Campbells, Luggs & Blackwells of Nelson, PA

[As you can see in the Relationship Chart above, Jessica Thompson and E. C. Essex are related via John and Elizabeth Lucas Clinch. E. C. Essex was a 2nd cousin of Jessica's grandmother, Phebe CAMPBELL Hoyt -- so she and the canon were second cousins two times removed. Mabel SHIPMAN Shaw, Jos. W. Buck & Eva HOOKER Hills were also his 2nd cousins two times removed. (And Jessica, Eva, Mabel & Joe were all 2nd cousins to each other.)

This was the first of several visits from Cousin Claude, continuing through the 1950s. In between visits, I corresponded with him. Two of her cousins, Joseph Wallace Buck and Mabel SHIPMAN Shaw, made contact with him, and after the war, Joe Buck thew a large party, at the famous Brown's Hotel in London, for Claude, his siblings, their spouses and their children (and perhaps grandchildren). And Joe's daughter, Cornelia BUCK Key, met with members of the Essex family while she was living in England in the postwar years.

I was a preteen on Cousin Claude's first visit and a teenager on his subsequent visits. We had many conversations and corresponded after he returned to England. For a while I engaged in an e-mail correspondence with Pamela BATES Essex, wife of a great-great-grandson of Peter Clinch Essex, but lost touch with her, and as of the moment (April 2022), to the best of my knowledge, the descendants of Peter Clinch Essex and the descendants of Ann CLINCH Campbell are not in contact. That's too bad. Peter Clinch Essex was always invited to our Campbell Reunions but was never able to come to Pennsylvania to attend. I hope that contact can be re-established and some of Peter's descendants can join us via ZOOM, Aug 6, 2022 for this year's Campbell Reunion.

And, of course, I knew Cousin Eva HOOKER Hills, who lived in the adjacent community of Johnson, City, NY. She, and her husband, Ed Hills, son "Junior" and his wife, Virginia were frequent visitors at out house. And, for a couple of years, I later lived just 2 blocks from Eva's house, so she was a familiar face and voice.

When I visited England in 2000, I planed to visit Ely Cathedral. But while on the train to Ely, discovered that the train stations lockers, where I'd planned to store our luggage while touring the cathedral, were closed due to a bomb scare, and settled for just seeing the cathedral from the train. It rises high above the surrounding marshlands, so you can see it for miles. We proceeded to Cambridge, where we succeeded in seeing the church he'd been vicar of, and his college. And, I got to check off an item on my "bucket list."

Growing up in Binghamton I had my own canoe. Poling was the most efficient way of ascending the Susquehanna's many, shallow riffles and I became good at poling, standing up in my canoe. So when I saw picture of "punting on the River Cam" (which is done using poles, not paddles or oars, I though "I bet I could do that," and hoped to someday have a chance. So, being in Cambridge on a nice day and with a free afternoon, I was determined to give it a try. I rented a punt and took it out solo. The punts are fairly long and heavy, and the poles were much longer and much heavier than I'd expected. It took a few minutes to get the hang of it (especially going under the low bridges), but I soon was doing well and had a great time seeing the university from the river -- much more scenic and serene than from the busy streets. And got a lot of satisfaction from telling myself "I did it." - wbt]