Family Reunions

 

Have you ever been to a family reunion? Some reunions attract hundreds of family members where family t-shirts are worn, family recipes are shared, photos are displayed, and games are played. Today, I want to share information with you about some of our family reunions.

 Let’s start with the Linns. The Linn reunions began in 1925, but the earliest news article I have is from 1931 when it was held at the Stratford Park on September 6, with 114 attendees. The following article tells a bit about the reunion program and who attended. Recognize any names?

 

I recognize several names: William Linn, Oscar Linn, Robert Linn, Floyd Linn, Francis Carlson, Frank Linn and Joan Linn, and surnames of Malmberg, Fallein, and Westrum.

Jumping ahead to September 1941, the 16^th annual Linn reunion was held in Pilot Mound with the following article describing the event and attendees: 

Again, I recognize many names: Linn, Carlson, Fry, and the Wallace Linn family came all the way from Nebraska with Helen Louise Linn from Denver. 

Did you know that minutes were kept and people signed in when they arrived? Below are various parts of the minutes from different years, including sign-in sheets; lists of births, marriages, and deaths; and activities. I’m not sure who has the original book, but my mom allowed me to make copies of the pages so I could have them for my genealogy work, and then she gave it back to its rightful owner. I have information for the Linn reunions from 1936-1980. And so, if you are curious about a year, or several, of the Linn reunions, who was there, what was in the minutes, who was born, married or died, let me know and I’ll email you scanned copies.

From the 1955 Linn reunion below, you can see that the treasury had $2.83 going forward, 28 attendees, and ice cream, cake and coffee served. We see births for the previous year: two of my first cousins Ivan Dean Linn, son of Ivan and Ann; and Alan Edward Linn, son of Ellis and Johanna. And farther down is a cousin I’ve more recently connected with, Scott Allan Linn, son of Marlin and Janet. You may recognize other names.

 

In 1956, we see the sign-in sheets below which give the names of the attendees and where they are living, a great help to me as a family historian. Do you recognize names in our family?

 Also from 1956, we see my family listed. Sorry, Randy. You weren’t here yet:

And the list of attendees in 1956 (53), plus the accounting for the year.

If you have other years you would like to see, I’m happy to post more or send through email a year you are most interested in.

 

The Lundblad family also held annual family reunions starting in 1910, one of the oldest family get togethers in Iowa. Below is an article about the 1932 Lundblad reunion from the Dayton Review:

 

I know fewer of these names, but as a family historian, this is very helpful to me. It allows me to find additional relatives, but it also gives me a town where they are currently living. For example, in the second paragraph above is the name H. J. Lundblad which is Henrik Julius Lundblad. Henrik is the son of Anders Lundblad and the nephew of our Catharina Lundblad Linn. I now know that, in 1932, he and his family live in Laurens, Iowa, a small town northwest of Fort Dodge. I can now search for him and his family based on this information.

In addition to the Linns and Lundblads, the Barquists also held annual reunions. The following article from the September 11, 1913 Dayton review indicates a small turnout from the immediate area, but in addition to the Barquist names we know, Olof Olofson and his wife Brita were also in attendance.

 

While there were Olofson get-togethers, their “reunions” were more of a gathering for an event. The following Olof Olofson family reunion was to honor their son Leon who was going to serve in World War I in 1918, taken from the September 12, 1918 Stratford Courier:

The next year, 1919, a reunion of the Lars Olofson family took place. Lars was the brother to my Olof Olofson. He and his wife had 10 children, so just their immediate family alone made for a relatively large reunion:

 

To my knowledge, no formal reunions were held by the Olofson family, none where minutes were kept, dues paid, and activities held.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing this sketch about our family reunions. Perhaps you attended one, or several. If you have photos of any you attended, I’d be happy to post them and share with our extended family. And wouldn’t it be fun to have another reunion in Iowa? Maybe at the Stratford park? We could make it a Linn-Lundblad-Olofson-Carlson-Barquist-Rask reunion!!!