It's been a little overwhelming hearing about all those brickwalls, those Cameron
ancestors in search of caring descendants.
I'm happy to report that I have been having some breakthroughs with the help of an
excellent researcher in Wisconsin, Melodie Kuby. We are on our way to finding earlier
roots of the Eau Claire Camerons, and have discovered some tragic and scary life stories
along the way. But this evening I will just briefly summarize where we are now:
Dougald Cameron, b. 1830 in Quebec, Canada; father born in Scotland. Married Catherine
McCormick, b. 1833 in Ogdensburg, N.Y. Emigrated to Eau Claire, WI in 1862, with their two
sons, John A. and Edmund (sometimes called Edward). In Eau Claire, Dougald worked for a
lumber company, and they had several other children, some of whom died. John A. Cameron
marred a Miss Merrill; they lived in Minneapolis. Hugh, b. 1866 (my ggrandfather), Katie
(later Mrs. Frank Smith in Chicago), and Thomas. Dougald died in 1892, Catherine 1901,
followed that fall by Thomas' death by drowning. Edmund was shot by the new husband of
Thomas's widow in a murder/suicide in 1906 in Spooner City, washburn County, WI. Tom
left a son, Joseph J. Cameron, who married Selma Moe and lived in Superior, WI. My Hugh,
a railway man, went to Moscow, Idaho, and then Spokane WA. Hugh married Edna Hunter in
1885, my grandfather was born in 1886.
So, we now have enough information to trace possible descendants of Thomas (Joseph J.) and
John A. of Minnesota. And I'm looking for records of Dougald in Quebec. And a marriage
of Catherine and Dougald in or near Ogdensburg. And some day... bang, back to Scotland!
And it's been a longer trip back than it was to here!
Ann Cameron
ann.cameron(a)utoronto.ca