It's taken a trip across the world to Tenby to unite them, but this week three American relatives, who are descendants of a former Mayor of Tenby, finally met for the first time in the home town of their ancestors. Brothers James and Gailen Braden, from Kansas, are the great-grandsons of Andrew Steven Reed, who was Mayor of Tenby in 1857, while their great-great-grandfather, Thomas Kynaston, was owner of Caldey Island up until 1867. In 1871, Andrew Reed and his wife, Anna Maria, decided to move from their Tenby home, which is now the Imperial Hotel, and make a new life for themselves in Wakefield, Kansas, where they set up a homestead on 168 acres of prairie land, along with their nine children. Before this week, the two brothers had never met their cousin, Arizona-based Larrie Bates, with James explaining how their ancestral history in Tenby had brought the three of them together for the first time. "I first visited Tenby back in 1989, after wanting to discover more about the history of my ancestors and this wonderful town," said James, a former speaker for the Kansas House of Representatives. "On my first visit, I met the current Mayor, Sue Lane, and also former councillor, Mickey Folland, who were both very welcoming, and since then I've found it hard to resist to come back to such a lovely place," continued 70-year-old James, who is making his fourth trip to Tenby. James, along with his wife Margie, managed to convince his older brother, Gailen, and his wife, Dixie, to make the trip with them this time, and also thought it would be a nice idea to invite their cousin, Larrie, and his wife, Judy, over as well, to finally meet up in the town they descended from. "My wife and I had just returned from a long trip ourselves back in July, when James made the call to me suggesting that we all get together," recalled Larry, a retired general in the US Air Force. "Although we regularly keep in contact on the 'phone, I had never met my cousins, and I'd heard so many wonderful things about Tenby that it didn't take much for me and Judy to make our minds up to make the trip," he added. There was another surprise in store for James, on his latest visit to Tenby, when Mayor, Clr. Mrs. Lane, presented him on Tuesday evening with a plaque which commemorated a presentation made by his ancestors to the town's Methodist church. The plaque, which originated from the now demolished Methodist Church in Warren Street, was found by Mr. Philip Harris, in a workshop at his home, The Leys, Bethesda, and it was the subject of a mystery back in 2001, which the Observer helped solve. Inscribed with the words 'The heating apparatus of this chapel and school was presented by Mrs. McCulloch in memory of her father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. Reed, who were for many years worshippers at the Wesleyan Chapel in this town. Xmas 1885', it was Clr. Mrs Lane who recognised the names and made the link to James Braden. "I'm very touched by the gesture from Mrs. Lane and Mr. Harris, and will be honoured to take the plaque back to the States with me and put it up in my home," said James, on being presented with the historical plaque.