all round support for the reunion.

Roberta – for her super organization, communicating with churches, cemeteries, hotels, restaurants; sharing her research, keeping the budget, registration and attendance info, and providing the genealogy for the quilts for our fund raiser.

Thanks are also due to all who contributed photos and historical displays.

The Davidson Rosedale Reunion was a wonderful meeting of family, many who had never met one another, family who had not seen one another in years, and family who wondered what a family reunion was like. We know that there were family members who would have liked to attend and we're sorry that they could not. My cousin on my Gallagher side has offered his version of what might happen at a reunion. For many of you, it might have been a first. There certainly won't be others quite like it. There were great efforts made to keep all the expenses to an absolute minimum.

Our sincere apologies if we didn't get to visit all the cemeteries we might have or all the headstones in our effort to keep to a schedule. I think that our ancestors would have been proud of this first reunion, none-the-less.

What Happens at a Reunion (Bobby Huddock 2004)

We talk, we sing; Maybe we dance; Maybe we drink; We reminisce; We find out things we didn't know; We ask questions; We eat (sometimes too much); We renew old acquaintances; We enjoy ourselves with old and new relatives; and We make plans to stay closer in the future!

The David and Mabel Young Family were well represented. We were pleased to see David, David and Kathleen, Therese, Margaret and Roger, and Jessica. The Katharine and Joseph Gallagher Family were represented with Katharine, Catherine and Peter, Joseph and Beverly, Patricia and Jenny. The Anne & Bobby Hartley Family was represented by Anne, and Deborah and Brad did an outstanding job of encouraging their family to attend, John and his wife, Michelle and children, and Jonathan and his 3 children were so welcomed. Mary Anne, Cheri and Keri and Brent attended. Helen Louise, Jennifer and Stella were present with Paul. Roberta and Deborah came and stayed after the reunion to learn more about the Davidson Family. We were pleased that Jessica Swanko Dupree was able to join us for the Rosedale tour.

Sadly Connie Young Sorbelli, Caren and Alana and Anita Hartley were not able to attend at the last minute because of medical reasons. Many attendees traveled some distances at great expense and effort.

T

hank you all for the effort you made to attend. Your presence was appreciated by us all.

My interest in family history started when I was young. As a child I was taken “all over” to meet cousins “everywhere”. To my everlasting gratitude, my Grandmother, Charlotte Davidson Young Smith made sure I knew who my relations were. Not only did I get to know my Salisbury and Lake City Family, but she also introduced me to Cousin Sally Southerland, of Charlotte. Sally was interested in genealogy and Scottish Highland Festivals held annually at Grandfather Mountain, NC.

Helen Fisher and I began working on our family tree before computer programs such as Ancestry.com came on the scene. But thanks to that program, I met Roberta and Deborah Gormley. They were stumped trying to figure what the “D” in their Dad's name meant. We are now adding records and photos to Ancestry.com, to make our history part of the public record so that future generations will have access. I think I can say for the Davidson Family, that we are pleased to get to know the Gormleys.

The earliest records we have at this time, are from 1717, when John Davidson and Mary (perhaps Morrison) came from Learne, Ireland. We are fairly certain there is some Scottish ancestry in there somewhere as many Scots came by way of Ireland . We are still trying to solve that puzzle. That is what genealogical research is all about.

We are pleased to share the results of our research in the form of the attached pdf files. When you examine these files you will know as much as we do. There is an old saying, “The best things you can give your children are Roots and Wings”.

Enjoy the photos from the past.  

Catherine Gallagher

picasaweb.google.com