Adams Family Reunion

Bertie County has long been a place where family is paramount. Though they are falling out of favor in other parts of America, family reunions still remain a special occasion for people from our area. The Soloman and Fannie Adams family had one of their regular get togethers this weekend, and it was a special time.

The Old Days

The reunion started at Riverside Baptist Church, a place where "Sol" (as Soloman was called) is revered as one of the founders of this local institution that has long served the community. As we entered the fellowship hall, dedicated family members had set up an exhibit of family mementos, photos and documents with the family genealogy.

Members Of The First Generation

All the living children of Sol and Fannie were present, Josephine, Ben, Frank, Margaret, Mildred, Jack, Truett and Phillip. John, Max and Spencer were in everyone's thoughts and were missed.

Sharing Family History

Larry Adams (Spencer's son) introduced the special presentations, which included discussions of the family history, poems about the family, special music (including both hymns and patriotic songs) and stories about the family. Josephine, Frank and Phillip, children of Sol and Fannie, provided remembrances of previous gatherings going back until early in the previous century. This included some "notorious" happenings that have become family history that were being shared with the very young for the first time.

Frank Shares Some Fishing Stories

People had gathered from as far away as Scotland, California and Idaho.

Members Of The Second Generation

Matt (son of Bonnie Adams) and Jenny Simons took photos of all the Adams clan, both as a group and as individual families. They distributed the copies of the photos on CDs to everyone who was there. I thank them for the photos for this article.

Before The Presentations Everyone Was Fed

On Sunday morning there was a special service to memorialize the family graveyard on the family homestead, where Sol's parents, William S. Adams and Mary Ann Farless are buried along family members and friends. Cheryl Moody (one of Spencer's daughters) served as master of ceremonies for a moving service. Jessie Mae, Max's wife, has gone to great trouble to restore the graveyard to honor the family patrons.

Homestead Graveyard Ceremony

The weekend was completed when the family gathered one final time for a picnic at the new home of Truett (one of Sol's sons) and June Adams. Truett has recently returned after nearly 60 years away from our area, spent mostly as a farmer in Kansas. The picnic ended with the classic southern specialty, ice cream.

Feeding The Adams Clan

Everyone had a great time. I did especially. Family reunions are part of what makes this area so special.

Truett's Picnic Grounds