This time of year... and a little more family history
The last couple times around the sun, this has been an unpleasant time of year.
Last year at this time, we were preparing to go to the funeral of my mother's sister, Bev.
This year, we've just returned from the funeral of my wife's grandmother, celebrating 93 years of a life well-lived.
Luckily, the weather was fine (you never know this time of year in North Dakota). We spent good time with family, but it's always nice to come home. As the Boy said last night, "I missed my house."
At the funeral, my father-in-law delivered a very thoughtful, eloquent eulogy to his mother. His words about the Greatest Generation were especially meaningful to me because my parents were of the same generation as his mom (my father was born in 1915, my mother in 1928).
Interestingly enough, I have been doing a great deal of research on my family tree over the past several weeks. I've been receiving help from my cousins when I encounter sticking points and we try to verify information with each other when possible.
But even now I'm not 100% sure if I've got everything correct. I had mentioned to one of my cousins that this kind of research is never really done. As soon as you think you've got something figured out, a new lead comes along and you're off and running again.
I've been digging into the Walker and Campbell side of the family lately. I've encountered plenty of false leads and brick walls. There are points where I find I can't go any further because I can't find any existing records.
Nevertheless, with complete certainty, I've gone back to my third great grandfather on the Campbell side. His name was Michael Campbell; it is believed he was born in Scotland (year unknown, but most likely in the late 1700s) and emigrated to Northern Ireland. It's believed he got married Northern Ireland (spouse unknown) and they had two sons while residing there.
He and his family then immigrated to the United States, arriving in New York around 1828. I have found a single entry for a Michael Campbell on a passenger list, arriving in New York in 1827. It indicated his last place of residence is "Ireland." His age at the time of immigration is 40, which means he was born about 1787. While this piece seems promising and seems to fit the puzzle, I have no way of proving or knowing this is "my" Michael Campbell because no other names are mentioned on the document.
Amid this speculation, I know with certainty that in the year 1818 Michael lived in Ennabridge, County Tyrone in what is today Northern Ireland ("Irish Free State"), because that is where his eldest son, Barnabas was born. Three years later a second son, my great-great grandfather, John Campbell, was born there as well.
But this wasn't what it seemed either.
I could not find any records of a Michael Campbell in Ennabridge in the Irish censuses of the early 1820's. As hard as I looked, I came up empty. And there was a good reason. I quickly found out, after searching for Ennabridge, Northern Ireland, that no such place exists (this is where doing this kind of research is maddening).
Stumped, I started digging deeper and soon discovered that I was not the only Campbell descendant having difficulty with the Ennabridge mystery.
I even found an e-mail on RootsWeb from a distant cousin asking for help. He identified John Campbell (born in "Ennabridge," Northern Ireland) as his great grandfather, but could find no such town/village of that name.
A response to that e-mail suggested that while "-bridge" is likely correct, "Enna" was probably a clerk's misinterpretation due to the Irish accent when the individual was asked for a place of birth.
I researched further and found there is a Plumbridge and a Victoria Bridge in County Tyrone, but neither sound even close to "Ennabridge."
Posted at another web site, two Campbell descendants said they visited Northern Ireland and neither could find "Ennabridge," and none of the locals had ever heard of it.
I found a townland in County Tyrone called Anaghbeg (pronounced, I believe, "annie-beg"). Could this be it? (A townland is roughly the Irish equivalent to a township here in the U.S.). While this is pure speculation on my part, I've found doing this kind of research that sometimes you've got to think way outside the box.
For good measure, I also researched past or former villages/hamlets in County Tyrone but came up with nothing. So the mystery of Ennabridge may never be solved.
I said earlier that Michael Campbell's wife's name is never mentioned. However, in a 1875 census of John Campbell's family, it indicated his mother (Michael's wife) was born in Scotland. It is very difficult to know how much one can trust these sources, however. This same census said that John was born in Indiana and his father (Michael) was also born in Indiana. This is simply impossible, however. Michael Campbell could not have been born in Indiana, because Indiana did not exist until December 1816... five years before John was born.
After examining the actual document, it is obvious the census taker wrote "I'nd" (presumably to save space and ink) which was an abbreviation for Ireland. When transcribed online, it was interpreted as "Ind," an abbreviation for Indiana. These are the simple details that can throw one way off course.
While the life of Michael Campbell will almost certainly never be known, I do know that his second son, John Campbell, my great-great grandfather, was born in County Tyrone in Northern Ireland on August 1, 1821.
John immigrated to the United States at the age of seven or eight years old -- presumably with his father, Michael, his older brother Barnabas and his mother). We know that he eventually settled in extreme northeast New York, and in 1840 John is documented as a resident of Chateaugay, New York.
In subsequent censuses his location is listed as Malone, then Constable, New York. All of these towns are within a relatively short distance of one another, each about fifty miles north of Lake Placid, New York, or roughly 60 miles southwest of Montreal, Canada.
On August 3, 1844 -- two days after his 23rd birthday -- John married Mary A. White, my great-great grandmother, in Montreal, Canada. Mary White was her Americanized name, however. She was born Marie dit LaBlanc on April 19, 1829, in Saint-Martin, Quebec, a small French-speaking village about 77 miles south of Quebec City. Her parents were John and Sofia dit LaBlanc.
Between 1856 and 1858, John and Mary moved from New York to Berlin, Wisconsin. Then, between February 1867 and October 1868, they moved to Dodge Center, Minnesota.
Together, they had nine children and the youngest, born October 18, 1868, was named William Barnabus Campbell, presumably after his father's brother. This was my great grandfather.
William B. Campbell spent his life in Minnesota. He married Margaret "Maggie" McGowan on December 26, 1891, in Mantorville, Minnesota. Maggie was the third of eleven children of David B. McGowan and Sarah A. Anthony, born on September 14, 1874 in Berne, Minnesota.
William and Maggie had 12 children. The ninth was a daughter named Wilma Jerusha Campbell, born on March 31, 1908. This was my grandmother.
On May 18, 1927 she married Leo Burton Walker and on November 8, 1928 they had their first child, Phyllis Lillian.
A month shy of her 41st birthday, Phyllis had a son. She called him Sam.
And Sam I am.
