OK...I have to chime in now. Regarding the 'martyrdom' issue and 'Campbell
Cousin Clara Mary Butler (1910-1956).
Cousin 'Clara' Mary Butler was a 1st Cousin to my mother, Rose E. Campbell
Kelim Davis (1910-1995), and we knew her as Mary Butler. Mary Butler was
the dau. of Martha Campbell Butler (as you mentioned before); and my mother,
Rose Campbell Kelim Davis, was the dau. of Martha Campbell Butler's brother,
Mark C. Campbell. Mary and Rose were both born in 1910, and were such good
friends as well as 1st Cousins.
It is true that 'Clara' Mary Butler was a missionary in Nicaragua, and that
she died there, but I doubt she would have ever termed herself as a martyr.
As it was, she contracted cancer (I never asked what type) while she was
living and ministering in Nicaragua. Her Aunt Myra (maiden sister of Martha
Campbell Butler and Mark C. Campbell, and my GRAND [she liked to be called
GRAND Aunt, not Great Aunt] Aunt Myra) went down to Nicaragua to bring Mary
Butler back home so the family could take care of her. But Mary sent Aunt
Myra back home alone, saying she preferred to stay with "her people" in
Nicaragua, and that they would take good care of her. So that is where she
died of disease, and where she was buried. End of story. Hope this is of
some interest.
I'll forward this to my sister, Delores Kelim Davis Power, to see if she has
anything to add to this story.
Betty Davis Phillips
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Thompson" <bill.thompson(a)wtassoc.com>
To: <CAMPBELL-PA-NELSON-L(a)rootsweb.com>
Sent: Saturday, August 13, 2005 9:48 AM
Subject: [CaPaNe] How Greene Was Our Valley?
With apologies to author Richard Llewellyn and director John Ford of
"How
Green Was My Valley" fame.
This is a continuation of the Vernon Greene saga. He wasn't a major
factor in Tioga Co. history because of the time he spent living
elsewhere -- Susquehanna Co., PA;, Schuyler Co., NY; and Houghton Co.,
MI -- but he spent his later years in Elkland and his remains remain
there.
We previously mentioned that Vernon 1st married Emily Campbell, dau. of
James and Mary Blackwell Campbell, son of Joseph and Mary Harper Campbell.
Also that after Emily's death he married Mary Kemp (1834 - 1912), a dau.
of John A. Kemp (1797/98 - 1875) & Phoebe Cook (1788 - 1880). For today
I'll ignore Mary Kemp's siblings and talk about her two children:
Frederick Kemp Greene and Anna Greene.
Anna was the younger of the two. According to her tombstone she was born
in 1873. According to the 1880 census of Nelson Twp., she was born in MN,
so we may need to add another state to Vernon's list of residences. She
died in 1928. In 1893 in Addison, NY, she m. Fred D. Signor, b. 1869 in
Ithaca, Tompkins Co., NY, d. 1898 in Elkland, PA. Fred was a son of David
A. Signor (1827/28 - ?) and Sara DeBelle (1832/33 - ?). Fred and his
relatives were involved in several hotels in Elkland and Knoxville. Fred
and Anna had only one child, Lawrence K. Signor, b. 1894. Fred, Anna and
Lawrence came to many Campbell Reunions, but unfortunately Lawrence died
in 1906, ending that line.
Frederick Kemp Greene was born 1870 in NYS (another location for Vernon?)
and died 1936 in Yonkers, Westchester Co., NY. His wife, Margaret Ryan,
b. 1874 in NYS, d. 1929 in Yonkers. Both Frederick and Margaret are
buried in St. Joseph's Cem., Yonkers. They had 3 children and came for
many years from Yonkers to the Campbell Reunions.
So, even if some of our genealogist readers don't considered these
Greene's to be part of our family, both they and the folks running the
Reunions then considered them part of the family.
Fred and Margaret's eldest child was Frederick Vernon Greene, b. 1900, in
NY, d. 1955 in DC, m. Florence Camingo, b. 1907 in NY, d. 1980. FVG was
called Vernon. He is buried in Mt. Hope Co., Elmsford, Westchester Co.,
NY, a site I bicycle commuted past for more that a year when the weather
was good, and drove past when the weather wasn't good. But as so often
happens, I didn't find out till after I was through working in that area.
Florence is buried in Castleton Cem., Castleton-on-the-Hudson. "Vernon"
and Florence had two children. I've corresponded with their daughter,
Audrey O'Hare, who is living and has a number of descendants. Her
brother, Robert Austin Greene, aka Ellis Greene, was a missionary for the
Order of the Holy Cross, and died in Uganda in 1983 during very turbulent
times that culminated in the 1895 deposition of mad ruler Idi Amine by
former dictator, Milton Obote.
But memory played a trick on me. In my previous message about Emily
Campbell and Vernon Greene, I used the work 'martyrs' in talking about
their descendants. At the time, I was thinking of Brother Greene, for
one. But I incorrectly was thinking also of Campbell Cousin Clara Mary
Butler (1910 - 1956), who died while a missionary in Managua, Nicaragua.
She, was a dau. of Coral Milton Butler (1876 - 1940) & Martha Eunice
Campbell )1878 - 1965), dau. of Eunice Roby Howland (1852 - 1923) &
Charles Blackwell Campbell (1857 - 1912), son of Emily
Sellen/Sellon/Selling (1830 - 1888) & Robert Campbell (1827 - 1898) -
brother of Emily CAMPBELL Greene. So there was an "association" between
Clara and Vernon Greene, but no "blood" relationship between Clara and
Brother Greene. Furthermore, I'm not certain about the circumstances of
either missionary's death. Killings on a massive scale were occurring in
Uganda then. And there was unrest in Nicaragua culminating in the
assassination of its dictator, General Anastasio Somoza Garcia later that
year. 'Christian martyr' was originally used for those in the Roman
Empire who chose death rather than renounce their faith. But an
encyclopedia entry for
'Martyrdom today' says -- "The term has since been used_ metaphorically
<
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaphor>_ for people killed in a historical
<
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History> struggle for some cause, or those
whose deaths served to galvanize a particular movement." Whatever the
formal Cause of Death, and regardless of what term we choose to apply,
Clara Butler and Brother Greene apparently gave their lives in service to
their faith.
"Vernon" and Florence' middle child, Robert Edward Greene, never married.
He was born 1902 in NY and d. 1931 in NY.
"Vernon" and Florence' youngest child, Marguite Juanita "Bunny"
Greene,
was b. 1912 in NY, d. there 1981. She married George Pouria (1911 -
1969). They have a number of living descendants.
Not much suspense left the end of this episode of the serial. John Ford
could have done it better. Richard Llewellyn's book about a coal mining
community in Wales may not have been upbeat (and may have things in common
with some PA coal mining towns). But for those of us interested in our
Celtic roots (and some of us have Welsh ancestors as well as Campbell) you
may find the following as good news. Welsh is the only "minority
language" in Europe that's increasing in use. Modestly, but increasing.
Many atribute that to the BBC having launched a radio and a TV station
that broadcast in Welsh. As most of you know, Welsh is a Gaelic language.
Gaelic is hanging on in Scotland and Ireland, but loosing ground rapidly
in France and Spain. I probably could find some upbeat, snappy Welsh
phrase via the Internet to end on, but doubt we have many readers that
understand it. Those of you who have had the good fortune to travel to
Scotland will remember the dual signage there. You'll see a sign in
Gaelic with 30 or more letters for a place name. And beside it a version
in English with 8 or 10 letters for the place name. I always wondered "Is
that a translation, or just two different names for the same place?"
--
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