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From The President

What a treat the Gladney Family Association has afforded Gene and I these last eleven years

Vice President 1995-97; President 1997-2006

To say we met all our goals will be an overstatement. To know that some of the goals were met is realistic and wonderful. We wanted to create and post a website to include History, Reunions, Cemetery Information, descendants serving in the War Between the States -list members of the DAR-SAR-UDC-DAC, messages from the President, update the lines from Mrs. Mildred Arnolds "Gladneys In America" book and publish a new book if possible, to complete the marking of the graves of our emigrant Revolutionary Ancestors resting in the old Gladney Cemetery, to honor our Grandmother "the Widow Gladney" with a marker from the Daughters of the American Colonist stating she received a land grant, to clean and straighten all the headstones and complete any needed repairs, to honor Gladney Military men and women for their service to our country, to locate as many Gladneys as possible and invite them to become a part of our Family, to place the GladneyGram online and send the news to as many cousins as possible. One bonus was the contacts of unattached Gladneys in England and Ireland as well as within the United States.

A very personal goal was reached by finding all the siblings of my Jane Gladney Gibson (1822-1904), daughter of Richard (1778-1843) and Mary Martha Bruce Gladney. Richard was the youngest married son of emigrants Samuel and Agnes McCreight Gladney. Each siblings line has been traced and contact made with those descendants. One sibling, Richard Jackson Gladney served in both the Mexican and War Between the States wars and we marked his grave in Pine Bluff AR as such. This was a very rewarding task to complete.

The one goal unaccomplished, was to actually place my eyes and hands on the emigrant Samuels Bible. I finally found the family member who had the Bible and visited in the home, even looked through her home with Anna Belle, but we could not find the Bible. To be so close and yet not complete that task has been a big dissappointment.

I did accomplish a part of that goal. At the Winnsboro Reunion in 2005, three of the descendants of Richard Jackson Gladneys line attended the reunion and along with me visited the Gladney Cemetery for the first time. Anna Belle Kibler, Gladney Brooks and Jane Quick were so thrilled, as was I, that we were together in the holiest of all places to Gladneys.

Anna Belle and Gladney are now serving on the Board of Directors for the Family Association. We are so proud to have them with us.

As I depart this Presidency, I wish every Gladney Cousin the joy of anticipating family research, the concern for knowledge of unknown Gladneys, and the love that flows from Gladney to Gladney in our veins.

Lastly, to say I accomplished my goals alone is perposterous. Gene has taken every step that I took and always was a wonderful trooper. The Board of Directors and Officers of the Gladney Family were all eager to "get things done" and provided me with such an over whelming amount of support, that I am completely humbled at the thought. Cecil & Polly, Dr. James & Margaret, Charles Sidney, C.Wallace & Blanche all made the bumps in the road so very pleasant. Deceased cousins, William Cody Gladney and Gloria Epps, were among the leaders who offered me such great support and I miss their emails and phone calls.

So, thank you one and all.

As the list of reunions show, we have tried to spread out and contact as many Gladneys as possible. We voted to be away from Winnsboro for 2 years and back the third year. This action turned out to not be as profitable as we had hoped and in the business meeting at the 2005 reunion, the board voted to return to alternating years in Winnsboro. As the years have progresssed age has taken its toll on Ed Stevenson and his ability to care for the Gladney Cemetery. Cousin Kenneth Kirkpatrick has taken over that task and we thank him for his
labor of love for our family.

We must say "Many Thanks" to all of the Past Presidents and Board Members who have given of their time, talents and wisdom. Our Family is what it is today because of all of you and your dedication. All of the past family board members have worked very hard to continue to progress our association, to maintain our cemetery, to continue our reunions, and to reach the growth in "Cousins" that we now have. Never has a family been so blessed as we, the Gladneys, in dedication by family members.

We must always be aware that it takes continued hard work to make the family survive and progress, but that above all it takes love; a love of ancestors and love of each other, no matter how distant the "kinship" reports us to be. The gratitude of the entire Family needs to be placed in this writing to Jill and Tim Johnson for the countless hours spent typing and formating the new Publication "Gladney". We rightfully so, dedicated to book to Jill who passed from us before she could hold the completed book in her hands.

Our family was started and continues to be, based on our need to know--more of our past, more of our present, more of each other. When we think of our ancestors - how humble we find our reactions. Could we have accomplished so much and left such a legacy as they? I am not sure! However, we are proud that they were so strong and helped pave the way for those of us today.We must continue to believe we are each blessed and precious in the sight of God, our ancestors, and each other.

I have enjoyed these past years, meeting and getting to know wonderful "cousins" such as you. Gene and I have traveled many miles to work, to organize, to visit and have never been disappointed. We traveled many times to Winnsboro checking on the cemetery and reunion details.

In 1997 we had the dedication ceremony by my Daughters of the American Colonist Chapter for the Grandmother of us all, Jane Wilson Gladney: Dedication of the graves of Janette Gaston Strong, Jane Strong Gladney and Agnes McCreight Gladney were conducted by NSDAR members. We placed part of the dedication ceremony here and the exact inscription reads:

CYMRY Chapter, NSDAC Pennsylvania State number 5507.
Historical Marker:
DAC emblem
JANE WILSON GLADNEY
ORIGINAL LAND GRANT 1773
Born 1711 Ireland Died 1781 SC
RELICT OF RICHARD GLADNEY
marker by
Cymry Chapter NSDAC PA.
JULY 26, 1997

The ceremony was conducted by Gladney Family members who are members of the NSDAC, from LA, TN, MS,
& PA. Mrs. Alva M. Gregg (Crystal), honorary State Regent for life NSDAC-LA. was the presiding family member. Mrs. Gene T. Bond(Bettye) was the dedicating family member. Regent, Mrs Charles Evert, from the dedicating CYMRY chapter NSDAC- PA., was present and placed the wreath on the grave. South Carolina State Treasurer, Mrs. William L. Glasgow, was also present and read the American's Creed. The ceremony was further enhanced with the presentation and retiring of the colors by the 6th North Carolina Historical Society Revolutionary War Reenactment Society, Dusty Simmons, Captain. Crystal Gregg sponsored the DAR markers for her ancestors. You will find pictures in the 1997 Reunion page. Please check out the pictures and complete summary.

Gene and I attended several September reunions in Clem, GA; the small Magnolia, AR get together on Memorial Day, where Tim Johnson and family, Dr. James, Margaret, & Cynthia Gladney, Bobbie Gladney, John William & wife Helen Gladney of Stamps, AR all met for lunch. Soon after that we lost John William Gladney, what a very sweet quiet cousin he was.

We looked forward to showing off a small portion of our Arkansas for the 1998 Reunion, we dedicated the grave of Richard Jackson Gladney, son of Richard & Mary Martha Bruce Gladney as both a Mexican War and War Between the States Soldier. We had a total of 13 states represented and 90 "cousins" attending the banquet Saturday evening. The weather was kind to us, it had been well into the 100's for a couple of weeks with no rain, but rain it did and the temperature cooled down to the seasonal temperature.

The dedication of a military service marker for Richard Jackson Gladney, was enhanced by the local Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) and Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) Unit with uniforms and flags as well as an ending gun salute. My husband Gene also dressed in Confederate gray and represented his SCV Camp. The family portrayal, done by family descendants, was meaningful in that each told the story of their ancestor who was the Brother or Sister of Richard Jackson Gladney. How rewarding to be able to find some of the descendants of these members and have them at this dedication. However, we were unaware we had a Gr Granddaughter of Richard Jackson among us until after the entire reunion. Gladney Cooper and I later found that she is from Richard's only son James Shields and Lilly McIntosh Gladney, their daughter Sarah Fitzpatrick Gladney Hoshall, and their son Thomas Leonard Hoshall Jr. Gladney Cooper was kind enough to donate their Bible, which I placed under glass in the Fairfield Archives & History Genealogy Room.

1999 found us back in Winnsboro, during a record making heat wave, Carolyn Gladney Powell and her DAR group dedicated the Graves of Thomas and wife Agnes Gladney as Revolutionary War Patriots. William Cody and Frank Curry, a fellow Pearl Harbor suvivor, placed American Flags on the graves of Jane Wilson Gladney and her three sons. Along with the Revolutionary War Reenactors, in wool, some ladies with several layers of petti-coats, we endured the excessive heat as our hearts overflowed with Gladney pride.

In 2000 we were royally treated in Baton Rouge, LA by C. Wallace and Blanche Gladney, along with all the Baton Rouge Cousins. What a great time we had. Check the 2000 reunion page and see some of the fun pictures. Especially the wonderful treat they gave to the "Queen of the Clan." A visit to the cemetery, via bus, was a real treat, but when those bagpipes started playing, even for July, the chills would not go away.

The Carrollton, GA Reunion in 2001 was a special time as we planned a surprise for Cecil & Polly Gladney to thank them for attending all reunions since 1976. They are the only "cousins" I can find who have attended all reunions from the beginning of reunions in 1976. Gene was the selected person to present Polly with dozens of red roses and a cousin hug. Our Minister for the weekend was a cousin who emailed that he would arrange to be free from his Pastoral duties for our reunion. We did appreciate that.

Ed Stevenson was feeling better in October 2001 than we had seen him in a long time. He said he quit all the heart medicine and just takes his two tablespoons of fresh garlic, honey and vinegar every morning. We cannot say "thank you" enough to Ed for all the years of his loving care with our Old Gladney Cemetery. He had cut the cemetery before we got there and it looked so great. To see the cemetery in the fall with the beautiful floral display of leaves is to know why our ancestors loved their land.

We walked over the cemetery several times in October 2001, pointing out the headstones that were leaning or that were broken with Mr. Jerry Snelgrove. His suggestion was to repoint most, dig deeper on the very tall ones and pour some concrete around and reset them in the ground. We decided that, since the board and membership in attendance at Carrollton gave us permission to make the decision, we would do just that. He promised to have them all finished by reunion 26 July 2002, which he did. You must click on this link to read about all the very special activities we had at our Winnsboro 2002 reunion.

Our 2003 reunion in Memphis, TN was to be a first time in TN and everything was planned, cousins were on the road anxiously anticipating a great group and lots of fellowship. However, Mother Nature planted a bomb on us and the winds blew the power right out of everything - to the extent we had to cancel. It was a first and we so hated to send out the cell phone and email messages, but we had no choice.

Our 2004 reunion in Baton Rouge, LA (again) was so delightful but again Mother Nature sent her message, rain in abundance. Many cousins called and canceled because of this. We got caught several times during the weekend, but the rain didn't stop us from having a great time.
C. Wallace and Blanche Gladney were gracious hosts. We all agree they are very special cousins.

Again in 2005 we walked over the cemetery pointing out the needs of the old headstones and the desire of the Association to have them cleaned. The fact that some are very old and delicate was stressed and Mr. Jerry Snelgrove promised to take great care in the cleaning. When we returned for the reunion, all were completed and looking very regal. The candle light visit to the cemetery, after the Banquet on Saturday night, was a wonder. The ever so lightly misting rain, bright white headstones and candle light was almost breathtaking. It seemed as though we were few among many.

If you have not attended our reunions, especially at Winnsboro, you have missed a time of fellowship and cousin hugs, but most important a joining of our hearts in a spirit of purpose of unity to preserve our past as well as encourage our future generations to love, honor and keep alive our "Gladney Spirit."

The Fairfield Archives & History Genealogy Room is now located at 113 N. Vanderhorst Street and they were open for our group to see the Richard and Grandson Richard Jackson Gladney Bibles as well as the new publication Gladneys that Gene and Bettye placed there, and the great store of information concerning Fairfield County.

July 28-30 2006 finds us at our starting place in the United States. We are congregating in Charleston, SC to step on the very same place our Ancestors did those many years ago. Things have changed, landmarks gone and replaced by more modern buildings and harbors, but our Gladney hearts know that is where the "Widow Gladney", Mother of our Samuel, Thomas and Richard lines as well as those sons and their wives saw America for the first time. Although we have no descendents listed, we know that son Joseph also came with the rest of the Gladney Clan and is buried in our olde Gladney Cemetery in Fairfield County, SC..

The Charleston Reunion was such a treat. The Historic bus tour of the city, boat ride and tour of Ft. Sumter was informative and fun. The beautiful Gold Banquet Room was a perfect setting for Gene and I, as we step down from this Presidency, to say thank you all for your support and love these eleven years as your Vice President and President.

We feel confident that we leave our Family Association in good hands with the new President, Larry Ivens and a very good Board of Directors. Best to them all.

Bettye was totally surprised and thrilled with the Silver Tray engraved so beautifully. Tears were much too close to the surface.

 

Our Family needs your support and prays for your health.
May GOD BLESS you all.

Bettye Bond-President Gladneys In America Family Association 1997-2006

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