Celebrating68 Years of Annual Family Reunions

'1954 - Franklin,Tennessee
'1955 - '1994 - Nashville, TN
'1995 - Chattanooga, TN
'1996 - Franklin, Tennessee
'1997 - Indianapolis, Indiana
'1998 - Hendersonville, TN
'1999 - Cincinnati, Ohio
'2000 - Chattanooga, TN
'2001 - Atlanta, Georgia     '2002 - Nashville, TN
'2003 - Indianapolis, Indiana
'2004 - Memphis, Tennessee
'2005 - Cincinnati, Ohio
'2006 - Chattanooga, TN
'2007 - Indianapolis, Indiana

'1954 - Franklin, Tennessee - 1st Family Reunion

'2008 - Louisville, Kentucky
'2009 - Nashville, Tennessee '2010 - Columbus, Ohio      '2011 - Nashville, TN
'2012 - Chicago, Illinois
'2013 - Nashville, TN
'2014 - Gatlinburg, TN
'2015 - Nashville, TN
'2016 - Indianapolis, Indiana
'2017 - Nashville, TN
'2018 - Washington, DC
'2019 - Nashville, TN
'2020 - Video Conference
'2021 - Video Conference

'2022 - Nashville, TN


'1954 - Franklin, Tennessee - 1st Family Reunion

Many, many family pages, pictures, videos and family stories to come!!


Our annual family reunion started in 1954 in Franklin, TN and has continued every year since. In 2004 we celebrated our 50th anniversary and were honored with a Resolution by the Tennessee State Legislature

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 1121 By Armstrong

A RESOLUTION to join with the Smith Cotten Overton Brooks Family in celebrating their 50th Annual Family Reunion.

WHEREAS, the family is the basic building block that shapes our society, and the lives of family members, filled with work and play, love and laughter, illness and health, grief and disappointment, and success and achievement shape the course of our communities; the history of our State and nation is woven from the countless threads of the histories of families, and these family chronicles are worthy of our appreciation; and

WHEREAS, this year, the Smith Cotten Overton Brooks Family will commemorate their 50th Annual Family Reunion when family members from across the nation gather in Memphis to celebrate their rich collective history; and

WHEREAS, the Smith, Cotten, and Overton branches of this laudable family descended from Alice Caldonia Smith and Thomas Moore Cotten and their nine children, Rose, Millard, Martha, Mary, Laura, Thomas, Romulas, Ewell, and Alice Lucille; and

WHEREAS, the Brooks branch descended from John and Emmaline Brooks and their nine children, William Grundy, Sophraine, Alexander, Louis, Johnny, Milton, Sylvia, Elnora, and Robert; and

WHEREAS, William Grundy Brooks fathered two children, including Thomas Jefferson Brooks, who married Alice Lucille Cotten; this wonderful couple had ten children, Lorraine, Vivian, Willie Menzelle, Thomas Jr., Jennie, Allen, James, Gwendolyn, Rosemary, and Jean; and

WHEREAS, Thomas Jefferson Brooks, Sr. often carried his family to the rocky banks of the Harpeth River on Sundays to have picnics under the Glasses Bridge in Williamson County; and

WHEREAS, the 1950s was a time in the family history when many members left home in search of better opportunities, they invariably returned home each fourth Sunday of July to share fellowship with their beloved family; and

WHEREAS, over the years, the one day event drew a larger crowd of family and close friends, and the location was changed to Old Hickory Lake and Dam in Hendersonville; and

WHEREAS, in the mid-1990s, the family decided to move the reunion from city to city each year and to make it a weekend-long event dedicated to teaching family members the rich history of the Smith Cotten Overton Brooks Family; and

WHEREAS, the 2004 reunion is certain to be commemorated with great joy, as the family fondly remembers the past, humbly gives thanks for the present, and anticipates the future; and

WHEREAS, this legislative body is pleased to recognize the many descendants of this strong and vital family of our State as they gather to remember their triumphs and accomplishments, recall the various historical events in their family, and exchange news of current affairs; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE, 

THE SENATE CONCURRING, that we honor the members of the Smith Cotten Overton Brooks Family on the occasion of their 50th Annual Reunion for their great love for and loyalty to each other and for their dedication to the family ideals that form the foundation of our society. We extend to them our best wishes for a wonderful 2004 reunion and much continued success in all their endeavors.