The 136th Locke Family Association Reunion

The Locke Family Association

Center Cemetery, Rye, New Hampshire

On August 25, 1891 the descendants of John Locke (1627 - 1696) of Rye, New Hampshire gathered in the town hall for a family reunion.  The next day was the 195th anniversary of John Locke's death, and the meeting continued at the town hall to organize a permanent organization. This was the birth of the Locke Family Association, which continues to hold annual family reunions, even through war times.  It is considered to be the oldest family association in the United States.  

Last week the Locke Family Association met again in Rye, Raymond, and Portsmouth, New Hampshire for the annual family reunion.  We cruised Portsmouth Harbor in the gundalow "Piscataqua", held a family business meeting in the VFW hall in Raymond followed by a cookout lunch and catered barbecue dinner at Pawtuckaway State Park, and a Sunday trolley ride past historic and family sites in Portsmouth and Rye with our cousins. 

The gundalow "Piscataqua" in Portsmouth Harbor

The Locke Family Association business meeting,

new business, swearing in new officers, financial reports and more. 

At beautiful Pawtuckaway State Park we enjoyed an afternoon of burgers and hot dogs, lawn and board games, swapping family stories, a catered dinner, and no mosquitos! 

On Sunday we all enjoyed the trolley ride through Portsmouth and Rye, seeing historic sites and lots of Locke family homesteads and burial places.  We ended the tour with the annual family photo at the Locke memorial in Central Cemetery. 

For the truly curious:

The Locke Family Association website:  https://www.lockefamilyassociation.org/  

Locke Family Association on Facebook:   https://www.facebook.com/groups/lockefamilyassociation  

Other Locke related blog posts:

An Indian without a nose   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/01/indian-without-nose.html 

also https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/07/john-locke-he-cut-off-indians-nose-with.html  

Surname Saturday - Locke of Rye, New Hampshire   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/05/surname-saturday-locke-of-rye-new.html   

2021 Locke Family Reunion   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2021/08/2021-locke-family-reunion.html 

2013 The 123rd Locke Family Reunion   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-123rd-locke-family-reunion-concord.html   

Locke Burial Ground, Rye, New Hampshire   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/07/tombstone-tuesday-locke-burial-ground.html  

My ancestor Richard Locke, buried in Chichester, New Hampshire     https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/06/tombstone-tuesday-leavitt-cemetery.html  

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To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "The 136th Locke Family Association Reunion", Nutfield Genealogy, posted August 8, 2026, (  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/08/the-136th-locke-family-association.html: accessed [access date]).