Nametags were used at the reunion, as Atmore was “probably one of the few there that knew almost everybody. . .”They all certainly know him as Atmore had sent each invitee a complete Atmore descendent chart. “I worked on it for years and finally got it completed,” noted Richard. “I’ve been collecting this stuff for years,” while he pondered what to do with the material. “My wife, Marie, finally got sick of my boxes of junk and we decided to do something about it.”Family members brought their own treasured photos, displayed with many faded letters “written by the Atmore boys during the Gold Rush days. Due to the age and condition of the letters, I typed them so they could be read, although I had to adlib a few words,” when even a magnifying glass couldn’t render them fully legible.Atmore met some of the youngest branches on the family tree for the first time and admits that among the 96 guests were several “that I still don’t know who they were. The oldest were Lila Battershell and my sister Gladys Atmore Moss,” of Santa Paula.Flora Cantrell, another member of the family tree and rapidly approaching her 101st birthday, was unable to attend, said Richard.Reunions are important, he added. “I think to me it’s the heritage of the Atmore family and the history behind it, but then again I am the family historian.”
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Generations of Atmores celebrated their history and each other at a special reunion that recreated a longstanding family custom. The May reunion was held on a Ventura ranch and drew just under 100 members of the Atmore family tree. Above is the current photo of the Atmore Family. |
Atmore reunion draws members of pioneering family
June 24, 2003
Generations of Atmores celebrate their history
Santa Paula News
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula TimesGenerations of Atmores celebrated their history and each other at a special reunion that recreated a longstanding family custom.The May reunion was held on a Ventura ranch and drew just under 100 members of the Atmore family tree.“The family hasn’t had a reunion since 1984,” said Richard Atmore, the family historian.Family photos of reunions from days past - including those dating back to the early 1900s - were among the photographic history of the family on display at the reunion, this family tree branching out over an 18-foot long board tracing the family from 1680 to today. “The youngest on the board was my year-old granddaughter,” who was unable to make the event.“When I was a kid there used to be lots of reunions on the old family ranch,” but as the family spread out across the country, some relatives died and others grew ill, the traditional family reunion stopped.The first American Atmores were pioneers who left England in 1843 for the United States: Matthew Atmore, Richard’s great-great-grandfather, settled in Michigan where he worked for the railroad after trying to recreate his English farming experience. He finally found success as a farmer.Most of his sons - there were 11 children in all - traveled to California in the early 1850s to try their luck in the Gold Rush. “Richard Atmore fell in love with some gal in the Gold Country” and after they married in the early 1860s the couple lived in Placerville and then moved to the Santa Paula area. “I’m not sure of the specific date of when they moved here, but the descendents of Richard Atmore do still live here,” as do the descendents of Richard’s two younger brothers - one Richard Atmore’s grandfather - who had settled in the Santa Clara River Valley by 1880.Richard Atmore - who with his sisters started planning the reunion early this year - notes that a reunion photo circa 1918 or 1919 was a challenge. “I identified about 50 percent of the 50 posing,” for the group shot.
