CAMPBELLs, LUGGs, & BLACKWELLs of Nelson, PA
Section 8 - Addenda Portion of
A SCRIBBLED STORY OF MY LIFE
by
MARY HUGHEY PRESCOTT
AUGUST 9, 1992
2nd Addition, May 12, 1992
I could not have put this story of mine together in any sort of neat form without the help of many friends. I do not type. My dear friend, Marian Barnes, did type it. One night Colleen Thomas xeroxed it for me so I have several copies. Gerald Smith (Gerry) went shopping for me and got plastic covers and binders, so I can put the xeroxed copies together as "books." My sincere thanks to these dear friends.
Mary H. Prescott
May 12, 1992
I gave away the first copy of my story today to Gerald Smith's father and mother, Rev. Kenneth Smith and his wife Betty, from Eagle, Alaska. They surprised me by a visit. They will be returning to Alaska and can share my story with Gerry and Janel. It was good to see them today.
WHAT HAVE I LEFT OUT?
Of course I belong to a family!
My father was the only son of Daniel and Elizabeth Hughey. He had a brother who died in infancy.
My father was Herbert Clinch Hughey. Clinch was his [grand]mother's maiden name. The Clinches were English people. I know little about them. They must have been fairly well to do for at one time a search was being made for anyone of the name Clinch, for there was an inheritance that was to be divided. My grandmother failed to make the proper connection, so, if she was entitled to anything it was never known.
I say Clinch was my grandmother's name. That is not quite right. Instead it was only part of her name [according to Elizabeth's death certificate her middle initial was 'B']. The Clinch was her mother's name [correct], so we remember the name Campbell instead, for Ann Clinch married Joseph Campbell. Her [Mary's grandmother's] name was Elizabeth. She evidently cared for the name, Clinch, for that name was given as a second name to my father, Herbert Clinch Hughey.
The Campbells became a closely knit family. I remember hearing about the "Campbell Reunion" which was held every year. usually in that part of Pennsylvania where the family had lived. My father always hoped he might attend, but he never did.
One well known cousin whom we came to know, for he came to see us, did attend every year. He was Charles H. Congdon, whose mother was my grandmother's sister. Charles H. Congdon was one of the country's well known music leaders. C. H. Congdon made and published the Congdon Music Primers, used in many public schools. Charles also was the inventor of the Congdon music pitch pipe which was used by music leaders in schools or may music groups and probably still is. The Congdon pitch pipe may still be in music stores. Charles was the music leader for the Progressive Party which met in Chicago for their convention.
My mother was the third daughter of Judson Amasa Bixby and his wife Emner. The Bixby daughters were Mary, Martha, Hannah, Myrta, Minnie and Helen. (Myrta and Minnie were twins.) Hannah Jennie Bixby married Herbert Clinch Hughey on Aug. 17, 1882. Four children were born to them: Carrie May, Sept. 8, 1883; Judson Edgar, Apr. 2, 1884; Harry Milton, Aug 17, 1893; Mary Estella, Sept. 21, 1899.
The Bixby family "went back" to the days of the Revolutionary War, as the saying goes. Because of that genealogy, I was able to join the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) a chapter in Port Townsend, Washington, The Admiralty Island Chapter.
Carrie May Hughey was married twice, first to John
A. Peterson, in 1906. The Petersons had two children, John
Edgar and Irma
Margaret. John lived only fourteen months. He died of
pneumonia. He was a greatly adored baby, by the entire family.
Irma taught school and she married
Judson Edgar Hughey, called "Edd" or "JE" married Anna Spencer who had a claim near his in Montanta. Edd and Anna had two children, Elizabeth Lucile (Betty Lu) and Donald Spencer. Edd died May 22, 1970. Anna died June 9, 1972. Donald was shot and killed Dec. 6, 1974. Elizabeth (Betty Lu) died Sept. 13, 1990.
Hary Milton Hughey married Minnesota Rhodes. Harry and Minnesota had three children, Harry Arden, Roger Rhodes and Donna May. Harry died May 2, 1977. Minnie lives in a nursing home in Tacoma.
Harry Arden married twice. Arden, as he was called, was killed by a train in 1975. Arden left two children (Roger and Cheryl) by his first wife, A[r]leen.
Mary Hughey married Henry George Prescott June 10, 1930. They had no children. H. George, as he was called, died on March 4, 1975.
So there's my family history in part. It seems I am the only one left. My sister, Carrie, and brothers, Edd and Harry, are gone as well as my [first] cousins. I am, therefore, "The Matriarch." I just might live to say "I've been in three centuries" for I am a very healthy old lady! My niece, Irma Anderson, lives near Brainerd, Minnesota. My brother Harry's children, Roger R. Hughey and his sister, Donna Lovrak, both live in Tacoma, Washington.
William L. Taylor, Carrie's son, who lived in Portland, Oregon, died Feb. 20, 1993. He was married to Marie O'Hare, and they had three daughters, JoAnne, Patricia, and Rosemary, One of the great grand-daughters, Mary Jane Casssiato, Rosemary's daughter, has married a United States soldier, Johnathan Dinsmore, and has kept in close touch with me.
Much of interest could be written in greater detail. For instance, Harry's granddaughter, the daughter of Donna Lovrak, desired to follow in her father's footsteps. I would so judge, for she enlisted in the United States Army. So, as a family, we would like to hear more about the life of our soldier girl, Laurie Lovrak. She writes very well, so we might hope for her annals.
I know a little about my mother's sisters families. the Whites, the Davenports, the Murrays, and, yes, about the adopted of the Murrays, the Hepperleys and who ever.
A dear friend just called me by telephone and talking to her reminded me of some things I should record.
Years ago when George and I were first married we tried to be be encouraging to young people. It happened that one young Spanish youth at Manual school enjoyed coming to see us and he took to calling us "Dad" and "Mother." he finally started courting a fine girl. She was not Spanish, but, as we said in New Mexico, she was an "Anglo." He fell in love with her and married her. It was not long after they were married that he came to see me one day and said, "Mom, I think I have made a mistake. I am going to divorce Helen." I said, "Oh no, you can't do that. She's a nice young girl. since you married her, she is your responsibility. What are you going to do about that? |It startled him to consider that he had a responsibility toward her.
As to another telephone call I received today, from my dear friend, Nancy Stromme, who with her fine husband, Bruce, live not far from me here in Seattle. I remember when George and I gave our parlor or sitting room over to this same couple, in their courting days, and they became engaged in front of our Franklin stove. I laugh about these incidents and wonder if |I missed an opportunity to be a marriage counselor of note.
George and I were never fortunate enough to have children, but we fairly frequently were able to care for our friends' children. Many young people called us"Uncle George and Aunt Mary" and still do.
I am thinking there are several family incidents which could be told and retold. A few are humorous, others of special family interest, some sad as they relate to deaths.
We always enjoyed hearing about Dad Hughey, when he was a boy in Pennsylvania. He must have been a very active little boy and often prone to mischief.
It was told that he took his little dog to school with him one time to protect him from the discipline he might receive. Also, for the same reason, he told that one time he wore an extra pair of trousers when he feared a thrashing.
Mother told how she, Hannah Bixby, had to care for her younger twin sisters, Myrta and Minnie. Those twins got into mischief several times and Hannah had to cope with them and with disgruntled relatives. I wish I could remember some of the tales she told.
Thinking of deaths, I well remember some of those events that were recalled and quite often retold.
When Grandfather Daniel Hughey was on his death bed, he questioned my mother as to what day of the week it was. As I recall, from my mother telling this, she told him it was a certain day, say it was Tuesday. Grandfather nodded his head and began to count the days of the week on his fingers, "Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday." He nodded his head as he did so end emphasized Friday, then stopped. He died on Friday. Mother in telling about this always thought he knew someway the day of his death.
Father's parents both lived with our family. I was not born before Grandfather's death, but I well remember Grandmother Hughey's death. I was four years old. Mother held me in her arms as we stood by grandmother's bed and watched as her breathing grew weaker and finally stopped as the Lord released her.
Grandfather Judson Amasa Bixby, my mother's father died Feb. 14, 1912. He knew he was getting progressively weaker. He asked his daughters to gather around his bed and he told them plainly the way of salvation, as it is in the Bible. He apologized that he had not told them plainly before. He softly sang "Just As I Am" and it was as he sang and as he gave a clear Christian testimony that he slipped away to eternal life.
Grandmother Bixby became very ill and it was diagnosed that she had abdominal cancer. Grandmother had spent many days at a large wooden loom, that she had, weaving many yards of rag carpets.
The
grandsons were so sure that the loom caused Grandma's death that
after she was gone, they took it down by the lake and broke it
into as many pieces as they could. They were determined that no
one else should spend time on that loom. I wished later that they
had not been so hasty in their judgement. Gramma died on Nov. 28,
1909.
She liked to hear me sing, so, as a little girl I sang often to her. Since Grandmother died about three years before Grandfather Bixby, I remember how he would sit and look at her picture and weep, in his loneliness
These memories are sad, but I am going to recall how they caused us to give sober thought to eternal truth and there was a strong element of their love and faith in their loving heavenly Father.
I was teaching in Dickens, North Dakota, when my father died or a stroke of paralysis. I received a telegram telling me of his impending death, but I could not get home in time to see him alive. He died March 29, 1920. My mother died when I was living in Sitka, Alaska, on October 28, 1956.
I hope I may recount truthfully enough of our family annals to satisfy my readers.
It was hard for me to see my husband yield to physical disabilities. He was always so staunch when many others had succumbed to various hindrances. He had had polio in infancy which had left him weakened and lame, but he never gave up. For years he ware a brace on his left leg. He wore a built up shoe, so his shoes had to be made to order. If our activities entailed walking, he never hesitated, but took his part.
I recall one time he was helping to shingle a roof at Sheldon Jackson College. Someone said to me, "Do you agree for him to to that sort of thing?" I said, "Why, I could never stop him. He's always willing and eager to do a man's share." Not only was he a willing helper, but he often took the lead and tackled a job that others had failed to accomplish.
Maybe
the picture I have of George and his boys showing the big halibut
they caught, may tell a little of his prowess. They put out what
was called "a skate," a large line or rope in a circle with large
hooks attached, baited with herring. It was no small job or effort
to bring a halibut into a boat after they were caught. A halibut
of any size could well damage a boat. The fish was towed to a
dock, or shore where the boys could manage it. Anyway, the boys
and George did manage the big fish, getting to where they could do
a job of butchering, cutting the fish into manageable pieces. It
weighed 200 lbs. I know, I had some of it to can.
I have already mentioned my husband's lameness. It was hard for me to see him succumb to physical disabilities. When he had polio as a child, his little English mother had done the best she could, to massage and exercise him. But the one leg did not develop properly and so he was very lame. Nevertheless, he found employment and also built up a small saving.
When the Prescott family had the opportunity to buy a piece of property in Sequel, California, it was George who had enough savings to be able to make a down payment on the property. It became "Prescotts' Inn," a hotel that could accommodate 100 guests.
George became very active in the local Congregational Church. He longed for more Christian Education and finally he sold his share of the Prescott Inn to his brother and sisters and went to Los Angeles to attend the Bible Institute of Los Angeles. He graduated from the institute in 1926.
After graduation, he volunteered for the missionary work under the Congregational Church and was sent to New Mexico where he became boys' worker and shop teacher at Rio Grande Institute near Albuquerque. He became so adept as a shop teacher that his prowess became fairly well known.
Manaul School, a Presbyterian Institution in Albuquerque, had need of a shop teacher for boys in their curriculum. George was recommended and was encouraged to apply for the position. He was not qualified as to educational standards since he was not a high school graduate. His training had been in a Vocational High School. His ability as a mechanic and his natural ability along the line of shop work was nevertheless recognized and he was hired to become the shop teacher, but his students had to receive their credits under another one of the teachers who had the educational qualifications, though lacking in mechanical skill.
George was able to study and pass the necessary qualifications by studying under the high school teachers at Menaul. He also began to take extension courses at the New Mexico State University. Also, he went two summer terms in courses at the Colorado State Vocational College in Fort Collins, Colorado. He graduated from Colorado State College from his attendance, and received a Bachelor's degree from the University of New Mexico.
The
shop department of Manaul school became well known. When auto
mechanics prevailed, there were friends of the school who brought
their cars for Menaul School boys to work on, so it became a busy
auto body shop and the shop students received training that
excelled. Even welding was added to the curriculum.
If I don't bring this story to its final end, I will exhaust any readers and so I will try to do so. My days here at Exeter House in Seattle, Washington are pleasant. I am unusually hale and hearty for one in her nineties. My eyes are fairly strong and I spend much time in reading. I do not wear a hearing aid as many of my companions here at Exeter House do. My memory is good at recalling past experiences, but I have to admit that I often forget my daily occupations. I am the one who failed to remember just why she opened her refrigerator. Was it to take something out or was I supposed to put something in?
I'll date this on August, the ninth, 1992, and say to any patient reader, "Adios, Goodbye, until I think of something more that I just want to write.
Sincerely,
Mary
Postscript - "Just glancing at the back pages I can see that I have repeated much. Forgive me!" M.H.P.