HISTORY OF THE BRUNER REUNIONS

Joseph Brunner, son of Heinrich and Maria (Braun Brunner, was baptized August 26, 1678 as recorded in the books of the Reformed Church of Groenenbach, Germany.His parents were of nearby Rothenstein. His Brunnergrandparents had come from Wald of Zuerich Canton, .Switzerland, in the middle of: the 1600s.

Joseph was in Schifferstadt of the Palatinate where he married Cathrina Elizabetha Thomas in 1700. They had several children and in 1729 emigrated from there to the British colony of Pennsylvania. In 1736 they settled near Frederick, Maryland. One of Joseph's great-grand sons, George Peter Bruner (1766-1834), in about 1819, called together all his children and their families for a reunion at his home is Hampshire County, Virginia (now Morgan County, West Virginia;. They "all met together on the old farme for the Last time on erth” according to George Peter's son Samuel (1808-1886) when he was writing his little 1881 family history.

Many miles away and 141 years later, .here way another gathering of Bruners - this time they were Samuel's descendants. His granddaughter, Bertha Mae (Bruner) Rather of Columbus, Ohio, organized this reunion at Horseshoe Lodge in PuebloMountainPark near Beulah, Colorado. It lasted a week - June 27 throughJuly 3, 1960. Sixty-nine people attended.

That 1960 reunion wasthe start of a tradition that has continued to the present with reunions approximately every three years. Thefirst six were at Beulah,Colorado. Later ones were at various locations across the United States, the most recent two - the 13thand 14th---being in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in 1999 and 2002. One reunion was in Frederick, Maryland, where we toured and had a picnic at the "Schifferstadt” house built on Joseph Brunner's farm in 1756; we hope to repeat that in 2006 in conjunction with the Brunner home's quarter-millennium celebration --250 years.

Gradually, other descendants of Joseph the immigrant joined these descendants of Samuel's. The reunions have always been "nationwide" and for the last several have been. for all who trace their Ancestry to Joseph. His six children whocame with him toAmericawere: Anna Barbara (Brunner)Getzendanner(1701-), Jacob Brunner (1703­-1775+),John Brunner (1708-1776), Henry Brunner (1715-1775?), Maria Catharine (Brunner) Ramsburg (1718-1765+) and Elias Brunner (1723-1783).

The reunions have always been fun times of renewing old acquaintances, finding new relatives, learning about genealogy and kinships, sight seeing, enjoying meals together, singing a song, that the Brunners sang in their church in Frederick, sharing craft ideas, and participating in "garage sales" with proceedsgoing for upkeep of the "Schifferstadt" house. .

All descendants of Joseph and Cathrina Elisabetha Brunner are welcome. Even if you just think you might be descended from Joseph, you are welcome. Put the 16th Bruner Reunion on your calendar and join your relatives at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee, July 2, 3, and 4, 2004.