My brother, James Gilchrest Skoglund, gave me this picture. It might be a Gilchrest family reunion, perhaps in St. George, Maine. Any information on the house, place or time of the picture would be appreciated. Robert Karl Skoglund

Gilchrest-Robinson Reunion to be Held Sunday, August 19, 2012

As has been the custom for several years, the Gilchrest-Robinson reunion will be held the 3rd Sunday in August at the St. George Grange Hall in St. George on Wiley’s Corner Road, gathering at noon.

The first Gilchrest Reunion was held in 1890 on Caddy’s Point, near the spot where the family’s progenitor, Captain Samuel Gilchrest, built a log house when he took up the property during or just after the Revolution. He married Hannah Robinson of Cushing. Ten of their eleven children survived to produce families of their own.

The Robinson family, all descendants of Moses Robinson, one of the first settlers of Cushing and Warren, had their own separate family reunion from the late 1800s until about the 1960s, when interest in family connections and local community activities in general seemed to have declined. The family reunion gradually petered out, as did the Gilchrest Reunion.

For a few years there was neither Gilchrest nor Robinson reunion. A younger generation revived the tradition coinciding with a national interest in genealogy and increased appreciation of the local community.

Because all Gilchrest descendants are also descendants of Moses Robinson, the revived reunion includes all descendants of Moses Robinson. If everyone who descends from Moses Robinson should attend, the reunion would have to be held outdoors; no building in Knox County could hold them. They won’t all be here, but we hope that you will.

Nola Mank Metcalf will be updating the family files so please bring your lists of births, marriages and deaths with you.

Please bring something to share for dinner. Moses’s descendants are resourceful and generous but so far not one has been able to replicate the miracle of the loaves and the fishes. There will be a brief discussion of family history and the reading of a few family letters from the 1800s.

Reunion usually disbands by 2 or soon after.

For information call Reggie Montgomery

http://boards.ancestrylibrary.com/surnames.robinson/10354/mb.ashx?pnt=1

http://boards.ancestry.com/surnames.gilchrest/3/mb.ashx

Note from Robert Karl Skoglund: We spell this Gilchrest and it is spelled that way on the stones in the cemeteries.

Samuel Gilchrist was a soldier of the revolution and was wounded in the skirmish at Harlem during Washington's retreat from New York. He was hit in the side by a bullet, and that piece of British lead was carried in his body until the day of his death. You might find that Nathan Hale was hanged that same week as he was part of that same military operation. Samuel married Hannah Robinson, eldest daughter of Joseph Robinson, and granddaughter of Dr. Moses Robinson, of whom mention is made in a preceding paragraph. Samuel Gilchrist and Hannah Robinson had eleven children: 1. Captain John, married, January 30, 1800, Margaret Fogarty --- lived in St. George in the house now inhabited by his great-great-grandson, James Gilchrest Skoglund. 2. William, born August, 1780; married Betsey Norwood, lived in Montville and died in 1860. 3. Captain Joseph, born in Cushing, May 20, 1782, died September 7, 1864; was a mariner and retired from the sea with an ample fortune; married, January 6, 1803, Sarah Carney, and removed to Thomaston about 1823-24. 4. Hugh, married (first) Betsey Hall, (second) Hannah Simmons; removed to Knox, Maine, and there married a third wife. 5. Samuel. 6. Archibald, died young. 7. James, married Deborah Robinson, and lived in Cushing. 8. Alexander, married (first) Margaret Hyler, (second) _____ McKellar, lived and died in St. George. 9. Robert, married Betsey Hall, and lived in St. George. 10. Sarah, married James Linnekin, and lived in St. George. 11. George, married Martha Linnekin, and lived in St. George.

http://www.facebook.com/groups/140318242724198/335727103183310/

© 2012 Robert Skoglund