2020 Reunion Letter

Here we are with the 2020 Truitt Cousins Reunion upon us.

SAVE THE DATE, Saturday, June 20th, 2020.

Spring Greetings

Truitt Cousins everywhere. Please SAVE THE DATE of Saturday, June 20th for our 2020 Truitt Cousins Reunion. Texas Governor Abbot is now gradually opening up Texas to businesses and social gathering. The schedule of events will be similar to those last year:

10 a.m. - tour of JW Truitt cabin and grounds, visit Truitt graves in nearby Clark Cemetery, and visit Mandy Spring beside Jefferson to Mt. Pleasant and Dallas historic road bed. This year, our 2020 Truitt Cousins’ Reunion group picture will be taken in front of our log cabin.

12:00 noon - eat a BBQ lunch in Concord Baptist Church fellowship hall. You may bring a salad, or side, or dessert if convenient.

1:00 p.m. - program on our Truitt, Robinson and Fite relatives who were early settlers in Smith (now DeKalb) county Tennessee, plus many more extemporaneous presentations.

2:00 p.m. - very brief business meeting followed by an introduction of Truitt ancestors buried in the Concord Cemetery.

Over the past year, we have continued making improvements to John Wingate and Elizabeth Jennings Robinson TRUITT’s log home. Preston Curry, generously donated many period correct, primitive furnishings, adding to the cabin’s historic authenticity.

Improved landscaping through the addition of scrubs and flower beds have been added around the historic highway marker, cabin grounds and cabin front porch adding color and beauty.

Earlier this spring, several of your cousins met with the Morris County Commissioners’ Court to explore possibilities for future assistance in upkeep and/or grounds maintenance. Bert will give an update on this.

As the years continue to fly by, we should never take for granted the future of either our Truitt ancestral log home or our Truitt Cousins’ Reunion. Thru the years many of us have enjoyed annual, June, Truitt reunions that have been each unique with demonstrated musical talents, dining hall decorations, individual ancestral remembrances, Clark Cemetery Civil War grave dedications, genealogy presentations, and 100 years of ancestral pictures. This year’s reunion, promises to be equally unique and treasured.

For over ten years, we all looked forward to the day that the restoration of our historic John Wingate Truitt log cabin would be finished. I think you will be quick to agree that our treasured ancestral home is now at its peak of preservation and beauty. We will be celebrating this with a special coffee, cold drinks and pastry brunch from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. at the cabin – please make a special effort to be present a(903)nd remain for our 2020 group picture.

Taxes and upkeep expenses of the log cabin and grounds are financed by our private donations. This expense runs well over $2,000 each year. Please consider helping with these expenses by making a contribution to the JW Truitt log cabin by either mailing a check to the East Texas Communities Foundation or bring your contribution to the reunion. Checks should be made out to the East Texas Communities Foundation writing JW Truitt Cabin Fund in the remarks section of your check. The ETCF address is: 315 N. Broadway Ave. #210, Tyler, TX.75702. Thanks for your support.

If our Truitt Cousins Renuions are to be sustained, it is each of our responsibilities to encourage, invite and even bring with us our younger descendants. Relatives who have never attended will never realize treasured memories they are missing, if they are not lovingly encouraged to attend. Each year we have over a dozen cousins from outside of Texas attend our reunion. This takes greater planning and expense - contributing to our total enjoyment. Below please find the sections of Morris and Upshur Counties which show the locations of the J.W. Truitt Log Cabin and the Concord Baptist Church.

In closing, only you can help make this our greatest reunion. We all hope to see you on June 20th. Thanks and drive safely.

Your letter is in the mail.

Dale Truitt

(903) 366-1036

dale_truitt@hotmail.com

Concord Baptist Church

7585 TX-155 N

Gilmer, Texas 75644

Phone (903) 762-6373

Facebook page

Web page: etruitt.com