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.

Grace Viola Campbell: A daughter's tribute to her mother

I found this beautiful tribute to Grace Campbell in the journal that Grandma Izzy wrote up for Uncle Stirling's family.


My mother was a beautiful woman about 5 feet 1 in tall, with lots of freckles, a happy smile, a beautiful high soprano singing voice. She had red, curly hair, brown eyes with green centers which would go gray at time of grief or sadness. She loved to laugh. She could sew like a professional, could cut her own patterns, make men’s clothes and even sew and mend furs. She was honest, fun-loving, competent, intelligent, and hard-working. She loved to cook and raise a garden. She delighted in children and had a real skill in dealing patiently with them. However, if you got sassy, you could expect immediate discipline. She was washing dishes in a pan in the kitchen and asked me to go out and carry in wood for our cookstove so she could start supper. I whined, “It’s not my turn…” That hard hand came out of the dishwater and caught me across the mouth as she said, “It’s your turn to wash dishes—now go get the wood if you expect to eat tonight.” I got the wood and came back and finished the dishes. She was absolutely fearless in about every area, but she was terrified of going in the water and of thunder and lightening storms.

Mama was the heart of our home. Daddy depended on her and all of us did, too. She had to move many times during her married life with him working as a carpenter and farming on the side. She had 9 children at home! She cooked, cleaned, washed in a tin tub on a scrub board all her life, ironed with a smoothing iron (or flat iron). There was no electricity in any home until 1946. There was no running water or bathroom in her home even when I was a senior in college. She never had an electric stove—either cooked on a woodstove or kerosene stove. Our family never owned a car.

But Mama was a lady, educated, and charming in her humble way. Every one of us adored her. We also knew Daddy loved her. They endured raising up a family during the depression years and through World War II. They raised a family of men and women not afraid to work, community minded, and God-fearing and loving. What a magnificent woman she was!

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:

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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:

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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

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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

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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:

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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.

We're related to the founders of Alexandria, VA!

Here's a little tidbit of family history from our very own Renee Hall!

"The Alexanders, also in the Campbell line, founded Alexandria, VA and helped to found Charlotte, NC. I read about it in a book called "Pioneers and Planters"--a fascinating book about the history of the South. Aunt Lois had already told me about the Charlotte part, but I didn't know about Alexandria. It stated that they were Presbyterian Merchants--meaning Scottish, as it was a Scottish sect, akin to what the Anglican church is to England, if I am not mistaken."

When I get around to the Alexanders, I will try to expand on this. Thanks, Renee!

What's in a name: Foy

Up until a few weeks ago when I started this blog, I thought I only had two Uncle Foys. Well, it turns out that I have three!

Here they are:

Uncle Foy, my mother's brother.
Great-Uncle Foy (b. mid 1920's), my maternal grandmother's brother.
Great-Great-Uncle Foy (b. 1903), my maternal great-grandmother's brother (brother to Grace Viola Campbell).

I didn't find any other Foys, but I only looked at Great-Great-Uncle Foy's aunts and uncles.

Searching for "Foy definition" on Google gave me some neat results.

From the Merriam-Webster website:
foy chiefly Scottish: a farewell feast or gift

From dictionary.com:
foy
1. chiefly Scot. a farewell gift, feast, or drink.
2. faith

The Scottish origin makes sense, since I'm pretty sure that both the Campbells and the Dunns (the parents of the first Foy) originated from Scotland. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Also, I like to check name popularity on a parenting website called babycenter.com. It shows popularity of a name through time, and it's really fun to play with. Here's the graph for Foy:

Before finding this graph, I thought we were the only family that used the name Foy. It's fun to see that there were other people that used the name! I think it's funny that the graph ends in 1938. I guess the name didn't catch on, which I think is too bad. I've always thought the name Foy was really cool.

Grace Campbell

Grace Viola Campbell, mother of Grandma Izzy and 9 other children.

This is what I know about her as a person:

• She was a seamstress
• Her husband was not as well off as her family was
• She was 23 when she married and 24 when her first child was born

Birth date: September 4, 1894

Marriage: July 30, 1918 to James Oren Thompson, Sr.

Death date: March 18, 1960

Records of Grace Viola Campbell:

In the 1920 census, as Grace Thompson

Information about her on a web page dedicated to descendants of David Atticus Nolan

Birth and death dates on FindAGrave.com

Marriage information at Mecklenburg County register of deeds and on FamilySearch.