On Aug. 23, the Disbennett family hosted their 110th annual family reunion at The Olde Dutch Restaurant in Logan, Ohio. Numerous family members met and gathered, honoring the history interconnecting them for centuries.
The family’s history is a deep-rooted story about European immigration to a young United States. Each year, the family gathers to celebrate their history and to unite with new family members they have yet to meet.
Over the summer, America celebrated its 250th anniversary since its founding in 1776. Before the country’s foundation, many people immigrated from overseas to the new world. The Disbennett family’s ancestors were among those who did. They emigrated from the Alsace-Lorraine area of France in 1739. Their ancestors, including Johann Jacob Dispoinit, whose French last name has evolved to Disbennett, and settled in Mountain Falls, Virginia.
Dispoinit, his wife, Anna Marie Christina Bolten and their children were attacked by Shawnee Native Americans while working on their British-owned land in 1756. The only living family left were the three oldest sons, who managed to survive by hiding in wheat sheaves. Their survival allowed for four future generations of Disbennetts to descend.
“Descendants of the French Huguenot, Johann Jacob Dispoinit” by Grace Hildy Croft is a book and family heirloom published in 1977, detailing their family history and lineage. The book is full of family ancestry, allowing for the discovery of new family members and new connections.
A second volume of this family book is in the works by Nakia Petersen, a real estate appraiser and member of the Disbennett family. After nearly two years of deciphering the non-chronological first volume, the second volume is being written by Petersen and his daughter.
This book will fill in all the blanks and add to the history having occurred since the first volume. Petersen’s goal is to have it located in the Library of Congress and to donate copies to all of the school districts that their families settled in.
“All those schools, I would like to have this book donated, so that when they’re teaching the history of this country, they could quite literally point at one of the people sitting in the chairs and say, ‘this person right here is directly related to this significant family,’” Petersen said.
Before the book was published, the Disbennett family began hosting annual reunions, celebrating the history of their family and meeting new members. The tradition has endured, lasting for 110 years.
These reunions are full of conversation and livelihood. Dennis Daubenmire, the president of the Disbennett Family Reunions, manages the events every year.
“Well, of course we have a meet and greet and it’s a potluck,” Daubenmire said. “We have the meal first, and then we have the meeting of the families.”
They recognize and introduce any new and old members, people who have driven the farthest and veterans.
“I make sure and introduce and show their presence to the other members and remind everybody that we are all immigrants in this country,” Daubenmire said.
Lately, they have been gathering at The Olde Dutch Restaurant in Logan, Ohio. The family is scattered across various areas of Ohio, including Athens County. Their last name has numerous variations of spelling, such as Disbennet and Disbennette.
Walla Disbennett, a sales associate for Byers Airport Subaru, has met customers sharing a variation of his last name. He has no doubt they are related.
“It’s kind of a unique situation that it has grown into, if anybody ever walks in the dealership here where I work, and asks me if I know this person of Disbennett last name, ‘am I related?’ The first response is always yes,” Walla Disbennett said. “We’re related one way, shape or form."
Petersen is also working on creating a website in hopes to spread information about these reunions faster and to more family members.
“The website’s hopefully a way that each branch of the family can get together and schedule their family reunions and hopefully cross over from branch-to-branch and visit,” Petersen said.
Danica Disbennett, a freshman studying art at The Ohio State University, vaguely remembers her past family reunions, held at her grandparents home.
She said when attending holiday gatherings, it is difficult to keep track of how she is related to her family members.
“It’ll be a 15-minute conversation that ends with just figuring out that we’re so distantly related that it shouldn’t even really count. But, you know, they’re family,” Danica Disbennett said.
Danica Disbennett was unable to attend this year’s reunion. The number of young people in attendance is dwindling, but the goal of the Disbennetts is to get everyone involved, including the youth.
“Unfortunately, the younger generations haven’t really been into doing this type of stuff because it’s so easy to communicate now as opposed to what it used to be,” Walla Disbennett said.
The next reunion will be held on August 22, 2027 at The Olde Dutch Restaurant.
It is valuable to the Disbennetts their history be passed down for future generations to recognize and learn about.
“I don’t want that to be forgotten, and I want that to be something that the future generations, like my grandson, can read about and really help shape his determination to strive for whatever it is that he’s looking to strive for, knowing that many before him did the same,” Petersen said.
