Family gathered in 1981 at the St. Augustus AME Zion Church

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Borden/Cobb Family Reunion August 1, 2014 to August 3, 2014 Returns to Ancestral Homeplace – Kinston, North Carolina
Kinston, North Carolina, June 20, 2014 – BORDEN/COBB Family Reunion for descendants of Ben Holden, his son Joshua Borden and his sister (name unknown) mother of Annie Vashti Delamar who married Thomas Battle.
The Borden and Cobb Families are planning a Family Reunion in Kinston, North Carolina – August 1, 2014 to August 3, 2014 headquartered at the Hampton Inn on Route 70. The Borden and Cobb Families share a common ancestor in Ben Holden (1795). These families enjoy an ancestry dating back to 1795 in Kinston and New Bern.
Joshua Borden(1825 – 1900), son of Ben Holden was one of the founders of St. Augustus African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in 1865. Descendants of Joshua played important roles in the development of that Christian institution. Joshua was also a leading advocate for education and the formal schooling of Black children. He saw to it that all of his children were educated and all of them could read and write. Even under the scourge of slavery Joshua learned to read and write and used the bible not only to learn and teach the word of the Lord but to learn and teach the basics of reading and writing to his children and others. The offspring of Joshua and Judah Austin Borden (his wife) were outstanding citizens of Kinston. They included Edward, Joshua, Peter, Susan, Sarah Frances and John Louis. In addition to being staunch supporters and officers of the church, Joshua, Judah and their children were ministers, carpenters and merchants in Kinston and Goldsboro. Some of their descendants also settled in Little Washington. Subsequent generations have settled in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Florida, California and many other localities. Over time many family surnames have been adopted including: Borden, Moore, Patrick, Wooten, Strong, Battle, Cobb, Hubbard, Collier, Kendall, Green, White, Christian, Anderson, Frazier, Jones, Smith, Evans, Bell, Marshall, Graham, Duffy and many others.
Ben Holden also had a daughter (the sister of Joshua) although her name has been obscured in the vagaries of time, her daughter’s name was Annie Vashti Delamar (Battle) who married Thomas Battle. Annie lived in New Bern with her husband, Thomas Battle, one of the early pastors at the historic St. Peters African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, the first AME Zion church in the south, founded by Bishop James Walker Hood in 1864. One of Annie’s Children, Sophie Battle (who attended the first family reunion in 1982) married Moses P. Cobb (the first African American police officer in NY) and thus the Cobb Family name.
Family and friends are welcomed to join us in a weekend of celebration and activities. All are invited to the worship service at St Augustus, the ancestral family church, on Sunday, August 3, 2014 at 11 am. A ticketed brunch will follow the service.
Local Event contact Charles Cobb, Jr. 252-468-1583.
Contact:
Committee Chairperson
Susan Borden Evans
suebeewrites@gmail.com
http://www.virtualbordens.com
215-878-5442
Local Committee Chairpersons
Charles and Martha Cobb
Martha_jc@yahoo.com
252-268-3527
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