In the mid-1980's we made our first trip to that fair county. We discovered the Cecil County Historical Society, next door to the court house, and learned that it would be open for one of the two days per week that the volunteers staffed it on the day we were to be there. What luck! I really had a lucky streak, because I also discovered on that trip the genealogical manuscript of Duncan Veazey, which he had written about 1896. My North Carolina family plugged right in and I was back to the first John Veazey who settled in Cecil County before 1700. Duncan had shown the birth records from St. Stephen's Episcopal Church of the immigrants to North Carolina, but left them right there.

We met Bill Veasey, well-known decoy carver, without knowing how we might be related. He told us about the Veazey ancestral home, named "Cherry Grove." This historic site is located on "Veazey's Neck" that borders "Veazey's Cove." We attempted to visit the home, and even though the historical marker states "Not open to the Public," I was family, so I knocked on the door. The owners were unfortunately not at home, so we merely took a picture and left. I did not have a name, address or telephone number for the owner.

Gov. Thomas Ward Veazey is buried in the family cemetary
located on the front lawn of Cherry Grove.

We spent a delightful Sunday afternoon touring the house and reading through a file that they keep on visitors to the home. During this afternoon visit, they told me that they had wanted to invite all the descendants of old John Veazey back to Cherry Grove for a reunion, and they thought I was organized enough to pull that off for them.