WILLIAM WARREN and PHOEBE ALICE CAMPBELL marriage and family

17 April 1900 is the day more than a century ago that, according to family records, my mother's grandparents were married.  Marriage records for Idaho indicate that they were married April 18, 1900 in Marion, Cassia, Idaho.
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A very old fashioned song that I learned many years ago, titled 'Lavender Blue', comes to mind when I think of that time

Phoebe Alice Tolman and William Warren Campbell

Maybe it comes to mind because the first line starts with, "Great Grandfather met Great Grandmother when she was a shy young miss ..."
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The words to the song may not be entirely accurate in this case because she had been married (see document at bottom), had a baby girl 18 June 1897, Ila Vera Clark, [that died 17 Feb 1899 at Marion, Cassia, Idaho] and was divorced [from Peter Clark] when Great Grandfather met her.
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William Warren Campbell
Phoebe Alice Tolman
Married: 17 April 1900
Sealed: 11 Jul 1900 Manti, Utah Temple

My Grandfather, William David Campbell, wrote:
     "In 1897 [my father] got a job with a sheepman, William Tolman, whose daughter became my mother, Phoebe Alice Tolman. My father was with him during the sheep and cattleman war in Idaho. It was during this time that he met my mother.

"He went to Idaho in 1898 to work for William Tolman. It was at this time that the [sheep and cattleman] war went on and he told me how they would change their bed every night to a different position so that the head of the bed would be in a different direction for the cattlemen would shoot at the head of the beds.

"One cattleman told my Grandfather [William Tolman] he would shoot him on sight the next time he saw him. One day he was riding in a strange part of the range when he saw a cabin and when he knocked on the door a man opened it, reached up, up above it for a rifle and shot him. The bullet went through him, and then through the neck of the horse, killing the horse. Another horseman found him and took him home. It was six months before he could ride again.

"My father started to court my mother, Phebe Alice Tolman and they were married in the Spring of April 17, 1900. They decided to take the sheep camp wagon and started for Cardston, Alberta, Canada."

The 1900 US Census for Marion, Cassia, Idaho shows William Warren Campbell
with his wife Alice (heavy black arrow) living near his father and family
(lighter arrow) and other family (a sister and her family -Joseph Shurtz).

Howard K Campbell, son of Warren Earl Campbell, and grandson to William Warren Campbell tells some memories in a short family history published on the internet 13 October 2010. He writes:
     "In 1873 a report was made to the Dominion Government describing the west as being 'without law, order, or security for life or property'. As a result the North West Mounted Police was formed. In the year 1874 a force left Dufferin on the Red River travelling west looking for suitable locations for detachments. All Canada west of the Great Lakes was opened up by traders and settlers under the wing of the mounted police. Under this influence peace and security were the rule.

"Settlers moved into the Hill Spring District. In 1880 the Cochrane Ranch was founded by Senator Mathew Mullins. It was a going concern when the Mormon pioneers under President Charles Ora Card founded Cardston in 1887. 

"In 1906 the mormon church purchased the Cochrane Ranch. In 1908 President Wood started dividing this land for settlement. Seymour Smith was hired to survey the land and locate two townsites. One where Hill Spring now stands. A few people took the land in 1908 namely Drapers(built the first home in the district), Bill Wynder and William Tolman. In 1909 a few more families came, Alex Leishman and William Warren Campbell. Carl Tanner built the first home in the townsite in 1909-10. In June of 1910 President Wood came to Hillspring from Cardston. The people came from near and far. Among those present were F.P. Fisher family, Thomas Davies family, Carl Tanner family, Sid Tanner family, Allred family, Garner family, Alex Leishman family, W.C. Smith family, Hendrickson family, Richardson family, William Warren Campbell family and the Albert Tolman family.

"My father Earl Warren Campbell was born June 02 1910 in a one room house which his father later turned into a granery. He was the first baby boy to be born in Hillspring Alberta. On the 12th of June 1910 the ward was organized .The first school house was built in 1911. In 1914 the telephone was brought into the district. The sports were sponsored by the Mormon Church. Scout trips to Waterton Lakes. Badger holes his horse use to step in. His mother Phoebe Alice Tolman(Campbell) graduated from nursing school in 1917. Baseball and Track champions in 1930. Held the M.M. team cup in the Mormon Church till 1937. HillSpring was such a pretty place. He left Hill Spring in the fall of 1942. He was in the army services in World War 2. Trained boxer. Came to Vancouver British Columbia. Married my mother Eileen Mary Crandell(Campbell). Had five children(three boys and two girls)."

William David Campbell continues:
     "In 1900 they were in Cardston for a short time, then decided to go further north to Lacombe, Alberta. Here they homesteaded at Bentley in the same area as the Tolmans that were already there. In September they built a sod house and broke some land. I, William David [Campbell], was born in the spring of 1901 one year later and my brother [Laurence] Edward [Ted Campbell]was born in 1902" [at Lacombe]. Records on new.familysearch.org show, inaccurately, Uncle Ted was born in Idaho in 1899. Other family records state he was born 10 December 1902 in Lacombe.]

A 1906 Canadian census locates Phoebe's father William Augustus 

Tolman (midway down right side marked with black arrow) with 

his wife and 4 youngest children in the Province of Alberta, 

Strathcona District 37 B, section 24, township 42, range 2, meridian 5 

with a post office address of Rimby. He arrived in Canada in 1900 and 

owns 10 horses, 8 milk cows, and 4 'other horned or meat' cattle.

"At that time it was so wet for two years. The grain that was planted didn't ripen so they [his parents] decided to move back to Cardston. In 1905 they stated back in the same covered Wagon. On the way we camped by a bridge. I wanted to play on the bridge. Mother said, 'If you go on that bridge it will go up with you, that stopped me.'

"On the way it seemed like there were a thousand Indians. Sometimes my father was away from the camp to get the horses. That was when the Indians would come into camp to bother mother. She had my brother Edward in a baby carriage. The squaws wanted to take him out of the carriage. Mother always carried a six shooter. She got it out from under the pillow and started shooting in the air."

[Family records indicate that
Alberta Pearl Campbell was born 16 February 1905 at Rimbey Alberta. She lived most of her life in Idaho.]

"We arrived in Cardston in the fall of 1906 and my father started to work as operator of the Card Estate in Cardston until 1907. Then the Tolmans moved back to Cardston and built a new home there in 1907 and also a home on Belly River 3 miles south of where Hillspring is now."

[Parley Merlin Campbell was born
20 October 1907 at Cardston Alberta.]

"My father left the Cardston job and went to work for Grandfather Tolman freighting lumber from the Henery Hansen Saw Mill at Waterton Lakes. In 1909 my father bought 1/4 section of land on the East shore of Strawberry Lake south of Hillspring.

"We lost this farm and got another 1/2 section west of Hillspring on the Waterton River [abt 1918] ... In 1918 [my father] bought the Walter Caldwell place; 1/2 section North side of the lake.and lived there for 6 years.

Phoebe Alice Tolman Campbell

"In 1917 my mother, Phebe Alice Tolman Campbell, took a nursing course under Dr. Ellis R Shipley, a lady doctor. Mother was a wonderful person and served in her nursing night and day bringing a great number of babies into the world - while raising a family of 9 children, 2 girls and 7 boys."

Warren Earl Campbell was born June 2, 1910 - "the first baby boy to be born in Hillspring [Alberta] in 1910 ...",

Lowell Tolman Campbell was born
 December 5, 1912
at Hill Spring Alberta,

George Albert Campbell was born
March 17, 1916
at Hill Spring Alberta,

Ray Everett Campbell was born
July18, 1918
at Hill Spring Alberta.

Elsie May Campbell was born
May 3, 1921

at Hill Spring Alberta .

Except for Parley (note Elsie calls him by his middle name 'Merlin') who died at age 20 (1926) and Pearl who died at age 44, they all lived long lives.

"In 1919 the great drought began. [Bill is about 18 years of age.] We planted 200 acres of wheat and got 300 bu of wheat off the Stawberry Lake bed. That fall Dad bought a new double bedded wagon box. In June we took a load of wheat to Cardston…

"In 1919 and 1920 there was no feed in the country. Father and Marion Brooks each took a team of horses and went north to Cold Lake. All the rest of our animals died. We had 18 head of horses die. Cattle and pigs also. Marion Brooks had one cow. His son Willard Brooks and I butchered her."

My mother, Elna Jean Campbell, knew her grandparents and aunts and uncles, both the Campbells and the Tolmans. She says the Tolmans lived in Hill Spring on the next block. Mona Tolman, the daughter of George and Emily (Emma) Tolman (Phoebe's brother) was a cousin mom felt especially close to and spent a lot of time with.

Her Grandfather, William Warren Campbell, built the log cabin mom's family later moved into at Hill Spring. It was added to many times over the course of many years.

Mom says, "There was a dugout under the house. You went in from the outside. We kept fruit and vegetables and crocks of pickles in there.

"Phoebe Alice was around awhile. I knew her very little. I remember her more by picture than in person. He lived for quite a while after [she passed away.]... They always celebrated on the 1st of July. [He] owned the ice house. My dad had a 10 quart freezer and it stood about 2' high and about 15" across. They sold ice-cream at the ball games and they borrowed my dad's freezer.

"Something else interesting; my dad knew dynamite. He blew up wood for firewood. He would go out on the hills west above Hill Spring. He always blew up dynamite and everyone expected it of him every year. My dad's brothers sold salted peanuts out of old whiskey barrels everywhere, all over town ...

"We knew Uncle Ted and Aunt Jenny's kids really well. They lived up the Waterton river South West of my dad at Hill Spring. My aunts and uncles every once in awhile would have a reunion up on the Waterton River. That was while we still lived out on the farm till I was 5 or 6. [About 1935 or 1936.] Uncle Lowell lived 3 or 4 miles North West on a 1/4 section.

"When I was a teen I would get on a train [in Hill Spring] and go to Raymond to Uncle Ted and Aunt Jenny's. I went a lot and they put up with me. By then they were in Raymond. One of those kids married a Paxman ...

"In Hill Spring we had a town square all the families would walk there and just sit and visit. The Tolmans, Campbells, Davis', Fishers, Andrews or anyone else - would all get together and play ball, skip rope, Run Sheep Run. Uncle George and Aunt Emma were real singers and we sang all the way. We'd leave the church singing and sing 3 blocks home, whoever was walking home together.

"In Hill Spring there were trees around every block. The pioneers brought a piece of cottonwood and when you put it in the moist soil it would send up a shoot and grow. It could be almost any kind of tree - apple, whatever - a piece cut from a green tree and when there is lots of water it will grow. I don't know how they brought them. Look out there at Hill Spring. There are lots of trees - Merrills brought and dad helped plant them."

I often visited with Aunt Elsie Campbell Goy and I met many of her siblings - my mother's aunts and uncles. Elsie and I both lived in Lethbridge Alberta. Sometimes I took notes as she told me family history and stories. I now quote from bits of her memories, "When I was 4 or 5 I went on a train with my mother to her family and I started school when I visited there. When I came back [to Canada] I had to go back [in school]. 

1929 border crossing card for Alice Campbell and her daughter Elsie M.
on the CPR (Canadian Pacific Railway) shows that Alice was 5'9' tall, 
with a medium complexion, graying hair, and hazel eyes, and that they 
were going to her sister's Mrs. Geo Richardson in Pocatello, Idaho.

"Pearl's boyfirend teased the life out of me because I bit my nails. I also went to Salt Lake and visited my mother's sister there [Emily Althea Tolman Smith] and Etta [Mae Tolman married George Richardson] in Idaho too. 

"We had a reunion here [in Alberta] years ago. Mother's sister was in Claresholm - Aunt Clara [Clara Lovina Tolman Richardson] - her husband had died and she was by herself. I was about 13 at that time. Another came out from Pocatello Idaho. She had a daughter my age. Your Grandma [Elna Campbell] probably has it. I have pictures of the kids.

" Uncle Joel Shurtz [Joseph Francis Shurtz husband of Annie Elizabeth Campbell] wrote in my autograph book. They were very popular then you know. Everyone had one. I think I had written them [Joel and Beth]. Uncle Lowell [Tolman Campbell] (his wife is on oxygen now) lives close to Bride's Veil - he gets really enthusiastic ... had 2 girls. All the family [came].

" Another reason I remember those relatives [from the train trip] is they had a parrot. He sat on my knee and took a bite out of it. I can still remember the tabernacle from then.

"I remember my brother Merlin and he played the guitar and harmonica. I'd sit behind him and comb his hair."

While researching this family on the internet I found a picture of a 'Campbell Family Band'. Great Grandpa and Grandma are in the picture and he appears to have a harmonica in his hand. It is taken in LeGrande Oregon about 1937.

back row: Deward Winn, _______,
                 Rosetta Ann Campbell Schooler,  

                 Phoebe Alice Tolman Campbell,
                 Charles Wilbur Schooler, 

                 Susanna Campbell Winn Knapp,
                 Warren Campbell

front row: Jospeh Lester Schooler,
                 Joel Campbell,
                 Johnny Grant Schooler

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A similar picture of the Campbell Family Band 

"There's a lot of hills in Burley. Now Joe Shurtz, they lived in a tent at the bottom of this hill. A circus came at the top of that great long hill and my dad was working out of the sheep ranch. They moved to Caldwell. Did anyone look in Rupert [for this family]? I think she had her little Joanne in Rupert.

with some siblings

[Once] "A knock came at the door - 'Are you Pearl Jamison?[Are you related to Ray and George?]' Anyway they got caught sneaking over the line, [the US/Canada border] and ended up in custody and not allowed to come across again. Pearl was there for years and years. When Pearl came back to momma's funeral then they wouldn't let them back across for about 3 months until she got a Visa. She was working. He was a printer.

"Ted and Jenny [Laurence Edward Campbell and Jenny Adelaide Brown] came out to care for me when mother and dad went down there [to help Pearl with some difficulties]. He [Ted] had a sheep ranch way up the river. Then they
moved to Raymond after that. 

A US/Canada border crossing card from 1936 shows
Wm Warren Campbell, age 65, traveling by car with his
wife Alice and son Earl, (and 3 other men - 

Mr. Haycock, Lowry and Gibbs) to Burley Idaho
to visit his daughter Mrs. Pearl Jamison. It also shows his
occupation is a farmer, that he is 5' 11" tall 

of medium complexion with grey hair and eyes.

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"Earl had a car and he took mom and dad down to Pearl's. After mom and dad died we all split up and haven't come back together... I think of [my siblings]all the time. I've been here since 1949. In 52 when I was expecting, Will and Lowell came to see me in Raymond.

unknown couple may be Warren's brother Joel and spouse

"I lived in Saskatchewan. My husband's folks lived there when he was discharged. I went up to visit Earl and his wife Eileen [Warren Earl Campbell and Mary Eileen Crandall]. Uncle George married Emma Cheney [George David Tolman and Emily Louise Cheney].  I met her niece in Vancouver.  ... Margie Hugh Bates had 2 little boys and she said come and babysit for me. I'll pay you 4 $ a week - I couldn't make ends meet. I believe Bates would be a shirt tail relative. Eileen and I went down and I got a job at a cannery. She helped me. Then I was on my
own.

"I have my grade one diploma. I even have my birth certificate. I wasn't baptized until 1921 in Hill Spring. Your grandpa and Ted were born at the same place. Earl tried to write all that down. I have a photo stat. It's faded but you can make it out.

William Warren Campbell's sons - left to right
Ray Everett Campbell;
George Albert Campbell;
Lowell Tolman Campbell;
Warren Earl Campbell;
Laurence Edward [Ted] Campbell 

William David Campbell far right

"I've got a picture Ruth gave me of my family. When Aunt Jennie [Adelaide Brown, Ted's wife] died they took a picture of all of us [1980]. I went walking in and stood at the end of this group and all the sudden they took the picture. I decided,'I'm not going to stand at the end. I ran around and stood in the middle. They've all got a grin trying not to laugh because I did that.

William Warren Campbell's children - left to right:Ray Everett Campbell; George Albert Campbell; Lowell Tolman Campbell; Elsie May Campbell Goy;Warren Earl Campbell;Laurence Edward [Ted] Campbell;William David Campbell 

"Will was as straight as he could be. When he laughs his head goes way back and then out it comes, so loud! My dad laughed like that too. Will standing there trying to keep it in with a big grin. Ray named a boy Warren.

"Pearl lived in Burley. My dad and I went to Burley with the Rasmussens after mom died. I was 17. He went to the sheep ranch to visit his brother. I didn't go. I stayed with relatives. They were 7th Day Adventist and lived in a trailer. When we'd sit down for prayer at this relatives we visited, I stayed with them and even started school, I was crying and they was crying and I guess they was trying to convert me. They don't believe in TV and Christmas." Aunt Elsie thought these were the relatives that had the parrot.

I found a border crossing card for both Elsie and her father in 1939. They traveled with friends Thomas T. Mendenhall, his wife Nita and Emily Lee and Iona Mendenhall to Pearl's in Burley Idaho by car. Elsie is 5' 6 1/2" tall at age 17 with light brown hair and brown eyes. She can read and write and has been in the United States before.
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note that this card has his signature at the lower left

He has 40 dollars cash and intends to remain 6 months. This card also documents that he arrived in Canada at Whiskey Gap, Alberta about 1900.

The back of the card notes under the heading 'Medical Certificate', "wife died 2 months ago and desires to make a visit to get away from surroundings at home." 

Although it appears he perhaps had some difficulty crossing the border it is clear he was surrounded by loving family and friends at a difficult time. This family did much more than laugh and sing together. They loved one another.

documentation for previous marriage