Big 4 Reunion

Big 4 Reunion Cridersville Ohio community reunion railroad family history local events Cridersville Historical Society. (continued from inside) been some loss of attendance over the years, the genuine spirit of kinship and deep interest is ever present. The Reunions have been crowned with success and reflect much credit to those who have earnestly attended to the incidental details and tendered diligent service. Chief among these were President T.E. Bowsher, E.F. Reichelderfer, W.A. Burkhardt, and Ezra DeLong. The excerpts above were taken from The Boucher Family from the chapter entitled A Brief History of the Ohio Reunions written in 1917 by Franklin A. Burkhardt Lima, Ohio Ezra DeLong’s Grove was located in the area of Cridersville that now includes Onalee, Marcella, and Lavina Drives. It was a large, shaded area with a horse race track, pond, and bandstand. It was the site of all the Reunions held in Cridersville. Cridersville Historical Society 111 W. Sugar St. PO Box 2444 Cridersville, Ohio 45806 Visit us on Facebook for updates. At Cridersville, Ohio on Thursday, July 23, 1896 there was inaugurated a joint reunion of the Bowsher, Delong, Mowery and Reichelderfer families. The innova- tion was due to a very close kinship alliance of the four families, or rather branches, which trace back to Berks County, Pennsylvania. While the reunions have been conducted under the above auspices, the meetings have been equally attended by such kindred families as the Harpsters, Stepletons, Moyers, Criders, Ludwigs and others all having origins in Berks County. All these families came to America from the Rhine country of Germany between 1712 to 1755. They were the founders of our “Pennsylvania Dutch”. Their names are linked with the struggle for Independence and they were reared in the area known as the “Granary of America”, the products of which saved Washinton’s Army at Valley Forge. The success of the patriot cause is attributed largely to the soldiers, munitions and supplies that came from this district in Pennsylvania. When the Indians, by the treaty of 1795, were made to vacate their Ohio territories , these people of kindred ties began Bowsher Family Photograph—July 1897 (continued inside) At the 1915 Reunion the...