ROSSVILLE – Not many families can boast more than a century of family reunions, but the Green family, based in Rossville, is proud to have kept their tradition going for 140 years.
Eighty-four members of the Green family were in attendance on Sunday, according to Debra — double the number who typically come to the celebration. The youngest of the attendees was two-week-old Jetson Lang and the eldest, Rita Clark, was 91 years old.
The first Green family reunion began as a 64th birthday party for patriarch Bingham Clark Green, who came to Rossville in the late 1880s, says Green family historian Jerry Cornell. The following year, the Green family decided to host an annual family reunion, and the rest is history.
Despite the global COVD-19 pandemic in 2020, the Green family continued their tradition of gathering together, being sure to maintain safety, by keeping social distance and holding the event in the fresh out, outdoors, says Cornell.
Rossville is full of Green family members, says Debra, but some of them don’t know they could be walking past a cousin in the grocery store.
“When you get in your 40s and 50s, you start getting more interested in like well, who was my grandma? Who was my great grandfather?” she says. “You’ve got to get a hold of them before they get too old and they pass away and then you can’t get any information out of them. Ask them stories. I think it’s real important when we get together like that, and then our kids can know the other cousins and the second cousins, the third cousins.”
For John Green, the reunion is about celebrating his family heritage, gathering the elders and youngsters together, and sharing in family pride.
“Dad instilled in me that you should be proud of your name,” John Green says. “You walk straight with your shoulders back, and be proud of your name.”
The Rossville Historical Society is located at 103 W. Attica St., in Rossville. The second floor of the building features an old courtroom, now mini-museum dedicated to the Green family and others like it, showcasing historical artifacts including wedding dresses of Green brides throughout the century, photos, a mini-replica of the Green family farm, and many others.