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Excerpts from the November 1982 booklet:
Daniel Campbell & Effie McLean
Descendants and Other Connections
by Mayme Tyner and Mayme Pearl Tyner
Josephine Baggett
Josephine Baggett, b January 23, 1851, married Honest John Campbell, b October 23, 1847.
He was rather a quiet, small man in stature with large or prominent ears and wore a
beard stained with tobacco juice. He was industrious and a great experimenter with his
talents, growing peaches, concord grapes, and apples which were a complete failure,
changing breeds of his hogs, and a good gardener. Because of his sincerity and extreme
honesty, all who knew him gave him the name of "Honest John." He lived at the time
when the great, native yellow pine forest was being harvested and exported, and
for a time, kept boarders during the work week. He had an expression that he used
quite frequently and would preface his remarks and comments with "I des say." On
occasions he worked with the logging crew performing the duty or chore of tailing the
log cart drawn by one to three yoke of oxen. One day in the performance of his job,
the log knocked him down into the log cart rut. He immediately gathered himself
together, brushed off as much dirt as he could and said, "I des say, what's a fella
doing tailing a log cart with $500.00 in his pocket?"
One year he grew an excellent crop of the famous Elberta peaches. Since turpentining
the yellow pine timber was a very profitable business, Dave Williamson operated a large
turpentine still near the Falco Junction and had a large crew of both blacks and whites.
One day "Honest" John was at the still and walking around in the coopershop when he
saw lots of Elberta peach peels and seed on the ground. When he asked the source
of the peaches, the Negro in charge of the coopershop replied, "From Mr. Seigler, he
has plenty of them." "Honest John, knowing that these peaches had been stolen fromhis orchard and by whom, returned home and proceeded to arm himself with "windy
Jim" and awaited Mr. Seigler's raid on his orchard. As soon as "Honest" John watched
Seigler gather his bag of peaches and start over the rail fence, he fired on him and
believed that he had killed the man. Early the following morning, "Honest" John got
his spade and his son, Bob, to accompany him to the shooting site expecting to find the
culprit deed and to bury him in place. Alas, all they found was the peaches and no
sign of the man. He never lost any more peaches. "Honest" John was a surveyor of
sorts and was often called upon to run land lines for his neighbors.
"Honest" John and Josephine believed in taking full advantage of any and all available
schooling within walking distance of their home. The children attended public school
about five miles southeast of home in an open log house which they called "Kelley
University" because the nearest neighbors were named Kelley. Later the log house
was abandoned because there was no way to heat it during winter. Then a board and
batten house was built by the school patrons and heated with a heater. The children
would go out into the woods and pick up off the ground such wood, sticks, and pine
knots as could be burned in the heater. With the addition of the heater, the children
would attend school during the summer at Almarante Church and return to the Kelley
School during the winter term. With this alternate schooling, the children were able
to attain the equivalent of an eighth-grade education which was a great educational
advantage over the neighboring children, many of whom were unwilling to walk such
distances to attend school.
1. Mandah Catherine Campbell, better known as Kate, never married but during her
adult life, she followed the logging crews for the saw mills and operated a boarding
house. She had a pleasing personality but was prone to gossip thereby enjoying
the creation of dissention and strife between people in the neighborhood. She
had one son, Joseph E. Campbell.
2. Teloolah "Lula" Campbell, b April 19, 1876, married Benjamin Horace Hart I,
November 20, 1917, and lived on a farm and ranch in a large three bedroom,
unpainted, heart lumber, frame house with a hall separating the main portion of the
house and with a large kitchen and dining room separate from the main house and
joined by a walk-way. They owned approximately 10,000 acres of land on which they
grazed sheep, cattle, and hogs. They kept horses to ride the range and herd the
cattle for marking and branding and the sheep for shearing in the late spring or
early summer. Benjamin Horace had three children by an earlier marriage: Leila
who married Sam Cox and lived at Milton, Florida; Maude who married Miles A
Warren and lived at Vero Beach, Florida; Samson who married Agnes Frater and
lived on a farm near Shoal River and in Crestview, Florida. Lula's only child
was Benjamin Horace Jr., married Faye Joyce Cooper and is now living near Tampa,
Florida.
3. Mary Ann "Babo" Campbell, b November 15, 1877, married Capers Tyner with the
Reverend L. P. Cordon officiating at the bride's home located about three miles
south of Laurel Hill, Florida. They set up housekeeping on the spot where her
grandfather, Norman A. Campbell, operated a Stage Coach Inn during the latter
1850's and early 1860's. They had a one-mule farm with a few chickens, hogs and
cows. She was a jolly and friendly person and quite slow-motioned in her work.
They had one son, Marcus Hannah, who was brilliant in school and became afflicted
with epilepsy which affected his mental capacities before he reached manhood. He
was rarely at home except to eat and sleep and was the sole pride and joy of
his parents. He never married, possibly because of his affliction. In her home,
"Babo" had a large upright victrola with many records of the famous Carter
Family Singers and the yodeler, Jimmy Rogers. Marcus passed away November 18,
1979, in a nursing home at Crestview, Florida.
4. Charles Caywood Campbell, b March 4, 1882, married Gertrude Roache formerly
from Indiana but was living in Bagdad, Florida at the time. Charles was a gentle,
honest, unselfish man with a pleasing personality and always willing to go the last
step. In his young manhood, the only employment available was in the yellow pine
virgin forest logging industry. The Steams & Culver Lumber Company bought a
lot of timber lands in Walton County, Florida, and built log roads through the
forest to remove the logs with an engine and trucks (being a section of pairs of
wheels held together mostly by the weight of the logs on the front and rear sections).
One day there had been a big rain with heavy winds and the crew was late coming
out of the woods when the light on the engine went out. Charles was put on the
cow-catcher with a lantern to watch the road for possible washouts or trees across
the track. He saw a small tree across the track and yelled to the engineer to
stop which was next to impossible in the short distance away from the tree - plus
the weight of the load of logs being pulled. As a result one of his feet was
crushed so badly that it had to be amputated just above the ankle. For the balance
of his life he used a peg leg alternately with a wooden leg for personal locomotion.
The company, feeling some responsibility for his future welfare, placed him in
the meat department of their supply store at Bagdad, Florida, where he worked
until his retirement. Charles and Gertrude had three children: Kenneth, Evalee
and Glynn.
5. Effie Campbell, b April 9, 1885, the fourth daughter of "Honest" John and Josephine Baggett Campbell, and Mack Tyner, b November 2, 1879, were married
August 25, 1905, by Reverend L. P. Gordon at the home of the bride. They immediately set up housekeeping in a temporary, three room, board and batten
shanty with the most meager essentials. During her spare time, Effie made quilts
on shares for her mother-in-law from the best parts of worn-out men's pants
and any other available materials that came to hand.
As soon as possible, they had some lumber cut and, with the aid of her two
brothers, Charles and James, built a three room board and batten house, covered
with split boards with an open hall on the 120 acres of land that they were home-
steading. Mack worked several years for his father for $8.00 per week and, by
living frugally, they managed to save a little money which they invested in a milk
cow, a mule and some farming tools. Prior to this purchase they had used his
father's mule to make and cultivate a garden. They always had a garden, sufficient
hogs raised in the woods and fattened on chufas or peanuts, to provide the annual
supply of home cured meat along with some chickens which provided some food and
eggs for cash market. They worked constantly to avoid debt.
All of their four children were born in the original house, some without medical
assistance. As the children grew older, they built another larger room to the
front of the house which, at one time, served as a bedroom as well as storage
space, in one corner, for cotton on which the children romped and played. Their
children attended annual four-month school in the community of Central. The school
term usually began the first Monday following the Fourth of July. Oftentimes the
teacher lived with different people who would keep him or her a part of and
sometimes all of the term. When the school term ended at Central, if there was school
in session at Piney Grove School, the children attended that school until its
termination. They were determined that their children should have a good education and become leaders, if possible, in the
upbuilding of the community as well as having expertise in all phases of farming and ranching, including the tilling of
the soil and harvesting the crops. Effie believed in hard work and that "idle hands
were the devil's workshop." She was a very strict disciplinarian and believed in
attending strictly to her own business and not to meddle into the affairs of others.
Gradually over the years, they expanded the small farm operation, and since
Mack's father had a saw mill and a turpentine business, Mack worked himself into
the turpentine business by renting or leasing timber from other people, when he
could, and used his own timber as well. The neighbors were bad to burn the woods
or open range in the fall, winter or early spring so that there would be spring
grazing for their cattle. This promiscuous range burning forced Mack to hoe and
clear around each turpentined tree a space of about four feet from the base of the
tree to prevent the face of the tree from catching fire and thereby destroying the
turpentine, called scrape that had dried on the face of the tree, as well as the
trees. The older children helped to rake and clean around the trees in the fall
and winter. On the farm, in the early years of their marriage, the only cash
crops were cotton, eggs, and an occasional hog or cow.
All of the children completed High School and distributed among them are: one
doctorial, 2 masters and 4 bachelors degrees.
A. Mayme Tyner, b March 15, 1906, married Richard Eugene Pilcher, December
23, 1934, (divorced) and had one daughter, Sara Jane, b February 10, 1938 and married Ph.D. Kay Marvin Eoff, the son of R. K. and Gladys Bergvall
Eoff, June 19, 1965. They live in Gainesville, Florida, where he is a Professor at the University of Florida. Mayme, the eldest, majored in Education, having won a competitive scholarship and taught in the Public Schools
of West Florida for 27 years. She received her A.B. degree in 1930. Following
this, she was a registered Real Estate Broker for some 20 years.
Mack and Effie were the first Republican County Committeeman and woman from Okaloosa County to the State Executive Committee. Mayme became
interested in politics and served 12 years (1956-1968) as Secretary of the
Republican State Executive Committee of Florida and as Assistant Secretary
for an additional four years. During this time, she was a Delegate from Florida
to the National Republican Conventions of 1956, 1960 and 1 968. Her father was
a Delegate to the 1956 Convention which met in San Francisco. In 1964, Mayme
served as an Alternate to the Convention. Sara Jane Pilcher, Mayme's daughter, was a page in the 1956 Convention.
B. Pearl Tyner majored in Food and Nutrition at Florida State College for Women,
graduating in 1930. This institution later became co-ed and was named Florida State University. She served a Dietetic Internship at Michael Reese
Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. She taught Home Economics in high school for
a few years, then was Home Economist for the Florida Light and Power Company
prior to becoming a Dietitian with the Veterans' Administration, holding stations
in Columbia, S.C., Bronx, New York, Leavenworth and Wichita, Kansas and Alexandria, La. Then she enlisted as a Dietitian in the Medical Corps of U. S.
Army with the rank of Second Lieutenant and spent approximately three years
in the European Theater of Action in World War II. She was discharged as a Captain. Then she returned to the Veterans' Administration serving in
Ashville, North Carolina and Kennedy General Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee,
from which she retired at age 50. Since retirement she worked hard and diligently with a ranching operation on the family farm and is devoting much
time and energy with the local Historical Society and Museum.
C. Daughter, Annie Marie, b January 2, 1910, majored in Education, graduating
from Florida State College for Women in 1935 and was a Public School teacher
in Jackson County, Florida until her retirement. She was married twice; first
to C. B. Conrad, an Engineer with the State Road Department with issue of a son, Connie Mack Conrad who was adopted by her second husband, H. T.
Sowell, an electrician with issue of a daughter, Annette. Annette married Thomas Maleszewski. Annie and H. T. made their home in Chipley, Florida.
D. Mack and Effie's only son, Mack Tyner Jr., b February 1, 1916, married Carolyn Vidal, b June 21, 1921, daughter of Adolphe L. and Callie Smith Vidal,
June 14, 1 946. Carolyn graduated from Flora MacDonald College in 1943 with
a double major in violin and Public School Music. She taught Public School
Music in North Carolina and Alachua County, Florida. Mack Jr. attended the
University of Florida where he obtained a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering.
He attended the University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, where he received
his Masters and Doctorial Degrees in 1941. He began his career with Kimberley-
Clark Paper Company, Appleton, Wisconsin, followed by joining Armour
Research Foundation, Chicago, Illinois. He and another researcher discovered
the process for treating paper containers to allow them to hold, keep or store
gasoline. He was refused admission in the military service during World War
II and returned to the University of Florida for research. Shortly he entered
the teaching profession where he has remained and will remain until retirement.
a. Ruth Lynn Tyner, b November 27, 1949, married Michael James Redmon, b. October 3, 1941, March 5, 1975. She attended the University of
Florida where she obtained B.A. degree in Music, Master of Engineering in Industrial Engineering, and her Ph.D. degree in Quantum Chemistry.
She is now doing computer calculations in the Quantum Theory at Batelle Laboratories, Columbus, Ohio.
b. Mack Tyner Ill, b July 7, 1951, married Paula Robinson, b May 8, 1951, daughter of Paul and Lottie Robinson, May 3, 1975. Mack Ill attended
the University of Florida and graduated with B.A. degree in mathematics. Then he entered the Medical School and received an M.D. in Family Practice
of Medicine in May, 1978 and served four years at the Trover Clinic, Madisonville, Kentucky. Their son, Benjamin Paul was born June 29, 1980.
They returned to Archer, Florida in June 1982, where he is working at Lake
City Emergency Room.
c. Grace Nell Tyner, b March 17, 1953, married Dennis James Fearon, b January 13, 1948, son of John and Ellen
Fearon, Canton, Ohio, August 10,
1977. She is attending University of Texas, Austin, Texas, and working in the field of Geology for her Ph.D.
Excerpts from the November 1982 booklet by Mayme
Tyner and Mayme Pearl Tyner, Laurel Hill, FL 32567-8236
Copy
of booklet contributed to LaurelHillNow by
Index
Forward - by
Mayme Tyner
Campbell Family History and
article on Daniel Campbell from the Pensacola Gazette of December 10, 1842
Daniel
Campbell of Skye Isle, Scotland - from newspaper clipping 
A little
history in connection to Laurel, Hill Florida - some sections written
by Ferrin C. Campbell
Josephine Baggett &
Honest John Campbell -
a quiet, small man in stature with large or prominent ears and wore a
beard stained with tobacco juice...
Country Living in the early
1900s -
Mack and Effie Tyner lived on what could well have been called
"The Back Forty." Our music, particularly at night, was...
James Campbell -
born November 26, 1890, married Pauline Polly Spears...
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