Sixty-Ninth Annual Collett-McKay Reunion Held

     More than 200 members of the Collett-McKay families met for their sixty-ninth annual reunion at the picnic grounds, Saturday, August 10.
     The families were united between 1823 and 1830 by four marriages. Stephen Collett came from France. Robert and Margaret McKay came from Scotland. Daniel and Mary Haines Collett emigrated from Jefferson county, Virginia to Clinton county, Ohio, in 1812. Moses and Abigail Shinn McKay emigrated from Frederick county, Virginia, to Warren county, Ohio, in 1818.
     Holding their first reunion in 1866, the get-togethers continued year after year. Then the picnic grounds on the Wilmington-New Burlington road, near New Burlington, were nearly lost in the settlement of the estate of the pioneer families. However, the land was bought by members of the picnic committee. Gateway posts were put up last year and bear bronze tablets inscribed: "Collett-McKay Picnic Grounds."
     The register, an aged book, occupies a conspicuous place at each reunion.

(Provided courtesy of Mary Lou Inwood.)

Collett-McKay Picnic

     Saturday fortune again smiled on the Collett-McKay picnic at the picnic grounds which banked in serene sunshine while a storm raged in Wilmington. Tradition says that it does not rain for the annual Collett-McKay picnics and the weather apparently obeys the dictate of tradition.
     These gatherings, of which this is the 49th, are called picnics because they began years before the term "family reunion," was used and they are still picnics because they are conducted in the same manner in which they started--no programs, no election of officers, or selecting a meeting place. On the second Saturday of August each year the Colletts and McKays meet at the same woods--on Buck Run, not far from New Burlington, in the neighborhood where many of the two families live.
     The purchase of four acres has been made so that the land will always remain a picnic ground for the two families and two bronze tablets were erected this year on the two gateposts at the entrance to the grounds. One reads: "Collett-McKay Picnic Grounds. These families were united by four marriages between 1823 and 1830. The first picnic was held in 1866. Gateway erected in 1934." The other: "In memory of our immigrant and pioneer ancestors. Stephen Collett from France. Daniel and Mary Haines Collett emigrated from Jefferson County, Virginia to Clinton County, in 1812. Robert and Margaret McKay from Scotland. Moses and Abigail Shinn McKay emigrated from Frederick County, Virginia to Warren County, Ohio in 1818."
     One of the traditions of the picnics is the brewing of coffee which is done in big iron kettles like the first ones used, hung on a pole over an immense wood fire. One kettle contains 30 gallons of coffee the other 20 gallons of tea. Besides these there is a wooden hogshead of clear, cold water from the sugar camp, presided over by a squad of boys who zealously discharge their duties.
     In 1660 at the time of the Huguenot expulsion from France three Collett brothers were among the fugitives. One went to England whence came a number of his descendants to America, one to the mountains of France, and one sailed for America with his wife. A child, Stephen, was born to them, during the voyage, and lived to found the family in this country despite the hardships and starvation of the trip which killed his mother.
     These first Colletts lived in what is now Baltimore, Maryland. Stephen's son, Moses, was born in 1718. His sons moved to Virginia about the time of the Revolutionary War in which two of the sons served. After the war Daniel Collett was Justice of the Peace in Virginia for many years.
     The story of one of the events in his administration has been handed down. The judges of the court of Jefferson County assessed a fine upon each of the Justices of that county for neglect in providing suitable steps to the jail of Charleston. Justice Collett paid his fine then took the contract for the erection of the stone steps that still grace the front of that historic edifice. The sons and daughter of Justice Collett were the ancestors of all the Colletts of Clinton and Warren Counties.
     The Collett brothers and their families cleared the forests, built their homes, and lived on bear meat, johnny cake and corn mush during those early years. They intermarried with the McKays whose ancestors were of the sturdy Scotch who settled first in Virginia before migrating to the Northern Territory. The two families founded churches and schools and built up a community and have continued to live as farmers on over 8,000 acres of land most of which is in Chester Township, Clinton County.
      The strong individuality of the races is still apparent and it is said no matter how remote the descent a Collett or McKay will be recognized as a member of the family.

COLLETT-McKAY PICNIC

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     The sixty-ninth annual Collett-McKay picnic will be held at the usual place on Saturday, August 10.
     This usual place was purchased several years ago for these occasions and bronze tablets were mounted on large gateposts during the past year.

(Provided courtesy of Mary Lou Inwood.)

COLLETT-McKAY PICNIC TO BE HELD SATURDAY

     The 69th annual Collett-McKay picnic will be held at the picnic grounds near New Burlington Saturday and several hundred members of the two families and their guests are expected to attend. Large gate posts with bronze tablets have been erected at the entrance to the grounds in the last year.

     The sixty-ninth annual Collett-McKay picnic will be held at the usual place Saturday. The picnic site was purchased by the group several years ago and bronze tablets were mounted on the gate posts within the past year.