How We Came to Republish the
Campbell Cousins
Correspondence.
Volume 1 of the Campbell Cousins correspondence was originally printed
and distributed in 1922. As you will see in this printing, it was
conceived, organized, and published by our third generation cousin,
William E. Selph of the Julia Campbell family. The second printing
is something of a modern miracle and is due largely to the efforts of
two contemporary cousins, William B. Thompson and Thomas P. Zurflieh.
By the miracle of today’s internet, Bill and Tom became aware of their
common interest in Campbell ancestry and were able to collaborate to
produce this volume.
Bill Thompson, (of the Phebe
(Hoyt) Campbell line) has done a great deal of research on our
Campbell ancestors and miraculously, has possession of four
Campbell Cousins
Correspondence volumes. He has been the initiator and driving
force" behind this new printing and the computerization of the volumes.
Bill wanted to make heritage available to other living cousins, so he
began retyping the letters and sharing them with living cousins
discovered via the internet. Both he and Sharon Zurflieh contacted
genealogy hobbyist Eric Clinch to ask about Ann Clinch. (Eric lives in Australia and has a
very interesting web site featuring his photography and writing
[as
of Dec. 2012 it's http://webspace.webring.com/people/pe/ericlnz/MainMenu.htm]
At that time he didn't have data about her, but getting two inquiries
about her in the same week led to putting Bill and Sharon in touch,
sending her some of the letters, and an offer from her to help
retyping. This in turn led to a visit by her dad, Tom Zurflieh, to
Bill's home, and Tom's offer to scan the typed pages of William Selph’s
volumes and reproduce them.
Tom Zurflieh, being a Campbell cousin and having a considerable amount
of computer graphics hardware and software eagerly volunteered to
produce this printed version. Lots of scanning, restoration, and
printing of the photographs by Tom and additional typing by Bill, led
us to the present point. We plan to publish volumes 1‑4 on the web as soon as our schedules
permit. That version will have convenient cross‑indexes on-line search
capabilities. There are an additional nine volumes, but the copies
apparently are presently tied up in an estate and are not available.
[That's
what we were told, but we have seen no verification.]
One of our goals has been to preserve the appearance of Will Selph's
original volume. To this end we have tried to reformat the scans to
match the original layout, format, typeface and photographs. Therein
lies another modern miracle, for without computers, scanners, and
digital printers we probably would never even attempted this task.
There is something unique about having hard copy in your hands, where
you can see the real dimensions, and look at your own pace, not
depending on screens, keyboards, mice, vagaries if Internet response
time - just sitting in your favorite chair or under your favorite tree.
Errors were undoubtedly made when the original handwritten letters were
typed in Will Selph's office (we assume) for mimeographing, and we may
have introduced errors in our retyping and scanning processes. Best
efforts have been made to supplement the letters with
William Hoyt's copy of Munsell's 1883 History of Tioga county,
Pennsylvania, and other sources: histories of the Beecher's
Island Presbyterian Church and of the Farmington Presbyterian Church
prepared by Rhoda English Ladd about 1945; information from many
cousins, and generous sharing of information from many
genealogists.
A valuable feature of this modern version is the genealogical data
provided by Bill Thompson. Bill inherited the first four volumes of the
Campbell Cousins Correspondence from his mother, but found it hard to
make sense of all the references to people in the letters. Getting a
genealogy software package as a present one Christmas provided the
necessary framework. Starting with a Campbell Cousins genealogy chart
prepared by Will Selph in 1924, and then adding the marriages, births,
and deaths, mentioned in the four volumes, at last provided a simple
method of keeping track of who was who, and decoding who "John" or
"Sally" referred to. We have included Bill’s genealogical work in two
appendices at the end of this volume. We encourage you, as you read the
letters, to refer to the appendices in order to find out more about the
people mentioned.
It's unfair to mention only a few people, but special thanks must be
given to Anna P. Lugg and Stella Blackwell for their many kindnesses,
and to our cousins, Diane Owlett Pitts, Rieta Boyden, and Bob Kelley.
Thanks to the many others we have not mentioned by name, but who shared
data and ideas. Most of all we owe a permanent debt of gratitude to
William E. Selph, who conceived the Campbell Cousins Correspondence
Club in the first place, and made it a reality, with incredible effort,
perseverance, and lots of his time and money. Without his foresight and
hard work, we would not have the Campbell Cousins Correspondence.
If you have access to the later volumes, or have corrections or
additions, please feel free to contact us at [the
2000 e-mail address is not current, you can used this website's contact
info].
Bill's
Backround.
Bill has worked with computers ever since graduating from Binghamton U, and now operates his own consulting company, W. T. Associates [Since then retired.]. He has been active in many community and professional organizations, receiving certification in Inventory and Production Control and in Data Processing Management. Currently he participates in the Independent Computer Consultants Association, the Apple Solutions Expert program, and church committees.
He is president of the Campbell Cousins Reunion. [He's since retired from that too.] When not working, reinstituting the Campbell Cousins Correspondence Club and the Campbell Reunions, designing the CCCC website, or doing genealogy research, Bill enjoys hiking, canoeing, or relaxes by reading sci-fi. He and wife Mary, live in Allentown, PA. Last fall, they traveled to England and Scotland, and had a wonderful time visiting the communities the Hoyts came from, the church in Avening (built by Wm. the Conqueror) where Ann Clinch was christened, enjoyed the Argyll scenery and touring the home of the Duke of Argyll, and an unsuccessful search of the Register and the Archives in Edinboro for records of our Campbell and Hazlett ancestors.
[Updated family info: Bill has a wife, two sons, a step-daughter, and 5 grandchildren.]
Tom's
Background.
Tom Zurflieh was born and raised in St. Petersburg, Florida.
His great-grandfather and namesake, Thomas C. Campbell, having moved from
Knoxville, PA to St. Petersburg in the 1920’s was responsible for Tom’s
being a Floridian.
The Zurflieh side of his family also migrated from Pennsylvania in the
1920’s due mainly to Tom’s father,
Jason Zurflieh, having pursued and married
Frances Shewman. Frances was the grand daughter of Thomas Campbell
and, with her parents and two brothers, came to Florida soon after her
grandfather.
Tom has a master’s degree in mechanical engineering and was a college
engineering instructor for thirty‑eight years, specializing in
engineering graphics. He has authored four college textbooks, one on
technical mathematics and three on computer-aided graphics. He has had
a lifelong interest in photography, at one period having a darkroom. He
has won several awards for and has sold some of his work. He is
currently involved in digital creation and restoration of
photographs.
[Updated
family info: Tom and his one-and-only-wife have two daughters and 4
grandchildren.]
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