Evonne Newman Atkins, of Topeka, whose father Leslie Newman was from the Lawrence area, tours exhibits at the Wakarusa River Valley Heritage Museum Saturday, Aug. 5, 2017 during a Newman family reunion. Newman family descendants from around the country were celebrating their reunion in the area, where some of their distant relatives settled in the Wakarusa Valley, a strong Free State abolitionist community.

The nearly 40 people making a Saturday morning visit to the Wakarusa Valley Heritage Museum nodded or raised a hand as Martha Parker read through a list of names.

The names Parker read were those of black families who settled in the Wakarusa Valley west of Lawrence during or soon after the Civil War. Names of the earliest settlers went unrecognized by the group, but when Parker got to those of Georgie, Kiser, Logan, Mitchell and Montgomery — names of families that settled in the valley in the early 1870s — she got signs of recognition.

Though it wasn’t on Parker’s list, another name, Newman, was a prominent feature of the day’s visit. It was emblazoned on the matching green T-shirts worn by all the members of the group, who were in town for a family reunion. The visit to Lawrence and the Heritage Museum drew Newmans from as far away as Georgia, Nevada and Texas.

And there was good reason they chose Lawrence as their meeting spot. Historically, the city holds a special place in the Newman family history. Verner Newman explained that the Newmans weren’t farmers like those 19th-century Wakarusa Valley settlers Parker had talked about. They were Lawrence residents. His father and grandfather, both also named Verner Newman, lived in North Lawrence and were contractors who plastered the walls of homes and business in the community before the days of sheetrock. His childhood home was 726 Walnut, he said.

But there are also strong, historical ties between the Newmans and some of those early Wakarusa Valley settlers the museum honors. A Kiser married into the Newman family. And there were others at the reunion named Montgomery.

Parker was the executive director of the Wakarusa Valley Heritage Museum for 43 years before she retired earlier this year. She’s also authored two books on the valley’s history, including “Angels of Freedom,” which tells the story of the underground railroad the valley’s early abolitionist settlers operated to secret fugitive slaves on to Topeka and points west and north.

Many of the black valley settlers of the 1870s were former slaves who returned to farm the land they saw during their escape to freedom, Parker said. They remained a vital part of the valley until the construction of Clinton Dam forced them off their land.

Christa Montgomery, of Topeka, said she found the museum displays informative.

“It’s interesting to learn more of your family history,” she said.