Bridges Family Reunion

Joe Shuford Bridges

Born July 15, 1888, in Cherokee County, SC to the union of Joseph S. and Adlain Norris Bridges. He grew up farming in South Carolina. Only one generation removed from slavery, he was nor permitted formal school but taught himself to read, write,a nd compute through his work.

He married Senora Thompson in 1910 and began a union that was to produce the following fifteen offspring:

Dewood                        Jessie                              Furman                         Senora

Esther                          WInifred                           Pon Junior                     Pauline

V. Esther                      Eddie Leroy                     Robert                           Eugene Franklin

Garland                         Aileen                            WIlliam Donley

He made a good living for this big family as a sharecropper in North and South Carolina durng the late 1920's and early 30's.

Following President Franklin D,. Roosevelt's "New Deal" opportunities of 1993, he set out to but enough farm equipment and stock to get a greater return for his family's labor. By doing so, he moved from getting a half share of his production to keeping two thirds of his producrion by the late 30's.

In 1943 he purchased a 70-acre farmsite innorthern Cleveland Count near Waco, North Carolina. He farmed the land for nearly 20 years before supervising the devleopment of residental community on the site.

He was a small, quiet man who believed strongly in hard work, self-confidence, and the courage to take risks to attain your goals.

Joe S. Bridges departed this life on February 22, 1973. Two years earlier he had organized the forst Joe and Senora Bridges family reunion to be held annually on the fourth Sunday in July. This family gathering continues today intheir loving memory.