Boggess Family Association History
The Boggess Family Association was started in Texas in 1988 by Ron Boggess and his wife
Bitsy Barr for their son Caleb and daugher Shannon. In an effort to meet other Boggess
families and learn about their Boggess history, they planned a picnic in the park and
sent fliers to 100 Boggess families; 2 in each state of the union. When a flyer came back
undelivered, it was sent on to another Boggess in that same state. Ron and Bitsy left their
home for the picnic not knowing what to expect. They were pleasantly surprised when the picnic
was attended by 25 people.
That picnic in the park became the first event of the Association. Bitsy became the editor of the
Association newsletter. Every summer another research meeting was held to bring "distant cousins"
together to learn about their histories. For the sake of simplicity, these gatherings are here called
reunions yet they do not not have the aspects of the usual family reunion attended by close relatives.
Members attending are urged to bring their written historical information and/or pictures and memorabilia.
It is always interesting to learn about other Boggess families and exciting to meet someone with whom you
share ancestry.
Ron and Bitsy remained heavily involved in the Association for the next decade creating newsletters
and planning and holding annual reunions. After the 2001 reunion they decided to devote more time
to their children and gave up the leadership of the Association.
Charles and Gayle Boggess took over the responsibilites of the Association in 2001.
Gayle did an excellent job of getting the newsletters out to the members and planning
and holding the annual reunions. After a time, Charles' health began to fail and Gayle
could no longer continue to be involved as in the past.
T.S. Boggess volunteered to host the 2005 reunion at his home place outside of Macon, Mississippi
and was joined by D.A. Sharpe, his son-in-law, to make the plans for that reunion. Unfortunatly
hurricane Katrina raged against some of the gulf states in August of 2005 and upset the lives
of the people in those states. The 2005 reunion had to be cancelled.
In 2006 the reunion was held in Billings Montana hosted by Howard Boggess and Sandi Choate.
They were helped by Betty West and Barbara McKinney. At the Billings reunion the attendees
voted to form a committee to oversee the future activities of the Association. Bitsy Barr (Chairman),
Melissa West (Newletter Editor), Jean Rethwisch (Treasurer), Mary Ellen Sicard (Membership), Chuck West
(Webmaster) and Joanna Fox (Parlimentarian) were elected. Those at the reunion voted to hold the
2007 reunion in Bridgeport, West Virginia.
In 2007 changes were made to the committee. Bitsy Barr relinquished chairmanship to her husband
Ron Boggess and she became editor of the newsletter after Melissa West resigned to pursue other
interests. Mary Ellen Sicard assumed the responsibilty of webmaster. Betty West was added
to the committee (Merchandise) as she had assumed the responsibility of designing and purchasing reunion
t-shirts and pins several years before. It was also decided that the treasurer would present an
annual treasurer report to the members.
It is intended that no one remain in any position on the committee for a long period of time. It is
hoped that association members will volunteer to serve on the committee in the future. We will
document the requirements of each position and determine the election process. The first year of
the committee has indeed been a learning process.
The Association charges dues each year that offset the cost of creating, printing, and mailing of two
newsletters. The editor of the newsletters relies heavily on the members of the group to provide
genealogy information, family stories and photos, and other items of interest to be a part of the
newsletters. Any monies not used for the newsletters are used to provide two days use of a hospitality
room at the annual reunion. At the reunion, members gather in the hospitality room to peruse the scrapbooks
and historical items that members bring to the reunion and to reaquaint with other members and to meet
new "distant cousins". The association also provides the use of the two volumes of the Boggess Books
"On the Sands of Time" to aid members researching their family history. Each year a t-shirt and a pin
is designed for the reunion and can be purchased by the attendees.
We hope that Boggess descendents will find this web site and become interested
in the Association. We welcome new members. If you are interested, click on
membership to send an email.
