in 1885
The 7 surviving children of Reuben and Avis Rounds held a reunion in Eureka, Wisconsin. In honor of the occasion, which they felt would be their last opportunity to see eachother, they had this photograph taken.
The 4 oldest are seated in the front row, l-r: Elihu (74), Erastus (78), Lester (80) Horace (82). Behind them, l-r are James Madison (71), George Washington (69) and Mary Jane Rounds Bromley (67).
The history of this photograph is remarkable in itself, considering that it was shot in 1885 when the negative-positive method of making photographic reproductions was in its infancy. In 1939 Dale V Rounds took the copy his grandfather George had received and had reprints made. At that time the photo was 54 years old and had been on display, exposed to light and other atmospheric pollution all that time.
in the year 2000
another Rounds Reunion is planned for all descendants of these 7 brothers and sister!
- Date: Aug. 5, 2000
- Place: Shelter #1, Riverside Park, Berlin, Wisc.
This location is on the Fox river, which is the only river in Wisconsin to run south to north. The sons of Erastus built a river boat which they operated on the Fox river, shipping goods from Berlin through Eureka and Omro to Oshkosh and other points on Lake Winnebago.
Besides getting together and sharing Rounds information, there may be boats available to make the same trip down the Fox; there will also be guide books for those who wish to make a self tour of Ripon (Ceresco) where Lester Rounds was postmaster and school teacher, and to the cemetery in Eureka where many of the original Rounds family members are buried.
We have rather complete lineages for the descendents of both Lester and Elihu; which the interested reader can access by clicking on the highlighted names under the picture. We hope that one result of this reunion would be to add to our knowledge of our Rounds forebearers, and complete the lineages for the other 5.
For more information and reservations, please e mail Clark Rounds at redram@ chorus.net.