This is the little that I know of my Father's antecedents. Husband, C. Allen continued to pressure me to ask my aging cousins for information going back to Scotland. After all, C. Allen was a Southerner with a Southerner's need for ancestral history; I am a Northerner and so were my parents - we looked towards the future, leaving the dead to take care of itself. That past could only make limited contributions to our present, excepting that the genetic contribution is important for it helps to shape our present and our futures. The result of my questing was that Canadian cousins, who were little concerned about their past and less about mine, gave me a copy of a family history, written by Isabel MacCallum Fuller, concerning the MacCallum family; some portions were important to me. Margaret MacCallum and James Campbell of Argyleshire, Scotland, married in 1849 and left the home land. What mattered to Isabel MacCallum Fuller was not the past in Scotland; she started her records with the departure from Scotland to a new world and a new life in Canada. So we look through history and old papers to find....

Argyleshire was the home of the Campbells and their duchy. There were other family names but the general population of the shire were Campbells - that is still true today. In the 17 hundreds, the fourth son of the ruling duke left Scotland for the New World to make a career for himself. This was an action forced on fourth sons by the English custom of primogeniture: first son inherited the family goods with attendant titles; second son opted for an army career; third son took the cloth; fourth son and any others took to the sea with a destination in mind or plans to establish some place a life of their own. Primogeniture was the custom which preserved estates intact; in other countries where it was not the rule, estates became so fractured that one could own little of anything except a splinter of a once great spread of land. So this 18th century fourth son set sail, probably from Oban, departure point for many early Scots, to make a home in Nova Scotia; that place is still heavily populated with Campbells. Joe, doing the family charts for the Ostbys and having material about the Harlans, asked me for information about the Campbell family. My reply was just what I told his Father: "Look to the encyclopedia, the history books and the atlases; there you will find us for the history of any family that endures is not the history of an individual person but the accomplishments of many sharing the same name" and, therefore, some of the same genes. The older I grow the more certain I am that the genetic inheritance is the most important driving force of successful people. (It is difficult to trace the histories of a family through old records, through wedding and birth records - if there are any - and into and beyond old cemetery plots. We must thank Florence Campbell Brown for all her patiently given hours.)

Many of the names in Isabel Fuller's chart I recognize; not because these people belong to me but because family names tend to repeat themselves, surnames and given names both. I met many of the people with the surnames which I see back in this listing; I recall many of those people telling me that we were related; then it meant nothing to me for these people were a very small part of my life: Buchanan, Reid, MacNaughton, MacKay, Wright - and on and on. First names, too, (Sonia may tell Alex that in my Father's background was an Alexander Campbell and that his Grandfather's Father's name was Campbell Alexander Harlan (he was called 'Cam' for short); so Alexander is a name appropriate to all sides of Jay's family). I am almost certain that Mrs. Fuller worked without written records; there are so many families that I do not find in the listing; there is so much information which some one thought sufficiently important that it is written in.

Finally I found the names which I recognized: Margaret MacCallum married James Campbell and came to Canada in 1849 with Flora, one year old. Lily Campbell, daughter of Margaret and James, and mother of my Father, married a Campbell, no given name in this listing. Father told me that his parents, both Campbells, were cousins. That was old hat in that part of the world and in those times for no one traveled far unless you took off to make your fortune and then came home to brag a bit - but rarely. Lily Campbell, widowed, married a MacNaughton; Margaret (Nettie) was the only child of that marriage. She married Archibald Wright.

Of his early life in Canada my Father told me a few things. Born and raised in the Township of Gray, he left me with the impression that it was not far from James Bay. (Recent information from Florence Brown tells me that the township of Grey is about 20 miles from Ailsa Craig, in Huron County - 7/7/1988.) Life then must have been difficult for Father spoke of the time that his Mother hearing a scratching at the cabin(!) door, opened it the length of a guard chain, picked up an ax and cut off the claws of the bear's paw that had been thrust inside. The shortened prints of that paw were seen in the snows of many winters. Then he told me, too, of the time during a storm when he was sitting in the cabin that he saw a ball of lightening come down the chimney of one fireplace, roll across the room and go up the chimney of the fireplace at the opposite end; a cabin that had two fireplaces. That was luxury! A ball of lightening, I have never seen; Joe tells me that he has heard tales in the South of such phenomena; but then southern storms are much different than ours. Dad, farm boy, walked far to school for a limited education; Canadian style: short in years, but not so in content. I never had cause to be ashamed of my Father's use of his education. He, farm boy, with limited opportunity for work, worked summers on farms for a hundred dollars a season, cut wood in the winter and bragged about cutting and stacking a cord of wood (that would be a standard cord not one of the lesser lengths that we buy today) in half an hour; two men, two axes and one cross-cut saw. Think of Lincoln's remark: 'a man who cuts his own wood warms himself twice'. But during a Canadian winter people needed warming; winters were long and dark and cold. Dad often broke the ice on the basin of water set out overnight so that the men could wash in the morning; it is obvious that with two fireplaces there was no kitchen range; and two fireplaces could not supply sufficient warm water for use by each member of the family. Dad spoke, too, of seeing a sister (that might have been Katie although he referred to 'Mary') who had died some time before just as he awoke in the cold of a dark morning. He looked at her for a moment and then thought of touching her to see if she was real. The moment that the thought entered his mind she began to fade. I should imagine that was when Father awoke.

By the time that I knew my aunts and uncles (because of age differences, I called many of my cousins 'aunt' and 'uncle'), the life styles had changed as the economy of Canada improved. Sarah Campbell, my Father's sister, married Peter Campbell, owner of a section of land; each son - no primogeniture here, each son was treated the same - was given a farm of a hundred sixty acres when he married - and that may have been openly my memory of some tale which my Father told. The daughters did equally well. (This may have been a mistake of memory; I really have no definite knowledge.) Peter's was a farm house that I remember. There was a Sunday parlor where Olive Stewart (first cousin once removed) and I were allowed to spend a few joyous moments playing the organ - pump type. The Campbell women were good cooks, using the products of the farms to feed their hungry; Aunt Sara used the same pie-crust recipe used by her daughter - it held together as Canadian pastry still does! I have seen Aunt Annie roll out a crust, drop the thing over her arm and reach for the pan into which it was to go; that crust hung on her arm until the pan was in the right position to receive it. Aunt Sarah had the added gift of getting two pies out of a quart of fruit. It took a great deal of work to grow, harvest, clean, cook and fill a quart (Canadian size) jar. Frugal? Yes, all of them were. Hardworking? To be sure for there were few mechanized tools; I may be wrong about the size of Peter's farm; but the impression left with me was that he started each child with a homestead of his own.)

I remember names that I do not find in the MacCallum listing; there are memories that those lost names arouse. John and Nettie Campbell, he, son of Peter and she a Ross, had their own farm, gift from Father Peter, and then came a large family. There was happiness and tragedy for that family. Two son-in-laws were killed by lightening as they unhitched their horses when a storm found them in the fields; two daughters, wives of those unfortunate farmers, died of cancer. John's barn burnt; the neighbors rebuilt it. You've seen movies of barn-raisings; that was the only insurance they could carry. The assurance was that, when they had troubles, there would be neighbors to help, and that, when the neighbors had trouble, they would do their share. From their sugar-bush came the maple syrup which I so enjoyed. Many of the twelve inch victrola records, bought by a Scot who had worked hard to earn his money and who appreciated fine music, went over to Canada to spin their last spin on the phonograph of John and Nettie. There was always laughter in that home - just an ordinary farmhouse housing extraordinary people, people who had the strength that built that nation. (Florence does not list John and Nettie nor does she list their children. I do not remember the names of the two daughters who both died of breast cancer; nor do I remember the names of their husbands (brothers) who were struck by lightening while unhitching their horses because of approaching storms.)

A barn-burning deserves a paragraph all to itself. To the farmer, the loss of his barn, its contents and, possibly, his animals was a traumatic catastrophe. Once the flames, generally caused by internal combustion, were discovered, the animals were driven from the barn; the simple fact that it might have happened in warm weather when the stock was all in the pasture could be a great advantage. Horses, I have been told, tend to struggle to return to their stalls which always represent security; cows, more docile, go where they are directed; but what about the stubborn, obstinate old bull which any farmer of affluence owned? I recall an evening when my Father saw a blaze west of the Plymouth farm house, pointing it out and saying that's so-and-so's barn. By the time that we were able to see the fire, Dad knew that it was too far along for him to reach that farm and be of any help. There would still be the barn raising; his help would then be welcomed and needed.

They, my relatives, were people interested in education. Most of them were farmers; most of their children, my cousins once removed, had a superior Canadian education - the sons returning to the farms to be progressive farmers; the daughters became teachers or nurses.

At one time or another, everybody came to visit. Such was t he custom then of middle class Americans and Canadians that when you visited relatives you brought your children; they came to visit you and they brought theirs. Beds were for the adults; children slept on the floor; meals were at any time; cleaning was forgotten; talk was endless and continued to weird hours. City folks showed off the special aspects of city life; country folks offered all the bounty of good farms. I remember a young grandson of Peter, Gordon Campbell, being amazed at the lights along Grand River; we took the lights for granted. Every Canadian came with a shopping list and devices in mind for getting things back across the border. Every time the Detroit car headed for summer visits, it carried contraband - mostly special plants that were not found in the Canadian gardens, Dad's old winter coat with its muskrat lining, recordings, books went over - no questions asked, much pleasure given.

The Wright family lived in Windsor. Archie Wright had married Dad's half sister, Nettie MacNaughton. He was an engineer on the ferry boats that carried thousand of Windsor workers to jobs in Detroit. The handwriting on the wall told everyone that the days of the ferryboats were numbered - and Uncle Archie's job with them. That was a bitter-sweet matter for even then drinking the river water, the only water available on the ferries, caused ill health. The Blue Water Bridge between Port Huron and Sarnia was a success; the tunnel came later; the Ambassador Bridge was built soon after and the ferry boats disappeared. The family moved to Detroit. The Wrights had two daughters: Ruth and Constance. Ruth Duncan and Constance Watwood still live in the metro area. I seldom see them.

Then Dad had other siblings whose names are not clearly marked in the Fuller/MacCallum genealogy: Dad's brother James and Annie of the pie-crust. (My memory is faulty for anyone a generation older than I was, I called aunt or uncle; that somewhat blurs the edges between generations.) I do not re-member seeing Uncle James - he died young of inflammation of the bowels, probably a ruptured appendix (there was no way of knowing and no cure then); cousins - Florence and Stewart. (Florence's list and dates will correct my errors.) There was Margaret who married George Fulton; she died years before George - he made a weekly pilgrimage to her grave; Flora (I knew her as an elderly elegant woman) whom, as I thought, married a Neil MacLean - they lost five (that count was according to Mrs. Fuller) children and apparently had as many who lived; Of that five I recall only Alex MacLean who married an Edith McGreary - their children: Fred, Douglas, John (Jack), Norma, Neil, Isabelle, and Ross Patterson, nicknamed Pat, - all gone to eternity, Florida (the last that I knew) or Toronto. When I see a MacLean on CBC, I notice; Pat and his wife (Gerry Stonehouse) had twins. The next time that mother was expecting, the twins brought home mumps. The results were as anticipated; the baby died before birth. They planned to adopt and they planned to adopt twins. They had a rough time finding available twins; Catholic agencies had twins for adoptions but none that they were about to place in Protestant homes. The last time those MacLeans stopped at 3535, Gerrie had the newest members of the family in tow - two four-year olds, red-headed enough to be part of the clan. These children will have a wonderful life for there is love in that family.

Lillian Campbell married Archie (Archibald?) Frazier - farmer; their children were Isabell and Kenneth; Cassie (Catherine?) married Sy (?) Chapman - farmer; they had two daughters, Vera and Leyda; their brother, Norman married a Laura Morningstar. Can you think o f a more movie-like name? It was a mid-winter wedding with a honeymoon trip to the frozen Niagara Falls. Then sister Flossie (Florence) married \Stanley Sinker, parents of Dorothy (only child) owned and lived above a family store - entrepreneur on a small scale but what a delight that store was; the molasses truly did run slowly in January. Uncle Stanley (cousin really) opened London doors for Allen and me so that we could buy Haviland china and Sterling flatware reasonably. Ada and her son, Robert, stayed home with Uncle Peter and Aunt Sarah; some one had to take care of the old folks. Aunt Sarah, over eighty, fell and broke her hip; one of her grand-daughters was a doctor and another was a nurse (Olive and Isabell Stewart) but love with what knowledge there was in those days could not keep an aged body with a broken hip alive. Then the confusion really begins for I did not know just who were of Dad's generation and who the next. Mother and Dad knew; I did not even know to ask. I do like the southern custom of making a verbal bow to the older people who are related as cousins - Cousin Rebecca, Cousin Sarah - to older friends of the family by using 'Mr.' or 'Miss' with their given name - Mr. Vic, Miss Alice, Mr. Tony, Miss Frances. That is a custom which I borrowed when my children were young.

The Campbells who lived in the London, Ontario area held family re-unions every summer in Springbank Park. There were amazing numbers of people - all related. The reunions stopped when the head count reached six hundred. We are never alone.

The number of children that died is not amazing for they were exposed to current diseases with only adequate care available. Consumption and pneumonia were common because of the problems of heating homes. To the best of my knowledge, none were deformed or deficient in any way. They were all good family people and good citizens. The line which the Campbells give to you and to your children is strong. Other than thin hair, weak fingernails, and near-sightedness, I know of no important genetic defects. Do thank with pleasure Duncan Campbell for the gift of dimples; there were none amongst the Laurencelles nor any of the Harlans. Ross Campbell, son of John and Nettie, grandson of Peter and Sarah, had a deep, deep dimple in his chin.

Dimples are beautiful! (ICH)

Alexander Campbell married Lily Campbell
children: Sarah - b. 1853, d. 1929 - buried in Ivan Cemetery
James - died young
Katie - died young
Maggie - married George Fulton - no children
Duncan - b. 11/29/1857(?); d. 12/??/1943
m. Violet Laurencelle August 17, 1909
Mary - b. unknown; m. George Forbes; died at 29
Flora - b. m. William Wright d.

Lily Campbell had sisters and brothers: From Florence Brown 7/7/88
William
Mrs. Anderson
Flora - Mrs. Neil McLean - had 9 children; 5 died of diphtheria
Mrs. Haynes
Mrs. Alex Buchanan
Mrs. Duncan Buchanan
m. William Wright - stepson: Archie Wright

Lily Campbell's second marriage, after the death of Alexander, was to Donald McNaughton (from what I heard he was worthless - but that was a stepson's opinion - Nettie McNaughton Nettie MacNaughton was his daughter) - she married Archibald Wright; they were the parents of Ruth and Constance. Ruth, an excellent typist (120 words a minute with a non-electric machine) was secretary to many of GM's executives. She for years dated a man who was his mother's sole support; mother became the problem which finally, after a try at marriage and a second try finally separated them. Ruth remained single for many years; she finally married William Duncan. Connie married a Ford man - Robert Watwood. They visited Allen and me at 3535 after Bob had had both knees replaced with stainless steel joints. I recall Nettie telling a story about an over-the-fence conversation with a neighbor, while shaking a rug by the back fence. Connie, as many children do, had cut her own hair - jaggedly. The damage had been repaired; the hair trimmings had been collected on the bathroom rug; Nettie was telling the tale of the 'shorn lamb'. That rug carried that name as long as I can recall. Nettie had a heart attack; Connie and Bob took care of her for years before her death. Uncle Archie had died before Nettie; his health having been broken by the polluted river water which the crew of the ferries drank while going back and forth across the river.

Then Florence lists in detail the family of

Peter and Sarah: parents - of nine children; Peter b. 1851 in Lord Township; d. Mar. 10, 1930, buried Ivan Cemetery in Lobo; he was the son of John Campbell and Catherine Campbell (not related); Sarah - b. 1853 in McGillivray Township, d. Oct. 5, 1929, buried in Ivan Cemetery; parents - Alexander Campbell and Lily Campbell (identical surnames, not related). Sara and Peter's children were:

John A. b. 1876; d. 1854 - m. Nettie Ross; their family -

Ross, Jeanne, nurse; two daughters who died of breast cancer;

Jeanne, nurse;

two daughters who died of breast cancer; (the latest word

from Florence Campbell Brown records one still living;

Gordon and Eileen

Lily b. 6/14/87; m. Archibald Fraser, children - Kenneth and

Isabel

James D. b. Jan. 28, 1881; m. Jan. 27, 1909; d. Jan 22, 1920

m. Annie Campbell (was she a Campbell) d. 1961 - stroke

children - Florence and Stewart

George b. 3/1882; m. Sara Acton 1/28/1911; d. 11/1941; son -

Acton Campbell - died in an auto accident in Detroit in his

early teems, buried in Alvinston, Ontario;

Alice b. ?; m. John Stewart; d. (Will Ila know?)

Isabell, nurse who m. Dan Reade, owner of a camera shop;

Olive - psychologist with an established practice;

Ila - secretary for the Hydro.

Mary Catherine (Cassie) - m. Silas Chapman -

Norman - m. Laura Morningstar; Leyda - married a dentist; she

she died in Oct. of 1988; and Vera still living

Florence - (Flossie) m. Stanley Sinker, merchant;

one daughter, Dorothy, last know living in London;

Nelson - m. Roselia Robson; at 88 is still living and in a

county home in Strathroy.

Ada - b. 4/26/1900 - one son - Robert (Bob)