Mary E. and Daniel W. Campbell
Children of Norman A. and
Bessie Butler Campbell
About 1922
The Day We Tampered with the U.S. Mail (and got caught!)
Mrs. Sarah Jane lived at our house after Mama and Daddy got married. I loved her;
and I loved to see her coming! But I don't think Mama cared
much about her visits. Mainly, I think, because as she said, "Old Lady Sarah Jane
follows Dan around with a switch, keeping his legs streaked up!" Either I was
not as bad as I thought; or she liked me better, because she was very nice to me. Daddy
would go wherever she was living at the time and bring her "bag and baggage" to our house. I
couldn't wait for her to open her trunk. It always smelled so good! She was a very neat person
and carried a lot of good smelling cosmetics.
She had something in her trunk for us once in a while too. Most often this was a piece of
Juicy Fruit chewing gum, or some of her good smelling
soap. Mrs. Sarah Jane was old
and didn't have much of anything else to do, so she spent a lot of time
talking to me.
I stood beside her and listened and admired the
big ball of hair
on top of her head. She pulled all the hair up on top of her head
and pinned it down with fancy hairpins. Apparently,
she didn't have children. Her husband was killed
in the Civil War. (More resent
research shows William M. Butler was wounded and
later filed a claim for a pension, which was denied.) Mrs. Sarah Jane received
a widow's pension. I remember one time, which I am still
reluctant to talk about, when Dan and I decided to go to the
mail-box to get the mail. Our mail-box
was a good distance from our house on the "publick" road, in front of
Marks Creek School. We were not
allowed to go that far unless we were with someone else. We sneaked off!
We got the mail, a letter, out of the box; and perhaps because
it wasn't a book or magazine to look at, or maybe because Dan
didn't like Mrs. Sarah Jane, we tore it up. Dan was the one
that tore it up, but I stood there and watched him. Daddy
was right in behind us and met us a few feet from the box. I remember the exact spot and
could point it out today! We had torn up Mrs. Sarah Jane's pension check. Daddy came as close
to "tearing us up" as I ever remember! As usual, all he did was talk to us, but he sure
did make us feel bad. Mrs. Sarah Jane did not have a home. She was a McFarland before
her marriage and lived somewhere in the vicinity of Old Laurel Hill Church. When I remember her she
lived with Mr. George Pate and his wife about three or four months
out of the year, then at our house a few months, and then Daddy would take her to Mr. W.A.Wilkes' house
where she spent about the same amount of time. (Source: CAMPBELL AT THE HEAD OF MARKS CREEK by Mary Campbell Chappell)
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