August 9, 2023

Greetings Family & Blessings to all:

We are excited and happy about the upcoming family reunion scheduled for Friday, August 9th - Sunday, August 11th, 2024, and our host family members are planning a spectacular event!    Special thanks to our committee members who are hosting us for the upcoming family reunion.  We are looking forward to all family members coming together once again for fun, fellowship, reminiscing, and more importantly reconnecting.

As you are aware, the discussion for the first reunion of the Mishoe, Gardner, Moore & Rawls Family, came into being during the summer of 1984. Mrs. Joan Mishoe Giles made the suggestion, and she and the late Dr. Luna I Mishoe, Sr., started our family tradition. The first family reunion was July 1985. The festivities were held at the Hunting Beach State Park, The Bucksport Community Center and Salem African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME). We are all very thankful for their vision and sense of family.

According to the death records of Reverend John Wesley Mishoe I, he was born on the Eldorado Plantation of McClellanville, S.C. in Charleston County. The original plantation lands are today called "The Santee Coastal Reserve". Reverend John Wesley Mishoe I was born to Boston Mishoe and Martha Alston Mishoe on January 16, 1834. We are all descendants of his unions with 1st wife Teana Brockington, Ms. Bina Johnson, 2nd wife Amanda Moore, and 3rd wife Lottie Banta. Reverend John Wesley Mishoe I outlived all of his wives. Regretfully, Grandpa John passed away on March 23, 1915, before finding a fourth wife.

Cousins Johnnie May Brown & Larry McCray are our family historians and have been conducting research for many years and continue to obtain additional information about our family members. Your help is requested to provide your family lineage information. It is extremely important that we continue to share our family history with one another, our children, grandchildren, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and extended family members.  Sharing oral stories and documents helps to continue the rich history of our extensive family.

Please take the time to share as much as you can with your family members, especially our younger generations.  We must prepare them to receive the torch and to keep our family history and legacy alive and vibrant.

Please commit to the following:

Preserve family traditions and/or cultures. Keeping the traditions your family cherishes is important to keep future generations involved and some of the cultures of your family’s country of origin alive. Also be open to create new ones.

Reconnect with other family members.  As you’re researching your family history, you might be able to reconnect with those you’ve lost touch with over the years. Social media is providing a great venue to reconnect. You might even discover you have nearby relatives you may not have known about!

Again, we thank you for your patience and your understanding as we work through these most difficult times. Please feel free to communicate with any of us on the Planning Committee.  We want to know how you are doing, and/or if you have any special requests.  Remember, "we are all in this together." You are invited for Family Prayer on Tuesday evenings at 7:15PM.   

With Grateful Hearts,

The 2024 MGMR Family Reunion Planning Committee