June 18, 2007

Quinn and I went down to the 60th Annual Kerby Reunion in Glenwood, MO this weekend.  Our 5th cousin, Connie Christopher, had flown in from Cathlamet, WA to attend, so we joined her and showed her around to some cemeteries afterward.  Check out about halfway down the Genealogy Page for some recent additions to our photos of Grandpa David's 26 children.

Here are all the group pics I have of recent Kerby Reunions:

2004

2001

1999

1998

1997

1996

1995

January 3, 2005

I posted some great Kerby items here.

June 20, 2004

We did make it to the reunion this year for a short time.  Click here for details.

May, 2003

I didn't attend the 55th Reunion in 2002 and I'm not planning on attending the 56th in 2003.  Moving, getting married and planning for a new baby have filled up our lives :)

July, 2001

The 54th Annual Kerby Reunion was a great success.  We had some new people from AZ and UT and some referrals from the Beelers and Baughmans brought in some more of our dear cousins closer to home in MO and IA.  My dear Mormon cousins from Utah, Martha Ann Jenkins and Bernice Burt, spent the weekend with us in Des Moines before the reunion.  The food was great, as always, and we were thrilled to see Mary Porter and Mary Underwood join us.  Both ladies are 90 or so and we appreciate them joining us.

Aunt Matt's Family Tree:

This is the seminal Kerby family history compiled from recollections of Martha Elizabeth Kerby Porter, Grandpa David's granddaughter who lived 1853-1956.  Please forgive the awful formatting (it was scanned in from typewritten text).  The content is priceless, though.

David R. Kerby's ancestry:

Our knowledge of Grandpa David's ancestry is extensive due to the fact that Old John Kerby's wife, Joanna Owens, is descended from well-known lines of English nobility.  While not bullet-proof, these lineages are the best scholarship we have on the tangled lines of English/Scottish/French/Norman/Scandinavian royalty.  This is an Internet Tree published at my Family Tree Maker User Home Page.  It begins with my son, Quinn Kerby Bradwell Severs.  To find Grandpa David, type F (there are directions on the web page) and choose his name from the list.

Old John and Joanna Kerby's descendants:

This is a text file showing the many lines of descent from Old John and Joanna Kerby.  It includes about 4,000 individuals.

 

You are invited

to attend the

Annual Kerby Reunion

Come celebrate your extended family by joining some of Grandpa David’s* 4,000 known descendants!  All Kerby kin and friends are welcome!  Make new, lifelong friendships with your far-flung relatives, enjoy the potluck dinner and entertainment, and renew your family ties.  Bring your whole family and friends, a dish to share, and bring along any old Kerby photos you have for the photo table.

 

 

Fellowship at 11:00 AM, potluck dinner at 12:30 PM, program follows

Every Father's Day

Glenwood Community Center

Glenwood, MO

 

 

*David R. Kerby, 1795 - 1882, was a Baptist preacher, fiddle maker and player, and a cooper.  He was born in Kentucky amid the pioneers there, including Daniel Boone, who was his neighbor.  He moved his family to Monroe County, Missouri, then to Randolph County, around 1818, then to Putnam County in about 1842.  He had 26 children by his three wives.  He was a man of extraordinary physical prowess and physique and he loved hunting.  He loved to tell the tale that, as a young man, he could carry a freshly-killed deer in his teeth while he climbed a tree to put the deer out of reach of bears and other animals.  His descendants are legion, and many of us stay in touch through the Annual Kerby Reunion in Glenwood, Missouri each Father’s Day and through the Kirby-Kerby Discussion Group on the internet.  If this mailing was addressed to you, then you are probably descended from Grandpa David. 

Here's a link to a better photo:  www.donsevers.com/ancestors.htm

Here's a mock obituary I wrote for one of the Kerby Reunions in 1998 or so.  We placed a marker for Grandpa David at Union Cemetery in Appanoose County, IA that year.  His actual gravesite is nearby on a hill to the south, just over the border in MO.  I read this obit at the reunion to set the tone for placing the marker.  I'll have to scan and post pics of the marker some day....

Family Patriarch Receives His Reward

David R. Kerby, preacher, farmer and father of 26 children, departed this life on Tuesday, June 13, 1882, having attained the age of 86 years, 8 months, and 29 days. Grandpa David, as he was known throughout the county, was of keen mind, resolute spirit, and firm physique until the last days of his life, when he grew weak and died in his sleep. He was born in 1795 in Warren County, Kentucky and moved his family to Monroe County , Missouri , then to Randolph County , around 1818, then to Putnam County in about 1842. He married his first wife, Mary Jane Rowland, in 1814 and they were united for ten years. She bore him 6 children, dying at age 30 during the birth of a daughter, Mary, who also died at birth. He then married his first wife’s niece, Nancy Johnson, and they celebrated 25 years of marriage before she died at age 44. Nancy bore him 12 children, 9 of whom lived to maturity. He then married Sarah Ann Humphrey, 33 years his junior, and they had been married 31 years when Mr. Kerby died. She was an excellent mother to his 14 living children, as well as bearing him 8 more. In all, his wives gave him 26 children and he provided for them all, materially and spiritually. He left many to mourn his passing, including his wife, Sarah Ann Humphrey Kerby, a brother, Wade Kerby, 17 children, 88 grandchildren, 77 great grandchildren, and 2 great, great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his first two wives, 3 brothers and 3 sisters, 9 children, and 15 of his grandchildren and great grandchildren. He was interred on the family farm in Putnam County near the Iowa border.

Recent joys of note illustrate the invaluable legacy Grandpa David left to us. His 26th and youngest child, Winifred, just had her first child, a girl, Lutie, in April of this year. His son, Erven, is expecting his 6th child, due at any moment. A grandson bearing Grandpa David’s name was born earlier this year. And a great grandson, Mora Joseph Stevens, was born the very day of Grandpa David’s passing. These gifts of abundance surely are blessings from our Creator honoring this faithful servant, husband and father.