Tolliver Family News & Events

TOLLIVER FAMILY REUNION

Morehead, KY

JUNE 25-26, 2010

Talent Show Winners

Back: Katie Starnes, Felicity Mackie, C. J. Wing

Front: Payton Tolliver Wing, Kolby Meshulam, Layla Walker

James Oxford, Bluebird, from VA, shared his hand-carved Native American pipes.  He descends from Lytte Tolliver, grandson of John b. 1760.

John N. Tolliver shared some Native American artifacts.  He descends from Wade Hampton Tolliver b. 1815.

Sabrina Kiser told about her new book, Dove's Trail, about Lytte Tolliver's adventures in retrieving his horse that was stolen during the Civil War.

Louella Tolliver Huguenard spoke about "What We Know About Moses Toliver."

Louise Tolliver was the oldest in attendance.  She descends from Joel Tolliver, son of Moses.

Virginia Lutz was the youngest in attendance.  She descends from Lytte Tolliver, grandson of John b. 1760.

Bill Blimes from FL traveled the farthest.  He descends from Wiley Gordon Tolliver, grandson of John b. 1760.

2009 TOLLIVER REUNION REMEMBERED

Morehead, KY

JUNE 26-27, 2009

Layla Walker

The Tolliver Reunion was organized by Emma Lee and Bill Tolliver of Columbus, Ohio and Dr. J. D. Reeder of Morehead, Kentucky. This was not your typical family reunion. In addition to visiting, it was possible to share experiences and learn about ancestors. Many informative posters and books were displayed around the room. For example, a descendant of Wade Hampton Tolliver, Betty Thacker of Kingsport, TN, was excited to find a picture of her family that was made when she was about 10 and also a newspaper article recognizing her dad’s retirement. Younger and older generations of Tollivers met and learned first hand about previously unknown family members. It was a very exciting time where attendees were divided into smaller groups where each person was introduced and met his/her closest relatives in attendance. Joey Tolliver knew his ancestry back to George William Tolliver b. 1908 in Soldier, KY. While in a small family group he met Donald Tolliver from Whitesburg, KY who was able to tell him about some of his older ancestors. By the time Joey left, he knew his ancestry back to John born 1760 in North Carolina.

On Saturday afternoon Fred Brown who co-authored Days of Anger, Days of Tears, with Juanita Blair, spoke about Jacob Finley Tolliver and how his family was devastated by the Tolliver-Martin Feud. Jacob Finley and his six sons died as a result of the Feud. Joyce Black, great-granddaughter of Jacob Finley and granddaughter of Cate Tolliver shared memories her mother had written several years ago. Cate Tolliver was killed in 1921 on the Rowan County Courthouse steps.

Kiera Tolliver, daughter of Monty and Elizabeth Tolliver was the youngest person in attendance.  She is great-great-great granddaughter of Craig Burton Tolliver.

Audrey Tolliver, daughter of Eric and Jessica Tolliver was the second youngest person in attendance.  She is also a great-great-great granddaughter of Craig Burton Tolliver, a son of Hughey Burton Tolliver.  Monty and Eric are sons of Harry and Donna Tolliver.

The oldest person in attendance was Lida Lewis Dean from Illinois.  She is the mother of Esther Garavaglia and Marita Sharp.  They are descendants of Floyd Tolliver, a son of Hughey Burton Tolliver.

Susan Tolliver from Missouri travelled the farthest.  She is a descendant of Enoch B. Tolliver, son of James Tolliver.

The door prize was won by Donald K. Tolliver, a descendant of Lytte Tolliver who was a son of James Tolliver.

2008 TOLLIVER FAMILY REUNION REMEMBERED

The sixth annual Tolliver Family Reunion was held June 27-28 at the Carl D. Perkins Community Center in Morehead, KY.  High gas prices did not keep our cousins from gathering together to share family information and just enjoy being together.  It is always a fun time.

Friday afternoon was spent putting up posters of family information and pictures.  Thanks to Judy Stewart from CA we posted them on the walls instead of on the "science fair" boards.  We were sorry to hear that Carla Eberwein who usually runs our silent auction and is in charge of the kitchen and lunch had had a car accident the night before and would not be able to attend.  She is still recovering at home.  Dawn Robinson stepped in and did a great job with the silent auction.  Her sister, LeaAnn Lyon, took over the kitchen and made the lunch go really well.  Their parents, Ken and Gail Whiteaker, manned the registration and kept things under control.   Bill, J. D. and I could not do the Reunion without all of the helpers who jump in and work.  Daryl Bishop entertained the children with his cute face paintings.  Friday evening we were entertained by Dean Lyon, John Tolliver, and Tony Pence.  We were also excited to meet Ann Tolliver whose husband, Gary, had just found that his DNA matched the four Tolliver brothers from NC.  His family descends from the Tollivers in Coffee County, TN.  Back at the motel it was exciting to see 3 cousins sitting with a computer and all sorts of papers and pictures sharing information.  They had never met before.  One was from CA, one from MO, and one from AR.  That makes all the work worthwhile.

On Saturday morning we met in family groups to make sure everyone knew their closest relatives.  J. D. Reeder's new bride, Diana Lindsey, was adopted as an official Tolliver family member.  The late Harry Tolliver, Sr., a descendant of Craig Tolliver, ringleader of the Tolliver-Martin Feud, was recognized as the Volunteer of the Year by the National Catholic Charities of America.  Fred Brown, who wrote Days of Anger with Juanita Blair, talked about the Feud.  The local historical society president Gary Lewis was recognized and helped us by providing a digital projector to show DVDs for the day.    A favorite local radio personality, Sasha Collette, performed the "Tolliver-Martin Feud Song."  Eleanor Tolliver Waters was given a tribute and everyone signed a thank you card poster for her in appreciation of her Tolliver research over the past 50 years or so.  Eleanor lives near Atlanta, GA and is still very active with her research.

Gracie Tolliver, the 3rd great granddaughter of Feudist Craig Tolliver was the youngest person present.  She is shown with proud grandma, Donna Tolliver, wife of Harry Tolliver, Jr.

Judy Stewart of CA, a descendant of Enoch B. Tolliver, and Sue Ann Kinney of WA, a descendant of Wade Hampton Tolliver tied for the farthest distance travelled.

Dennis Tolliver, a descendant of Wade Hampton Tolliver won the door prize.

2007 TOLLIVER FAMILY REUNION REMEMBERED

The 2007 Tolliver Family Reunion was held June 22-23, 2007 in Morehead, KY at the Carl D. Perkins Community Center.  I think it was the best Reunion yet.  People are getting to know one another.  It was really a fun time.  We were greeted at the door by an unusual sign.  We later found that John Nelson Tolliver from Malta, OH was the creative one.

Friday afternoon was an informal time with persons setting up tables and chairs and posting family information.  There were about 12 science fair boards with old pictures and family trees from the lines of John b. 1760, Jesse b. 1756, John R. b. 1839 VA, Wade Hampton b. 1815 NC, Jane b. 1830 VA, Charles b. 1765 posted, as well as possible descendants of Moses b. 1754.   After dinner together at the Ponderosa, we went back to the Carl D. Perkins Community Center for entertainment and fellowship.   We were entertained by gospel singer, John Nelson Tolliver from Malta, OH and Tony Pence from Morehead, KY.  Lemonade and cookies were provided. Registration started again on Saturday morning at 9:00.  Ken and Gail Whiteaker from Georgia, and their daughters, Dawn and Roy Robinson of Georgia, and LeaAnn and Dean Lyon of Alabama were in charge of registration and taking pictures of each family unit. 

At 9:00 Emma Lee welcomed everyone and talked about the John Toliver Cemetery restoration that has taken place this year.  As she spoke an elderly man struggled to climb the stairs to get to the microphone.  Lo and behold, it was John Toliver b. 1760.  He was so appreciative of all the work that has been done.  A few people were slightly relieved when we found out that it was really Dr. J. D. Reeder in costume.

Later Emma Lee divided the group into smaller family groups, such as the descendants of Lytte Tolliver.  The chairman was to make sure everyone was introduced and have the group think of something about their family that they could share in the afternoon session.

After lunch, we were treated to some gospel music by Dreama Taylor.  She also led us in singing "Happy Birthday" to everyone, though most did not admit to having a birthday since we were there last year.

The different family groups from the morning session reported to the large group.  This picture shows Sandy Schlairet and Benny Toliver who descend from Jacob Finley and Enoch B. Tolliver, respectively, sharing a story.

Betty Tolliver from McDonough, GA was recognized as the eldest matriarch.

 Kinsey Smallwood, holding Spencer, the youngest member of the clan.

Emma Lee Tolliver recognized the second youngest, Addison Gilbert, pictured with his mother, Sarah, and brother Jason.

The longest distance was traveled by Jennifer and Benny Tolliver from Arkansas.

The door prize was won by Mildred Evans (Mrs. Lester).

Carla Eberwein was in charge of the Silent Auction.  Here she is telling who is to receive the photo on the left with the picture of the wife of Lytte Tolliver.

We were entertained by John and Guy Evans, Jr., descendants of Cate Tolliver who was killed in the Tolliver-Martin Feud.

Joyce Black, a cousin of John and Guy did some dancing along with the music.

Saturday night was special.  The Morehead Theatre Guild presented "Feud Voices," a Readers' Theatre dramatization of incidents in the Rowan County War - 1884-1887, written by Dr. J. D. Reeder.  It was presented in the newly remodeled "Old Courthouse" that is now the Rowan County Arts Center Auditorium.  The back of the program included the following written by Dr. J. D. Reeder. 

                                                          About the Rowan County War...

In the years following the American Civil War, at least 13 family feuds sprang up in eastern Kentucky.  Most of them were based in settling old grudges, often political in nature, and satisfying the need to avenge old insults or other wrongs.  The feud era was worse between 1880 and 1910 and it was during that time that Morehead and Rowan County made headlines in newspapers all over the United States and in other countries for the series of murders and other violence that became known as the Rowan County War or the Tolliver-Martin Feud.  Although it is not now as well-known as the celebrated Hatfield-McCoy Feud, in the period from 1884-1887 it was familiar to everyone as the most vicious of Kentucky's private vendettas, resulting in at least 20 deaths and the wounding of almost that many more.

Several members of the Tolliver family were killed during that time, including Craig Tolliver and his brother Floyd from Morgan County, as well as their cousins John Reed "Budd" Tolliver and his brother Jacob Finley "Jay" Tolliver, Jr. from Elliott County, and yet another cousin, Wylie VanBuren Tolliver from Rowan County.  Still others were wounded  Some recovered and left off the violent way of life for good, but others would take up their guns again.  In the years that followed, the remaining men from the Elliott County branch of the family in particular died in violent acts that the Tolliver family has always believed were related to the feud.

Most of the newspaper accounts of the time tend to portray the Tollivers as being at fault on all sides, and that the Rowan County War had few if any heroes.  It was a dangerous and brutal time, when men regularly took the law into their own hands to settle their differences.  Happily, that time is past, and the people of Morehead and Rowan County now look forward to the annual summer gathering of the Tolliver family as it celebrates its long and colorful history. 

This picture shows Dr. Reeder introducing the program of the evening.

The Morehead Theater Guild ready to perform.

Everyone agreed that J. D. had done a fantastic job writing the drama and the the Theatre Guild was superb.  We are hoping to hear more from them next year.