The Tolbert family reunion set for June 28-30 here in Hinesville will bring two long-lost brothers together. Melvin Tolbert, 66, formerly of Los Angeles, Calif., and his 64-year old brother, Charles (Tolbert) Rigsby, of Tampa, Fla., have never met in person. Each was given up for adoption by their birth mother; Melvin to a family friend, and Charles to an aunt.

“I first came to Georgia because my son’s wife got a job here,” Tolbert said. “My son didn’t want her to stay by herself.” Tolbert remained in Atlanta with his daughter-in-law until his son could relocate.  

When Tolbert went to get a Georgia driver’s license, he was told to go to court for a birth certificate. 

“At that point I didn’t know they had my name down as Melvin Smith,” he said. His birth mother’s surname was Tolbert, and his adoptive mother – though she didn’t tell him much about his background – did have him grow up bearing his birth mother’s last name. He went to court to get his surname legalized.

“It took eight months to correct my name. I had always gone by Tolbert,” he said. 

Not long after he procured a corrected birth certificate, Tolbert bought a new cell phone. His son programmed it for email. “One day when I looked at the phone, an email came through from someone saying ‘I think I’m your baby brother; give me a call.’ We got to talking and we kept talking.”

Tolbert said once he and his brother Charles Rigsby spend time with family at the reunion in Georgia, they plan to ride together to another family gathering in Florida.

“I can’t wait!” Tolbert said. “I talk to my brother every night. I still need to see him. I’ve never seen the people I’ve been talking to on the phone; none of my cousins, my uncles and my aunties. I need to see them.”

Tolbert, who spoke to some of his surviving aunts, was told they “remember it like it was yesterday, when my mother gave me up at the church.” Tolbert was told his birth mom wasn’t in a situation to take care of him at the time. 

“Since I’ve come down here, I’ve found out I had another brother,” Tolbert said.

Tolbert’s brother, Ralph, is deceased. Tolbert said Ralph once came out to California many years ago to look him up, but he didn’t believe they were brothers at the time. “We didn’t look anything alike.” His brother Ralph had lost Tolbert’s contact information, moving around with the military. Then his brother Charles found him.

“I’ve always known (I had a brother),” Charles Rigsby said. Rigsby’s maternal aunt raised him. He didn’t know he was a Tolbert until junior high, he said.

Rigsby said locating Tolbert wasn’t easy, as he thought his last name was Smith, which had been his brother’s legal name of record. Rigsby, with the help of his daughter – who was stationed in San Diego with the Navy – located Tolbert last fall and the two have been communicating since. 

 “I’ve sent him pictures of me,” Rigsby said. “I’ve seen his Facebook pictures.”

The brothers have learned they have some things in common.

“He loves fishing, that’s his favorite pastime,” Rigsby said of Tolbert. “I like fishing, but if I catch some, then good, if I don’t, that’s fine. It’s relaxing.”

The brothers’ cousin, Shirley White of Hinesville, first brought their story to the Courier. White said she has a similar story. White grew up in Puerto Rico, with grandparents, and her father and a stepmother, who she thought was her mother. She didn’t learn who her birth mother was until she was older, and White was 29 before she was reunited with her birth mother. White said this experience made her feel “connected” to her cousins, Melvin Tolbert and Charles Rigsby. White said the entire family is excited to have them attend the reunion.

The Tolbert family reunion initially began in 1939 as a Christmas dinner in Acree, Ga. The annual gathering evolved into a family reunion 30 years later; it’s been held in towns across Georgia, and in other states, including Florida and New Jersey, over the years.

White and her daughter, Wanda Evans, are planning the local reunion and expect more than 100 relatives to attend, some coming from as far away as Liberia. Melvin Tolbert and Charles Rigsby said they plan to bring their children and grandchildren to the reunion

White said there is no RSVP for Tolbert family members, telling them simply, “You’re all welcome.”