Rich in History rooted in love

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.

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.