Monday, August 9, 2021

2021 Locke Family Reunion

Photo credit to Geoff Smith of the Locke Family Association

On August 7, 2021 some members of the Locke Family Association gathered by Zoom for a business meeting, and then met in the Rye, New Hampshire Central Cemetery for the annual reunion photo at the John Locke (1627 - 1696) cenotaph.  This is the 131st annual reunion for the Locke Family Association.  Last year a small group of members met in this same spot for a masked photo to uphold the tradition of the annual reunion. On the home page of the Locke Family association online there is a comment "Neither wars nor pandemics have stopped Locke reunions".  

The Locke Family Association has a website https://www.lockefamilyassociation.org/, a Facebook group, and a newsletter "The Locke Sickle and Sword" named after the two artifacts owned by John Locke of Rye now held at the New Hampshire Historical Society.  Next year they are planning a reunion in Springfield, Missouri to honor Locke descendant and author Laura Ingalls Wilder, and in 2023 the reunion will return to New Hampshire in honor of the 400th anniversary of the settlement of Portsmouth and Rye, New Hampshire.  The first reunion was held in Rye, New Hampshire in 1891. 

If you are a descendant of any of the early Locke Families of New England please consider joining the Locke Family Association.  Members include descendants of Captain John Locke of Rye, New Hampshire (including his brother Nathaniel Locke of Portsmouth, New Hampshire) and descendants of Deacon William Locke of Woburn, Massachusetts. There are over 300 members from more than three countries. 


IN MEMORY OF
CAPT. JOHN LOCKE
WHO CAME FROM ENGLAND TO THESE
SHORES ABOUT 1640.
HE WAS KILLED BY THE INDIANS
AUG. 25, 1696 AT THE AGE OF 70 YEARS,
WHILE REAPING IN HIS FIELD AT LOCKE'S
NECK, THIS TOWN.

Even the youngest members signed the annual reunion book.


In past years the members of the Locke Family Association have met at Locke's Neck where John Locke is probably buried in the old family burial ground on Locke Road.  The Association owns and preserves this little burial ground, and works with the Rye Historical Society to preserve and document the landmarks in the town. 



For the truly curious:

May 21, 2016, "Surname Saturday - Locke of Rye, New Hampshire"

January 12, 2010 "An Indian Without a Nose"

July 9, 2013 "Tombstone Tuesday - Locke Burial Ground, Rye, New Hampshire"

August 13, 2013 "The 123rd Locke Family Reunion, Concord, New Hampshire"

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To City/Link to this blog post:  Geoff Smith and Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "2021 Locke Family Reunion", Nutfield Genealogy, posted August 9, 2021, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2021/08/2021-locke-family-reunion.html: accessed [access date]). 

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