Brecksville Bicentennial Recognizes Pioneer Families

Well, this project is over and it was a lot of fun. I met many descendents of the Brecksville Pioneer Families who came to the four-day Brecksville Home Days on June 23-26. It was enjoyable to put faces with names as we registered those descendents who attended and presented them with Pioneer Families ribbons. Many of the families held reunions during the Home Days celebration, with family members attending from as far away as California.
Working on behalf of the Cuyahoga Valley Genealogical Society (www.cuyahogagenealogy.org) and with the Brecksville Historical Association (http://www.brecksville.oh.us/about_town/bha/historic.htm), I was able to identify 30 Pioneer Families who settled in Brecksville between 1811 and 1836. In addition to arriving here in the first 25 years of Brecksville Township, they had to remain in the township and to have children (obviously, if they didn't have children, there would be now descendents). We used 1820 and 1830 Census records, cemetery records, and local and county history books to identify the Pioneers.
At Home Days, CVGS and BHA shared a booth, and we enjoyed working together to present information about the history of Brecksville and to pass out some tips on family history research. For CVGS, we took names of people who are interested in learning about the programming that will resume in September. BTW, the group meets in the Civic Center of the City of Independence on the first Monday of each month September through June (except for September when the meeting is the second Monday because of Labor Day).