On August 11, 2001, in Beetown, Wisconsin, over 250 descendants of Conrad & Maria Napp gathered for a reunion to celebrate Conrad and Maria's 180th anniversary and the Napp/Knapp family.  Cousins who had met before rekindled old friendships, and those that hadn't made new ones.  Kin who had become friends through e-mail finally met face-to-face.  It was a memorable day full of excitement and shared family stories.

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The reunion officially kicked-off on Saturday with a media presentation by  Bruce Johnson, a descendant of Conrad Napp 2.  Through slides, films, and charts, Bruce shared with us his trip to Werlau, Germany, the birthplace of Conrad, Maria and their nine children.  His presentation was an emotion-filled experience that touched the hearts of all and culminated in a spectacular arrangement of slides accompanied by the music of Robert Schumann (2nd movement from "Rhenish").  Bruce took us to Werlau and brought us intimately in touch with the homeland of our ancestors, and we thank you, Bruce.

Eighty-six year old Virginia (Bartlett) Blumer was the oldest Napp/Knapp descendant to attend the reunion.  She comes from Charles' line.  

More photos to come

On Sunday, we visited the burial sites of our ancestors:

The gravestones of Conrad (left) and Maria Margaretha (right) at Hurricane Cemetery in Hurricane, South Lancaster.  

 Annie Lewis reads the inscription on the stone of Charles and Rebecca (Kauffman) Napp.