When my cousin's Shoun-Shown-Shawn Family Association Newsletter arrived this week, I read with interest about the 2006 family reunion.

The 2006 SH-N Cousins Roundup was in Prineville, Ore., with an attendance of more than 136 family members from Oregon, Maryland, Washington, Tennessee and other states.?

If a prize were given to those who traveled the greatest distance, then it would have gone to the two family members who came from England.

This association is very special to me because it was started in Duncan in 1987 by my brother and sister-in-law, Curtis and Linda Shawn.

As a Shawn family researcher I made contact with the Tennessee branch and supplied my sister-in-law with some names; she contacted them. They in turn contacted others. When we all gathered we had family members from many states.?

The first business meeting was held in Duncan. From there it grew into this family association that holds reunions every year.

As an avid Shawn family researcher, I research all lines including Shoun and Shown, but mainly collect anything pertaining to Andrew Baker Shown, the grandson of the founder of the Tennessee Shouns, Leonard Shown and my husband's great grandfather.

Leonard Shown (Shoun) and Barbara Schlemp walked into eastern Tennessee in 1792. Leonard and Barbara had married in Wythe County, Va., (now Washington County, Va.) on Aug. 14, 1792.?

John S. Shown was born June 28, 1793, in what is now Johnson County, Tenn. John's oldest son, Andrew Baker Shown, who moved to Texas after having moved his family to Blount County, Tenn., established the family in Texas.?

Other members of this large Tennessee family also moved to Texas. Today you will find those who spell the surname Shown, Shawn and Shoun. It was the descendants of Andrew who have been credited with changing the surname spelling to Shawn.?

The association has accomplished many things since its formation in 1987. We have our own Web site at shoun.net/index.html.

The Web site contains a history of the family association from its formation in 1987 to about 1999 and a list of all the places we have had reunions through 1999. But it needs to be updated.?

By accessing the Leonard Shoun section you will find a listing for all 17 children, including the names of their spouses. The forms section includes a membership form and a form for the applicable reunion. The 2007 reunion information has not been included to date. There also is a link to the genealogical society of Johnson County.

The Johnson County society Web site, www.jctcuzins.org, contains the original Johnson County, Tenn., genealogy page for those who have ancestors in the area. It is a great site and fun to just browse through to see what is offered.?

It has 303 cemeteries listed, with new ones periodically added. Obituaries are listed on the site and a search engine is provided for the site as well as the Web.

The SH?N Family Association has done some very remarkable things I am extremely proud of and would like to share as an incentive to other families. Ed Miller, our family historian, has compiled more than 30,000 names in our database for members of this family. Books have been written for each one of the 17 children in this large family and more data is being accumulated daily.

Money has been set aside for the maintenance and restoration of the cemeteries in Mountain City, Tenn., where family members are buried. New headstones have been purchased or restored. Lots of time and money has been donated to make this possible.

The association has donated $10,000 to the building fund of the Johnson County Library in Mountain City, Tenn. These funds are to be used for the construction of a genealogy room at the library in the names of Leonard and Barbara Shoun.

Members who contribute $100 to this fund will have their name placed on a plaque that would be placed in the library's genealogy room.

What better legacy to leave your descendants than an ongoing history of their family that is written and can be shared with other family members at reunion time each year.?

The 2007 SH?N Family Reunion will be held in Memphis on July 13-15. More information will be added at a later date.

When sending in queries or sharing information, write to: Relatively Speaking, P.O. Drawer 1058, Norman, OK 73070 or e-mail Darlene Shawn at Djshawn 636@aol.com.