BurchelLarkin Bayley
Burchel Larkin is listed in the 1850 Federal census
in Patrick County, Virginia, along with his mother, Elizabeth, and his sister.
At the age of 14, he is recorded in the 1860 Federal census as living in
Palestine, Cooper County, Missouri. Although not stated, he may have been
living with an uncle or cousin since this census has no reference to either
his mother or siblings. By 1870 (according to Federal census), he
had moved to Dallas, Texas, and is listed as living with Nancy A. Burchel. If
Nancy was his wife, she died soon thereafter. Here in Dallas, he married his wife, Lucy
J. Montgomery, in 1873. Larkin and Lucy had four children - Valeria, Laurie,
Jessie and Eddy. Lucy probably died in childbirth in March 1880 giving birth
to Eddy. By this time, Larkin was living in Denton,
Texas, where he married his next wife, Mary J. Swaine, in September 1880.
They had three boys, Walter, Clarence and Lee. Sometime after Lee was born in
Denton, the Burchel family relocated to Jack County, Texas. Jack County was still on the frontier in the 1880's. Tornadoes, Indian raids and drought were all part of life in this area. 1887 was a particularly tough year in Jack County mainly because of the drought conditions. We know that Larkin was already settled by then because he received flour and meal to help his family through the summer. From Jack County, Texas, 1887 Drouth Sufferers
Larkin operated a dray business out of Jack
County. He would haul freight from the railroad in Sherman to the various
forts in the area (such as Fort Richardson, Jacksboro, Texas, and Fort Sill,
Oklahoma). According to his grandson,
Lark Jackson
Burchell (son of Jessie Jackson Burchell), Larkin drove an 8-horse wagon and never
used the reigns. The horses were trained to go left when he yelled ‘YEE’ and
right when he yelled ‘HAW.’ Larkin died on 24 November 1915 and is buried at the Post Oak Cemetery, Jack County, Texas. Valera (or
Valeria) Francis Burchel Valera was a very popular woman in the
community and was universally referred to as either Aunt Bee or Grandma
Campsey. She regularly attended services at the Post Oak Baptist Church and
was a member of the Post Oak Quilt Guild for nearly 50 years. The area of the county where Valera and Arthur lived was called Puddin' Valley. This valley is about 2 miles long and 1 mile wide and is mainly covered in brush oaks and mesquites. The following story by Jack T. Williamson gives us one reason the valley got its name. "Although cotton was the main crop grown in the valley for many years, Puddin' Valley derived its name from grain harvesting. In the days of grain threshers, harvest time was a sort of festive occasion eagerly anticipated by the whole family. It was a time of fellowship for all as the men got together for the work, the women got together to prepare the meals, and the youngsters looked upon it all as a time for fun. Bread pudding was served to the harvest crew at each home in the valley one year and from this coincidence the name Puddin' Valley was born." (from The History of Jack County, Texas) Here are some stories about 'Grandma Campsey': "As for Great-Grandma Campsey, there is only one thing I remember, but it is very clear in my mind. I was around six years old and had recently lost my first baby tooth. We were visiting Grandma at Gainesville and I came running thru the house ( goin' somewhere important no doubt! ) when Great-Grandma said something to me. She was sittin' in the living room, so I walked over to her. She made some small talk about school and what-not and then she commented bout my lost tooth. I was very proud and puffed up that a grownup had noticed and I started givin' her the rundown on how I had lost it and so forth. She listened patiently and then she leaned close to me and asked in a low voice if I wanted to know a secret about my lost tooth. I said sure and she said, ' Son, if you won't put your tongue in that gap, you'll grow a gold tooth! ' I worked hard not to put that tongue there, but it was as if, since she'd told me that, my tongue had a mind of it's own. Wasn't 30 good seconds and that tongue was in that gap. I was sooooo disappointed! I asked her later if maybe you didn't put your tongue in the spot too often, if maybe you could get a silver tooth. She said she didn't think so, but keep an eye on it and maybe it would work. Never did." Great-grandson Gary Scarber "About all I remember about Great Grandma Campsey is her hair. She had the longest and prettiest hair I ever saw. Every night she would take it down and comb it. The greates thing that she ever said to me was 'Would you like to comb my hair?' Boy, I thought I had died and gone to heaven and I didn't ever want to stop combing her hair. She was such a tiny little woman and I really loved it when she came to see us." Great-grandson Raymond Dawson "Grandma Campsey was the sweetest and smartest person in my life. She taught me so many things. Seems like I was with her most of my young years. She taught me how to can, cook, quilt, embroidery and sew. I remember picking dry pinto beans, it was so much fun, we brought them from the field to a bit tree just south of the house, poured them on a sheet or quilt, she would cover them and let us kids jump, walk or bounce on them, then we would scoop them up in dish pans and pour them out. The wind would blow the crushed hulls away and only the beans would fall on the sheet. When all the hulls were gone we got to scoop them up and put them in cans (large ones) then take them to the house and put them upstairs. When the peaches and apricots got ripe we would can the peaches but the apricots we washed and took the pits out, then put them on a quilt or sheet and laid them on top of the cellar to dry. When the baby chicks came along we took special care of the little ones. When the roosters got frying size we would kill all of them, clean and cut them up. Grandma would then fry them, put them in jars and can them. Boy, they were good in the winter. She also canned beef when Grandpa butchered one. Every fall when the first freeze came, Grandpa butchered hogs. I can almost taste the crackling now just thinking of it. If I wrote all the things Grandma Campsey taught me and did for me it would take the rest of my life to finish it so I'll just say the best thing that Grandma Campsey gave me was Love {underlined}. She had no favorites, just so much love for everyone that she made everyone feel special, and I miss her so much. As she was teaching the grand kids how to do all the things she did, she made it seem like fun, but now I realize it was very hard work for here, but she always had a smile and a hug for everyone." Granddaughter Leta Scarber |