I am the Great, Great, Great Granddaughter of Allen Irvine Bard and Mary Bard, the Great, Great Granddaughter of George and Martha Troutman Bard, I am the Great Granddaughter of Henry Clay and Annie Devers Bard, I am the Granddaughter of Lum and Mahala Bard Logan, I am the daughter of William and Ann Logan Allen, I am Kathleen Allen Rogers Garrison.

This is the way I introduced myself back in 1993, at the first Bard Family Reunion. I wanted everyone to realized the history and lineage of each and everyone present at the reunion. As a family I wanted everyone to know the history and how we all connected.

My journey into the genealogy of the Bard Family, started sometime before my grandmother died in 1990. I had a conversation with my grandmother Mahala Bard Logan, regarding the names of her parents and grandparents. She told me about her parents and as much as she could remember of her grandparents. She could only remember that her grandfather’s name was George. My grandmother was a wonderful person, loving, nurturing and always there for you. But she didn’t talk about her past much. I really wished I had shone more interest, I think she might have talked more if she knew I wanted to know about the family. So I took the little info I had and started my search. I started at the library, to find out how to search the family, there I learned as an African American I had to search the white family that might have owned my family. I then looked for Bard’s at the court house in the book of wills. I found a couple of Bards, I then read their wills. The one that struck my attention was the one for James Bard and his wife’s Martha Bard. I checked the appraisal of the wills, that is where I found the names of the fourteen slaves and what they were worth. That is where I found Mary, Allen and George, my Great, Great Grandfather. It was very exciting and rewarding to have found this important document. I searched the census, slave list, marriage documents etc and found a lot of information regarding the family. I had the ability to connect and construct a tree and our lineage began.

For all of us we can connect to Mary, the oldest slave of James and Martha Bard. Allen was the slave of Martha’s sister Elizabeth Irvine. The Irvine’s homestead was next to the Bard’s. so when Mary and Allen were joined, they stayed on the Bard’s farm. Allen took the name of the Bard’s when they were freed. Because slaves didn’t have legal documents, in 1868 for marriage they had to come to the court house in Bardstown to make a Declaration of Marriage. They had to declare that they had been together as man and wife for whatever the number of years had been. Allen and Mary for twenty five years in 1868, and George and Martha for four years in 1868. Also, there were other siblings that I hope that I can search and connect to our family one day. At this time we are concentrating on the descendants of George and Martha Bard.

This year 2007, we have had a devastating hit of losses. Just in my family since 2005 until now we have lost five members of the Logan Family. A whole generation is now gone. The oldest member of the Henry Clay Bard descendants is now Bill Bard of Pontiac Michigan. The children of Mahala Bard Logan are all gone. This part of our past is lost, but we do have the future and that is what family reunions do, they keep us in touch with the future by remembering and honoring our past. My siblings and cousins are the current generation.

The 2007 Bard Family Reunion will be during Memorial Day weekend, just like the first reunion in 1993. We celebrated our kinship and honored our ancestors. We will again honor the family that we have lost and grow from the memories, love and knowledge that they have past down to us. We need to draw from the life experiences and support that we can get from each other. We are all bond together through history, blood and love.

Enjoy the website, information and pictures I have to share. Please attend the reunion in Bardstown during the Memorial Day weekend.

Love, your Family Historian