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I hope to get a full page of photos up to document the Campbell family members. I just have to find time to scan them all in, but will do that shortly. This page is still "a work in progress."
John
Wesley Campbell was born in Spurgeon, Indiana on October 28, 1866.
He was the second oldest of five boys and four or five girls (not
positive on siblings) born to Andrew Abner Campbell and Caroline
Fowler/Campbell. It must have been during the 1880's that the family migrated from Indiana to Missouri, traveling by wagon across Illinois, and on to the great Mississippi River.
This was a treasured photo that belonged to my grandmother. It is of Caroline [Fowler] Campbell, her Campbell grandmother; Caroline's daughter Emma, granddaughter Mamie, and Mamie’s (?) son. This son was killed fighting in WWII. Since this grandmother died [at age 82] in 1929, this photo was taken prior to that.
John often told his children of crossing the great bridge at St. Louis. This bridge had been built by James Eads, a famous bridge builder, and completed in 1874. It was hailed as a new world wonder, as it allowed people to cross the river on one level, and the railroad on another. The
city of St. Louis was suffering in it's efforts to compete with Chicago,
as the rails could not cross the Mississippi, so the great bridge
builder was called in to solve their problem.
His feat of masonry construction went nearly 130 feet below the
river into the bedrock, and when the wonder was completed President
Ulysses S. Grant was on hand for the dedication. With
the growth the city had seen since then, it was no wonder John spoke of
it taking the family an entire day to get through St. Louis, it was so
large. You can imagine the
hustle and bustle, the comings and goings of large wagons carting goods
to their destinations, and the ensuing confusion as families such as the
Campbell's, unused to the city traffic, attempted to cope with it all as
they made their way through the city streets. (At
this time we know that Dora Annis Compton was born in Potosi, Missouri,
but don't know what age she left there, or when John Campbell settled in
Mountain View, Missouri.) John
and his older brother Wiley were good rifle shots, and much time in
their early years was spent hunting and fishing. One
year they received for Christmas an axe.
Both were young, but could climb to the tops of some nearby
trees. They devised a game.
One would climb to the top of a tree while the other chopped, and
the one in the treetop would ride the tree to the ground.
This worked several times, with first one getting to ride, and
then the other--it was a lot of fun!
At least, until John was in the treetop, and began losing his
hold, and started slipping down the tree trunk.
He hollered to his brother that he was slipping, but Wiley kept
on chopping. And, when he
was rescued, they found the tree had almost severed John's left leg.
It left a scar he carried to his grave.
Injuries in those days often resulted in death, and with such a
wound he could have easily bled to death.
He must have had a strong constitution, and a strong will. They
used muzzle-loading rifles at that time, and had only one shot at a
target. John was fond of
telling about a day he was out hunting by himself when he spotted a
turkey, but thought it was probably out of range.
And, even if it wasn't, it was so near being out of range it
would be a very difficult shot. Always
eager to test his skill, he decided to try.
He killed the turkey, and counted out one hundred steps from
where he fired, a very respectable distance. He
spoke of working for 50 cents a day, sunup to sundown, as a young man,
and of walking 20 miles to a square dance on Saturday, and be back to do
the chores Sunday morning. "I
never heard him discuss his grandfather", Olan relates, "or
any uncles or aunts. But,
it seems his grandfather raised a second family.
And, after he died, all property went to those survivors.
My great-grandfather was left out.
The estate contained some valuable oil land when developed." About
his mother's family, Olan reports, "Apparently, Grandpa (James
Frank Compton) had moved to Mountain Dale, as that is where Aunt Ella
(Mary Ella) raised her family of girls and one son, Frank Todd. But, Mother and Dad were married there, and on a later trip
after World War II, Kay and I took them to Mountain Dale, and Dad showed
me where they spent their first night.
The old building was still there."
One
Halloween, some boys removed the pole, and placed it on the water tower (
a large tower with a tank on top to hold water that could be speedily
put into a train to create steam).
John decided to just leave it there--said it was seen by more
people there, than where he'd had it! Photo left: John W. Campbell, my great-grandfather. The children (they'd had five) were all small then--Alva, Lola, Oscar, and Frank. Virgil Wayne had died and was buried in Mountain Dale. This was in 1901. Dora
Annis had a full sister (Laura Compton/Smith) and brother (John Compton)
living in Indian Territory (Oklahoma).
She corresponded with her sister often, as they'd been very close
growing up, and she soon
felt she wanted very much to visit her.
Rather than make the trip on the train, which would have been
much softer, faster, and cheaper, John hired a man to take them in a
covered wagon! Now this was
a trip of about 400 miles, and thirty or forty days, at least, by wagon.
And, although she may not have known when she left, Dora was
pregnant. John
had hoped and planned that if work was good in Indian Territory, they'd
just stay there, but he was unable to find any work at all, and soon
they were faced with being very low on funds, Dora had had her child,
Delphia, and they had no money to buy train tickets to get home to
Missouri. John, ever the horse trader, found a farmer with a cotton
crop in the field. He
talked him into letting them take it off his hands for the cash he had. So, they all picked cotton,
and John sold it for enough money for them to ride the train back
to Mountain Dale. They
gained no money from their experience, but had a great adventure, and
another daughter. Delphia
was born in Indian Territory September 6, 1901, the only one of their
children not born in Missouri.
After
settling down again in Mountain View, Hazel was born August 18, 1903.
They must have moved to Birch Tree shortly after Hazel was born.
Most of the older children "took" their schooling
there, and Lola finished high school there.
None of the boys finished high school.
Most only finished the eighth grade.
In those days there wasn't too much pressure on kids going to
school, or the value of a good education.
Being able to work and earn a little money seemed more important.
In little towns there were not many opportunities.
Olan remembers "When I was 10 or 11 years old, I shined
shoes for spending money. I
could make three or four dollars a week, which was a lot, considered to
what others my age could make." "My
mother was fond of telling me this story", Olan relates.
"The folks lived on a farm at the time I was born in 1906.
I must
have been a week or two of age when, one day, Mother laid me on a pallet
on the front porch and gave Lola instructions to watch over me.
When Lola gets her nose in a book, it takes more than a
crying baby being mauled around in the mud to get her attention! My mother, happening to hear me crying, rushed out and
rescued me. How it
happened, the tail of my long dress that they (babies) wore in those
days, had dropped over the edge of the porch.
And, the old sow got hold of it.
The dress probably made it difficult for a good place to bite.
That was my first experience at a close call." "Mother
said another time, they were going to town with a team of horses and a
wagon. I guess Dad could
never handle a team, and never learned to drive a car.
Well, he managed to turn this wagon over into a pile of rocks.
Mother said it was all she could do to keep me from hitting my
head." "I
remember a few incidents at Birch Tree", Olan tells,
"especially going out to Uncle Silas' (Dora's older brother) when
his son died. They had
him laid out on some boards placed on two chairs.
The first dead person I ever saw.
They placed pennies on the eyes--I noticed that.
There seemed to be quite a number of people there for the
funeral. Outside, they had a large jar of Lemonade sitting in the
shade of a tree. I looked
at the color, and I guess I thought it was something else.
I was the only one around, so I 'relieved myself'.
Then I went and told Mama what I did.
She said, 'Olan, you couldn't have!'
But, yes, I did. I 'peed' in the lemonade!
I finally convinced them to the point that no one drank any of
it. I don't know why I told
them." The
family was only on the farm a year or two, and then moved into town.
One morning at breakfast after they moved into the town of Birch
Tree when Howard was a baby, his Mama was holding him in one arm
and pouring boiling hot coffee with her free hand.
One of the older kids, trying to get up on a bench (or board
between two chairs, or boxes, to have enough seating), knocked Dora's
arm enough to spill the hot coffee on Olan's left arm. He was wearing a
wool sweater, and when they moved the sweater, the flesh came with it.
Dora said that for two weeks Olan cried and kept her awake.
That happened in February, 1910, when he was four.
Uncle
Joe Campbell (John Wesley's brother) was a good storyteller.
On a visit to him about the close of World War II, in Visalia,
California, he told Olan of a turkey shoot near Birch Tree.
This was where they shoot a target.
Each contestant contributed a dime--enough to pay a dollar for
the turkey. He said that
either John or Wiley would win the turkey every time they shot the
target, and they finally barred both of them from shooting.
Pete (Alva, John's oldest son) was about ten or twelve years old,
and he said 'Let me shoot!', so they let him use a 'rest' for the gun,
as it was too heavy for him to hold up. Pete won the turkey, and that ended the turkey shoot--and all
the future ones, for all of
them, at least." John
did pretty well in Birch Tree, financially--had a big family, had his
own shop, did the watch repair during the In
September, 1911, when they moved to Seymour, Olan remembers he was five
years, 1 month, and 11 days old.
The older boys weren't at home, much, by this time.
It was mostly Frank, and Howard, and Olan. The girls were in school, and Lola went on to college.
And, about that time, Oscar and Pete were learning the barber
trade. Photo right: Lola Campbell [on right] at 12 years of age with one of her Todd cousins, I believe.
Many
of the Campbell children remembered the town of Seymour, and their youth
there, with great fondness. It
was a small town, of less than 1,000 people.
The business section of town was built in a square, with a park
in the center. The park had
a well with a hand-powered water pump, maple trees, and grass that was
always green until frost. Their
memories of childhood could probably be repeated in many similar towns
across America in the early years of the 20th Century.
They always had something to play, and each thing had it's own
season. They played marbles
for keeps, and then it was "top" season.
Everyone had their own tops.
Some would have leaded tops, heavier than the average, which
could sometimes split the others in two.
They'd use the same ring they'd used for marbles, and spin a top
in the ring. If a top
stayed in the ring, you'd try to hit it out with another top.
Then it would be kite season.
They'd sometimes tie several spools of twine together to get the
kites really high, then send a note up the string, to eventually get to
the kite, high in the sky. In
summer it was swimming season. Just
as soon as they had the first warm days, and the grass started growing,
it was new overalls and shirts for the boys, barefoot season, and a
haircut. They'd cut all
their hair off, and then let it grow all summer, not cutting again until
just before school started, when it was all grown out.
Most of them had bikes, and they rode them a lot in summer.
Sometimes John would trade watches for bikes.
They had to be pretty good at fixing them up.
Insert spokes, work over the coaster brake, or whatever was
needed. In
the fall and winter it was hunting or ice skating that provided fun. All
of them enjoyed ice skating, but Olan enjoyed ice skating more than
anything else. In the
winter of 1916, winter was very cold for some time.
There came a very heavy ice storm of two or three inches.
Olan skated off the front porch, down the road, all the way to
school. The school yard was
like a lake and remained that way for several weeks.
During that time he was never hungry enough to go home for lunch,
he just skated. All
afternoon, and as long as he could skate until almost dark.
Then he would get hungry, and head for home. After supper, his sisters Hazel and Delphia would fuss over
who would wash dishes or dry, and then if it was real cold, when they
all went to bed, Mother would heat an iron, wrap it up, and put in to
their feet, as they slept together in one bed. John,
usually up early, would arrange the heater so the heat would last until
the rest of the family arose in the morning.
He'd make a fire in the cook stove and walk 3 or 4 blocks to the
butcher shop and buy a quarter's worth of pork chops, steak, or other
meat. It was always meat,
eggs, biscuits and gravy, with fruit or jelly for breakfast, and coffee,
of course. The boys had to
have their "Sookum", sweetened coffee over biscuits." Uncle
Joe was living in Seymour when they got there.
He had a secondhand furniture business.
And, he seemed to be quite successful.
They rented one of the nicest houses in town. His oldest son, Glen, about the same age as Olan, started
school with him--their first day in the first grade.
When they were "let out" for recess, the two boys went
over to Glen's house, where they played with his toys.
He had a lot of them, compared to what Olan had at home.
Not long after, however, Joe and his family had already moved to
Springfield, Missouri. Uncle
Joe had learned the barber trade and worked there (Springfield), before
moving to California. There
was no city water in Seymour when the Campbell family moved there, and
water was obtained in town by carrying it by hand from the pump in the
City Park. John W. Campbell
decided that if he had a tank large enough, and could arrange a gutter
system from the two-story building, it could be piped into the building,
which would solve the problem of not having adequate water for his
barber shop. Since the
barber shop had such a high ceiling, he had a trestle built to hold a
large tank in the space below the ceiling, and then waited for it to
rain to see how it worked. Soon,
they had a downpour one night, and John could hardly wait to go to work
the next day to see how his tank provided water!
As he thought ahead to how this convenience would be, a knock at
the door interrupted his thoughts.
It was a neighbor telling him that he'd been by the barber shop,
which was flooding the street with water.
Rushing to the shop, they found that the tank had worked, and the
gutter system had worked, but the trestle had not been strong enough to
support the tank full of water. The tank fell, flooding the entire shop!
Disheartened, and not willing to risk more trials guessing at the
weight of the water, he abandoned the idea, and they went back to
carrying water from the pump. He
took the water tank, which survived fairly well, to the old Mill Pond
and left it there. Inevitably,
one day Olan and a friend (Carl White, the Doctor's son) decided to turn
the tank into a boat. The
tank was perhaps three or four feet deep, and
five or six feet in diameter. Besides
Olan and his friend, another boy (with his friend) was grazing his cow
along the bank, and happened to have a length of rope.
After scouting up some boards to use as paddles, Olan took one
end of the rope, and the boys on the bank held the other as the two in
the boat paddled out as far as their "boat" would reach, then
pull them back to shore. After
a trip or two, however, with vigorous pulling from the boys on the bank,
the boat overturned completely, trapping the boys underneath.
Luckily, when the edge came down, it came down on Olan's hands,
and struggling, he was able to lift it enough to free them both.
They came to the top of the water, which was over their heads,
and Carl began swimming for shore.
Olan, who hadn't learned to swim, tried to hold onto Carl, but,
scared, Carl threw him off and struggled for shore.
Luckily, Olan was able to grab the rope thrown by the boys on the
bank, and with them pulling, made it back to shore safely.
Olan learned to swim shortly after that, and he and Carl often
went to an old pond north of town to swim, or sometimes, walked the 3
1/2 miles to swim in the James River.
Lola left home
after graduation from high school to go to college at Springfield,
Missouri. She attended Springfield Teacher's College, and became a
school teacher even before she graduated, good teachers were in such
demand. Between terms, the
college arranged for her to teach in a one-room schoolhouse, and
arranged for her to stay with a nearby family.
(From what I've read about teachers in those days, the families
of a town would all pool money to pay for a teacher's salary and her
board, build a schoolhouse, and then contact a college to get a teacher
to come to the town, living with a family, if none had an empty house
for her). At
her first teaching job, Lola
was given the use of an old mule by the family she lived with to ride to the schoolhouse each day.
The path to town led through a dense wood, and when winter
arrived that year in earnest, a terrible snowstorm developed during one
day. Lola closed the school
early, and stayed to see that each child made it home.
Then, when it next cleared up enough for Lola to venture out and
make her way home, she found that once deep in the wood, she could no
longer find the trail. The
trees were so dense, and everything looked so different with deep snow,
that she became lost, and wandered through the wood, not being able to
find her way. She was
beginning to be very fearful that she would never be found when
the man whose home she was living in, fearing just such an
occurrence, came upon her, and quickly took her home to warm up near a
brisk fire.
Lola became dear friends with a number of her fellow students at
college, and kept up a correspondence with some of her dearest friends
after leaving there. Some
of her postcards from friends of that era are still being kept by her
granddaughter, Marcia.
After graduation, Lola was sent to teach at the school at
Mountain Dale, where she met her husband
That first year they lived in Hope, Kansas, while Sam worked
"haying" on a large farm, or bringing in the hay before bad
weather could ruin a crop.. Many years later he told of the haying they did on those
farms, and the tremendous meals the women would prepare for them all at
the end of the day. Just a
little more than a year after they were married, Sam's father, Taylor
McClure, died, and when they returned for the funeral, they decided to
stay. They loved Missouri
and wanted to make it their home, so Sam began looking for ways to make
his living there. Sam really didn't care for farming, but he worked for a time on a
farm up near Springfield. From
there they moved to Seymour, where Lola's family lived.
One night that first summer there, Sam planned a night time
fishing trip with his brother Jim, his neighbor Bob Colwell, and Olan. They went to the James River, which originated near Sam's
family's farm. Sam and Olan
had been checking, and had located a school of Black Perch under tree
roots which extended out into the water.
They "sieved" a little drainage ditch for minnows, then
they had to stop the horse and buggy anytime they could find water on
the way, to change the water and keep the minnows alive until they were
needed. When they arrived
at the river, Sam fixed up a pole for Olan (most likely bamboo), and
line, and Olan no sooner had it in the water when he whooped with a big
bite, and landed a bass about a pound in size.
This was quite a thrill for the boy, the first bass he'd ever
caught! He'd fished ponds
for perch and catfish, but a bass was "Oboy!"
Unfortunately, Olan never did even get another bite, but Sam and
Jim really slaughtered the "black goggleye" (bass).
The trip home in the horse and buggy was very late, getting them
home about daylight. Olan
slept all the way on the floorboards of the wagon as the men talked, as
content as in a feather bed. The next thing he knew, he awoke in his own
bed.
Sam and Lola's
first two daughters, Dora Frances and Diantha Vaughn, were born there in
Seymour, and the girls began to grow.
After a time, Sam gave up the auto repair shop he'd been working
in, and for a time delivered milk.
Every other night he would be gone, picking up big milk cans and
delivering them on a route. He
gave Lola a gun, and told her not to hesitate to use it if anyone came
into, or tried to come into, the house.
One night while he was gone, Lola had put the girls in bed with
her (as she did when Sam was not there) and they all settled down to
sleep. Suddenly, there was
a sound in the kitchen, right behind the closed door next to the
bedroom. Lola waited for
the sounds to cease, but they continued.
She sat up in bed, holding the gun sight right on the doorknob as
she watched it, and said "Don't open that door, or you're a dead
person." Well, in a
minute there was another noise, and Lola fired at the door.
Quick as a wink she grabbed both small girls by the hands, and
they all ran as fast as they could for the neighbor's house, where they
spent the rest of the night. In
the morning, the neighbor investigated the house, and could not find
anything--he assumed it was a pack-rat, making off with something for
his den. When Sam returned
home, he shook his head as he eyed the bullet hole in the door, just
above the doorknob. Then he
repaired it, saying Lola "...would have had that pack rat dead to
rights if he'd been taller..."
Sadly, it was not long after this that little Diantha died of Diphtheria
(when just five years old), on New Year's Eve, 1924
"....There was an angel band in heaven, That was not quite
complete, So God took our darling Diantha, To fill the vacant
seat..." (taken from the obituary in the Seymour, Missouri
newspaper). Completely
grief-stricken over the loss of their beloved daughter, Sam and Lola
finally decided they needed a change, and moved from Seymour to
Oklahoma. They felt a move might help them get on with their
lives.
Carl's
older brother spent a lot of time with Olan Campbell, mostly
"riding trains". This
was a favorite pastime of young men at that time in the country's
history, and resulted in tragedy for some.
Olan's first ride was on the "Cow Catcher", a large,
heavy metal screen on the front of the locomotive that was to remove
stubborn cattle from the track. They'd
ride between passenger cars, and in boxcars.
Riding trains was a favorite pastime for several years in Olan's
early teens, along with the other boys.
Then, one day after having been just a couple of stations down
the line, he and his friends hopped on one coming back.
It was crowded, and the only place Olan could find was on the
steps where the platform came down.
As he was small, he was the only one who could fit there.
He'd learned to jump from a fairly fast moving train by bracing
himself so that he landed running.
This time, however, he forgot, and simply stepped off, while the
train was still moving fairly fast!
It threw him end over end, then sliding along on his stomach,
just inches from the rails--and, as soon as he could, he rolled away,
but it was frightening. He
stood and brushed himself off, finding only a few cinders in his
stomach. Although it turned
out well he never told his folks, as he'd been warned by his Dad not to
ride the trains, and that incident almost cured him--almost! During
strawberry season that year, he was graduating from eighth grade, and
the word was out that pickers were needed around Monetta, Missouri.
Olan and two friends were determined they were going to find the
best place, and pick the most berries--they wanted money!
They hopped a freight train in Seymour, and got off just on the
outer edge of Springfield. They
"begged" some food at a house near the tracks.
It was the first and last time they ever did that--they didn't
like it! But, the food was
good and the people were friendly.
They caught another freight train that would stop in Monetta. It was late in the evening as they began this leg of the
journey, and they put newspapers down on the floor of the empty boxcar
to lie on and catch a nap. After
arriving in Monetta, they learned that pickers were needed a couple of
miles out of town, so they walked out there, getting caught in a
downpour just as they arrived at the farm.
Taking shelter in the chicken coop until the rain ceased, they
looked over the fields to be picked.
After discussing it, they decided there just weren't enough
berries for what they had in mind, so they walked back to town, and
caught the next freight train out.
This one went through Republic, and they'd heard some of the
pickers in Monetta talking about being here the previous year. When the train slowed, the boys jumped off.
Olan was with Reuben Brasier, who was about his age (15), and Coy
Davis, who was in his twenties. Coy needed a shave by this time, and talked the boys into
going into the local barber shop before they looked for work.
Inside
the shop, they waited around for several minutes, but no one showed up.
Olan had worked in his father's shop when he needed extra help,
so he told Coy to get into the chair and he'd shave him.
About halfway through the shave, the shop owner came in,
surprised to find them there. He told them he and his son normally ran the shop, but his
son had strawberries that needed picked, and he didn't know what he was
going to do the next day in the shop, as it was Saturday.
As he watched Olan shave Coy, he looked at him speculatively, and
said "Say, son, how'd you like to work in here with me tomorrow,
in my son's place?" Olan
told him how little experience he'd had, but the owner said "That
don't matter--If you can shave men in your Dad's shop, you can shave men
right here!" He
arranged for them to spend the night in his son's barn that night, and
Reuben and Coy were to pick strawberries for his son the next day.
Bright and early next morning, the two pickers were off to their
jobs, and Olan was left contemplating what he was going to do.
His entire wardrobe consisted of the clothes he had on, and he
really felt he needed some clean clothes to work in the barber shop.
He knew that Coy had another shirt and an extra pair of pants
hidden in the barn. He knew
he should probably ask Coy before borrowing them, but...Coy was already
out working in the fields somewhere.
After fidgeting awhile, Olan hurriedly got them out and put them
on. They were two or three
sizes too large, but they were clean, so he quickly finished cleaning
up, and headed to the barber shop.
It was after dark before he struggled back to the barn that
night. He'd put in about 15
hours work, and he was dragging. He
came into the barn, and was surprised to hear the other two burst out
laughing at the sight of him. In
his too-large clothing, and a real mess from his busy day, he guessed he
looked pretty laughable, but it didn't matter much how you looked in
those days. He had $7.50 in
his pocket for his day's work, and he felt good! The
next day a farmer drove into town looking for pickers, and for the next
two weeks they went from farm to farm, picking berries. They made two or three dollars a day, earning three cents a
quart for their efforts. Olan
was saving his money for clothes--especially for some long pants! In
those days you wore "knickers" until you were grown, when you
were allowed to wear long pants. That's
if you were a boy. If you
were a girl, you wore shorter dresses, and had to wear your hair down
until you were considered grown, when you could wear long dresses and
put your hair up! When
the strawberry picking was done, the boys were able to get a ride back
to Springfield in a Model "T" Ford with a picker going that
way. After spending a
little time in the larger town they started back home, walking.
The bridge was out over the James River and they had to ford that
on foot, and by the time they arrived home it was in the wee hours of
the morning, when they could gratefully fall into their own beds.
John
bought a barber shop when he first got to Seymour. He had three chairs! Oscar,
Pete, and Ed Womack (One of Sam McClure's sisters married a Womack, and
they were related) worked for him.
This was about the time that John came down very sick with Erysipelas
(sp?), a skin disease that affected him around his nose and
eventually, all over his face. He
had been sick several days when Dr. Trimble told Dora that he didn't
think John would live another night (the swelling must have moved into
his bronchial tubes, preventing him from breathing).
Dora remembered that John's brother Low, who lived in Cabool,
about 50 miles east of Seymour, know a lot of old remedies.
She was able to get him on the phone and told him how bad John
was. He told her he would
be on the 7:00 train. Cabool was on the Frisco (train) Line between
Springfield and Memphis. When
Low got there he immediately mixed up a solution for hot poultices. He applied one after another, all through the night, as they
all sat up, wondering if John would survive.
The next morning the swelling was much better, and John was
quickly healed. John
was always busy. At times
he would have to leave his watch work to shave some man, or cut his
hair, but he most usually had a barber hired to do the bulk of that
work. They would get 65% of the money they took in.
So, the income from both businesses helped to raise all the
children that John and Dora had. Eventually
there were ten of them, although Virgil died very young..
During World War I, Oscar had moved
his wife and baby to Tulsa.
And, since he had been working for his father, John was without a
barber. Alone he took in
over $40 in one week (Shave, 15 cents, haircut 35 cents).
Then, he heard of a barber in Springfield, apparently stranded
there with a wife and a couple of kids.
John persuaded him to move to Seymour, rented a house for them
and helped furnish it. The
man was a good barber--very fast. He
had a good singing voice--he had once been on the Orpheum Circuit (a
circuit of theaters for vaudeville performances that was considered the
very best). And, his wife
was very talented. But Joe drank and gambled, kept his wife pregnant and barefooted!
He spent several years at Mansfield, where John and Dora lived a
few years afterward. He
worked a while for John, but he had too many problems for John to cope
with, in addition to his own growing family. In
the 1920's there was a spirit of fun in the air, and in this spirit one
night, some of the young teens from Seymour decided to ride a freight
train to Springfield, which was a much larger town.
Among them were Everett Carrick, Floyd Todd (a cousin on his
mother's side), and Olan Campbell.
Unknown to the boys, a group of men had jumped the train earlier,
and while it was stopped in Seymour, they broke into a boxcar.
Train officials notified ahead to Springfield, since there were
too many for them to handle in Seymour, so when the train pulled into
Springfield, the sheriff's men were waiting. The
boys had been asleep, and when the train stopped they jumped down, dazed
and not fully awake. There
were men everywhere, and they became confused--and Olan, Everett, and
Floyd walked right into the group of Sheriff's men and those they'd come
to arrest. They
were marched off to jail along with the others, knowing there was no way
to get out before Monday. They
cleaned out their pockets at the jail, where they took Olan's two or
three dollars, but Floyd had $100!
He worked with his father in the Flour Mill, and had been in such
a hurry to leave that night he'd forgotten to turn the mill money over
to his dad. Floyd said they could have it all if they'd just let him out
of there! That was not to
be, however. The
boys were put into a cell next to a black trustee, with nowhere to sleep
except on the cold floor. They
noticed the trustee had several blankets on his cot, but they were
afraid to ask for any of them. The
next day, however, when the trustee was gone, they "borrowed"
a blanket each. On the
trustee's return he noticed his blankets were missing, and soon located
where they'd gone. The boys
told him the jailer'd given them to them, but the trustee knew better.
The boys had asked for a Sunday newspaper, and the jailer brought
them "Sunday School" lessons to read.
The boys wondered if the trustee thought they really needed them,
as he said nothing, and they were allowed to keep the blankets. The
other boys from Seymour had managed to get away free, and when they
arrived home on Monday morning, they told the parents of the three who
were detained. Dora
Campbell was cooking breakfast, and she said to John
"Aren't you
going up there and get that boy out of trouble, John?"
"I certainly am not", John said,
"I've told him
enough times about riding around on those trains.
Just let him alone and let him get out the best way he can. As a matter of fact, it's a good lesson."
At
the time, Olan was enjoying all the excitement, and the adventure.
As he watched Everett Carrick looking forlornly through the bars
on their cell, and remembered Floyd, willing to give up all that money
that belonged to his dad, he had to chuckle.
This was sure an adventure! They
knew, however they they were going to have to go to court, and it had
them worried. In those
days, if you were caught by a brakeman riding the trains, he usually
"shook you down" for pocket change, to let you go.
Usually, a quarter would satisfy him.
After talking it over, the boys decided that's what they'd tell
the judge. Before
any of the men were taken to court, railroad officials questioned each
of them, asking each if they had paid any money to anyone. The men said they'd paid, but wouldn't identify anyone as
having taken the money. When
questioned, the boys admitted the same. Then
they were all marched across town to appear before the judge.
Each case was tried separately, and most men were fined either $5
or $10. The judge took each
of the men before he called the boys, scowling at them at each
opportunity. Each time
they'd catch his eye, their hearts sank a little further.
Olan knew he hadn't enough money to pay a fine--would he have to
go to jail? When the judge
got to the three teenagers, he gave them a good lecture, then he told
them they all had money which was going to be returned to them, and
advised them to buy tickets and "ride the cushions" back to
Seymour. After ordering
them never to be caught in Springfield again he told them they could go.
Even their relief at being let go without a fine could not dispel
the gloom and remorse the boys felt after spending an entire day in
court, worrying about going to jail.
Appearing before the judge had a sobering affect on all three of
them, and they vowed they'd never ride a freight train again.
Olan never did. Halloween
was an annual event that was always observed joyfully in Seymour while
the Campbell family lived there. Most
often, a number of outside toilets would be turned over, and perhaps
some minor damage, but it was a holiday for pranks in those days.
Halloween in 1923 was to be Olan's last in Seymour, and he was
out with the boys, determined to celebrate it to the fullest. After
World War I, the town had acquired a truck that was used for whatever
need arose, and it was usually parked right off the square. In those days there was no ignition lock, so to drive a truck
all you had to do was to be sure it was not in gear, turn the hand-crank
in front (from outside the vehicle) until it caught, and started.
Some of the boys had been driving the truck, just around the
square, and when they put it back it was left parked right at the
southwest corner of the square. Unknown
to all, the truck was left with the ignition on, and in gear. In the
position where it was parked, the
truck was pointed at McMahan's store on the corner, and the gasoline
pump that sat right out in front of the store. Someone
(it was never officially admitted by anyone) apparently not familiar
with the truck, and without checking the truck beforehand, prepared to
start the truck again by cranking up the hand-crank.
When the engine caught, the truck began moving forward, since it
was in gear, and the guy in front had to dive to get out of the way
before it ran him over. All
the rest of the boys stood in shock as the truck ran right into the
gasoline pump belong to Paul McMahan, knocking it over, and finally came
to rest against the pump as gasoline erupted in a big fountain, all over
the street. Paul
lived in an apartment above the store, and when he heard the crash he
came rushing down the steps and into the street.
Dressed in his robe and slippers, and brandishing a pistol he
shouted "I'll give $50 to know who did this!" Most of the boys were still standing around, dumbstruck by
this turn of events, but no one spoke up--not that night, or ever.
Knowing that whoever had done it didn't have the money to pay for
it, they all kept the secret if they knew.
While it did not end on a happy note, it was certainly a
memorable one.
Lola's uncle,
one of her mother's brothers, lived in Oklahoma (or Indian Territory),
and had written them of the boom towns of the oilfields.
He knew Sam could find work there.
The small family packed up and left for the "wild
west". They
arrived in Maud, Oklahoma when it was a raw, new town.
Narrow boardwalks above knee-deep mud in the streets which
weren't wide enough for the hustle and bustle of an oil boom town; and
they had to stay in a new hotel that didn't yet have a ceiling--you
could see to the rafters.
They often took their meals in the hotel dining room, but
sometimes had to wait, due to the crowd.
Dora Frances, about seven years old, was fascinated by the women
she'd seen in the lobby while they waited.
All dressed up in very fancy clothes and with brightly painted
faces, they attracted her as they huddled together, laughing and
giggling. Lola, drawing
herself up to a full five feet, turned her back and told Dora
Frances,
"Don't even look at those women!" Dora Frances couldn't get her mother to tell her why she
shouldn't look, and although she'd been forbidden, she continued to
sneak looks at the brightly painted women as long as she could. In
those days, respectable women did not dress like those women were
dressed, or "paint" their faces with a lot of makeup.
These women had been drawn to the boom town by the expectation of easy
money from oil field workers who had little to spend it on. Sam, who had
gained his experience at building during his youth, built platforms for
oil derricks, and this work was plentiful for a time.
From there they moved to ____?, Oklahoma.
(If you had money, you pronounced it with the accent on the last
syllable. If you did not,
you pronounced it with the accent on the middle syllable.)
Sam managed to keep working as a carpenter, but few homes were
being built at the time. From
there they moved on to Ada,
Oklahoma. They found a home to rent, and Sam got work where he could
while he completed a correspondence course in drafting, so he could
build homes on his own.
As luck would
have it, the people who owned the home they lived in wanted a home
built, and that was the first home that Sam built.
After that home, the owner's brother wanted a home built, also,
and these homes gave him his start in the building business. Lola
had taken in two college girls to room, since times were not good (the
country was now in the Great Depression era), and then Sam's brother
John came to live with them and work with Sam.
Although they had only a two bedroom, one bath home at first,
they managed somehow--at least most of the time.
Dora remembers sleeping on a cot in the room the college girls
slept in, and can't remember where Uncle John slept!
And, having only one bathroom with so many females in the house
was hard sometimes. She
remembers one evening, when one of the girls had a date, and Uncle John
(who was a very serious person--never smiling or joking) was in the
bathroom a very long time. The girl fretted and fussed, and kept saying "Oh, I have
to get into the bathroom!" She
knocked on the door, hoping that would hurry him up, but was met with
silence, and continued to wait, impatiently.
A while later, she said again "Oh, I have to get into the
bathroom!", and knocked on the door again. Again she was met with silence.
Now, she knocked again, and repeated her message loudly enough so
John could not ignore it. For
a moment there was silence, then his deep voice, heavy with resignation,
said "Okay, ..........I guess you can come on in..."
Needless to say, there was an unhappy young woman
In
the 1920's, John W. Campbell had become interested in Optometry.
And, eventually, he took a correspondence course from the
American Optical Co. in Saint Louis.
He spent many hours, and days, in study on this course, in
addition to his two other jobs, and raising a large family.
With great determination he finally completed it in his spare
time, and put out his shingle. At
first, he was able to get a correction using the 'trial case' only (I
believe this was a case full of glasses in different strengths, where
the patient 'tried' each pair until he found one that permitted him to
see more clearly). When the state demanded that all Optometrists had to be
licensed he took the tests and became a fully licensed Optometrist.
He worked at that and his beloved watch repair as long as he
could see. The watch repair
was such a strain it caused problems with his eyesight.
He used his magnifying glass in his right eye, with the other
closed until finally, the vision was lost in his right eye.
But, rather than quit the work, he transferred the glass to the
other eye until it, too, began to fail.
Nothing could be done for his eyes, so he had to quit.
By this time he was in his eighties, but did still have a few
clients for eyeglasses. His son Harold worked with him for many years.
At first he was able to work under his father's license, but
later he took the State Board tests, and received his own.
During
the "roaring twenties", Pete drank quite a bit.
It was a time of flappers (girls who wore short skirts with
fringe, or ruffles at the bottom, which "flapped" around their
legs above their knees), and the prohibition era--when drinking hard
liquor was outlawed, but there were "bootleggers"--people who
made and/or sold liquor illegally, everywhere.
Olan was rooming with Oscar and his wife, Fern, in Tulsa,
Oklahoma, at that time. Pete
was not usually troublesome when drunk, but one particular time, he came
to the house very drunk, and Fern was upset and said "Olan, you
take Pete and put him in jail!" Olan didn't argue with her, he just
said "Come on, Pete, let's go."
He drove to the police station, left Pete sitting in the car, and
going inside, spoke to the desk sergeant.
He told him he had a drunk outside, but when they got to the car,
Pete was gone. Olan was not unhappy--he didn't feel good about what he was
doing. And, Pete wasn't
upset about it--he got a kick out of it, but Olan took a ribbing from
him for trying to put his brother in jail. About
that time, one night he and
one of his old drinking buddies, Jay, went to a "joint" where
they served booze and food. Jay
was the opposite of Pete. When
he drank he loved to fight, and he was a "womanizer".
Sitting near them in the joint was a couple they didn't know, and
Jay kept trying to get the attention of this woman, but neither of the
people at the table paid any attention to him.
Finally, Jay stood up and made some off-color remark.
This brought the other man up from his seat, and as he rose, his
hand went to his pocket. Jay
said afterward he braced, because he thought he was going for a knife.
To his surprise, the man pulled out a gun and shot Jay!
Luckily, the bullet went right through his arm.
Pete thought there might have been two shots, but when he heard
the first one, he was out the door and through two rows of the cornfield
outside before the second could be fired!
No one hated whiskey any more than Oscar--just the opposite of
Pete, at that time. All efforts to reform Pete went in vain, and finally his wife
Faye divorced him. After
Faye and he were divorced, Pete began seeing Gertie Noel, a woman he'd
known for some time. Gertie
had been married to a man named Tom Noel, who played a cornet in the
orchestra at one of the Tulsa theatres.
He left Gertie and their daughter, Georgia.
After she and Pete had been seeing each other for some time, they
did try living together for a while. It didn't work out, as Georgia (Gertie's
daughter) and Eileen (Pete's daughter), were at each other's throats all
the time, and it was just too unpleasant for all of them.
They mutually decided to break it off, finally, but remained good
friends. Gertie
and her daughter, Georgia, were believers in the Christian Science
religion, and Pete's relationship with her was probably the initial
reason Pete became a member
of that church. He really
believed in it, and lived it. And
finally, with his faith, he completely quit drinking and gambling. Not
too long after this time, one Sunday,
Howard, Pete, a friend of Pete's, and Olan all went fishing at
Spavinaw Lake, the source of Tulsa's water supply.
They were in the middle of the lake when a thunderstorm came up
quickly. It rained so hard
they were immediately soaked, and the motor on their boat died and
refused to start again. They
had to paddle all the way to shore.
They met an elderly man who had a cabin nearby, and offered his
hospitality to the cold, wet, shivering group,
which was much appreciated.
He presented them with hot food and home brew.
That's when they all knew that Pete had really quit drinking.
Even though he was shaking with cold, he wouldn't take a drink,
and he never touched alcoholic drink for the rest of his life.
That was in 1930. Georgia
Noel, Gertie's daughter, was very talented, and was the
"Emcee" (master of ceremonies) for a local talent production
called "The Drunkard". It
was, and is, a famous production, quite entertaining, and especially a
treat to take visiting friends or family to, for entertainment.
When Sam and Lola McClure were visiting during this time, Olan
got tickets to take them to see
The
Drunkard.
He had no idea what they were in for.
Georgia had in her mind the history of the Campbells, learned
from Pete when he and Gertie were together.
Most all of her part in the production consisted of bringing up
incidents in the lives of members of the audience she knew.
Olan couldn't have taken Sam and Lola to anything else they could
have enjoyed as much as they did that production.
After the show, they visited with Georgia for a short time, which
they also enjoyed.
John
Wesley often said that anything he owned he would sell.
He was always buying something or selling something.
He would sell a half-interest in his barber shop, and teach the
man the trade. It seemed they learned pretty fast. One fellow bought a half-interest, worked long enough to go
back to Ohio, and never asked for anything for his interest.
A second cousin, John B. Campbell, bought an interest--he had a
wife and two or three children. He'd never done much barbering, but learned the trade and
moved to Colorado. He later
was living in Mountain Dale, while Olan was there on a short visit with
Dobber Campbell (Wiley's son). In
late 1925 or early 1926 John and Dora moved to Mansfield.
John bought a shop there and persuaded Olan to leave Tulsa where
he had been working for his brother.
Mansfield was about the same size as Seymour.
John had the only shop in town, but Olan was not much help.
He was having too much fun, and could have contributed more to
the business. Joe,
the barber that John hired at Seymour was there, and another barber, so
John hired them, also. So,
he had all his time to do his watch work
It was about a year later that he moved to Greenfield, in the
western part of the state. They
were there a short while, then came back to settle in Sarcoxie.
Dora, being a good cook, always thought she would like a
restaurant. So, they bought
one in Sarcoxie. We don't
know how long they were there, but in 1927, the year Olan married Doris,
they were in the little town of Fordland.
There was a shop there on the highway.
It seems it belonged to someone else and John was operating it. After
the time spent in Greenfield, Sarcoxie, and Fordland, they moved back to
Seymour. And, John had a
long sick spell during the depths of the depression.
Howard, Pete, Oscar, and Olan were all working in Tulsa.
While John was ill they each sent the folks a dollar a week to
help on their living expenses. They all thought John's illness was imaginary, rather than
real. And, Dr. Trimble told
Harold that John could die, "and not a thing wrong with him".
Harold said that he (John) just finally decided to go to work.
So, he did, as though nothing had been wrong.
Olan remained
in Tulsa, and on February 27, 1927, he married Doris E. Smith.
Doris was born in Kentucky, and was adopted at the age of four
years old by William E. and Elizabeth Smith.
And, on December 21st. their only child, John W. was born. Olan stayed with the barber trade, and Doris died March 31,
1937. Sometime later, Olan
met Kathleen (Kay), a beautician, on a blind date, and they were married
April 21, 1940. They loved
going to church together, sports, and traveling, and spent as much time
at these things as they could. They
often traveled to California to visit Sam and Olan's sister Lola, after
they moved there.
Olan's son
John William married Virginia Whistler in 1950, and they had three sons
and two daughters.. John
William, Jr., born September 13, 1952; James S, born December 26, 1953;
Robert Charles; Patricia; and Cathy.
Soon after his
mother (Doris) died in 1937, John William suffered from impaired
eyesight. He had various
treatments and was operated on for detached retina.
He was declared legally blind, but managed to graduate high
school and Chiropractic College. He
was very good at his profession, with a thriving practice.
He also edited the "Missouri Chiropractic Journal".
John and Virginia had six children.
John William died at the age of 47 on April 20, 1975.
His eldest son John William, Jr., died in an auto accident in
1969.
Olan's grandchildren and their
families are the joy of his later years.
At the time of this writing, Olan has passed his 89th birthday,
and is still doing quite well. He
reports some "trouble" with his eyes, but sounds well, and
still has a good memory.
Back again to
the days of the great depression, and how some of the other family
members coped. Since there
was no work in Missouri, Sam's brother Jim came to live with them, and
work in Ada, Oklahoma where they were living.
Now there were two of Sam's brothers living with them.
Sam's brother John was already in Ada.
About this time, John had secured the job of remodeling the
second floor of a nice house owned by a man made rich in the oil fields,
and took Jim in on the job with him.
Jim had just purchased some new "store-bought" teeth,
and they did not fit too well. One
morning, as they carried some long timbers up the stairway to the upper
floor, he began sneezing, and his teeth flew right out of his mouth, and
over the stairway. When they hit the floor they bounced, and ended up in the
breakfast room, smack underneath the table where the owner and his wife
were eating breakfast! John
and Jim stood on the stairway, stunned, not knowing what to do.
Each still held his end of the long timbers as they tried to
decide how to hand the situation. Then,
before they could take any action, the voice of the home owner drifted
up the stairway as he called, saying "Might as well come on down
and join us for breakfast, Jim....your teeth are already here!"
Sam and Lola
had two more children in Ada, and daughter Dora Frances married
Marcus Newton Rogers, Photo right: Dora Frances and first daughter Marcia May, born Aug 1938, in Ada, OK. The basket in the foreground is cement, a popular lawn ornament at that time.
They first
went to Arizona, where they lived and worked a short time at Fort
Huachuca, and, looking for more plentiful work, Dora's husband Marcus
journeyed to other towns, but they finally all decided to settle in
Tucson, where the war effort made for much employment being available,
with the nearby air base (Davis Monthan Air Force Base), and the new
quarters being built for wartime workers, followed by the assembly work
on airplanes for the war effort. Sam,
Marcus, and Dora, after she had her third child, all worked while Lola,
with the help of Sami, now about 12, watched all the children and kept
the homes.
The
depression eventually caught up with all of the rest of the Campbell
family. Pete managed to get
enough money from Faye before their divorce to buy out Oscar's interest
in the barber shop they'd started together, and still worked there.
But, he finally had to sell it in order to pay Faye back.
Pete was like all of the rest of his brothers during the
depression. They were all
able to keep jobs, but due to the low prices and the scarcity of
business, it was very difficult to live. They just had to live on what little they did make.
The unemployment problem was solved, however, after the bombing
at Pearl Harbor, and everyone who was willing and able, had the
opportunity to work.
Pete
had worked at the Army camp during World War I, and he was anxious to
get to the Army Camps. He
first went to Fort Sill at Lawton, Oklahoma, the training quarters of
the 45th Division. They
were there several months, when the 45th was moved to Camp Barkley at
Abilene, Texas. Pete
followed the troops, and moved to Abilene.
In
fact, both Pete and Howard were in the Army Camps before Pearl Harbor,
as Howard worked at Fort Leonard Wood before he went to California.
Pete
managed to buy one of the shops in the Post Exchange.
The camps were divided up into several areas, and each area would
have its own Post Exchange. With
Pete's experience he was able to find out when a new group of recruits
was coming in somewhere, or learn ahead of time when a group was moving
out to where the action was. Of
course, with no hair to cut, Pete would be able to buy someone out when
he knew that before long they would be filled up.
His
main problem was in getting barbers.
He even used some who were just haircutters.
He said he was working with one who was so bad he didn't care how
his haircuts looked. It
seems that one day he had butchered four or five men who knew they were
being moved out, so they decided they had nothing to lose, and they
attacked him, to give him a haircut!
Pete said this barber had a nice head of hair, and was really
proud of it. And, despite
his threats to report these guys, they knew they were leaving, and
nothing would come of it, so they cut his hair off. Pete said he wanted to laugh, but was afraid he might be
next. By the time they cut
the first barber's hair they felt they had their satisfaction, and
Peat's hair remained.
Pete
remained in Abilene until the end of the war.
He had eight or nine shops when they dropped the Atomic Bomb.
He said it might as well have been dropped on Camp Barclay, as
the result was the same as far as his business was concerned.
When
the war ended, Pete closed his shops.
There were forty chairs and all the other equipment to be
disposed of. He wasn't as
good at selling it as he'd been at buying it.
After disposing of it any way he could he bought an arcade
located in town. After most of the troops moved out, that business lost money,
also.
At the end of the war, Sam and Lola, and Dora and her
family all
moved to California, settling at last in Fontana, about 50 miles east of
Los Angeles, here to remain. The
area was growing, yet was still country, and they had the desert nearby
where they could go on weekends to target shoot, and they could take
camping vacations to fish the many streams and lakes of the state.
Pete
had an old van, took what he could and
headed for Tulsa. He never seemed to care for money until he hadn't any.
After the war he spent most of his time around carnivals, state
fairs, and sporting events. He'd have a concession stand with a cotton candy machine he
bought. He would do pretty
well at that, only there was usually too much time between events.
It took all he made to live on.
When he was old enough for Social Security he said he made $100 a
day, once a month! He
usually owed much of his check to me, as he would need money before the
first of the month--most often for a house payment. After
he found out he was a diabetic, Pete did seek out medical treatment,
regardless of religion. His
health got pretty bad, and he was bedridden for two or three years after
they amputated one of his legs. He
just gave up. Pete was very well liked, and never saw a stranger.
Jack Kenney, a barber friend, once said that Pete should have
been a clown the way he liked carnival life.
Lola loved to sew, making clothing for herself, her children, and grandchildren, and things for the home. Sam built homes, and later opened up a "cabinet shop" where he made custom cabinets and furniture for customers in Fontana. He and Lola bought a home out on the edge of town, where they had room for a small garden, flower beds, a few chickens when they wanted them, and Sam's shop. Lola also enjoyed doing crochet work until arthritis crippled her hands. Lola loved collecting old glassware and furniture, and Sam repaired many things that she collected over the years to grace their home. She had a great love of gardening, and they had a very close-knit relationship with all their children and grandchildren, and a strong faith in God. Lola and Sam were always active in the Community Church in Fontana, and Lola enjoyed the women's groups associated with the church, as well as singing in the choir with Sam. She loved to play the piano, and played and sang for many family gatherings over the years. My children stood at the same piano that had my teeth marks from standing on the rung at the base of one side, and holding to the top one. My teeth just reached to that top rung, and my grandparents would never sand them out. My aunt now has this piano, which still bears those marks. Sam
and Lola camped and fished in years they they didn't travel
"home" to Missouri. For
as many years as she was able, Lola loved to travel home for Memorial
Day, if she was not able to make it any other time of the year. It
was a family tradition, as it used to be in many
others, to clean up and care for the resting places of family members
every spring at that time, and for the family to get together at that
time of year. She also
loved to visit during the fall, to see the color of autumn in the
country that she and Sam both loved. In
their later years, Sam helped daughter Dora Frances build a home in the
high desert of California. And
at age 82 he built a home there for himself and Lola, where they could
look out over the desert valley. They
lived there a number of years until their health became more delicate,
and they then moved back to Fontana to be nearer medical
help. This time they
settled into a mobilehome park, near children and grandchildren, as
their health would not allow them to get out any longer on their own. Sam,
even with shaking hands, learned to wood burn, taught by Dora's oldest
daughter Marcia. Ever busy,
he was not pleased to be sitting with nothing to do.
Sami's husband Bill was kept busy preparing wood for Sam's use! This
hobby helped him feel productive, useful and creative in his final
years. He had a talent for
drawing, and spent many hours of his last
years putting scenes, or animals and birds from his youth onto
wood as a pastime. Lola
spent a great deal of time reading books, and when her mind began to
wander just a bit, she would dream of going back to college to continue
her schooling. It must have
been a very happy time for her, as she often spoke of returning to
college, or to teaching. Their
final year together, their 73rd year of marriage, was spent in a nursing
home, where Sam insisted on pushing the wheelchair that Lola was
confined to. He would not
allow anyone else to do it for her.
And, after he died at 94 years of age, Lola gradually retreated
into sleep most of the time, but remained with her beloved family until
we could bear to part with her, and wished her on her way to join her
Sam. She was 97 years old. Dora
Frances and her three children remained in Fontana after 1952.
Before that, they spent a couple of years back in Tucson.
Once they returned to Fontana, they bought a home and settled in
while the children finished their schooling.
Once they were in high school, Dora returned to work for the
first time since World War II. Working
part-time in a drug store at first, she moved to Ontario after the
children left home, and took a full time job.
During this time she remarried, to Charles (Charlie) Boles. She
and Charlie bought a 2-1/2 acre lot in California's high desert, staying
there most weekends. Soon
they moved a trailer up there, and after building a cabin, they moved
there while they worked with Dora's father Sam on the weekends to build
their home. It took them
two years, but once settled in, their spare time was spent in visiting
antique stores, or second-hand stores, where they'd pick up
"injured" old furniture, restore it lovingly to put in their
home and add to Dora's collections.
They were both very accomplished at refinishing furniture, and
Dora's love of 19th century oak, especially, filled her home with lovely
pieces. Charlie
died in 1987, and Dora remained on the desert until the spring of 1995.
Although she still loved it there, she sold her home and moved to
San Bernardino near her two children who still lived in the area.
Living alone on the desert was lonely for her, and she missed
being able to visit with family, friends, and neighbors.
A back injury almost 10 years ago almost completely disabled her,
and while her spirit was still strong, her body was saying "Now,
wait a minute, here!" Sami, Sam and Lola's remaining daughter shares many of the artistic traits that run through the family, and most resembles her mother, Lola, in looks, especially in facial features. She is an accomplished artist, loves to sew (is probably the most talented in the family in this), likes crafting things, and she and husband Bill in fact developed a small business for unique "Southwestern" style birdhouses and birdfeeders during their retirement in Arizona. A very organized person, Sami is an accomplished hostess and home manager. After his stint in the Army during the Korean War, her husband Bill worked for a large steel business, rising to head of Purchasing. This took him to many parts of the world on short business trips, and Sami and the entire family joined him for one year spent in Perth, Australia, when the children were in their pre-teen years. On their return, the family lived in northern California while Bill worked from the offices there until Bill retired. After
retirement, they moved back to southern California, settling in
Riverside to be near Lola and Sam, and Sami spent a great deal of time
caring for her parents in their final years.
While Bill has been an avid golfer for a longer period of time,
Sami took up the sport while in northern California, and before they returned to southern California, she was also hooked. Much of their
free time revolved around golf, golfing tournaments and golfing friends.
They both still spend a lot of time playing golf, which plays an
important part in their lives, as do their children and grandchildren. Their son Jack, and his son Tyler are also avid golfers, and
participate in tournaments. They
still remain close to several friends from school with whom they've
stayed in touch, and spend time with them each year John
Wesley's brother Joe remained in California, and their sister May also
settled in southern California. Joe's
daughter Betty (Betty Ford), is the lone survivor of his children, but
there are many other Campbell relations, descendants of May, and
possibly another, and several of Howard's children who still remain in
California. I'm not sure yet just when Howard Campbell moved to California, but I believe he was already in the Pasadena area when the rest of us arrived at the end of World War II.
Copyright
© 1998-2005, all rights reserved On to the Lineage for this line of our family page design:
|
Those
first years of marriage were happy ones.
week (not much to do in the
barber business during the week--Saturday was the big day).
Sam.
Photo
left: Dora Frances McClure and her uncle, Harold Campbell, the youngest
Campbell child. Taken about 1919.
and had two of her own.
