New York Family Holds 100th Annual Reunion After a Century

For a century, the Putman family has gathered every summer to celebrate their shared history, and this July marked their 100th reunion in a small New York town near the Canadian border.

About 50 family members met at Saint John the Evangelist Parish Hall in Morristown, bringing homemade brownies, cookies, and carefully preserved family photographs. Most attendees were in their 70s and 80s, keepers of a tradition that began in 1924 when their ancestors gathered to celebrate their dairy farming heritage.

The Putmans take their reunion seriously. They elect a president and secretary, manage a budget (about $200 raised from raffling a quilt), and maintain a handwritten ledger documenting every gathering. "Our ice cream men got lost from the crowd and my what a time we did have," reads the note from the 1925 reunion in neat cursive.

The family's story mirrors the transformation of rural America over the past century. Willard Putman, born in 1847, and his wife Olive raised eight children on their dairy farm. Those children became dairy farmers and cheese makers themselves, raising large families who gathered every summer after morning chores.

But farming changed. James Putman, 74, still runs a dairy farm with 50 cattle, down from 250 at its peak. His cousin Michael Putman, 86, was one of 10 siblings who chose different paths. "The dairy industry was a tough business, and they weren't making any money," Michael explained.

As small farms disappeared and opportunities elsewhere beckoned, younger Putmans left. Kim Gudmondson, 71, went to Cornell and eventually Silicon Valley. "I didn't want to be a high school teacher, which almost everyone here is—teachers or farmers," she said.

Sunny's Take

Despite shrinking numbers (last year only 26 attended, down from highs over 100), the Putmans keep showing up. Trishia Bacon McCoy, 46, flew from Arkansas with her two children specifically to preserve the connection. "Once those older matriarchal people pass away, it's like, well, we're just going to go do our own thing. I don't like that," she said.

The reunion still features the traditions: grace before the meal, prizes for the oldest attendees, and tables stretching the length of the hall. Donald Putman, 86, attended with his wife Shirley of 68 years and their daughter Melissa. Though he grew up on the family farm, he wanted nothing more to do with farming—yet here he was, honoring the people who came before.

Village historian Janet P. Newtown acknowledges the challenge. "Nobody stays," she said of young people in the area. Yet every summer, some do return, carrying forward a tradition that has survived world wars, the Great Depression, and a global pandemic.

A hundred years of reunions proves that family bonds can stretch across distance and time, even when the farms that once held everyone together are long gone.