During a casual conversation in January 1979, several family members, Bertha Daniel McKay, Mary Howard, Gloria Lowe Battle and Gwendolyn Blanding Abercrombie, were sharing concerns that the family as a group rarely got together except for illness or death. and tears and sorrow, we rarely had time or presence of mind for more than a hurried "Hello" or "Goodbye" and we asked ourselves why?
Doesn't life have more to offer than hurriedness? Don't we, as a family, owe each other and ourselves a better relationship? Were there not more suitable circumstances under which we could build these relationships? A formal Family Reunion provided the answers. We deserve the chance to talk, laugh, dine, dance and share merry-making and good. cheer. The task, then begin……
Family members, Jewette Langford Anderson and Audrey Langford, began researching the Blanding family history in 1980. Jewette and Audrey were sisters, and descendants of Amelia Blanding. These enterprising ladies obtained information from personal interviews with older family members, the Alabama Department of Archives and History in Montgomery, and the Atlanta Regional Archives Branch in East Point, Georgia. The 1870 federal census records revealed that the firs Blanding (in our lineage), Josh Blanding, was born in 1815 in South Carolina – presumably, into slavery. We have unsubstantiated evidence of a possible link to a prominent Caucasian Blanding family that lived in the Columbia, South Carolina are during the early 1800’s. Unfortunately, our research has yet to reveal our specific link to that family or to the many African-American Blandings living in South Carolina.
We have learned that many African-American men in those days traveled from place to place by following trails, rivers, and railroad tracks. We do not know why Josh Blanding left the state of his birth. We only know from oral family history that he walked to the state of Alabama, where he settled in Russell County (Glenville). He married Mary, who was born in Georgia in 1830. To this union were born thirteen children: Leroy, Pierce, Lad, Ornsby, Lucy Ann, Amelia, Anna, Lucy, Louisa, Caleb, Wash, Howard, and Jim.
Descendants of eight of the children are accounted for (Leroy, Pierce, Lucy Ann, Anna, Amelia, Lucy, Lad, and Ornsby). We are still searching for descendants of the other five children (Louisa, Caleb, Wash, Howard, and Jim – who went away fiddling and was never heard from again!).
Our family tree, spanning over eight generations, contains more than 1.000 persons. Our Blanding Family Directory indicates we are presently in at least 23 states. For the past forty-four years, descendants of Josh Blanding have reunited annually to acknowledge and celebrate our kinship, roots and shared heritage.