For the first time in 110 years, pandemic halts family reunion
By Stacy Wolford
swolford@yourmvi.com
It took a global pandemic to cancel my family’s annual Independence Day reunion.
For the first time in 110 years, the Rosborough family reunion won’t take place on the Fourth of July. There will be none of my Mom’s pierogi casserole, no big cheek kisses and hugs from my aunts, uncles and cousins, no signing the infamous reunion guest book and no reminiscing.
If my Gram were still alive, she’d be devastated.
A source of pride and tradition in my family, our reunion has brought together hundreds of relatives from many generations for more than a century.
From the youngest of children to the very oldest of family matriarchs, the Rosborough descendants span miles and states — but somehow always manage to come together for the family reunion.
I’ve found that like my grandmother, the late Marjorie (Rosborough) Johnston, and my Ma, Joy Sethman of Bentleyville, celebrating the holiday isn’t complete without spending the afternoon at the reunion.
My Gram was one of nine children of Ira and Nellie (Kirkland) Rosborough. She died at age 88 in 2009, the last surviving sibling of her immediate family.
The Rosborough reunion stems back to even earlier days when Ira Rosborough was a young boy growing up in Blairsville, where the reunion got its start in relatives’ back yards. Ira, my great-grandfather, was the eldest of 10 children born to William Addison Rosborough and Willetta (Munshower) Rosborough.
William and Wiletta were 21 when they married on Dec. 28, 1887, and they started the tradition of an annual reunion picnic on July 4, 1910.
The Rosborough descendants managed to keep the tradition alive through the Spanish Flu, the Great Depression and world wars.
In the annual family reunion newsletter written by reunion organizer and cousin Bob Rosborough, he wrote that the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918 was “not so kind to our family.”
“As it swept through Blairsville, it killed the first daughter, Lillian Ann, born Nov. 26, 1894, to our family’s founders, William Addison and Willetta Munshower Rosborough. Lillian followed the births of her four older brothers Ira, Jess, Milt and George. At 20, she married John Putt; by April 1918 they had four children. The flu struck later that year, taking Lillian and their son Ira — named for her first brother Ira (the grandfather of our fourth-generation cousins)—a day apart in November 1918. Mother and son were placed in the same casket and buried in the Blairsville Cemetery.”
Bob went on to explain that, over time, several mid-20th century wars and economic shifts influenced numerous Rosborough families and individuals to move away from our Blairsville roots — and reunion sites, too.
The last reunion there was at Schaeffer’s Farm in 1950. Other sites beyond Blairsville were Rushwood Park (ending 1973), Hixson’s Farm, 1989, Mingo Creek Park, 2000, then Cedar Creek Park, where it’s been held the past 19 years.
It was with much sadness cousin Bob announced the cancellation of this year’s reunion due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He encouraged us to take photos of each of our own family gatherings this year so he can pass them along in the next family newsletter.
While we may not be able to get together this year, as long as there are Rosborough descendants, there will always be a Fourth of July family reunion in our hearts.
Stacy Wolford is managing editor of the Mon Valley Independent.
