The Hawley Society celebrated its 100th Anniversary since its founding – which happened to be the 90th Hawley Society Reunion – in Newtown, CT. Here the Hawley reunion attendees and speakers from Newtown gather in the lobby of the Edmond Town Hall. Edmond Town Hall was built as a gift from one of our co-founders, Mary Elizabeth Hawley (1857-1930).

Society President Linda Hawley holds the Proclamation presented by First Selectman Daniel C. Rosenthal proclaiming September 28, 2023 as “Society of The Hawley Family Day” in Newtown. Edmond Town Hall Chairperson Jennifer Guman welcomed us and holds a copy of the 1924 Hawley Society Reunion photograph; and Newtown Savings Bank president Kenneth Weinstein with our Certificate of Appreciation, announced the formation of the “Mary E. Hawley Community Service Award” beginning in 2024 and funded in perpetuity.

The three-day reunion began with Hawley Trivia night at a local restaurant closed to just us as we competed with trivia teams and questions created by genealogist, Trudy Hawley.

Friday evening dinner was at MaryGold’s on Main, the restaurant that was formerly the Hawley Manor Inn, where many past Hawley Reunions took place. Prior to that it was the home of Marcus and Sarah A. (Booth) Hawley and their four children, though Mary E. Hawley was the only one to live past childhood. The house was originally the home of the Cyrenius E. Booth family, until the Marcus and Sarah Hawley family remodeled the family homestead and moved there in 1871.

The Saturday Annual Meeting at Edmond Town Hall and happenings there will be in the December issue of the Society members-only Hawley Bulletin. Reason enough to become a member of the Hawley Society if you are not already one.

If you follow the Hawley Society on Facebook you will see many photos and read of happenings during the 90^th Reunion.

Many thanks to Reunion Chair Bronson Hawley, the previously mentioned Newtown residents, and the staff at Edmond Town Hall for ensuring we had a memorable reunion as we celebrated our 100^th Anniversary.

Celebrate The Hawley Society Centennial
September 28-30, 2023 in Newtown, Connecticut

Salute those descendants of Joseph Hawley (1603-1690) who gathered for the first Hawley Society reunion in 1923 in Bridgeport, CT. Now, 100 years later, we honor one of those founders, Mary Elizabeth Hawley, in the town where she is revered as a beloved benefactor.

This is our 90th Reunion in our 100th year. Your chance to be a part of Hawley history begins with lodging reservations at LaQuinta Inn & Suites in nearby Danbury, CT.

The “Hawley Rate” is $139/night. Use this LINK to reserve your room.

Events include a lighthearted Hawley history trivia game, touring Edmond Town Hall (a gift from Mary E. Hawley). The Town Hall will be our home base for the weekend, just 10-15 minutes from our lodging.

First Selectman Dan Rosenthal will proclaim September 29 th “Society of the Hawley Family Day” in Newtown at a brief service at Mary Hawley’s grave in the Newtown Village Cemetery. Later that day Ben Cruson and Gordon Williams of the Newtown Historical Society will speak on Mary Hawley and her impact on the town. Following that, a walking tour of downtown Newtown.

Our three days conclude with the Saturday annual meeting at Edmond Town Hall, followed by a catered lunch (details to come). After free time, dinner is at Gallo Restaurant next to LaQuinta Inn & Suites.

Even more surprises will be coming on the weekend. Our 90th Reunion in our Centennial year promises to be a Hawley Society Reunion you just can’t miss.

REGISTRATION FORM (pdf)

Questions? Please email us at hawleyfamilysociety@gmail.com and we’ll get back to you as quickly as possible.

The 89th Reunion of the Society of the Hawley Family, our first in-person reunion since 2019 due to the pandemic, was a fun learning experience for all in Gettysburg, PA. Hawley Society members arrived from 15 of these United States to learn about the war that, for a time, tore our country apart.

For three days in October we did everything from dining at General Pickett’s to almost a submersion into the Civil War. Our tour guide for a day reignited whatever we learned in our early years about the war that often pit brother against brother.

The weather cooperated as we covered the hallowed Gettysburg Battlefield and ended up with a tour of the Jennie Wade House. Jennie Wade was the only woman to die in the Battle of Gettysburg.

As we wrapped up the 89th Reunion at the Annual Meeting, there were presentations by 12 members who spoke with reverence, pride, and emotion about their ancestors who served in the Civil War.

Next year, for our 100th Anniversary of the Hawley Society, and the 90th Reunion, we are off to Newtown, Connecticut in late September. (For various reasons for 10 years there were no reunions). Maybe wartime, also the pandemic, and other reasons. We hope to see you in 2023 for our Centennial year.

Not a member yet? Go to our Membership page and sign up to receive our quarterly Hawley Bulletin and your invitation to our next reunion.

The 89th Society of Hawley Family Reunion will be held from Thursday, October 13 through Saturday, October 15, 2022 in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

Lodging: Quality Inn Gettysburg Battlefield
Call 717.334.1103 and ask for “Reservations for Hawley Reunion (Hawley rate).” You may visit  www.choicehotels.com/reservations/groups/KG22H9 , but it is probably best to call for reservations.

Registration Form (pdf)

Thursday, October 13, 2022
Afternoon on your own depending on arrival time.
Thursday Hawley dinner location will be arranged closer to October 13, when we have firm counts on attendees.

Friday, October 14, 2022
Breakfast at Quality Inn, included with lodging.
10:00 am – Charter Bus picks guests up at the Battlefield Quality Inn on Steinwehr Ave.

10:15 am – Arrive at the Gettysburg National Park Military Park Visitor Center.  

Begin the Museum Experience.   

11:15 am – Film & Cyclorama time
12:00 pm – Lunch on your own. You can eat at the Refreshment Saloon or the

Grab & Go Café located in the Visitor Center Lobby.

1:00 pm – Begin 2-hour Battlefield Tour with Licensed Battlefield Guide on Board
3:00 pm – Return Guide to the Visitor Center and depart for Jennie Wade House.
3:15 pm – Begin tour of the Historic Jennie Wade House.
4:15 pm – Return to the Battlefield Quality Inn.
Costs for tours, admission fees to be determined (per person) when we have firm number on attendees. Tour bus charge differs for 25- or 45-passenger bus. Dinner will be arranged for the group close to the Gettysburg Battlefield Quality Inn.

Saturday, October 15th
Breakfast at Quality Inn.
11:30 Hawley Society Annual Meeting in the Quality Inn “breakfast room”
 All attendees are invited to talk for 3 minutes about your Civil War
ancestor. Your ancestor could have served for the North or the South, in
Gettysburg or anywhere in the Civil War. Your ancestor could be a Hawley
or not. Whatever we hear will be enriching for everyone. If you wish to
show images, make an enlargement of your personal photo, if you have
one.
We will not be using projectors and other A-V equipment.
– Officers and committee chairs, as needed, will give reports.
We will arrange for a catered lunch to be provided during a break in our meeting.
– Hawley Store – merchandise with Hawley coat-of-arms
– Group photo at end of meeting (or before).

Group dinner arrangements will be finalized closer to the Reunion date. For any questions, please contact Society President Linda Hawley at hawleyfamilysociety@gmail.com.

The 88^th Hawley Society Reunion goes virtual for 2021

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2019 Reunion settled in where Joseph Hawley
first settled – Stratford & Trumbull CT in October 2019

The 87^th Reunion of the Hawley Society took place in Trumbull, Connecticut, not far from Stratford, where our ancestor Joseph Hawley settled in or around 1627 – 1630.  (One day we may be able to verify.)  We shared our time trekking where Hawleys lived and worked for centuries in both Stratford and Trumbull.

Reunion co-chair (and former Society president) Joseph S. Hawley enlisted the help of his wife Susan in planning the lodging, events and dining spots. Though there was some rain, Hawley descendants were not to be deterred. We may have gotten lost, but we found our way eventually. Imagine the 1600s without GPS or even maps.

(L to R: Susan Hawley, R. James Hawley, Mary Hawley Eddy, Linda D. Hawley, David Eddy, Joseph Hawley (first cousins and two spouses).

The long weekend began with an extended Happy Hour on Thursday at the Trumbull Marriott on, of course, Hawley Road.

Hawley descendants came from two countries and 12 states – from the East, South, Midwest, Southwest, and West.

Mayor Laura Hoydick helped us kick off the 3 days by presenting a proclamation declaring October 5, 2019 “Joseph Hawley Day” in Stratford.

Society president Linda Hawley presented the Stratford Historical Society with an original 1883 program booklet celebrating the 63th birthday of Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman at the Portland in Washington DC.  It was signed by numerous notables in attendance, including Senator Joseph Roswell Hawley.

The printed program was a gift to be given by The Hawley Society to the Stratford Historical Society by Mrs. Paul R. Hawley, wife of Gen. Paul Ramsey Hawley.

The Ephraim Hawley House, a colonial saltbox house in Trumbull. Though exact date is unknown, records show farmer Ephraim Hawley who married Sarah Welles, granddaughter of Connecticut Colony Governor Thomas Welles, built it between 1683 and 1690.

Mac Harbor, where Joseph Hawley landed in Stratford in the 17^th century.

Many thanks to both the Trumbull and Stratford Historical Societies for their knowledge, interest, speakers, tours, and everything planned to give us a meaningful time in their towns. They even offered many local dining spots.

The Annual Meeting featured Hawley descendant, Kerry S. Wood, 29^th District Representative to the Connecticut General Assembly who presented “Hawleys in the Connecticut Legislature” – and there were and are many.

We were all so grateful and charmed by Joe and Susan Hawley who were our 87^th Reunion co-chairs. They thought of everything during the planning of our events from Thursday evening through Saturday evening.

Sadly, just 5 months later, the unimaginable happened when Joseph S. Hawley, former Society president, contracted the COVID-19 coronavirus and passed away on April 2, 2020 at the age of 67. Joe was so full of fun and quickly embraced everyone he met, making the news even more shocking to all. Whether those who met him for the first time at the Reunion or those who have known him for many years as a close relative or a distant one, it was a reality that was difficult to grasp.

Both the Trumbull and Stratford Historical Societies just could not believe this person they felt they had known for years was gone so soon.  The Society mourns Joe’s passing and offers support to Joe’s wife Susan, his three children and their families.

In Memory of Frederick William Hawley, III

In September 2019, we lost another former Hawley Society president, Frederick William (Bill) Hawley, III, at age 88. He and his wife Valeska rarely missed a Hawley Reunion until health issues kept them from our gatherings. He had a distinguished career to match the distinguished man he was.

Bill Hawley served our country as a Ranger in the U.S. Army, a member of the Central Intelligence Agency, in the White House as Assistant Director to the Council of International Economic Policy. In 1975, he moved to the private sector, where he rose to serve as Director of International Government Relations at Citibank, N.A. until his retirement in 1998. 

Bill served on the Boards of several professional and community organizations, including 10 years as Hawley Society president.

We thank all of his family for sharing Bill with us for so many years.

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Windsor, Litchfield Hills and Lyman Beecher:

we came, we saw, we learned.

Another great Hawley Society Reunion thanks to Barbara Hawley and Janet Hawley Sosnicki, sisters and our local co-chairs.

We toured the New England Air Museum, had a walking tour of Windsor, After a lunch break (on one of the first official settlements in Connecticut

A bus tour to Litchfield Hills in northwestern Connecticut landed us at the Litchfield Historical Society for a guided walking tour of the important sites in town, focusing on the Lyman Beecher family who lived in Litchfield while Lyman was pastor of the Congregational Church.

Bussed on to Norfolk and a private tour of the Battel Chapel, known for its stained glass windows, some of which were designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany. Next, the Pond Town cemetery where the Austin Hawley family is buried. On to Colebrook, and the “Church in the Wildwood” and Colebrook General Store, known as the oldest continuously operating general store in Connecticut.

On the trip back we stopped at the scenic Barkhamsted Reservoir for photos.

The final day was the annual meeting in Matthies Hall at the Oliver Ellsworth Homestead in Windsor.  Genealogist Trudy Hawley provided a presentation on Lyman Beecher and family and the Harriet Beecher Stowe connection to the Hawley family. The Connecticut DAR guides took us through the Oliver Ellsworth home.  Plans are for the next reunion in Fairfield County, CT in the area where Joseph Hawley settled in the 1630s.

The best part of the reunion is, of course, getting to meet and renew new and old family members from Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New York, Virginia, Illinois, Arizona, Washington, California, Texas,  Minnesota, Oregon, and Ontario, Canada.

 

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