Continuing the 64-year tradition of Roark and Conner descendants meeting to honor ancestors, the Roark-Conner Association has hosted a Virtual Reunion on its website: Roark-Conner.org. To participate, go to the home page and sign in until March 31.
“Featured Presentations” of the Virtual Reunion highlight ancestors: Nell Margaret Roark, The Swafford Family and Dock Conners. There is also a tribute to Peggy Ann Defries McCallie, along with her memories of Birchwood/Salem area, Birchwood history documents written by Edith Bare McCallie, select R-CA Newsletter articles on Birchwood written from 1994-2022 and Salem Community Ancestry written by John J.
Roark.
The tradition began in the summer of 1959, when the Roark-Conner family held its first reunion in Birchwood, Hamilton County, Tennessee. Every year, descendants would gather in the Birchwood area to meet, remember ancestors, visit local historical sites, and share family history. The annual R-CA Reunion has become an important gathering of Roark and Conner descendants and relatives of local pioneer families who settled, during the mid to late 1830’s, in eastern Hamilton County. In 2020, in response to COVID, the Virtual Reunion concept was initiated.
For more information, call 202-669-1802. Questions or journalistic interest is welcome.