2004 NATIONAL ALLISON FAMILY REUNION A celebration of heritage marking a wandering old British family's 346th year as an American pioneer family! The descendants of Thomas Allanson/Allison, Lord of Christian Temple Manor (1639-1684) - A Gentleman of London, England and Charles County, Maryland Thomas Allanson/Allison departed London in 1658 for Charles County, Maryland where he founded the American branch of the old English family. The Allisons remained in the new Maryland home until the American Revolution and the years just following the war, at which time a great exodus from Maryland began. Wandering pioneer Allisons looking for new homes traveled in many directions, including Brooke County, Virginia (today Hancock County, West Virginia), Bullitt County, Kentucky, and in great numbers to the area of Burke County, North Carolina that eventually became McDowell County, the area surrounding the tiny wilderness settlement that became the town of Old Fort. A huge colony of transplanted Maryland-born Allisons was formed there in the late 1700's. From the first new homes established, other family members continued migrations to such locales as Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Georgia, numerous areas of the Midwest, and eventually across much of the Sunbelt. Western North Carolina Allisons eventually settled across the entire mountain region of the state, with heavy population density in McDowell, Buncombe, Henderson, Transylvania, Jackson, and Haywood Counties. Smaller settlements formed in almost all of the other western counties. Through marriage with the Cherokee, the family was also established on the Qualla Boundary. An especially large Allison colony was formed in northeast Georgia, in the area of Habersham County that is today White County. Upper South Carolina and extreme eastern Tennessee also provided new homes for the family. Allison cousins from all of these locales, as well as from up to 40 states, will reunite for the huge annual celebration of heritage. NOTE: see full reunion details and contact information below Weekend of October 15-16, 2004 Brevard, North Carolina During the peak of fall color in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains! Main reunion events on the campus of Brevard College Our very distinguished and honored guests will be: Officially representing our family's ancestral homeland Her Britannic Majesty's Consul General, Michael Bates OBE & Janice Bates, Congressman Charles Taylor & Betty Taylor, Chief Leon Jones, former Principal Chief of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee & Janice Allison Jones; plus other special guests to be announced closer to date. Visit http://www.rootsweb.com/~nchaywoo/mp.htm for full details Contact: Michael Allison, President National Allison (Allanson) Family Association P.O. Box 12 Sterrett AL 35147 Ph. (205) 672-2913 Email: [email protected]