The Golden Family Reunion will celebrate its 29th year of gathering this year on Friday, April 25, through Saturday, April 26, in Whitley County.
The event will start on Friday, April 25, from 5 – 9:30 p.m. at the Williamsburg Tourism and Convention Center at 650 South 10th Street, Williamsburg where attendees can share genealogy information, photos, and family stories, etc.
Then on Saturday, April 26, the family will gather starting at 8:30 a.m. at actual Stephen Golden first settlement site and his resting place on Golden Creek in Knox County.
Attendees are asked to arrive before 11 a.m. to allow time for the annual group photograph and so the prayer is not interrupted just before the potluck meal.
There will be a potluck meal at noon, all day socializing, an auction and music, plus lots of family stories and information about the Golden family history. Bring a lawn chair, food to share and an auction item to help support the event.
On Sunday, April 27, there will also be a breakfast buffet for everyone spending the night at the Hampton Inn from 6 – 10 a.m. in the hotel breakfast area. This is where fond farewells will be held.
The first Golden ancestor has been traced to Stephen Golden, who was born in 1766 or 1767 in Georgia. By Feb. 26, 1806, he and his wife, Hannah Helms, were welcomed into the Arm of the Popular Creek Church.
Stephen and Hannah Golden raised a family of nine known children, who began to spread out from Golden Creek by the mid 1800s to other areas of Kentucky.
At last year’s reunion there were 67 family members in attendance from Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Tennessee, Indiana, Oklahoma, Georgia and Michigan.
For more information contact Carol Golden at (865) 376-7141, or e-mail her at goldencj@msn.com.
