ZANESVILLE SIGNAL --- (Zanesville, Ohio)

September 25, 1925

COLORED CITIZENS NEWS

The reunion of the Lett settlement composed of Cliffords, Letts, Guys, Simpsons, Tates, Earleys, Browns and Calimans was held last Sunday at Trott's grove was largely attneded by 800 people white and colored.

A new organization was formed by electing officers as follows: president Mrs. Jennie Jackson of Zanesville, Ohio, vice president John Pritchart, Zanesville, Ohio, secretary, Mrs. Lizzie Curtis, Barnesville, Ohio, treasurer John R. Clifford, Martinsburg, West Virginia, assistant treasurer Daniel Guy, Newark, Ohio, music director Charles "Limber" Green, pianist, Mrs. Vandahlia Simpson.

It was decided to meet the 1st. Sunday of August 1926 at the Muskingum County Fair Grounds in Zanesville.

The promoters of this affiar deserve great credit for the success and pleasing arrangements. There was speaking by many of the white and colored citizens. The singing was enjoyed by all. A basket picnic was served.

There were persons present from Newark, Xenia, Mt. Vernon, Springfield, Barnesville, Cambridge, Cumberland and McConnelsville.

XENIA EVENING GAZETTE -- (Xenia, Ohio)

July 30, 1931

WILBERFORCE: The Lett Settlement Reunion was attended by more than eight hundred people Sunday on the campus of Wilberforce University. The descendents and relatives arrived early in the day from Zanesville, Newark, Columbus, Chillicothe, Springfield and other places to take part in this seventh annual reunion.

The Lett Settlement is composed of descendents of pioneer settlers of the eighteenth century who emigrated from the states of Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia and settled in the eastern part of Ohio. The early settlers were the Letts, Browns, Calimans, Simpsons, Guys, Tates, Cliffords and Pointers and the descendents own more than three thousand acres of land.

The greater part of the morning was spent in greetings. At noon the visitors and citizens of Wilberforce gathered in the dining room of Shorter Hall for a picnic dinner.

At 2 o'clock the people assembled in Shorter Hall for a program which was presided over by Professor George Simpson whose parents were listed among the early settlers in eastern Ohio. Seated on the platform were six former presidents, Mrs. Jennie Brown Jackson of Zanesville, Ohio (1826), Mr. John Pritchett of Zanesville, Ohio (1927), Mr. Alva Caliman of Springfield, Ohio (1928), Mr. Daniel Guy of Newark, Ohio (1928), Mr. George A. Jackson of Meigs Township, Muskingum County, Ohio (1930).

The program opened with an organ selection by Mrs. Anna Terry of the musical department and the invocation by Dr. H.H. Summers of Payne Theological Seminar. The congregation joined in singing the Negro National Anthem followed with an address by Dr. H.H. Summers.

Letters and telegrams of regret read by the secretary, Mrs. Gertrude H. Brown of Newark from Mrs. Effie Rucker of Greenville, South Carolina, Dr. M.N. Brown of Beaumont, Texas, Mrs. Elizabeth Manning of Hubbardston, Michigan and Mr. and Mrs. John Caliman of Blanchard, Michigan. After an organ selection by Mrs. Anna Terry the necrology was read.

Mr. Alva M.. Caliman who served as the fourth president read an interesting paper giving the history of the Lett Settlement Reunion organization at Trott’s Grove, Meigs Township, Muskingum County, Ohio on September 30, 1925 and a short sketch of the eight families whose descendents are the Lett Settlement Reunion.

The new officers for the 1932 reunion will be George A. Jackson of Zanesville President, Mrs. Gertrude H. Brown of Newark secretary, Mrs. Margaret Jackson of Zanesville assistant secretary. The next place for the meeting will be Zanesville, Ohio in1932.

Edited by Robert Lett 3/12 /2007. A copy of this article is available by contacting the Green County Public Library, Xenia Ohio.