Catharine Jane Finlayson

Catharine Jane was the youngest daughter of Angus L. Finlayson of Cumberland County, NC, (b. 1790 Scotland), and Catharine Finlayson (b.1792). Her siblings were Christian A. Finlayson b.1822; Mary Finlayson b.1824; Alexander Finlayson b.1826; Margaret Finlayson b.1828 and Malcom Finlayson b.1830

When Sherman's Army came through here in the Spring of 1865, as someone said, "almost abreast from Rockingham, N.C. to Laurel Hill, N.C.," the soldiers tried to find my grandfather, Daniel W.Campbell. (He was 50 yrs old). They gathered up all the men they could find and took them with the army on the march. The way I understood the things I heard about my Campbell family, my grandfather seemed to be terrified of the military forces. I have often wondered if his father, or a close relative, was killed in the Revolutionary War; perhaps at Moore's Creek Bridge, near Currie, N.C. They did not find my grandfather. The soldiers threatened to kill my grandmother Catharine (She was 31 with a 2 year old child, Norman A.) if she didn't tell them where he was. She sat on in her chair in the old log kitchen and held my father on her lap. She just stared at them; but wouldn't tell them a thing.

Our family had plenty of cows, hogs, chickens, etc. The soldiers helped themselves to these; dressing some of the meat on our kitchen floor, I've been told.

As for granddaddy, he was in the "shuck pen" some distance from the house. He must have stayed buried there for three days! That is the length of time, I've been told, that the army camped on our place. It is my guess these troops were backed up all the way from the camping ground at Campbell's Mill Pond to close around our homeplace. Sherman's Army took everything they could haul off, wherever they went, leaving many people with nothing to eat except a few grains of corn, and maybe a chicken that got away from them.

Eugene McRae, Sr. told me that his grandfather, who lived about a mile below Marks Creek Presbyterian Church on the east left his house and started up to our house to see "if Mr. Campbell had anything to eat." When he got started, however, he saw that there were bonfires all over our hill. It is thought that this army was waiting for another section to meet them, or catch up with them. Campbell's Mill Pond was a mile or more, northeast of the church, on Mill Creek. One can only imagine what a bad time this was for the family. I think about the way some of the families hid their belongings from the army. At one of the Cameron Family Reunions, Mrs. Maude Kelly told how their family members out-smarted the army. She said it was spring planting time for farmers, and they were getting their garden planted. They dug deep trenches and placed their hams and whatever other cured meat they had in them; replaced the dirt and planted their onions on top of the rows. Sherman's Army never found their meat! (Source: CAMPBELL AT THE HEAD OF MARKS CREEK - Richmond County in North Carolina by Mary Campbell Chappell.

Mary's book is a 160 page (8x10 inch soft cover) collection of her memories from childhood through 1989. Our connection to Norman (17-?/1820) Campbell and wife Sarah has been discovered since Mary wrote her book. Click here to order

Anyone with knowledge concerning this Finlayson family is urged to e-mail Myrtle Bridges at:

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