A Family Reunion in Linville Falls

On Friday, August 12, Dorcas and I left for a 5-week trip, our primary destination being the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) in northern Minnesota.  Our first stop would be to attend the Franklin Family Reunion, held the 2nd Saturday in August each year in Linville Falls.   Due to our typical fall travel schedule, we are not often able to attend this reunion, but this year it worked out for us. 

We spent Friday and Saturday nights at Riverside Golf and RV Park on the banks of the Catawba river in Morganton.  It's not what you would call destination park, but it is affordable and very convenient when visiting my home town.

 On Friday, we had a reservation to attend Grandfather By Night, a special private event, to view the sunset from the summit of Grandfather Mountain and to explore a nature trail by night. 

The gatehouse at Grandfather Mountain

No, the camera is not tilted (much).  The ground is made that way at Grandfather Mountain

The sunset from the summit of the mountain was stunning.

Dorcas on the famous "Mile-High Swinging Bridge"

After the sunset we were led on a half-mile nighttime walk on the Woods Trail.

Everyone was provided a headlamp that emitted both a white light and a red light, and a blacklight flashlight.  

We found a number of salamanders

And phosphorescent fungi

We spent Friday and Saturday night in Morganton at Riverside Golf and RV Park and visited the family plot at Forest Hill cemetery.

Ginger: One of the family now

Isn't she cute?

Linville Falls Community Church in the spring

For many years my brother Ran and I looked nothing alike.  However, as the years have passed, and we have aged, we have morphed to near twins.

Myron and brother Ran

Uncle John, Myron and Ran

Each year the Franklin Reunion features an historical presentation related to the family. This year that presentaion was .... wait for it ... "Finding Dorcas".  The reunion brings together the descendants of Samual Franklin and Dorcas Burns Parker.  Previously, we had talked about all the men in the family, but little was known about most of the women.  And there has never been another member of the family named Dorcas until I brought my own favorite Dorcas in.  The life and history of Dorcas Burns Parker was not well known, so Cousin Tense did some genealogical research and tried to clear up some mysteries.

The presentation goes on for 3 pages.  Contact me if you want to see the whole story.

The Franklin Reunion always has live entertainment.  Click HERE to hear a rendition of "The Brown Mountain Lights".  Click HERE to hear "I'll Fly Away"

Uncle John is 91 years old and is the only living charter member of the Elks lodge in Morganton.  After the reunion he treated the cousins to dinner at lodge.  

Spending Cousin Laura's inheritance

The 0.5x wide angle lens on my iPhone 13 Pro makes everyone look fat!

On Sunday morning we headed west and north, bound towards Minnesota.  Stay tuned for the continuing Adventures of Myron and Dorcas.

A Reunion of My Franklin Kin

On the second Saturday of August each year the descendants of Samuel Franklin and Dorcas Burns Parker congregate at the Linville Falls Community Church for a grand reunion.  On August 10th Dorcas and I were to attend the 87th annual Franklin Reunion, our first in more years than I want to admit.

We left home about noon on Thursday, August 8 for what we expect to be an 8 week fall trip. More on that in the next post to this blog.  Our destination this day was the cul-de-sac at Bob and Donna Benner's home in Morganton.  Our trip was uneventful except for a 35 minute backup on I-40 at US 601 near Mocksville.  However, Google maps suggested a detour that took us around this mess with minimal delay.  The Benner's house is our regular camp when we stay in Morganton, and we always like to visit with our long-time friends the Benner's.  Bob has a regular meeting with friends each Thursday at 4:00 at the Brown Mountain Bottleworks to suck back a few cool ones, and we were invited to come along. My brother Ran was also in town, spending the night with a friend, so I called him to meet us at Brown Mountain Bottleworks.  It turns out that that was exactly where he was when we called.  Go figure.

The place to be in Morganton

Bob Benner and his daughter Dawn

Our camp in the Benner cul-de-sac

On Friday Ran met us for breakfast at Timberwood Family Restaurant where Dorcas and I enjoyed a western omelet with country ham.  Ran and I had recently sold our mother's house in Morganton so we did some business at Wells Fargo bank and at the courthouse.

The historic Burke County Courthouse, with cute Honda Pilot and Bell canoe in the foreground

On Friday we moved up the mountain to the Linville Falls Campground on the Blue Ridge Parkway for 2 nights.

Site 37 at Linville Falls Campground

Matilda wading in the Linville River

At 10:00 on Saturday we headed over to the Linville Falls Community Church for the reunion.

Linville Falls Community Church

I am descended from Samuel Franklin and Dorcas Burns Parker, and from Samuel's son David S. Franklin. As far as we can tell there has never been another Dorcas in the family until I married my Dorcas. 

Roots of the Samuel Franklin family

Samuel and Dorcas' monument at Pisgah United Methodist Church near Linville Falls

The reunion featured entertainment including singalongs with the Franklin mountain jug band, and a genealogy lesson.  There were over a hundred Franklin descendants and family in attendance.

The Franklin mountain jug band, with Jesse on guitar and brother Ran on bass. 

And of course there was food.

My cousins

More cousins plus Uncle John and Brother Ran

After the reunion the Wilsons (my mother's family) hung out at the church long after everyone left.  Then the party moved to the Linville Falls Winery where there was live music and local wine.  We closed down the winery and moved the party once more to my cousin Melissa's house and sat on the porch with Melissa's 4 dogs, our dog Matilda and watched her horse in the pasture.  No moss on the Wilson stones

Moses is a 100 pound mastiff rescue.  Moses is cool.

After the all that reuniting and eating and partying Dorcas I headed back to the campground and enjoyed sleeping in the cool mountain air. On Sunday morning we departed about 9:00 and headed north, Minnesota-bound.

Franklin Reunion Linville Falls NC

Since we were already delayed for our fall trip because of jury duty, The Great Driveway Project and our yard sale, we had decided to stay home long enough to attend the annual Franklin Reunion in Linville Falls. The reunion is always held the 2nd Saturday in August and is a gathering of the descendants of Samuel and Dorcas Franklin. Samuel Franklin is my great, great, great, great grandfather. Samuel Franklin's father was James Franklin, Ben Franklin's older brother. It is ironic that granddaddy Sam and I both hooked up with gals named Dorcas. As far as I know there are no direct descendants named Dorcas. I have always been thanked by the clan for bringing another Dorcas back into the family.

We took the motor home up on Friday and parked at the Linville Falls Campground on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Ironically the Franklin family used to own the land where the campground and the Falls are. Many of my kin still live and own much of the land around the community of Linville Falls.

My brother Ran had been waffling all week about coming to the reunion. It is about 4 hours for him to drive one way, no one else in his family wanted to come, and he had to be back for church service Sunday morning. I told him that if he came he could sleep in the coach (a rare honor; we have never before let anyone else sleep in the coach!), we would grill him a rib eye and he could have all the beer, wine, whiskey and rum he wanted. He doesn't often have a chance to drink and carry on with none of his family present, so maybe that's what hooked him. He came on up arriving Friday evening just in time for dinner. We built a fire and enjoyed some refreshing cool mountain air. It was a stark contrast from the weather we have seen in Winston-Salem the last 2 months.

The next morning we gathered at the Linville Falls Community Church for programs, singing, entertainment and finally ... great food. We talked with cousins and uncles and others that were related in other unknown ways. Many said how they missed my mother, who had attended the reunion last year. I told them she was here in spirit this year. Mom had willed a very nice hand carved wooden Franklin coat of arms to the family, and it was on display along with many family artifacts. The coat of arms contained the Franklin family motto: "Our humility is surpassed only by our beauty and our intelligence". Or at least that's the way I translate it. I did earn a "C" in high school Latin, you know. After the reunion ended we visited with some immediate family at my Aunt Ruth's house at Land Harbor. This photo is of some first cousins. Note the family resemblance.

This reunion actually represents the beginning of our annual summer/fall trip to the upper Midwest and to Minnesota and the BWCAW. We will not be returning home until about the 2nd week in October. Bon voyage.

The Franklin Reunion, Linville Falls, NC

August 10-13

This weekend we attended the reunion of the descendants of Samuel and Dorcas Franklin in Linville Falls. Samuel Franklin is my great, great, great, great grandfather. This year is the 150th anniversary of his death and the 75th anniversary of the Franklin reunion. Samuel Franklin's father was James Franklin, Ben Franklin's older brother. Therefor the guy on the $100 bill is my great, great, great, great, great uncle. Dorcas (Whitley, not Franklin) has always been very popular at this reunion. She is the only Dorcas I have found in the family, since great grandma Dorcas Franklin. I find this odd, since many family names have been recycled heavily. Ironically, my maternal great grandmother was May Delilah Greene Franklin, descended from Nathanial Greene of Revolutionary War fame, thus joining the Franklin and Greene lines.

On Monday afternoon, August 13, we arrived at home thus ending the Izaak Memorial Westward Ho Summer Adventure 2007. The homeplace was in great shape, excepting some tall weeds in the natural beds. We spent the next several days unpacking and getting accustomed the the southern humidity.