By By ROBERT BLANKENSHIP
Advance Managing Editor
The members of the Scott-Johnson family know about family values.
This weekend more than 135 descendants of the family from 13 different states gathered in Atmore and other surrounding communities to rediscover their roots and pass down their legacy to the youngest of six generations in the place where it all began.
For some, the weekend was filled with memories. While for others, especially the younger members of the family, it was filled with lessons.
In order to get a full account of the Scott-Johnson story, the members of the family spent much of the day Sunday traveling to family landmarks in Castleberry, Eliska and Clayborne. The trip offered the family another chance to discuss their ancestry even though some of the landmarks have long since crumbled to the ground.
This is not the first reunion the Scott-Johnson family has had. About ten years ago, the family began planning a reunion, which would be held every other year. However, this does mark the first time that six generations were present.
The eldest of the family present was Mollie Browder, an 88-year-old who still calls Atmore home. The youngest in the line was 5-year-old Ty Dailey who also lives in Atmore.
Each generation of the family was given a different color shirt to wear during the reunion that began Friday evening during a reacquainting event at the First Baptist Church in McCullough. But the main event took place on Saturday when 135 members of the family descended on Tom Byrnes Park for food, games, telling old stories and making new memories.
Members of the family traveled to the reunion from New York, California, Nevada, Ohio, Indiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Florida and North Carolina to take part in what the family called the "Two Centuries Family Reunion", due to there being members present born in the 20th and 21st centuries.
In all, Thomas said the reunion was a great success and that it serves as a way to help keep the family together during the new century.