Hi All, I just wanted to tell some of you cousins about the wonderful time I had at the Beene Reunion. This was the 26th family reunion of the Southern Bean Association. My grandfather, Samuel Willliam Beene was born in Collinsville on 7/4/1866. His mother was Nancy Angelina W(h)atley born in Collinsville and Garrett Kirk Beene, born in Marion Co Tenn on 7/6/1842. At this reunion, I discovered that Garrett Kirk Beene's mother, Mary (Polly) Kirk was also born in the Collinsville area on 4/29/1812. Another Alabama connection came with the discovery that Garrett Kirk's grandmother, Martha Womack Bean born 1758, wife of Robert Bean, Sr, died in Gadsden. Also through SBA researchers it has been "resolved" that the original spelling of the Beene name in the US was actually Been. John Been was the father of Captain Robert Bean, Sr. While we still are fairly confident that we are kin and allies of Clan MacBean, at this time I am not aware of any documented proof. I strongly encourage all who are connected to this line to consider joining SBA and attending the annual reunions. The oldest attendee was Merton Eberlein from Wisconsin. Merton will be 96 in September. Merton's family represented 4 generations of Beene's. Edwin Bean of Terre Haute Indiana brought one of the early rifles made by Baxter Bean, gunsmith. Edwin's rifle was made in 1826. Joseph R Bean was also a gunsmith. Beene/Bean families from New Mexico, California, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and several other states were in attendance. Many Raulston/Roulston families, Russells, Kirks, Walkers, and Peeks were also in attendance. The reunion next year will be in Oklahoma City, OK. I was surprised to find "cousins" in New Mexico with pictures of MY great grandfather. Of course, he was also THEIR great grandfather as well. I bought a couple of books on the Beene line as well as one about Civil War soldiers. (A.C. you will be pleased to know that many of the Tennessee Beene's were also union soldiers.) The biggest surprise of all was to find that the Bean-Roulston Cemetery where I knew my gggggfather Robert Bean, ggggfather Obadiah Beene, and gggfather Reverend Samuel Wilson Beene were all buried, WAS ONLY 8 MILES NORTH OF THE ALABAMA BORDER. My husband and I happened to see the sign on Hwy 72 out of Scottsboro as we entered S. Pittsburg TN. It was a wonderful experience to visit the cemetery. The church that Rev Sam Beene founded in 1821 is also standing and still used. The original building burned and was rebuilt in 1853. As soon as time allows, I will send more information about this and allied lines to the list.