The Nesbitts set sail
2026 Nesbitt Family Reunion
4-night Bahamas CRUISE
July 16-20, 2026
from Miami FL
The Nesbitts set sail
2026 Nesbitt Family Reunion
4-night Bahamas CRUISE
July 16-20, 2026
from Miami FL
2024 Reunion Photos
Scholarship
Norton Dean-Cachie Academic Excellence Award Scholarship
The Nesbitt Scholarship Committee wants to thank everyone who made contributions to the Norton Dean-Cachie Academic Excellence Scholarship Fund. Scholarships are awarded every two years at the Nesbitt Family Reunion. Graduating high school seniors and matriculating undergraduate students with a minimum 3.0 GPA are encouraged to apply.
The committee is extremely and sincerely grateful to everyone who has contributed in the past. We rely on your generosity to continually fund this scholarship. As noted in the testimonies shared by previous award winners, our monetary support is needed and greatly appreciated. Please consider making a donation ...in a BIG way! You may also consider making a donation to honor the memory of a deceased loved one.
2023-24 Donors
Shirley Blocker
Thomas and Linda Clark
Christina Cachie
Valarie Fisher
Aaron & Chanisse Fitchett
Carl J. Sr. & Maritha J. Frederick
Edward and Jackie Griffin
Norma Irvin
Shawne Johnson
Monique Johnson
Elliott Johnson
Duane Jones
Ernest & Gloria Mosley
Maurice & Esther Mosley
Sean & Aza Mosley
Robert & Annie Mott
Sharen Nesbitt Jones
Kimbery Rivers
Monica Robinson
Doris Robinson
Nilena Samuels
Ella Weston
Al & Sybil Wiggins
Bryce & Barbara Ann Wynn
Donations to the scholarship fund can be made either by:
Check made out to: Norton Dean-Cachie Scholarship.
Mailed to:
Chanisse Fitchett
4908 Ellis Lane
Ellicott City, MD 21043
OR
Zelle : 678-480-1058 - Chanisse Fitchett
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to give any of us a call. Thank you!!
Chinese Fitchett
Christina Cachie
2024 scholarship winner
Ella Weston
Ella will be attending Georgia Gwinnett College in Lawrenceville GA.
2022 Nesbitt Sholar HONORABLE MENTION
Blair Truesdale
Blair earned her Associates degree from Prince George's County Community College (Maryland).
About the Nesbitt Family
Who We Are
Historical Sketch
Past Reunions
The Nesbitt Family Reunion grew from a long talked about dream of Ellen Roundtree, Lucille Nesbitt and Ethel Lee Ford. There was a realization that there were five generations of Nesbitts living. From this revelation was born the idea of a Family Reunion. For several years, many family members had openly expressed a desire for a reunion to renew acquaintances, meet family members and pay tribute to those responsible for our being.
The first reunion began with a telephone call by Ellen Roundtree and then many more subsequent calls and
correspondence (not realizing that family members in Connecticut had the same idea). It is said, “great minds think alike” and thus the dream became a reality – the first “Nesbitt-Williams” Family Reunion.
The first was held in Columbia, South Carolina, July 14-16, 1978 at the home of David and Pauline Williams and Ellen Roundtree. There were members present from 11 States – from as far west as Los Angeles, CA and as far east as Waterbury, CT. The family members discovered that this family was musically inclined and at one time, there were seven (7) sets of twins, plus many family members had given their children the same names.
The reunion started out as a backyard gathering and now the participation has grown in numbers so much that we have moved to hotels for accommodations and banquet, over a (four) 4 day timeframe.
The Nesbitt Connection, as it is fondly called, is held every two years. The last reunion held in-person was in 2018 in Charlotte, North Carolina. In 2020, the COVID pandemic shut everything down, and as folks are still getting acclimated to living with a COVID epidemic, the Nesbitt Family Reunion Committee decided it was best to do the 2022 reunion virtually.
Past Reunions
Historical Sketch
Past Reunions
July 14-16, 1978
Columbia SC Fountain Bleau
July 24-26, 1980
Columbia SC Fountain Bleau
July 23-25, 1982
Waterbury CT Serendipity Restaurant
July 27-29, 1984
Philadelphia PA Holiday Inn
August 8-10, 1986
Columbia SC Columbia Marriott Hotel
July 22-24, 1988
Waterbury CT Howard Johnson Plaza Hotel
August 3-5, 1990
Columbia SC Quality Inn Northeast
July 29-31, 1994
Waterbury CT Holiday Inn
July 6-8, 2001
Waterbury CT Courtyard Marriott
.July 24-27, 2003
Largo MD Doubletree Club Hotel
July 29-31, 2005
Rochester NY Radisson Hotel
July 27-30, 2006
Charleston SC Embassy Suites & Convention Center
July 24-27, 2008
Waterbury CT Courtyard by Marriott
July 29-August 1, 2010
Raleigh NC Marriott Crabtree Valley
July 26-29, 2012
Philadelphia PA Crowne Plaza Philadelphia West
July 24-27, 2014
Columbia SC Embassy Suites Columbia
July 28-31, 2016
Largo MD Doubletree by Hilton
July 26-29, 2018
Charlotte NC Fairfield Inn & Suites
July 29-30, 2022
Virtual Reunion hosted by the Florida Nesbitt Reunion Committee
July 26-28, 2024
Savannah GA Fairfield Inn & Suites
Historical Sketch
Historical Sketch
Historical Sketch
Throughout the Nesbitt 40-year Reunion history various family members have been able to compile an auspicious amount of family information. In the beginning, they utilized oral history, group interviews and personal recollections. With the introduction of the computer, research technology has enhanced those efforts greatly, by allowing more in-depth information to be gleaned.
With the groundwork firmly in place, for our 40th milestone, the journal committee, set out with one mission. The focus was to attempt to locate the one missing puzzle; information on the Nesbitt brothers’ one sister – Grace Nesbitt Wilson. While on this journey, we stumbled on a number of unanticipated details. Much of what was discovered via 1870, 1890, & 2000 Census
records, Death Certificates, 1897 & 1906 City Directories, and the 1860 Slave Schedule Census Index, is now included in this Historical Sketch. These documents are shown elsewhere in this journal. It is our sincere prayer that a professional genealogist is hired to thoroughly investigate our Nesbitt ancestry. The process is tedious and time consuming.
It’s evident to us, only the
surface has been scratched!!
Grace (est. 1835), John (1844) and Israel (1846) were born into slavery. They were the property of slave owners, James, Joseph or Niles Nesbitt of Spartanburg District, South Carolina. Blacks were not included in census data prior to 1870. Prior to 1870 they may have been listed as property on the Slave Schedule. Grace (Gracie) appears in the 1870 United States
Federal Census for Columbia (Richland County), with three children, Sibbie (Cilby), age 8, Frank age 7 and Thomas age 5. She is listed as widowed, head of household, and working as a farm laborer.
Over the years, we have been told, John (b. 1844) came to Columbia from Charleston, South Carolina area where he worked on a ship as a cook. John met and in 1875, married Bettie Williams who worked as a nurse in the community. Her mother’s name was Mariah Williams
and she had one brother named John. John and Bettie Williams Nesbitt had thirteen children, seven sons and six daughters. In birth order, they were: John Nesbitt, Hugh Nesbitt, Euginia Nesbitt Valentine, Jesse Nesbitt, Lucy Bell Nesbitt Brooks, Mary (Toby) Nesbitt Johnson
Lemons, William Nesbitt, Anna Lee Nesbitt Brooks, Sallie Nesbitt, Alice Nesbitt Geiger, Robert (Robt) Nesbitt, Samuel Nesbitt, and Ezelle Nesbitt.
Family Songs
Family Memorial
Historical Sketch
Tia Rivers, descendant of John and Betty, sings the family songs.
Family Memorial
Family Memorial
Family Memorial
Family members who have passed on since we last met in 2018 for the Nesbitt Family Reunion