The Netherland Family Reunion

Pictured here is the family of William Bailey Netherland. He is seated near the center of the picture, with his wife Mary Elizabeth Garrard Netherland. His son, my grandfather, Ralph Ernest Netherland, is pictured standing in the back row, also wearing a bow tie. The picture is dated circa 1925, and is said to have been taken in Coxburg, Mississippi at the Netherland family home. Earlier this month, I wrote a post about the Netherland Family Reunion, stating that my mother didn't think she would be attending this year. Well, I was wrong. She felt well enough to attend, and she and my father drove to Coxburg today. She looks forward to this event and to seeing her brother and his family and many of their cousins and their extended families. Yesterday, when I talked to my mother, she had already made her delicious pina colada cake, and it was in the refrigerator, ready to take to the reunion's lunch today at the Community Center in Coxburg, Mississippi. I am so glad that she felt well enough to go. This family reunion is an annual event, usually on the last Sunday in August, when the Netherland family and its connections get together in Holmes County, Mississippi. According to my mother, the reunion is actually known now as the "Netherland-Spencer" reunion. Spencer was the married name of one of the Netherland daughters.

According to my mother, several Netherland family members who have attended the reunion in the past, have purchased copies of the book written by Gena Ayres Walls about her husband's connections to the Neatherlin and Leatherlin families. (These are earlier versions of the Netherland family name.) Some family members often bring the books with them to the reunion, hoping to fill in some of the missing branches on a few family trees. I hope this year's reunion was successful, with a lot of food and good fun, and I know that my mother's cake dish was likely empty when she took it back home.