A family gathering held in Garwin in 1919. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

GARWIN – On Saturday and Sunday, June 3-4, 2023, the Grand Reunion of the Ford Family will be held at the Community Center in Garwin, Iowa. Our ancestors first emigrated to Tama County in the fall of 1861 on land than now joins the town of Garwin. Milton and Adelaide Vincent “Addie” Ford, née Furrow married in 1883 and raised all seven of their children in Garwin about a mile east of town on what is now Highway E29.

We will be presenting a history of our family’s migration to Iowa in the early 1860s, their involvement in the Seventh Day Baptist movement, the church and parsonage they built at the corner of Anna and Third Street, the homes where they lived, the land they farmed, the cemetery where they are all buried and the families that all came from this small town in the center of Iowa.

Children of Milton and Adelaide Ford

Bessie Mae Stewart née Ford 1885-1977, Gertrude Bennehoff née Ford 1887-1973, Lennora Winter née Ford 1888-1987, Benjamin Harrison Ford 1890-1955, Elmore Ford 1892-1911, John Paul Ford 1896-1947, Richard Milton Ford 1897-1959

Earlier generations of Milton and Adelaide Ford that lived in Garwin include the surnames Furrow, Knight, Davis, Fritz, Freet, Randolph, and Babcock. The surnames of those attending the reunion will be Ford, Knight, Stewart, Winter, Logan, Hartzler, Sternberg, Riffey, Caslavka, and more.

Notables in attendance will be Helen Logan née Winter, 102 years old of Traer. Also, her younger brother Don Winter, 92 years old of Dysart and New London, Iowa. And Nora Yahl née Stewart, 88 years old, who was born in Garwin will be there as well.

We have a rich and interesting history of pioneers, risk takers, determination, hard work, and fellowship with the early Seventh Day Baptist movement here in the US. These values have been passed onto each of us. We want to preserve the history we have for future generations, so they too come to know and value the rich heritage we all are part of.