By Margaret Barnette
If you don't know your past, you don't know your future – Bob Marley, “Tomorrow People,” 1988
Family heritage is something that has always intrigued me. My parents gave me a foundation and a healthy understanding. Yet in my busy life it has been hard to make time to learn more about my heritage so that I can better understand where I am and where I am going.
When I was eight, my father’s engineering work took him to IBM in Essex, Vermont. My parents and seven siblings packed our belongings and moved up from Danvers, Massachusetts. My aunts, uncles and cousins all lived in the Boston and Binghamton, New York areas. We were a nuclear family with our extended family hundreds of miles away. Maybe we visited our cousins once a year -- probably more like once every two or three years. But when we did it was great fun! We would explore during the day and exchange stories all night.
My maternal grandmother came straight from Ireland. From an early age, in middle school, I had hoped to meet my Great-Aunt Kathleen in Ireland. My mother wrote to her and proposed the adventure. Kathleen thought it was too dangerous (!), so that trip did not materialize. Years later, I visited Europe after college on a four-week Euro-Pass with girlfriends. I did make it to Ireland, only to find that Kathleen had died six weeks earlier. Still, I was able to connect with my cousins and had a wonderful trip.
In 1996, I returned to Ireland with my mother and youngest sister. This time we wrote ahead and met cousins. Communicating was a curious experience: even though we all spoke the English language, we could barely understand each other because of our accents. The other remarkable occurrence was meeting a cousin that looked just like my only brother.
After those experiences, my day-to-day life with the “job” and family became my focus. Yet as I approach my retirement years, I desire to spend more time with immediate and extended family, building relationships with them before God takes me. My father passed away in 2019, which made me more aware of the limitations of life. I need to connect with all my family – immediate family and extended family!
While cleaning out the family home, I discovered paperwork and photographs about my Hopkins family and its history. Two years ago, I completed my application for the Society of Mayflower Descendants. I was very fortunate that my Uncle Frederick James Hopkins had researched my paternal grandfather’s family ancestry and became a member of the Society of Mayflower Descendants in 1981. My mother Mary Theresa Hopkins Valla became a member in 2002. The completion of my application was just a matter of me adding my birth and marriage information.
During this process, I noticed my Irish maternal grandmother’s birth certificate was missing; that is, neither my Uncle Fred nor my mother Mary Theresa Hopkins Valla included their mother’s birth certificate in their application. I was able to add that birth certificate to the application and the permanent records. I possessed this birth certificate because I had used it to obtain my Irish citizenship approximately 20 years earlier. I felt good about adding to the completeness of the family ancestry.
My Family Reunions
My husband, Keith Errol Barnette, is African-American. His family maintains national reunions every two years at different cities throughout the United States. These Barnett family reunions are four-day events, held in July every odd year, beginning on the Thursday before the third weekend of the month. Attendance usually numbers 250-to-500 people. Family members gather to celebrate and remember the heritage of all Barnetts descended from one person: Cassandra Barnett, born in 1824.
I have attended five Barnett family reunions. I believe Keith’s family values their heritage because they can only trace it to the 1800’s. Their heritage cannot be traced to Africa. Keith and I had the privilege of hosting the 2011 Reunion in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Every reunion has a theme that the hosting city chooses. Our 2011 theme was “Staying Connected… Staying Strong… Forever.” There was a logo design printed on T-shirts, booklets and correspondences.
The reunion begins Thursday evening as family members arrive at the designated hotel location. Family members bump into each other for hours as they settle into their rooms. The registration process takes place late afternoon to early evening, as T-shirts, the family booklet, and relevant reunion information are distributed. The family booklet includes greetings from the state governor and the city mayor. It contains historical family stories, usually featuring one person. Then the evening is filled with icebreaker activities including dancing and sometimes singing.
Day One features an outdoor picnic barbeque. Activities include bouncy houses, horseshoes, face painting and more. There are tours of the city, along with tours related to the family history of that region. A most important event at the picnic barbeque is “taking the family picture” of 250-plus people.
Day Two features a black-tie banquet with much family business. An important piece of business is determining the location of the next reunion. “Region Representatives” present to the family “the why’s” for the reunion being held in their proposed region. There are typically two-to-three regions being proposed. The family votes; and then the region is chosen. The reunion closes on Sunday morning with a prayer service. Folks leave knowing they will visit each other again in two years – if not sooner!
I have learned from my husband’s family that the consistency and traditions of two-year reunions build bonds within the extended family.
I have long thought that perhaps we Mayflower descendants take our heritage for granted. We are one of the 25 founding families of the United States! I also feel that too many of us do not find enough time to engage with extended family. While writing this story, I discovered the Pilgrim Hopkins Heritage Society. My eyes are now more opened to these long-established societies and traditions.
I am proud to be a Mayflower descendant, and I am proud to be a Stephen Hopkins descendant. I look forward to developing relationships with my Hopkins and Mayflower cousins and learning more about my heritage.
Barnette Family Reunion, 2011 – Schedule of Events
Thursday July 21, 2011
· Sign-in and pick up reunion information, 7:00-9:00 p.m.
· “Meet Your Family” with ice breaker activities.
Friday July 22, 2011
· “Getting to Know Boston” – morning & afternoon activities
· Banquet – 7:00 pm-midnight dinner & entertainment
· 7:00 Welcome – Keith Barnette
· 7:15 Singing of U.S. National Anthem – Jehlad Hickson
· 7:25 Singing of African American National Anthem - Ashanti
· 7:35 Prayer
· 7:45 Meal
· 8:45 Recognizing Those Who Have Gone Before US – Keith Barnette & Rodney Barnette
· 9:00 Pass the Torch
· 9:30 Dancing and Music
Saturday July 23, 2011
· Picnic at the Neighborhood Dugger Park, Medford, MA, 10:30 a.m.-3:00 p.m.
· Original home of the New England Barnettes from 1917 to present.
· 10:30 First bus leaves hotel
· 12:30 Food is served.
· 3:50 Last bus leaves Dugger Park
Sunday July 24, 2011
· Church Service - Myrtle Baptist Church, West Newton, MA, 9:00 a.m.
· Myrtle Baptist Church was established October 1874 by freed men and sons of former slaves who settled in West Newton. The church became the town’s first Black church. Today, members come from within a 175-mile radius of the 130-year-old church.
· MA Governor Deval Patrick will be in attendance for service on Sunday, July 24 and will have a signing of his new book, A Reason to Believe: An Unlikely Story, immediately after service.
· “Getting to Know Boston” – afternoon activities
Note: A family branch has the name Barnette with an “e” at the end. Two brothers added this letter after serving in France during World War I.
Caption: Barnett Family Reunion 2011, group photo
