150-Year Family Reunion in Arkansas Draws 45 Descendants

For 150 years, descendants of two Georgia brothers have gathered in the same quiet spot among the pines of Cleveland County, Arkansas, and this year they showed up in force.

The Marks Family Reunion celebrated its 150th anniversary on June 7 with 45 family members traveling from Arkansas, Texas, New York, Mississippi, Florida, and Missouri. That's a remarkable comeback from 2022, when only 12 people made the trip.

The gathering takes place at Marks Cemetery, where brothers John Harvie and Hastings Marks rest alongside other early settlers. Hastings fought in the Creek Indian War of 1813 before the brothers moved their families from Georgia to Alabama, and eventually to Arkansas in 1834. John Harvie acquired large landholdings across south-central Arkansas, establishing roots that would hold for generations.

The reunion started in 1876, just three decades after Hastings passed away in 1846. Year after year, family members have returned to this remote location off Highway 97, where pine plantations have replaced the old cotton fields and the modern world feels far away.

Robert Kresko, president of the Marks/Barnett Family Association, welcomed the crowd with gratitude for the strong turnout. The cemetery sits near where the first shots of the Civil War Battle of Marks' Mill were fired in April 1864, adding historical significance to an already meaningful spot.

Sunny's Take

There's something beautiful about a family that keeps showing up. In an age when people scatter across continents and family trees get harder to trace, the Marks descendants prove that connection matters enough to protect. They drive hours to stand where their ancestors stood, to tell stories under the same cedars, and to let their children play near Salt Branch Creek just like generations before them.

This year's rebound in attendance suggests that even when life gets busy and reunions shrink, the pull of family heritage remains strong enough to bring people back.

The tradition continues, one gathering at a time, in a quiet corner of Arkansas where the sound of laughter still echoes through the hollows.