Gail Curtis Dollins Brashears, Sarah Jo Brashears Roth, Nora O’Neal Curtis Dollins and Susan Clay Vaughn Brashears deserve many thanks from future generations for collecting and preserving their family photos and for generating detailed written information identifying the family members in the photos. They certainly have my love, respect and appreciation for preserving our information for all future generations. This website is dedicated to these four wonderful women.
In 1972, Sarah Jo, (my aunt), began giving Mel, Don & Pat, Christmas albums every year containing annotated photos, written bios, family tree diagrams & newspaper clippings. In 1974, Mother divided her family photos between 4 albums. She made one each for Mel, Don & Pat and also one for herself. Each of the 4 albums were unique as she did not duplicate any existing photos and just divided the photos. In 1982, Mother prepared a handwritten "Family Book" documenting her side of the family. These albums and documents are the foundation of our Family History.
Growing up in Missouri in the late 1940s & 1950s, our lives were very "family oriented" and I am thankful to Mother & Dad for creating that environment. Our "Ancestral Reunions" centered around Grandpa's birthday which was on 15 August. Sarah Jo & Ottie hosted the††event on the Sunday in August before the 15th which served a dual purpose, that of celebrating Grandpa's birthday and being the annual "Brashears - Vaughn" Family Reunion. In the early 1950s, the event was frequently held at Mark Twain State Park in Florida, Missouri, and in the late 1950s and through the 1960s at the farm of Sarah Jo & Ottie. This dual annual event continued at the Roth Farm through 10 August 1969 which celebrated Grandpa's 100th Birthday (5 days early as the event was always the Sunday before his birthday). The Brashears - Vaughn Reunion continued as an annual event after Grandpa died the following June. I attended all the annual events from 1946 through 1971 and at least one Reunion in each of the decades of the 1970s, 1980s & 1990s. Dad's Birthday party was held on 4 July 2005 in like fashion with a celebration of Dad's 90th and my son Richard's 36th Birthdays with all the Brashears - Vaughn Clan invited. Mel, Don & Pat hosted the event.
Since being exposed early in life to our family history and understanding the significance as well, I took a personal interest in preserving all the family information after Sarah Jo died in late 2006. She was the last of the "four wonderful women" who led the way in preserving our "roots." I quickly became interested in expanding the Family Tree and information base. So, in 2007, I began my trek to expand and document our "Family History" in a "Family Book." Sixteen years later, with over two million words of documentation, more than 2,000 grandparents of my grandchildren identified, consuming more that 20,000 hours of research, this website is the result.
I will continue my daily research and keep the websites current. I trust that one of you will someday take the helm and continue the research and documentation of our family and ancestral history.
