Three scholarships to be awarded at 115th Bevis Family Reunion in Bascom

9/11/08

Descendants of William Langley Bevis (1791-1870) and Jennie Palmer Bevis (1801-1882) will gather at the Bascom Town Hall at 10:00 a.m. (CDT) on Saturday, September 20 to celebrate the 115th Bevis family reunion according to Diane Johnson, president of The Ancestral Family Association of William Langley Bevis.
At the Bevis Family Reunion, scholarships will be awarded to three recipients: Amy Bevis, Samantha Southerland and Taylor Wiatt.
Each recipient will receive $1,000 from the The Ancestral Association of the William Langley Bevis Scholarship Fund. All are direct descendants. All have demonstrated high academic achievement, exceptional leadership in extra curricular activities and uncompromising. moral character.
Amy Ann Bevis, of Fort Meade, FL is a sophomore at the University of South Florida in Tampa. She also had the honor of being awarded last year’s first scholarship. Her parents are Hugh Thomas and Sharon Bevis.
Samantha Denise Southerland, of Panama City, FL, is a freshman at Gulf Coast Community College. Her parents are Steve and Susan Southerland.
Taylor Carol Wiatt, of Orlando, FL, is a senior at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. Her parents are Wayne and Ramona Wiatt.
This year the program will include a skit featuring the re-enactment of William Langley Bevis, his wife Jennie Palmer Bevis and all their children.
Bevis Family members will gather at 10:00 a.m. (CDT) in the Bascom town hall for a business meeting followed by a covered dish dinner.
Historic records show that the Bevis family patriarch was born in Virginia in 1791, lived in South Carolina for 24 years (1818-1842), and became a Jackson County resident in 1855. Since establishing homesteads in Northwest Florida in the mid-1800s the number of Bevis descendants has grown to an estimated 7,000 individuals.
The original Bevis family and its descendants played a central role in the formation and history of Bascom United Methodist Church and the town of Bascom, which was named after the church.