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Highlights of the 1999 Reunion

Bill Eddleman

Fulbrights gathered this year for the 1999 reunion in Cape Girardeau, Missouri on June 25, 26, and 27. The reunion was held at the Drury Lodge in Cape, with various activities held in portions of the county where North Carolina immigrants Catherine Fulbright Bollinger, Mary Fulbright Link, Margaret Fulbright Crites Link (daughters of Johann Wilhelm), Jacob Fulbright Jr. (grandson of Johann Wilhelm) and John Fulbright (probable grandson of Andreas) settled between 1800 and 1822.

Friday evening featured dinner at Ryan's Restaurant and socializing and viewing of family memorabilia in the hospitality room at the Drury Lodge. The Board met in the hospitality room at 8 p.m.

After breakfast on Saturday, an intrepid group of about 25 Fulbrights and Fulbright kin braved the rainy weather to embark on an auto tour of various Fulbright sites in northern Cape Girardeau County. A road log, maps, and itinerary were included with the registration packet so that attendees could also visit the sites on their own if they so desired. The first featured stop on the tour, guided by Bill Eddleman, was the Oak Ridge City Cemetery, where many descendants of both Jacob Jr. and John are buried. This cemetery is shared by the Baptist and Methodist Churches in Oak Ridge. The next stop was the Fulbright Cemetery, established in the 1820s on land acquired by Jacob Jr. by patent from the U. S. government. Jacob Jr., his wife Barbara Plunk, and many of their descendants are buried here. His son John and wife Matilda (Mayfield) Fulbright deeded the plot to the public for use as a cemetery in 1883. The cemetery site offers an impressive view of Jacob's former land. The final stop on the tour was the New Salem Methodist Church and Cemetery, where literally dozens of Fulbright kin are buried. Many current members of the church are also Fulbright descendants.

The tour also passed near other Fulbright points of interest, including the Concord Cemetery, where North Carolina immigrant John Fulbright, his wife Barbara (Baker) Fulbright, and their son John are buried; the Fulbright School (on land donated by John Fulbright, son of Jacob Jr.); Old Salem Cemetery (where numerous Fulbrights are buried). [Extra copies of the road log are available from Bill Eddleman for those interested.] The General Meeting of the FFA was held at 2 p.m. on Saturday. The meeting room featured displays by family members on different family lines. The general meeting featured election of new officers. Elected were: Bill Eddleman, President; La Neil Fulbright Gephart, Vice President; David Herd, Treasurer & Membership; Janice Fulbright, Secretary; Ed Stout, Historian; Marty Fulbright, Editor and Publisher; Jean Fulbright, Archivist.

Also featured at the General Meeting were presentations on the different branches of the Fulbright family. These included the George Fulbright line presented by Judy Fulbright, John Fulbright line presented by Jean Fulbright, Jacob Fulbright line and Johann Wilhelm's daughters by Bill Eddleman, and the Andreas line by Roger Gephart.

Following the General Meeting, various experts on different lines were available to answer questions about genealogical research.

The banquet was held at 6 p.m. Saturday evening. The featured speaker was Ms. Joeline Webber, who gave a very interesting and animated talk on, "The Family of Benjamin and Christina (Fulbright) Taylor: Early Missouri Bootheel Settlers". It seems after listening to Joeline's talk that we are related to most of the people in Southeast Missouri!! A much-appreciated highlight of Joeline's talk was that she gave each attendee a booklet summarizing her research and the descendants of the Taylors! Several attendees at this reunion were descendants of Benjamin and Christina Taylor, and we heartily welcome them to the FFA!

Sunday morning services were held at Old McKendree Chapel near Jackson Mo., a Methodist chapel constructed of local logs and dating back to 1819. We were able to have three Methodist ministers who are Fulbrights or Fulbright kin officiate at the service--Dr. Arthur Fulbright, Rev. Ken Royer, and Rev. Daniel Fulbright. The reunion ended after church services. The reunion was a success and everyone enjoyed getting together again! We'll see everyone in Springfield in 2000!

[Update -- Unfortunately, the Springfield reunion plans have had to be cancelled since the local hosts failed to make the necessary arrangements for the meeting. Ed.]