The Fraley Reunion

The Fraley clan held their annual reunion this weekend at the Cove Ridge Center at Natural Tunnel State Park and Tom and I crashed the party! Well, not really. We were swimming on Saturday, and as I knew the Fraleys were meeting sometime this weekend, I talked to a few folks. They were excited to meet some distant cousins and cordially invited us to come on Sunday afternoon to eat, socialize, and talk family history. The genealogist of the bunch is Bill Bowen, pictured in the center, below. He's been working on Fraley and Bowen history since the 1960's and, as you might imagine, has amassed a tremendous amount of information. After some calculations, it turns out that Bill and I are 4th cousins once removed. We are descended from two sons of William Fraley - Bill's line is through Andrew and ours is via Martin. In this photo with Bill are two of his brothers, Jack Bowen on the left, and Coy Bowen on the right. They are all sons of Lakie Martin Fraley and her husband, Reece Henry Bowen. Coy will turn 90 on October 2 and won a prize as the oldest attendee.

This clock once belonged to Ephraim Fraley, from whom most of the folks at this reunion are descended. Ephraim was a first cousin to Telitha Jane Fraley Stallard, the mother of Nancy Stallard, and grandmother to Noble B. Peters. The clock was auctioned off and will be restored by the lucky descendants who claimed it. Two of Ephraim's great-granddaughters posed with it for me, Melissa, on the left, and her sister, Pat, on the right.

I have to admit, I monopolized quite a bit of Bill's time today, but when two genealogy buffs get together, it's hard for anyone else to get their attention! Bill has the basic information on our line, but I'll be sharing the information I have on Telitha's descendants. He has published a Fragmentary Genealogy of the Frederick Fraley Family, which will certainly help us to understand our earliest connections to this family. One very interesting note.... There is a cabin at the Netherland Inn in Kingsport, built in 1773, which reputedly once belonged to Daniel and Rebecca Boone. Although there is some dispute and a measure of controversy, at the present time the claim stands. We do know that this cabin and 500 acres of land in Russell County were later bought by Ephraim Fraley, and donated to the Inn by his descendants. Our cousin Bill often visited the family who eventually came into this property and remembers warming his feet by the old fireplace. Imagine that... It is just possible that Daniel Boone and our cousin Bill rested their feet on the same hearth.

Tom and I are continually amazed by the willingness of our distant kinfolk to claim us. We were warmly welcomed, well fed, and invited to come again next year. And we just might do that. The Fraley reunion is always on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend. Mark your calendars and let us know if you want to go and meet your Fraley cousins.

Here's a link where you can read more about the Boone cabin: http://www.netherlandinn.com/