CAMPBELL FAMILIES
Michael Lincoln Campbell (9/6/1860-2/12/1898) and Frances Adell Stevenson (5/8/1865-7/12/1928) were married in Cher-okee County, Iowa, on June 16, 1883. To this union was born Charles Chester on Septem-ber 27, 1884. Michael was a boomer: at various times he was a licensed pilot on the Great lakes, a boarding-house operator in Gothenberg, Nebraska, and a miner. He once shot prairie chickens and grouse commer-cially on what later became the Otto Maire place southwest of Mullen.
In 1898 Michael was killed in a mine accident in Victor, Colorado, leaving “Dell'' and Charlie virtually penniless. They moved to Mullen that year to join her parents, the Francis Stevensons.
Dell started over by making custom hats for ladies in Mullen. Eventually this venture grew into a millinery shop, then a dry-goods store, and finally a general store, the Sand Hills Commercial Co.
Charlie drove for a livery stable, taking veterans and homesteaders to their claim cabins in the area. He also herded sheep briefly on the Middle Loup. About 1900 he worked on a CB&Q section crew to earn money to learn the telegrapher's key, and at age 18 he became the youngest and only single station agent on the Billings branch of the CB&Q. Consequently Charlie was moved all over the branch to fill in for married agents.
While stationed at Halsey, Nebraska, Charlie married (in Thedford) Vera Louise Callender (11/15/1889-3/31/1925). To this union were born two sons, Charles Chester Jr. (“Chet,'' 2/14/1913-) and Ray (9/28/1915-10/2/1963).
Around 1910 Dell persuaded Charlie to leave the railroad and become her partner, first in the dry-goods store and later in the Sand Hills Commercial Co. Dell, who was completely deaf, always made her home with Charlie and Vera. They operated the general store from around 1916 until they sold it to William Gruenig in 1932.
During the thirty-odd years in Mullen, Charlie was active in civic affairs. He served on the Village Board and was County Trea-surer, and he played tuba in the village band. Both Charlie and Vera were active in IOOF and Rebecca Lodge and in St. Joseph's Episcopal Church. Vera was an accomplished pianist much in demand for choirs and musical functions.
By 1932, both Dell and Vera had died, and Charlie had married (4/16/1928) Cleo Feni-more of Merna. In 1932 the family moved to Ft. Collins, Colorado, to operate a gift shop. When it promptly failed, the family returned to Mullen where they still owned a home. After two years during which Charlie worked at clerical jobs for the Village of Mullen and Frank Construction Co., the family – charlie, Cleo, Chet, and Michael (b. 1934) moved to Tacoma, Washington, where Ray was becoming established in the truck-sales business.
Charlie worked at several bookkeeping jobs in Tacoma until he joined Todd Shipyards, where he was employed until 1947. That year, he and Cleo separated (later divorced) and he moved to Los Alamos, New Mexico, where Chet had accepted civilian employment after being discharged from the Army. In 1949 Charlie accepted a job with Holmes & Narver, the overseas contractor for the Atomic Energy Commission, in Los Angeles, where he remained until his death on Febru-ary 24, 1958.
Cleo had remained in Tacoma, where she finished business school. She worked for Kirk Evergreen co. from 1949 until she retired in 1978. In the meantime she had remarried (Fred Schmechel) and been widowed. In 1980, she moved to Tucson, Arizona. She died there on September 25, 1983.
Michael, who had suffered brain damage at birth, is a resident of Bethphage Mission in Axtell, Nebraska.
Ray, who had gone on to own and operate the Diamond T truck agency in Tecoma, died prematurely in 1963. He had married Marga-ret Scott in 1937, and they had one son, Larry Scott Campbell (b. 1938).
Chet's story is told separately (see under Charles C. Campbell, Jr.)