On Saturday, July 8th, Special Collections and Archives (SCA) had the pleasure of attending “Cain Cousin Connection: Reconnecting Cain History and Honoring Carolyn Creech Cain and our greatest Cain Generation” in Cana, North Carolina. Our connection to this event is the Cana General Store and Cain Family Papers that are part of the Personal Collections & Manuscripts holdings in SCA. Planned and hosted by Ina Kamenz and her husband Donald (who also donated the aforementioned collection to SCA), the whole day event served as a family reunion, a history lesson, and a chance to honor family members who have passed. We were asked to represent the papers of the family business during the two hour history session, along with family members and presenters on topics such as Ancestry.com, family scrapbooks, and neighboring Eaton’s Baptist Church.

I cannot express enough how wonderful, joyful, and fascinating the entire day was. Approximately fifty family members gathered at Ina’s house (and even more joined via Zoom) for a well scheduled day of activities. The house is part of the extensive land owning of the family (as displayed on a land map hanging in the garage), upon which the Cana General Store is also still standing. I spoke about our holdings and how we preserve these materials for future generations. I was also able to interact one on one with family members as I displayed manuscript materials relating to the General Store and Post Office. Every person I spoke with told me more about the family members, the land we were on, and the business the family ran. I was excited to meet a representative from Eaton’s Baptist Church (where some of the early Cain family members worshipped and are buried) as we have the Eaton’s Baptist Church manuscript collection in our holdings as part of the NC Baptist Historical Collection. This church’s records date back to 1758.

After the presentation sessions, there was time for me to visit the general store and post office, situated at the and of the driveway close to the house. The family has done an incredible job of preserving the structure, and keeping the interior as it was when the store was operating. After speaking with so many family members about their remembrances of the store and the loved ones who ran it, it was the perfect endcap for me to be able to go inside and see it.

I am honored to have been a part of such a joyous and important day. I learned so much from the other historians and family members. It was a pleasure to see so much enthusiasm for the deep roots this family has in Cana, NC for so many generations. Seeing such a commitment to honoring the past made me proud of the work we do in Special Collections & Archives as stewards of such rich and important historical documents. I thank the family for trusting us to help preserve their legacy. More pictures of the day can be found here, and I am happy to chat more with anyone about my experience.