The History Of How The Clement-Brown-Cooper Family Reunion Began

Following the death and burial of John Henry Brown in Brewerville, Liberia, in 1979, it became clear that family members did not know each other even though they were related. The Titus Cooper family, along with some of the Nathan E. Clement family from Gbarnga, Bong County were all present at the funeral but were not as involved with the Brown and Cooper families from Brewerville as families should. Because of this, the Clement-Brown-Cooper Family decided to have an annual reunion for the sole purpose of getting to know each other, and staying in contact with one another. The venue for the reunion was to be rotated annually, based on seniority. The Clement-Brown-Cooper Family was then established, and was to include descendants of Lydia Jane Clement. She was considered the root of the family because the three families-were connected-through her. She was born a Clement, married to a Brown, and later married to a Cooper.  

The first family reunion was hosted by the eldest member at the time, Titus Cooper, in 1982, in the city of Gbarnga, Bong County (Liberia). Three officers were elected; Titus Lee Cooper, Jr. as Secretary General/Coordinator; Selma Brown as Secretary; and Ruth Clement-Dahn as Treasurer. The Secretary General/Coordinator, elected for five years at a time, was responsible to coordinate the annual family reunions. The Secretary was responsible for communicating with family members, as well as keeping accurate record of all family members, The Treasurer was responsible for keeping the financial records of the family.

The second reunion was held in Brewerville, with Henry Cooper as host. The Third was held in Suakoko, Bong County (Liberia) with N. E. Clement as host. The fourth reunion was scheduled to go back to Brewerville in December 1986 with Dehansar Brown-Trotmon hosting, but it never did go because of her death in July of that same year. Since then, the CBC Family Reunion had not been actively held in Liberia until December 2001 when Titus Cooper re-organized the CBC in Liberia and a reunion was scheduled in Brewerville.

With the migration of many members of the CBC to the USA, it was decided that this tradition be extended abroad and hence, the first Reunion of the Clement-Brown-Cooper Family in the United States of America was held in Atlanta, Georgia, in November, 1999. The Second was held in November 2001, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Third Reunion was held in Woodbridge, VA, in 2004. The Fourth went to South Kingstown, Rhode Island in 2005. The Fifth went back to Woodbridge, VA in 2006.

The CBC Family Reunion was not held again until 2012 when we reconvened in Gaithersburg, MD. Since then, the Reunion has been held each consecutive year. In 2013, it was held in Smyrna, Delaware, Providence, Rhode Island, in 2014, then Woodbridge, VA in 2015. Information on subsequent reunions can be found at the top of our Home page menu, for each year. 

As of 2015, we have over 100 family members in the USA and our numbers continue to grow every year.

Latest comments

11.06 | 01:37

Very nice