Quincy Campbell's livelihood

Thanks to Laura for getting this information and typing it up!


Quincy Routillous Campbell owned a prosperous construction company in Charlotte that did so well that he could afford to send his daughter Grace to college (Mary Baldwin College). 

When he was an older man, the depression hit. Although the pressure was immense, he refused to foreclose on any homes, which eventually led him to declare bankruptcy.

When people asked why he would do this, he simply answered that he couldn’t turn people out of their homes. He deliberately gave up his status as a wealthy business owner to make sure he watched over his neighbor! What an example of selflessness and Southern Gentlemanly kindness.

Granddad JC and time with cousins

Here's Granddad JC talking about his time with cousins

It was a stupid thing. I was wanting to go to visit my cousins in North Carolina. But I was the only one wanting to do it. I don’t know what happened, but I put on a raincoat, I was barefooted and was wearing short pants and all.

I went down to Aunt Docia’s. She lived on Fair Street on the corner right there by the school and she was a nurse. And I was going to see if she was going to North Carolina – I might have asked her for money to ride the bus up there. I dunno, it was crazy--it never materialized – she said oh yeah, so she put me in a car and brought me back home. <chuckles> so this was the end of my trip to North Carolina.

My cousins always came down here. We all had so much fun. When they came down here we all got out of the beds and let the older people use on the beds and we slept the floor. That was fun. We’d sleep there and then get up in the morning and we’d go out and play, hide in the hay stack and all this stuff. That was fun. All this was open land around here – farmland. We played like Blind Man Buff or you cover your head and everyone goes and hide and you go out and try to find them. Mostly Red Rover Red Rover. You ever play that? <chuckles> We’d do that. Crazy.

They’d come at Christmas time; maybe Thanksgiving. Not really other times.

In the wintertime, we’d set trout lines down right down there in the pond and catch catfish. And we’d have catfish stew. Every-well we'd need some more so we would go down there and run the line.

Somebody said they were down there runnin' the trout line and they got the boat on top of a stump when there was an alligator, comin' around there. It was on the stump, so they couldn't move the boat to get away from the alligator! They must've hit it on the head with a paddle or something to get away; I dunno exactly how they got away.

That was over at Aunt Julia’s over the top of the hill up there. It’s all grown up now. The house is gone now, I don't know what happened.

Yeah, those were fun times. Fun times for the kids.

Aunt Docia on right as a recent nursing school grad

Note: I assume that the cousins in NC were Cora Lawrence (nee Connell)'s children. Does anyone know?

Great Aunt Bea

Becky here. As I gazed out the window today past my Christmas tree looking out over the freshly-fallen snow, I remembered some Christmas decorations that we used to put out every year as young kids: some crocheted snowflakes. I remembered hearing a story about a great aunt who made hundreds (?) of them, and each one of them was different. It made me want to know more of the story.

First I called Katie, hoping that there was a blogpost already written about this great aunt. Then I called Dad to see what he could remember.

The crafter was Great-great Aunt Bea (Dora Bedah Henize); Great Grandma Lucy's sister. Aunt Bea could do just about any craft, but she was exceptional at crocheting. She and Uncle Paul had no children of their own and she didn't work outside the home, so she focused much of her energy on her garden. She had a yard that was the envy of the neighborhood with spectacular flowers and impressive vegetables. Dad recalls tomatoes that were the size of grapefruit!

Dad remembers going over to Aunt Bea's house and playing with her amazing antique toys, particularly the brass elephants and the Mickey Mouse Airplane

Aunt Peggy's most vivid memory of visiting Aunt Bea was eating corn on the cob off of Aunt Bea's crystal corn holder dishes. Her dishes were perfect for smothering the cob with butter! Aunt Bea made Barbie doll clothes for all of the nieces and great-nieces. Aunt Peggy's dolls were no exception. When Aunt Bea went walking in her yard with Aunt Peggy, she would often pick a beautiful small bouquet for her.

Aunt Bea also made afghans for her sisters.

After such a talented and beautiful life, Aunt Bea started showing signs of dementia and Alzheimers. At first, it was mild. She started saving the weeds and pulling up flowers. One time she suffered a nasty cold, and when she recovered from the cold she sadly forgot how to walk.

The part of the story that I have loved over the years is that despite not remembering much of her life that she was still able to make something so beautiful and intricate as those snowflakes. She could make several in a day.