Delia Anita Dunn

Delia was a popular name in the 1800's. The name came from Greek mythology, and it meant "visible from Delos." It's pronounced DEAL-ya, like Amelia Bedelia.

Parents: William Charles Dunn, Margaret Ann Gray
Birth: January 1866
Marriage: January 20, 1892 to Quince Routillus Campbell. Quince was 29 and Delia was 25. They had six children:

A baby boy, who died soon after birth, Grace Viola, William Lafayette, Foy Routillus, Margaret Elizabeth, and Ella Alafaire

Death: October 22, 1925. Delia was only 59.

From the information I have from the censuses, it looks like Delia lived in Paw Creek, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina until she married Quince Campbell. Her father was well-enough off to own his own place, as you can see in the 1870 census. She had one older brother--Charles--who was significantly older than her. It appears that she had some other older siblings who weren't able to survive childhood. So sad!

After Delia married, she moved around some--at least to Ironton, NC and back to Paw Creek. She stayed at home, kept up with housework, and I'm sure she also helped with the farm.

Delia was acquainted with loss--her very first child died the day he was born, and her second-youngest daughter (Margaret) passed away when she was only 15 years old. Delia and Quince were obviously distraught over the loss of their daughter, and they commissioned a beautiful headstone for her with the inscription, "Weep not father and mother for me, For I am waiting in glory for thee." They also commissioned a headstone for their first child, although I'm sure that as a newly married couple, they did not have much money to spare.

Below are the records I have found that chronicle Delia's life.

1870 Census

1880 Census

1910 Census

1920 Census

Delia Dunn's death certificate

Grave marker

Peanut Butter in the Roof of My Mouth!

This is a story that Grandma Izzy is a pro at telling. Hopefully someday I'll get a copy of her telling this story herself!

Izzy playing with a dog

When Izzy was a little girl, peanut butter was made a little differently than they make it now. The way peanut butter was made in her day, the oil would rise to rest on top of the rest of the peanut butter, and you'd have to stir it up before eating it.

Well, little Izzy loved eating that peanut butter! Sometimes she'd sneak into the pantry at the back of the house and she'd stir and stir and stir until she could finally eat some.

One day, Izzy must have been a little impatient with stirring the peanut butter, because as she was eating it, she realized that there was some peanut butter stuck on the roof of her mouth! It was thick and dry and very stuck. Izzy didn't know what to do!

First she tried to use her fingers to get it out. That only made her fingers really slobbery. Then she tried removing the peanut butter by poking it with her tongue. That was also a no-go.

Finally, Izzy decided to enlist some help. She wandered around the house looking for one of her brothers or sisters to give her some inspiration. Foy was the first she ran into.

"F'y! F'y!" she said, looking desperate. Foy didn't know she was calling his name, but he could tell there was a problem. He asked, "What's wrong with you, Izzy?"

"There pea'ut bau'er in the ruf a' my mouf!" Izzy exclaimed.

"What? I can't understand you! There's something in your mouth--"

"IT PEA'UT BAU' ER!" It would have been a yell, but the peanut butter was muffling everything that poor Izzy said.

"You have peanut butter in your mouth?"

Izzy nodded furiously. "Yef." She was close to tears.

"Have you tried poking it with your tongue?" Foy asked.

Izzy nodded forlornly.

"What about using your fingers?"

Another nod.

"Here, I'll try," and Foy proceeded to try to pull that peanut butter out with his fingers. Of course it was too slippery to get a grip on, and he soon gave up.

"Maybe I can carve it out with my knife!" Foy pulled out his pocketknife. His trusty knife had solved many a problem for him in the past, and he was sure it could help in this situation. Izzy made a terrified noise and backed away from Foy--just a little bit. She knew he wouldn't hurt her, but the thought of having a knife--a sharp knife--in her mouth made Izzy uncomfortable.

Little Sugie walked up at this point. She was the baby of the family, and a few years younger than Izzy. She was too little to really be able to do anything for Izzy--at least that's what Izzy and Foy thought.

"Hey Sugie." Izzy couldn't pronounce the "sh" sound at the beginning of Sugie's name, so it sounded more like "Soogie."

Sugie noticed the lapse in enunciation and asked, "What happened to you, Izzy?"

Dejectedly, Izzy told her, "I go' pea'ut bau'er in the ruf a' my mouf."

Foy jumped in, "Yeah, we tried everything! I used my fingers, she used her fingers, and I was about to try my knife--"

"Why don't you just swallow it?" little Sugie suggested.

"Swallow it?" Izzy thought. "Well, I might as well try."

Izzy made an effort, and whaddaya know? All she needed to do that whole time was just swallow that darn peanut butter! Who knew it could be so easy? In gratitude, Izzy smiled on Sugie and said with perfect enunciation, "Thank you, Sugie! That peanut butter was starting to get on my nerves!"

Iconic photos

Here are some more of those pictures Rachel scanned and sent to me. Of the pictures that we know who's in them, they all seem to be Grandma Kathleen's family. I'd assume that someone from her family took these, and most people in the pictures are either related to her through family or through friendship with her family.

What an awesome picture! Rachel thinks that Becky has a kindred spirit among our kin. :) I do, too!

Now here's the big question: Is it a lunar or a solar eclipse?

I have no idea who this is, but I thought it was an amazing picture. 

I don't know who this is, either, but someone looks like a Don Juan--what a pose!

Clifford L White

Clifford Lee or Levi (I'm not sure which it was) White was a kind and family-oriented man. He took in his son's family and spent time with his grandchildren, sometimes taking them along on rides while performing his job as a salesman.

Parents: Thomas Pinkham (T.P.) White, Flora Jane Nichols
Birth: May 9, 1875
Marriage: June 7, 1899 to Minnie May Winspear. Cliff was 24 and Minnie was 22. Their only child was Clifford Winspear White.
Death: September 23, 1965

Birth record:

1880 Census:

Click to enlarge

This census is hard to read, but it shows all of Cliff's siblings as well as his parents. Thomas P's profession is listed as a carriage maker. Cliff was in the very middle of five children.

Cliff and Minnie's marriage record is on the post I wrote about Minnie. You can find links to the following censuses on that post, as well.

1900 Census:

Click to enlarge

This is (barely) less than a year after Cliff and Minnie's marriage. We see from this census is that the family is renting their home, and must live in or near town, since they don't have a farm. We also see that Cliff worked at a livery stable on his "own account" (that's what the 'o' means after his place of work). I'm guessing that this job could be related to his father's job as a carriage maker. We also see that both of Cliff, Sr's parents were born in Ohio.

1910 Census:

Click to enlarge

From this census, you can see that Cliff Sr. and Minnie were a little bit older when Cliff Jr. was born. In fact, he was born over 7 years after they married! They sure did have a long wait. I'm sure they treasured their only son that they had waited so long for. I remember hearing that Cliff, Jr. was a "spoiled only child," but I suspect that his parents couldn't help it. They had waited so long for this child.

We also see that Cliff Sr. still worked as a "livery man" at a livery stable. If I understand the census taker's shorthand correctly, Cliff Sr. was the employer at the livery stable.

1920 Census:

Click to enlarge

In this census, we see that Cliff Sr. is working on his "own account" (OA on the far right) as a manager at a garage. This is probably a natural transition from the livery stable as the country was transitioning from horses to automobiles as their main mode of transportation.

1930 Census:

Click to enlarge

At the time of this census, Cliff Jr. had just moved out and married the beautiful Jo Grupenhoff, so Minnie and Cliff, Sr. are empty-nesters. The family owned a radio set, rented their home, and did not live on a farm. Cliff, Sr. worked as a salesman for a "monument co." meaning that he sold gravestones.
1940 Census:

Click to enlarge

Here's a big change! Minnie and Cliff, Sr. own their own home, and it's beautiful and spacious. White Acres housed Minnie and Cliff, Sr. on one side and their son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren on the other. Cliff, Sr. was a "monument" (aka gravestone) salesman, and Minnie stayed at home.
Cliff passed away a few months after his 90th birthday. The record of his death states that he passed away in Clermont County at a "long term care facility". I'm not sure if that means a long term facility in a hospital or if it means he was in a rest home when he passed away. I'm guessing that since Minnie was still living at the time of his death, Cliff was not in a rest home.

Quince Routillus Campbell

"Grandfather Quince Routillus Campbell"

Parents: Joseph Alexander Lafayette Campbell, Sarah Elizabeth Meadows
Birth: July 12, 1862
Marriage: January 20, 1892 to Delia Anita Dunn. Quince was 29 and Delia was 25. They had six children:

A baby boy, who died soon after birth, Grace Viola, William Lafayette, Foy Routillus, Margaret Elizabeth, and Ella Alafaire

Death: December 10, 1943 at age 81.

Wow. I can't believe how many documents I found for Quince R. Campbell, considering how hard it was to find any for Grace Campbell. There are so many! I found census records from both before and after he was married, a record of his marriage to Delia Dunn, and a record of his passing. We have a neat picture of his life here:

1870 Census, Sugar Loaf Township, Alexander County, North Carolina:

Click to enlarge

This census record doesn't really list much, but we can still learn from it. Quince's stepmother Jane is listed here (nee Gwatlney), and his half-brother Lebius was already born. Quince grew up in or near Sugar Loaf, North Carolina. This is north of Charlotte and just about directly due west from Greensboro and Winston-Salem, NC. The area highlighted in pink on the map is Sugar Loaf, NC.

Sugar Loaf, Alexander County, NC (screenshot from Google Maps)

1880 Census, Sugar Loaf Township, Alexander County, North Carolina:

Click to enlarge

In this census, we see that Quince is still in Sugar Loaf with the family he grew up with. We see that he had attended school within the last year, and that his father and paternal grandparents were born in North Carolina.

1910 Census, Ironton Township, Lincoln County, North Carolina

Click to enlarge

A lot can happen in 30 years, and that's how long it has been since the last census that I found Quince in. Quince was married to Delia Dunn in Paw Creek, NC, about 7 miles from downtown Charlotte. Ironton township, where he was living when this census was taken, is about 30 miles northwest of Charlotte. All six of Quince and Delia's children had been born by this point, and they already knew the grief of losing a child. It looks like Quince was a farmer, just like his father before him. He was renting the land he farmed, and the census lists his three oldest children (including Grace!) as being "farm laborers" on the "home farm". I wonder if that was just carelessness on the census taker's part, or if Grace did take a big part in helping with the farm. I wouldn't be surprised, since her younger brothers were a lot younger than her, and she was the oldest. Also, I know Grandma, and I wouldn't be surprised if her mother had just as much gumption as Grandma does.

1920 Census, Paw Creek, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina

Click to enlarge

Quince and his family had returned to Paw Creek by 1920, but his two oldest children had moved out. The oldest at home is still listed as a "farm laborer" on the "home farm," but it shows that Quince was working -- at least part-time -- as a carpenter at a broom factory.

1940 Census, Masonic and Eastern Star Home, Greensboro, Guilford County, North Carolina:

Click to enlarge

The Masonic and Eastern Star Home was an exclusive community for members of the Masonic and Eastern Star lodges who had retired. Accordingly, we learn from this census that Quince was a member of one of those organizations. We also learn that as late as 1935, Quince was still living in Charlotte. On a side note, the Home is still in business, but is now open to everyone.

I also found the extracted data from Quince's death certificate. This data shows that he was a widower when he passed away, the date of his passing, his birth date, and the names (or at least partial names) of his parents. His father was listed as Joseph F. Campbell. At first I was stumped by this, but then I found some information that showed that his father's nickname was "Fate" or possibly "Fayette,"  short for Lafayette. It makes sense, especially considering that Quince's father was listed as "Lafayett" on one census but "Joseph" on another. The record lists Quince's mother as Elizabeth Meadows. I'm looking forward to learning more about her and finding out if she went by her middle name or if this is possibly another error.

Quince Campbell had a full life. I get a sense of satisfaction as I document it. I'm sure it was full of hardships harder than I can imagine (soft modern girl that I am :), but I imagine it was filled with the joy of family.

Quality Pictures of Cecil Wallace, Sr, and Jr.

Cecil Wallace Jr and Sr. Doesn't Cecil Jr. look a lot like Becky did when she was a baby?

Here's another of Cecil, Jr. He was 14 months in this picture.

Minnie May Winspear

Minnie was born about 10 years after the Civil War, and lived well into the 20th century. What must it have been like to live during that time of leaping changes in technology in the modern world? She started her life without electricity, indoor plumbing, or motorized vehicles. She ended her life after cars had been around for dozens of years, electricity had passed the threshold of television, air conditioning, and telephones that would allow you to talk to someone across the globe almost instantaneously. Even her name reflected the changing times: Minnie was an extremely popular name during the 1870's, and continued to be popular a few dozens of years, but declined gradually until now, when it's very unusual to meet someone named Minnie.

Minnie May Winspear and Clifford L. White

Parents: Wheelock Winspear, Ellen Eve Rowe
Birth: October 21 or December 5, 1877
Marriage: June 7, 1899 to Clifford Levi White. Minnie was 22 and Cliff was 24.
               Their only child was Clifford Winspear White, my great-grandfather.
Death: 1971

Birth record for Minnie Winspear:

Click to enlarge

This record is pretty self-explanatory, but it shows Minnie's birth date. As you will see in the other records I've found for her, this is an elusive date! I'm not sure if this is the correct date or not. We also get Ellen's middle initial from this record: E. I'm pretty sure this is the actual record for Minnie, however. I didn't find any other women named Minnie with parents of similar names when I was looking her up.

1880 Census:

Click to enlarge

This is the only census I could find with Minnie in it before her marriage. I felt really proud of myself for finding her in this one, since she's listed as Minetta (I think it's a write-o). I found this record by looking up her father's and mother's names. Here she's 2 years old. You can also see her grandmother (Kate, short for Catherine :) and aunt in the two rows above the Wheelock Winspear family. We also see that Minnie's mother was born in England, as well as both of Minnie's maternal grandparents. Minnie's father's family is from New York. I wonder what brought them to Ohio?

Marriage license and certificate for Minnie May Winspear and Clifford Lee White:

Click to enlarge

Whew! This document has a TON of information! We get the full names of both bride and groom, we get their birth dates (This shows Minnie's as December 5, in conflict with the birth record that I found for her). We also get each parent's name or maiden name. Maiden names are priceless in family history research, by the way! We also see that Minnie was born and raised in Pierce Township, since she is listed as living at the "same place" as where she was born. 

We also get crucial information about Clifford Lee (or is it Levi? I think I saw that name somewhere ... ) from this record, but I will discuss that in his entry.

1900 Census:

Click to enlarge

This is (barely) less than a year after Cliff and Minnie's marriage. This census is another source that lists Minnie's birth month as December. I'm pretty sure that even if Minnie was born in October, she was convinced that she was born in December. Another thing we see from this census is that the family is renting their home, and must live in or near town, since they don't have a farm.

1910 Census:

Click to enlarge

From this census, you can see that Cliff Sr. and Minnie were a little bit older when Cliff Jr. was born. In fact, he was born over 7 years after they married! They sure did have a long wait. I'm sure they treasured their only son that they had waited so long for. I remember hearing that Cliff, Jr. was a "spoiled only child," but I suspect that his parents couldn't help it. They had waited so long for this child.

We also see that Cliff Sr. still worked as a "livery man" at a livery stable. If I understand the census taker's shorthand correctly, Cliff Sr. was the employer at the livery stable. The family still rented a house that was not on a farm.

1920 Census:

Click to enlarge

In this census, we see that Cliff Sr. is working on his "own account" (OA on the far right) as a manager at a garage. This is probably a natural transition from the livery stable as the country was transitioning from horses to automobiles as their main mode of transportation. It's also interesting to see that Minnie was working outside the home, even though two-income families were much less common during this time period. I don't know what the "creamery office" was, but she was the manager of it. I think that's pretty impressive for a woman from her time period. The family now owns the house that they're living in, but they have a mortgage on it.

1930 Census:

Click to enlarge

Minnie isn't working anymore by the time 1930 rolls around. For some reason, the family is renting again.Cliff Jr. had just moved out and married the beautiful Jo Grupenhoff, so Minnie and Cliff, Sr. are empty-nesters. I imagine that it must have been especially lonely for Minnie, since she didn't work anymore. However, it's possible that she was able to visit with her neighbors to pass the time.

1940 Census:

Click to enlarge

Here's a big change! Minnie and Cliff, Sr. own their own home, and it's beautiful and spacious. White Acres housed Minnie and Cliff, Sr. on one side and their son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren on the other. Cliff, Sr. was a "monument" (aka gravestone) salesman, and Minnie stayed at home, which I imagine she did for the remainder of her life.

Minnie lived into her 90's. Her only grandchild lived in Baltimore with his three children, Minnie's great-grandchildren. She outlived her husband by six years. I don't know much about the remainder of her life, but I hope it was happy and fulfilling.