The Lancaster Family Reunion may be looked at in several phases, the first being events in U. S. history during the 1820s and 1830s in Georgia and Alabama. The Indian Removal Acts initiated by President Andrew Jackson and passed by the Congress of the United States stipulated that all Native American tribes in these areas would be removed to land west of the Mississippi River enabling white settlers to come in with their slaves and take over the land, particularly those of the Creek Nation, in northwestern Georgia and northeastern Alabama. Carroll County in Georgia was created from land forced from the Creek Indians in 1827. Randolph County, Calhoun County and Chambers County were created by an act of the Alabama General Assembly in 1832 from the Creek Nation territory. It is in these counties that census, cemetery, and probate records related to the Lancaster's, Thompson's, Herring’s, Boykin's, Maffett’s, Joiner’s, Johnson's, and others of the extended family can be found. Some of the Creek Indians classified themselves as free blacks or mulattoes in order to remain in the area.

 

Ruben Lancaster was born in 1833 in North Carolina. His father and mother were born in Virginia. Lydia Lancaster, Ruben’s wife, was born in 1844 in Alabama. She was a mulatto. Her father was born in Alabama and her mother in Georgia. It was more than likely that both Ruben and Lydia were born slaves. Ruben and Lydia had one offspring, Henry, who was born in 1858 in Alabama. Henry Lancaster later married Charlotte Holiday, born in 1859, and had sixteen children: John (1872), Emma (1880), Adell (1882), Joe (1883), Edgar (1885), Ada (1887), Thomas (1889), James (1890), Maybell (1891), Guy (1894), Booker (1895), Pauline (1898), Homer (1900), Leatha (1903), Jennie Lee (1905), and Roosevelt (1908).

Maryann Lancaster, Ruben’s sister, was born in 1850 in Alabama. She later married Henry Thompson, born in 1850, and had seven children: Luella (1870), John (1876), Ada (?), Will (?), Richard (?), Howard (1874), and Jasper (?).

 

The Lancaster Family Reunion’s second phase begins a hundred years later during the 1920s. During World War I, many blacks in the South saw an opportunity to move away to seek better living conditions and opportunities in the North, West, and elsewhere. The offspring of Henry and Charlotte Lancaster and Maryann and Henry Thompson were among thousands of blacks that did likewise.

 

The Republic Steel Corporation in northeastern Ohio was booming during the early 1920s and was seeking laborers. David Joiner and other

men from the South came to work in Massillon and were sent back to bring up more workers. In 1922 the young wives and children of James Herring

(Adell), Nick Herring (Henrietta), Troy Joiner (Ada), Lonnie Joiner (Maybell), Eli Stephens (Dana), Willie Luke (Ruby) left Randolph County during this first migration north and came to settle in Massillon. Many other of this extended family (Birdsongs, Carters, Maffetts and Boykins) followed and there continued a migration north and south above the Ohio River for the next two decades into Ohio, Michigan, New York and other states.

 

The third phase of the Lancaster Family Reunion began after the death and funeral of James "Biss" Herring (husband of Adell Lancaster) in Massillon. Ionie Dothard (daughter of Jennie Lee Lancaster Boykin) and Eulette Arrington (daughter of Ada Lancaster Joiner) conceived and planned for a family get together in the future at a park to socialize and have a joyous occasion for family members and friends rather than just at funerals.

The first get together was on a Saturday in 1970 in Cincinnati. Ionie Dothard became the main coordinator, facilitator, communicator and "do everything-er." It then was decided to meet the next summer in Chattanooga, TN the second weekend in August.

 

From that point the family reunions expanded to Massillon, Woodland, and Detroit. The reunion became an annual weekend occasion that all family and extended family looked forward to by moving it back and forth from Ohio and Michigan to Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee.

After fourteen years the first reunion moved west beyond the Mississippi River where family members had migrated. Kansas City, KS was the first, Colorado was next, and California followed.

 

Family members in Virginia, Minnesota and Little Rock, AK also became hosts for the reunion. With these new places to visit, an increase in the days and expenses resulted. The initial cycle of reunion sites was broken.

Death comes and we think about what has been and we mourn; but life continues and we think about what is to come and we are joyful. The third phase of the Lancaster Family Reunion continues.

 

 

 

 

 

       The Lancaster Family Tree

 

 

 

 

 

 

I. Ruben Lancaster  (Lydia)

 

       II. Henry B1864 (Charlotte Holliday B1867)

 

              III.John B1868

                       D1901

              III. Emma (1st husband Cooley) (2nd husband, Jim Maffett)

                     IV. Robert    IV.Zadie

                     IV. Stella    IV.Drucilla

            

              III. Adel (James Herring)

                     IV. John Henry    IV. Ernest

                     IV. Elley         IV. Annie

                     IV. Melvin        IV. Raymond

                     IV. Lonnie        IV. Edgar

                     IV. Nettie Lee    IV. Mamie

                     IV. Ida           IV. Aubrey

                     IV. Eve

 

 

              III. Joe (1st wife Alice Taylor) (2nd wifwe Juanita Rivers)

                     IV. Arie          IV. Hazel

                     IV. Ada           IV. Lantina

                     IV. Maude         IV. Johnny

 

              III. Edgar (Ella Herring)

                     IV. Mckinley      IV. Ruben

                     IV. Robert Lee    IV. James

                     IV. Maybell       IV. Olis

                     IV. Thomas        IV. Oliver

         

              III. Ada (Troy Joiner)

                     IV. Eunice        IV. David Buster

                     IV. Lullene       IV. Eulette

                     IV. Pearl         IV. Henry

 

              III. Thomas (Melissa)

                     IV. George Frank  IV. Katherine

 

              III. James (Johnnie Lee)

                     IV. Geneva        IV. Janet

                     IV. Jodie

 

              III. Maybell (lionnie Joiner)

                     IV. Charlotte     IV. Hattie Lee

                     IV. Lois          IV. Marvline

                     IV. Helen         IV. Marie

                     IV. Floyd         IV. Troy

                     IV. James         IV. Leroy

           

              III. Guy (Carrie)

                     IV. Howard        IV. Elnora

                     IV. Veronica      IV. Elbert

                     IV. Olige         IV. Joe Lee

                     IV. L.C.

 

              III. Booker (no children known)

 

              III. Pauline (John Herring)

                    IV. Taylor        IV. Hattie Lee

                    IV. Retha         IV. Garfield

                    IV. Wylene        IV. Barfield

                    IV. Virginia      IV. Bernice (Betty)

                    IV. King David    IV. Benny

                    IV. Queenie Mac   IV. Roy

                    IV. William       IV. Stell

 

              III.  Homer (Carrie Herring)

                    IV. Flora         IV. Walter

                    IV. Roy

        

              III.  Letha (J.D. Boykin)

                    IV. Alberta       IV. Joe Henry

                    IV. Sarah         IV. Catherine

                    IV. Ruthie J.     IV. May Evelyne

                    IV. Nellie Ruth   IV. Emma

 

              III.  IV. Jennie Lee  (Kline Boykin)

                    IV. Clifrd        IV. Ionie

 

              III.  Roosevelt (Beatrice)

       

              III.  Wyatt Williams (Amanda Gould)

                    IV. Florence      IV. Willena

                    IV. Cumire

 

              III.  Sam

 

              III.  Beatrice

 

              III.  Maryann Lancaster B1850 (Henry Thopmson)

                    II. Ada           II. William (wife, Emily) 

                    II. Richard       II. Howard

                    II. Ruben

 

               II.  Howard

                      III. Willie Mae  III. Cora

                      III. Marion

 

               II.  Jasper (Jack) (wife,Eula)

                      III.  Annie Mac  III. Melvin

                      III. Mildred     III. Beatrice

                      III. Johnny

 

               II. Luella (Richard Herring)

                     

                      III.  Prudy  (Frank Maffett)

                              IV. Georgia    IV. Flossie

                              IV. Fred       IV. Clyde

                              IV. Alvin      IV. Shellie

                              IV. Lloyd      IV. Lu Ella

                              IV. Charles

 

                      III.  Dana (Eli Stephens)

                              IV. Eva        IV. Thelma

                              IV. Ella Mac   IV. Jessie

                              IV. Novice     IV. Marjorie

                              IV. Herman     IV. Stanford

                              IV. Marie

 

                      III.  Shellie (No Childre known)

                            

                      III. Grady

 

                      III. Carrie (Homer Lancaster)

                              IV. Flora Mac  IV. Roy

                              IV. Walter

     

                      III. Flora (William Herring)

                              IV. Willa Dean IV. Carolyn

                              IV. Booker     IV. Benjamin

                              IV. Richard    IV. Janice

                              IV. Berlin     IV. Edward

                              IV. Jacquelyn   

 

 

 

     Mission & Vision of The Descendants of

     Rubin Lancaster & Maryann Lancaster Thompson

     Family Foundation

 

 

This mission and vision statement is in honor of the founders, Ionie Dothard & Eulette Arrington, whose vision was to bring the blood line of The Lancaster Family together in 1970 in Cincinnati, Ohio.

 

 

Mission Statement:

 

The Mission of the descendents of Rubin Lancaster and Maryann Lancaster Thompson Family Foundation is to ensure that the ties that have bound the families of a brother and sister since circa 1830 will remain unbreakable for centuries to come and in perpetuity through an annual family reunion; to promote education among our family, to ensure the Lancaster legacy remains intact for future generations and to render service to those in-need in the communities in which the descendents reside.

 

Vision Statement:

 

The Descendents of Rubin Lancaster and Maryann Lancaster Thompson envision uplifting our family through annual family reunion celebrations during the second week of August; providing educational scholarships to family members to attend colleges and universities for economic empowerment to uplift future generations; dedicating one day of community service to help those in-need in the communities in which Lancaster Descendents reside and by teaching our youth the legacy, history and traditions of the Lancaster Family through a National Youth Advisory Council.

The Rationale for

The Rubin Lancaster & Maryann Lancaster Thompson Family Foundation

Many hours were spent discussing and developing ideas to create The Rubin Lancaster & Maryann Lancaster Thompson Family Foundation. Its purpose is to contribute meaningful amounts of money to support the causes that are important to our family.

 

Family reunions

 

This summer thousands of African Americans pile into cars, board trains, hop on planes, travel hundreds or even thousands of miles to be a part of their family. Black families participate in reunions in what I believe are numbers and percentages and with a consistency to which no other group can make claim. For a long while it had the characteristic of a movement as each year, more and more families held their first reunion.

 

The tradition of extended families

 

What is this tradition? It is the love of family. Although Africa is a vast and diverse continent, one similarity at the center of the African tradition was the family, which was also the religious, economic, and political unit encompassing a wide circle of extended kinship. For Black people, slavery in this country disrupted this most essential structure since slavery allowed for no legal marriage, no legal family, and no legal control over the children. Nevertheless, even during slavery, women took care of children that were not their own and many slaves protected each other in spite of tribal and language differences. As soon as slavery ended women and men went about trying to put the family back together. These stories of former slaves trying to locate their families are inspiring to say the least. Many of these stories are told at reunions.

Black people became like other families. They reconnected, engaged in legal marriages, raised children like others and did all the things that were like the white

families around them. The system was different from what they had come from in Africa, but they were in a new world. The former slaves faced, of course, the worst kind of discrimination and racism when they were freed but they managed to raise families. They did a superb job when one looks at all that they had to face and have since faced as African Americans.

That African Americans survived at all is glorious but much of the survival is due to the fact that they helped each other, that they took care of each other that they extended themselves not only to blood relatives but also to others. The extended family was crucial. Aunts, uncles, grandparents, and unrelated individuals who were considered part of the family all were in the neighborhood and gave moral, psychological and financial support. Raising others’ children became a natural phenomenon in African-American life. Caring for others within the family structure and community was not only a value carried over from the African legacy but also a reaction to discrimination and the fact that many social and human services were not offered to the black community.

However, family structures in America regardless of race and ethnicity and for a variety of reasons, has changed. In the process, the role of the extended family has diminished. But for Black Americans it was a greater loss than for other groups because it had been such a tradition and had played such an important role in survival. Speaker after speaker at African American events express this sentiment no matter what the topic. The feeling can also be heard on Black oriented radio talk shows as people tell the stories of those other than their parents who provided nurturing during childhood. They talk about people who carried familial ties but were not blood relatives.

 

Importance of the Lancaster Family Reunions -

 

We use the term "reunion" here to refer to three-day or longer events when families gather, usually in hotels or some other facility, and have a set program. The former one day picnic has grown to a much larger

event which usually moves from location to location so that no one family has to do all the work each year. There are an increasing variety of activities.

 

What Does the Lancaster Family Reunion Transmit? -

 

The Lancaster Family Reunion does important things or has the potential to do them. Social control and passing on social values have been a major function of the extended family. The promotion of values, particularly to young people is a key aspect of reunions. Speakers at the banquet which is by now another tradition of the reunion will talk about what it means to be a family, what it means to be a good parent. They discuss what it means to have cooperation in the family, the necessity of going to school to check up on the children, what it is to be thoughtful and supportive, and what makes family. Unity, love, and support are key words used by participants and in reunion themes. Values are not only talked about; they can also be demonstrated. When families recognize their graduates at the reunion, they are saying "we value education and achievement." When families recognize their elders, they are showing respect. In the family, the elders played a special role in transmitting values.

Values are also demonstrated by the way people talk to each other and by the love and concern that is shown. Memorial services and religious services, which are almost a must at African-American reunions, further the transmission of values.

Now that families are scattered, The Rubin Lancaster & Maryann Lancaster Thompson Family Foundation can offer a special opportunity for them to attend the reunion.

 

The Lancaster Family Identity -

 

An important aspect of reunions is that it gives the opportunity to strengthen our family identity. The importance of identity and how it leads to self-esteem cannot be overestimated. Every family seems to have a colorful background and it is one that instills pride. As one hears the achievements of

whomever the family has been able to trace its roots to, the stories provide a testimony to the struggles, the indomitable courage, and the remarkable resilience of Black

people. We all have heard the story of one of our ancestors by saying –"Such was the life of our earliest ancestor- a man who in a strange world and in even a stranger time was able to make a place of respectability for himself and for his family."

Further, the family realizes that there are those in the family who are now carrying out the heritage, and that this should be captured for later generations. Often, members of the family who have attained a prominent status realize they can make a difference and will consciously try to set a tone of morality that they feel is important

. Thus documentation of the activities of present family members is also collected.

We know that our young family members do not get tired of hearing about their history. At the family reunion we need different ways of telling family history. Telling the story can be accomplished in a myriad of ways including plays, quilts, storytelling, fashion shows, and power point presentations.

 

The Lancaster Family Communication Network

 

love, concern, and support are furthered by communication. As a result of meeting over the years, birthday cards or other messages to members of the family are being sent that might not have been prior to the reunion. Who knows how that love and support that has been extended to someone may help him/her?

We have been using social media, Facebook, for more than two years with over 240 family members who have joined to network with current family and to meet new family members. By using e-mail, family members are now getting to know each other

better. They would never sit down and write a letter by snail mail, but e-mailing makes communicating so easy. Furthering of relationships may occur by phone, for sometimes conversations need to be personal and private. Family members can also correspond via the family web site and announcements of accomplishments no longer have to wait until the reunion. Newsletters have blossomed and it is as if families are in competition with each other as to who can produce the most impressive one. Nurturing and affection is promoted through these methods of increased communication.

 

Lancaster Family Role Models -

 

The reunion offers an opportunity to display the talent in the family and to develop real and useful role models. Instead of remote sport figures, young people come upon persons in their own family who they can admire. We have many role models and once I overheard two Lancaster young men who were admiring their uncle. He was an educator from the East coast. I thought they were admiring him for that. But when I asked them, they were admiring his patience with his children. Since his wife was one of the organizers for the reunion, she was very busy and he took care of the children. They wondered if someday they would ever be such a devoted patient father as him.

 

Passing On Traditions -

 

The reunion helps to pass on traditions. Families sing the Negro National Anthem. They play games that the elders used to play.

 

Growth and Development -

 

African American family reunions have become institutionalized throughout the Unites States. We see structural growth and economic growth.

 

Structural Growth -

 

Initially, in 1970 the main goal of Eulette Arrington & Iona Dothard was just to bring family together, but as time goes on, family reunions becomes more structured. Many families have national organizations with officers and an executive committee.

 

The Lancaster By-laws Committee -

 

The Lancaster Family has become more structured and it is necessary to have By–laws. By-laws determine the name of the reunion, who can be members, reunion date, i.e., the fourth Saturday of August, meeting dates, who can vote, and the types of officers needed. Special requirements may also be listed, i.e., there will be no political rallying. As families have established scholarship funds, national youth committee, community service days, the By-laws may indicate who is eligible.

 

Scholarship Funds -

 

The Lancaster Scholarship fund helps in family growth. In the past funds used to be raised by passing the hat, they have become more formal through the use of applications in guiding the decision making process. We will work to develop a fund to help those in the family that cannot afford to come to the reunion, or for the elders who live on a limited income.

 

Fundraising

 

We will develop family fundraising activities to help with reunion costs and scholarships. This will be known as The Descendents of Rubin Lancaster & Maryann Lancaster Thompson Endowment Fund. One idea is when a new baby is born each family sends $10.00 to the Treasurer and an endowment is started so that when that child goes to college there will be funds available in that child’s name. There are many things that the Lancaster Family can do and they will be discussed at our Annual Meeting.

Lancaster Community Service Day -

 

 

We have developed a method of "giving back." This is an old tradition among African Americans who frequently express their giving and serving through the idiom of kinship. Many people give through their church family. As families continue their reunions and after they have thought about their own, e.g., the scholarship fund they have begun to think about others outside their family. There’s a family that gives to Spellman College and Morehouse College because the 12 children of their ancestors, a former slave, went to those colleges.

 

Why Serve on Lancaster Family / MLK Day of Service? -

 

The Lancaster Family history and struggle are closely tied with the vision of the late Dr. King. Dr. King believed in a nation of freedom and justice for all, and encouraged all citizens to live up to the purpose and potential of America by applying the principles of nonviolence to make this country a better place to live—creating the Beloved Community.

 

On the 25th anniversary of the National Martin Luther King holiday, we still have work to do to realize Dr. King’s dream. MLK Day of Service is the perfect time for the descendents of the Lancaster family to do something for others. Just as Dr. King set big goals and focused relentlessly on results, we need family service projects to address today’s social challenges.That service may meet a tangible need, or it may meet a need of the spirit.