Menefee Reunion

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna do my best to honor every word. Now settle in, because this story starts a long way from Texas, about as far back as you can get and still be talking about America. The Menefee family line traces to colonists who entered America in 1623.

Sixteen. Twenty. Three.

Before there was a United States, before there was a Texas, there were Menefees putting down roots on this continent. That's not a family history; that's a foundation stone. Fast forward a couple of centuries, and one William L.

Menefee makes his way to Texas in 1830, when Texas was still a different country's problem. Six years later, in 1836, he put his name on the Declaration of Independence. Not the one you learned about in school, the Texas one.

The one that took a particular kind of nerve to sign, considerin' what was happening just down the road at the time. And if that weren't enough, Wm. L.

Menefee sat on the very commission that selected the site for the capital, the place that would become present-day Austin. The man wasn't just watching history get made. He was one of the people makin' it.

Then he went and served six terms in the Congress of the Republic of Texas, and one term in the State Legislature after that. Six terms. That's not a career, friend; that's a calling.

Now, William L. had sons. H. F.

Menefee and the Reverend W. O. Menefee both came to Johnson County as early settlers.

One carrying the family's civic legacy, one carrying its spiritual weight. Between them and the generations that followed, the Menefee family went on to produce jurists, soldiers, political leaders, and ministers. That list right there is the full range of ways a person can try to hold a community together.

And the family clearly tried every one of 'em. Which brings us to the reunion. Started in 1890.

Held at this very location every year since 1891. Think about what that means. Two World Wars.

The Depression. All the upheaval of a century and change, and every year, the heirs of those 1623 colonists, those signers and lawmakers and settlers, found their way back here. Some traditions get maintained.

The Menefee reunion gets kept. There's a difference. And out here on a Texas road, rolling past a marker most folks never slow down for, it's worth knowing that some families don't just remember where they come from; they show up for it, year after year, right here in Johnson County.

What the marker says

Yearly gathering of heirs of colonists entering America 1623. Wm. L. Menefee, ancestor of this branch of the family, migrated to Texas 1830; signed Declaration of Independence 1836; was on the commission selecting Capital site at present-day Austin. He served 6 terms in Congress of Republic of Texas, one term in the State Legislature. His sons, H. F. and the Rev. W. O. Menefee, were early settlers in Johnson County. The family has produced many jurists, soldiers, political leaders, ministers. The reunion, started in 1890, has been held here since 1891.