In Her Daughter's Own Words - Remembering Nancy Moyer

Nancy Moyer, of Northfield, Minnesota passed away on February, 11, 2019 at the Northfield Care Center. At the very top of this tribute, the family wishes to thank the staff of Millstream Commons, Three Links (Pathways) Unit and finally Northfield Care Center. As she made her way to her final breath, she was cared for lovingly and with the utmost respect and honor by the nurses and aides in all three of these facilities. A special thank you to those that were with me, Maureen, at the very end. You know who you are.

Nancy Moyer (Anne Gertrude Stewart) was born to Campbell Stewart and Jeanette Beck Stewart on August 15, 1920, in Chicago, Illinois. She grew up in a house of privilege which consisted of many trips to Vancouver to visit her father's relatives, was driven to school in a 1929 Cadillac, and sat at the dinner table - her place marked with a silver napkin ring with the initial "N" engraved on it. It wasn't long before she developed an interest in performance arts. She took ballet and discovered she had a lilting soprano. She attended Maine Township High, excelled in music and art, sang soprano in the chorus, and was the art director of the yearbook in 1939. It was there that she met her future husband, Russ Moyer.

Nancy and Russ were married between Russ' various tours of the South Pacific during WWII where he served as pilot for B24 Liberators. War ending, they made their way to Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin where they raised their two children, Maureen and Michael. While there, Nancy worked alongside Russ in their jewelry store, and in later years, at Glen Loch Bar, which they owned together.

While in Chippewa Falls, Nancy developed a love for theater. She appeared in several plays including Teahouse of the August Moon and The Desperate Hours.

Nancy found herself single in the 70's and made her way to Marin County, California. Mill Valley became her home and she worked as a nanny for a number of families, plus a commune on Sycamore Street, where she cared for kids in exchange for her room. She enjoyed riding her bike across the Golden Gate Bridge, walking on Mt. Tamalpais, and spent time with her son, Mike, who lived there at that time, also. She expanded her (already out of the box) approach to religion by attending the Buddhist Temple in San Francisco. She practiced Hatha Yoga and played endless Ravi Shankar music. She loved telling the story of meeting Jerry Garcia sitting on a rock at an outdoor concert on Mt. Tam. She called her daughter one day and said, "I've just heard the best band at Black Oak Saloon in Fairfax...I think they're called Dire Straits."

Eventually, Nancy found her way to Northfield to be close to her grandson, Christopher, and called it home. She performed in several plays at the Northfield Arts Guild, most notably the female lead, Linda, in Death of a Salesman. She also performed in Playboy of the Western World which required a spot on Irish accent. But her crowning achievements in terms of theater were her 1982 and 1983 performances at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. She acted in A Christmas Carol and Our Town. Some of us can well remember her sweeping bows at the end of each performance, with a wink and a tiny wave in the direction of her family and friends. As she swept across that stage, she owned it. She learned much from the likes of Jessica Tandy, Hume Cronyn, Boyd Gaines and Leonard Nimoy.

Nancy is best known in Northfield for her Nanny Goat's Dry Flower Shop, in the Archer House, where she created charming creations ranging from wreaths (many containing bird's nests) to table arrangements, to festooned hats. Her wreaths graced local banks, churches, both colleges and dozens of homes, all made from native materials found in Minnesota. The secret location where she picked her Bittersweet remains unknown to this day.

Nancy was a political activist, worked for civil rights and women's rights, and spoke out loudly against the war in Vietnam. A photo of Nancy holding her War is Not Healthy for Children and Other Living Things was used as a backdrop for a Dallas, TX news program one night after a massive demonstration against the Vietnam War. She was tireless in working for George McGovern, so that is an indicator as to her political leanings.

Nancy was immensely proud of her Scottish heritage and in the 70's, along with sister, Martha, visited the Scottish home of her father called Lignwood of Scone. In her early 90's, she wrote the entire story of her father's immigration to America, detailed and factual. It can be read by visiting this site: nancy-moyer.blogspot.com/

Nancy was very well read. She inhaled books at one time ranging from serious novels like Anna Karenina, to The Bhagavad Gita and other books on Eastern Philosophy which helped shape her global view of life on earth, the mysteries of humanity using a lens that was accepting of all possibilities. She also was adept at using her computer and had her own Facebook page. Her stinging comments on current political figures can still be found on her page.

But her main focus in life were her children and her two grandsons, Christopher and Stewart. She'd take Christopher as a little boy for entire summers, and provided a loving home away from home that included swimming lessons and picnics in the park. She would make Golden Toast for Stewart and his friends who, also as a little boy, would spend every Friday night with her. She had unconditional love for both grandsons and her last words were declarations of love for each member of her family...one by one...over and over again. Those words still linger in our hearts.

On the last evening of her life, she listened to the entire opera, La Traviata, and silently mouthed 'Traviata' over and over again. She knew opera and could sing many parts of the arias.

Nancy was preceded in death by her parents, Campbell and Jeanette, sisters, Martha and Helen, and her brother, Irving. She is survived by her remaining brother Donald Hopf (Ardi) of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, daughter, Maureen Valley (Jerry) of Northfield, son, Michael (Wendy Nordquist) of Northfield, grandsons, Christopher Valley (Wendy) of San Mateo, California, and Stewart Moyer of Northfield, and several nieces and nephews.

A special thanks to Mary Stewart, Stillwater, MN, who unfailingly stayed in touch with her Aunt Nanny with cards, letters, and phone calls.

As for the photo accompanying this tribute, yes, that is a feather in her hair.

Plans are pending for an outdoor memorial later this year.

Lignwood

Nan Stewart's and Tom Ferguson's Wedding

Lignwood Estate

Scone, Scotland

Circa 1904

The Story of Campbell (Chapter 1)

This story of Campbell's life is written by his daughter Nancy. I have no notes, just dates that I have jotted down. All of the facts are from memory of the countless stories and anecdotes that he told me and my siblings during our growing up years. As children reared in the 1920's, we did not have the distractions of video games and television, so we relied on father for all our stories and history. We fought for a place on his lap, and one of my treasured memories is sitting on his lap, my head against his chest, listening to his Scottish brogue as he told us stories of growing up in the highlands of Perthshire.

Campbell Stewart was born on May 15, 1887, in the mains, Airlywight House in Bankfort, Perth, in Perthshire, Scotland. He was the second child born to James Stewart and Annie Campbell Stewart. Their first child was a girl Anne (Nan) born two years earlier. Campbell's birth was followed in rapid succession by the births of two more children, Helen and James.

Campbell's parents were the direct descendents of two of the most prominent clans in Scotland, the Stewarts and the Campbells. His father, James Stewart, was a vigorous young farmer who loved horses and farming, but who was also a good businessman and an elder in the Kirk. His mother, Annie Campbell, was the daughter of one of Perth's most prominent citizens, Peter Campbell, the founder and sole owner of the Perth Dye works, the huge mill that he built in the city of Perth. The Mill put Perth on the map as the center of the textile industry in Scotland in the 1880's. Peter Campbell also owned Lignwood, a stately mansion in the village of Scone, a short distance from Perth.

Unfortunately, Campbell's father's love for his horses cost him his life. His favorite riding horse that he rode all about the village and farm became ill with a kind of equine pneumonia. James made a steam solution and held a blanket over the horse's head, getting under the blanket with the horse to hold it in place so the horse could inhale the solution. Unfortunately, James contracted the illness himself and died within a few days. Campbell was eight and a half years old. It was a tragedy for the young family.

Campbell, Part II (Chapter 2)

Peter Campbell readily came to the rescue of his newly widowed daughter, Annie Campbell Stewart. He sold the Airlywight farm in Perthshire and put the money in a trust for Annie and her children. He then moved the entire family in Lignwood, Scone. He had one son living there at the time, Edward. Peter was delighted to have all his grandchildren under his watchful eye and to have his daughter there to care for her mother who had suffered a slight stroke. He also brought along two of James Stewart's ploughmen and hired them as groundskeepers along with a stable boy. So, almost the entire household from Airlywight ended up at Lignwood. There was also a cook and parlormaid on the estate. Campbell and Helen loved exploring all the rooms and attic, plus the wonderful cupula at the top of the house where there was a lookout and a flagpole. Nan, their older sister, was more inclined to "sit on a cushion and sew a fine seam" and loved entertaining her little friends in the garden gazebo. James, the youngest, was a rather sickly child who was small and had frequent colds. He required extra care, so Annie Campbell Stewart had her hands full. But they all loved Lignwood with it's spacious lawns, tennis court, gardens, and stables.

One of the two ploughmen hired as groundskeepers took Campbell under his wing and patiently taught him to fish, and the two of them spent many happy hours fishing the nearby Tay River. He also introduced little Helen to gardening, and provided her with her own little garden space on the Lignwood grounds. This made her supremely happy and she became a gardener for life. On trips to the seashore, she and Campbell would collect large shells that she would use to border and define her flower beds. It was a happy time for the children.

The only cloud for Campbell was having to sit in his grandfather's pew in the Baptist Church of Scotland every Sunday listening to the Rector and then the painful visits with his grandfather to the Rectory. He hated all the hellsfire and brimstone that was preached there and made a secret vow that, when he grew up, he would never darken the door of a church again.

When I visited the Kirk in Scone in 1974, there was my great grandfather's name on a plaque on the church wall. Campbell also kept his vow!

The four Stewart children all attended Perth Academy in Perth for their early school years. Campbell's passion for fishing continued into his teens and he became an expert fly fisherman, bringing home lines of trout and salmon (in season). One of his favorite spots was the ancient stone bridge in Perth. Sometimes Helen would accompany him, bringing her little trowel and a bucket to dig up pretty plants or flowers to transplant in her garden.

At the age of 12, Campbell made a memorable trip to London with his mother, Aunt Nellie, and his sister Nan, to go shopping and sightseeing. Their carriage was stopped, and the Queen's guard of six mounted guardsmen approached and signalled them to pull to one side. They did so and the Queen's black carriage approached. Campbell became very excited, jumped up and waved vigorously. She tilted her head at him and smiled and waved back. It was Victoria, and an exciting moment for a twelve year old from Scotland. It was at this age, as he was heading into his mid-teens, that he learned to play rugby, and that became as much of a passion as fishing had been. He loved it and had excellent coaches at the private Merchison Castle School for boys in Edinburgh, which he attended in his teens.

The Perthshire Rugby Football Club. Campbell is 4th from left, back row.

America! (Chapter 3)

After the four Stewart children completed their studies at the Perth Academy, Nan, the oldest, was sent to a private "finishing school" in Belgium, Campbell to Merchison Castle School in Edinburgh, and Helen attended a private school in France. Young James wanted only to be a farmer, so his grandfather sent him to Agricultural College. Nan completed her studies while Campbell was still in school and became engaged to Tom Ferguson (of the clan Ferguson) that was as much a part of the history of Perthshire as the Stewarts and the Campbells. Peter Campbell was delighted, and the wedding (a garden wedding), was held on the grounds of Lignwood. All the guests came in full Highland dress and the women in flowing gowns and large hats. Campbell wore his first adult kilt made especially for the occasion by the kiltmaker in Edinburgh. Helen wore a white dress and a tartan sash.

James did not have a new kilt and so watched the entire ceremony from a tree!

The wedding was the social event of the season and Peter Campbell was very proud! The couple honeymooned in London, but settled in Perth as Tom Ferguson had joined the famous Black Watch regiment headquarterd in Perth. Nan quickly became pregnant and within three years gave birth to two children, Ann and Bill Ferguson. She left her husband after just four years of marriage. She claimed that he threw her down the stairs and she broke her arm and she accused him of being an alcoholic. Perhaps he was, but he died a hero in WW1 leading his Black Watch regiment and had the rank of Captain. Campbell liked him!

Nan moved to London with her children after receiving a comfortable settlement with the well to do Ferguson clan. While all this was happening, Campbell finished at Merchison Castle and enrolled in the University where for two years he studied history and anthropology, his two favorite subjects all of his life! His grandfather was becoming impatient to start him in the Perth Mill as he had pegged Campbell to take it over. So, Campbell went to work with his grandfather in running the mill. But, after awhile his grandfather insisted that he take bookkeeping and accounting as he did not have these skills. So, Campbell agreed and took a two year course. After another year of running the mill, Campbell made the decision that this was not what he wanted.

He wanted to go to AMERICA!

Campbell as a Young Man (Chapter 4)

Campbell was twenty four years-old when he left Scotland and did not know that it would be forever. He went to London to prepare for his move to America. His sister, Nan, was living in London with her two children. She had a lovely flat in Chelsea and attended drama classes there with the hopes of someday going on the stage. Campbell got his own flat along with his cousin, Willie Roy, his Aunt Nellie's son. The two young men explored London, dating girls, going to the theater, galleries and parks punting on the Thames.

His grandfather sold the mill to a man named Pullar and retired at the age of 86 to Lignwood. He died suddenly a year later. That left his mother, grandmother, and his young uncle Edward at Lignwood. Helen and James had finished school. James had gone to Australia to possibly farm there, and Helen was taking nursing classes with the hopes of becoming a nurse in the army. World War 1 had erupted in Europe and Campbell knew that was the time to sail for America. He had spent two years in London when he left and was approaching his late twenties. He felt that he had much to offer with three years of experience in the mill, an excellent education, and full knowledge of the woolen business, cleaning, dyeing, weaving...all aspects of it.

His cousin, Willie Roy, had decided to accompany him. Willie was the same age, but had no real plans. They spent a couple of weeks exploring New York - so different from London and Edinburgh. Willie was beginning to get homesick, but Campbell forged ahead. He packed a shoebox full of sandwiches and hard boiled eggs and boarded a train for Chicago.

Willie returned to Scotland.

Campbell arrived after three days and two nights on the train in the bustling, huge Chicago Depot. He was aware of how very different he was right away. Dressed in his tweeds and wearing a cap did not command as much attention as his politeness and cultivated Edinburgh Scottish brogue. People turned their heads when he spoke just to listen.

And so Campbell had his first taste of Chicago, a city like no other!

Campbell in Chicago (Chapter 5)

After finding a boarding house room on the North Side, Campbell settled in to the City.

This was the World War era, and before the 20's. Women's Suffrage was on the march, there was labor unrest and Ragtime was the music of the day. Women still wore long skirts and had not yet bobbed their hair. Motor cars were just beginning to take over the streets, but horses were still everywhere. There was more yelling than Campbell was used to, and people weren't terribly polite.

Since it was the meatpacking capitol of the entire country, Campbell was amazed at the abundance of meat in butcher shops, restaurants and everywhere! Women wore smaller hats than he was used to and showed more of their legs on street cars. They also visibly chewed gum!

A culture shock it was for Campbell!

But, he was fascinated by it all. He noted right away that there were no family owned mills like his grandrfather's in Chicago. All the factories were huge. He had no idea where to apply for a job, and finally decided to apply at the largest mail order house in the world at that time - Sears Roebuck and Company. He had no sooner filled out an application when he was hired on the spot! He was given the job as head of the Accounting Dept, which surprised him, and he learned that his predecessor had "joined up".

He made some good friends, and it wasn't long before he began going to a dance hall where all the single men and women employees of Sears spent their time in their off hours. He learned to dance the "turkey trot" and other dances of the day.

It was there that he met Jeanette and fell totally in love for the first time in his life.

Jeanette: My Mother (Chapter 6)

Jeanette Marguerite Beck was born June 10th, 1898, in Chicago.

She was the 5th child born to Charles Beck and his wife, Martha Valk Beck. Both of her parents were of French and Dutch origin. Charley worked as an upholsterer for the huge Fish Furniture Company in Chicago. He also did upholstery and furniture work in his well equipped basement. He was a fun-loving man who loved to drink, but was not an alcoholic - a jolly Dutchman who loved kids, a good time and life. Martha, his wife was a weary woman, totally in the grip of her church and worn out from having 13 children (three of whom died in infancy). She had great skill as a dressmaker and her children were always well dressed and scrubbed, but she was not a good cook. Her allegiance to her church dominated all her thinking. She wanted her daughter, Jeanette, to go into the nunnery at fourteen, but Charley put his foot down, saying "She is not going to waste her life there - I forbid it." He raised such a fuss that she never brought it up again. All of the children went to school at St. Edward's School on Chicago's North side. So, my mother had only an 8th grade education. High School was out of the question as the children all got jobs at the age of 16.

Mother learned to type and so was hired as a typist in the Accounts Department at Sears. She met my father at 18 and married him at 19. Her mother was ecstatic. After she had met Campbell for the first time, she told Jeanette "Marry him - he's got money and he's smart!" But, Jeanette was just 19...Campbell was approaching his 30th birthday...not a good idea!

Campbell's Story ~ 1916 (Chapter 7)

Campbell was 29 tears old when the year 1916 began.

He loved his job and had just been given his citizenship papers. Jeanette had agreed to marry him and he was totally happy. He was writing to Scotland to tell his mother the news when he received a letter from his dear sister, Helen. His mother had died of a sudden stroke at the age of 55. He was deeply saddened by the news and sorry that he could not share his new found happiness with his mother.

The distractions of his new life were many. He had met Jeanette's family at a family dinner at her home. It was a bit overwhelming as everyone talked at once, even her ancient French grandmother who swore in French when things got too noisy. But they all made him feel welcome and he was happy.

He found a nice, new two-flat apartment and rented the whole second floor, consisting of two bedrooms, a kitchen, dining room, bath, spacious living room, and a glazed-in front porch. Campbell did not want a church wedding, so they were married in the St. Edwards rectory by the priest. They honeymooned at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago where Campbell had rented the honeymoon suite for a week.

A generous check arrived in the mail from the Bank of England - a wedding gift from his grandmother and uncle Edward still living at Lignwood. Following the check, a huge crate arrived by surface mail from Scotland filled with silver, linens, wool tartan blankets, and family photographs.

By this time, Jeanette had finished with all the furniture shopping and they were very comfortably settled in their new home. Campbell continued working at Sears, and had several promotions so that he enjoyed an executive position at Sears and liked it. War fever was sweeping the country at this time fed by the popular songs of the day - Irving Berlin's "Over There" and "The Yanks Are Coming!" Campbell came home from work to find that his home was being taken over by his wife's family who loudly visited every day. Everyone talked of "joining up" and defeating the "HUN". The naive patriotism was everywhere. Campbell, who loved his new country, finally made the decision and enlisted confident that he would be gone for only a few months.

My Great Grandmother Marte Valk

Great Great Grandmother of Maureen Valley (Moyer)
Great Great Great Grandmother of Christopher Valley

My great grandma as her daughter Martha Beck is my grandma...

Yes, I remember her well. She died when I was nine years old, and I remember her Catholic funeral at St. Edwards Church in Chicago.

Her name was Marte Valk. Marte being the French for Martha.

I remember that she was small in stature, pretty, and always wore black or dark brown taffeta or silk long dresses, and always wore her cross around her neck as she was a devout Catholic. She carried a little vial of holy water in her pocket, and whenever there was a thunder and lightning storm she would go from room to room in the house sprinkling holy water everywhere. She was an excellent dressmaker, seamstress, and one of the things I loved to do was sit in the big chair in the corner of grandma Beck's dining room with her looking at fashion magazines.

She deplored the flapper fashions of the Day with all the short skirts, and never wore a skirt above her ankles. She lived to be 99 years old, but oddly never seemed old to me. She swore beautifully in French, loudly and long whenever anything displeased her, and didn't realize that the only person who understood everything she was saying was my father Campbell Stewart as learning French was a part of his education in Scotland. She adored my mother Jeanette as she was so beautiful and sometimes would take my face in her hands and cluck her tongue and mutter "Scotchie" in what I thought was a disapproving way! I loved being with her!

Marte Valk - my French/Dutch great grandma!

Recruitment (Chapter 8)

Campbell went down to the big recruiting station on Clark Street in Chicago's Loop. The big stone building was decorated with yards and yards of red, white, and blue bunting and American flags everywhere. A Salvation Army band played the National Anthem over and over again. Pretty young girls passed out doughnuts and coffee and American flags to all the young men lined up to "join up" and save the world for Democracy!

It was December, 1916.

When he returned home to Jeanette, a letter was waiting from his uncle Edward in Scotland. His mother's mother, Annie White Campbell, had died at the age of 82. The tiny Quaker lady who had been married to his grandfather and had lived at Lignwood all of her married life had passed on leaving Uncle Edward in sole charge of the Estate. Edward was a bachelor who loved traveling, the seashore, and hiking in the Highlands. He also loved Campbell and wrote to him frequently.

Campbell signed up with the stipulation that he had to put his affairs in order. So, he notified Sears of his decision, wrote to his uncle Edward, and went downstairs to tell his landlord. Adolph and Gerta Hopf were the owners of the building, and Campbell decided to pay them a years rent in advance so that it would be available to him when he returned. They were happy to do so. Mr. Hopf owned a watch and clock shop just a few blocks away on Elston Avenue. He did well in his shop as he was an expert watch and clockmaker, trained in Switzerland and Russia. They had a sixteen year old son named Eric who worked as an apprentice in the shop. Eric was also studying to be a radio repair person and had several radios that he tinkered with in his downstairs room. Radio was a whole new field at that time. Eric also helped in the maintenance of the two-flat keeping the small yard space and larger yard in the back grass cut and neat. He often carried the young Mrs. Stewart's laundry baskets outside for her after she had finished washing in the basement. It was June, 1917. Campbell was assigned to basic training in the huge army training center in Georgia. They locked up their flat in Chicago and she followed him there and lived in a boarding house for three months while he took his basic training.

After taking tests, Campbell was assigned to the Quartermaster Corps based on his bookeeping, accounting, and organizational skills. This was to be a whole new adventure for him, almost as exciting as coming to America had been and he was quite relieved to be away from Jeanette's family for awhile!

And, so Campbell boarded a packed troop ship bound for France.

Back in Chicago & the War (Chapter 9)

Back in Chicago, Jeanette was settled in her lovely new flat. She invited a younger sister, Gertrude, to live with her. Gertrude was unmarried and happy to be out of the crowded house of her parents. The two sisters spent their time sewing on Jeanette's new Singer sewing machine, going to silent films, and going to church. Jeanette made friends with the wife of her landlord who lived downstairs, Gerta Hopf.

Gerta Hopf was a sweet, kindly woman. She taught the two young women to cook and shop for food, and enjoyed their company. Jeanette did not know it at the time, but she had made a friend for life!

Back in Scotland, uncle Edward did not like the idea of Campbell going into the army. James was still pursuing the life of a farmer. Dear Helen had finished her training and was a nurse in the Crimean conflict. Nan was still in London with her two children, her estranged husband with the Black Watch in France. Uncle Edward was so fond of Campbell and worried about him! They all wrote frequent letters to him. Campbell always loved Helen's letters. He used to say that her handwriting looked like a little bird had stepped in a puddle of ink and walked across the page! Her letters were always full of love and encouragement.

Campbell's arrival in France introduced him to war almost immediately. He was driven to a quartermaster Corps station, issued a helmet and a pistol, a truck and a Driver. His job was to deliver food and supplies to the men in the trenches. They were to drive through rural France on roads pockmarked with dangerous holes made by the shells. Also, the constant threat of German snipers and/or attack. Campbell had been chosen because he could speak French having learned it in school. So, he was able to communicate with the French farmers in the area. As he neared the trenches, the death and destruction was everywhere. But, it was the life in the trenches that he found most appalling - warfare at it's most cruel.

Men stood for days in a foot of water when it rained. And, as they died, were stacked up in piles where their still standing comrades would attempt to keep the rats off of them. Shelling was constant. Men slept standing up. When the supply truck arrived, they were given hard tack, dried meat, some clean water to drink, and emergency medical supplies. They begged for cigarettes.

Campbell had never seen such misery. But he returned again and again to the supply center, each time bringing wounded or corpses back with him. And all the while the shells kept coming. Every once in awhile a soldier would go "over the top" firing at everything he saw. There were times when he and his driver barely made it back because of snipers.

But then there was just one fateful time!

The shelling was getting heavier and dangerously close. The driver ducked under the truck. Campbell jumped into a nearby trench, landing at the bottom and covering his head. That is all he remembered. The truck was demolished, the driver killed, and Campbell knocked unconscious by the concussion of the massive shell that had exploded overhead. Amazingly,he had no serious outer injuries, and awoke on a litter being carried by two corpsmen.

He tried to see them, but could not focus his eyes, and so began the toughest battle of his life!

Campbell's Blindness (Chapter 10)

Campbell was brought to a field hospital. Doctors there thought the vision problem was just the result of shock, but as the problem persisted, he was finally sent to a special hospital for the blind in rural France. It was staffed by excellent French doctors, and their diagnosis was Optic Atrophy due to trauma to the optic nerve in his brain caused by the massive concussion when the shell exploded overhead.

Campbell was rapidly losing his sight.

He was devastated and did not want to return home in this state. He became deeply depressed, and the doctors kept him there another couple of months, but finally had to send him on a hospital ship with other wounded soldiers back to America.

Back in the States, he was given his discharge papers by a young officer who accompanied him to Chicago. He was eligible for a full pension given to blind veterans. He was given no therapy. The veterans could not accommodate the thousands of shell shocked, maimed, and wounded young men who returned. So Campbell returned to the flat in Chicago and began the process of learning to live as a blind man. He was so depressed that he could barely speak. Gertrude moved hastily back home and Jeanette was left as his sold caretaker.

It was NOT a happy homecoming.

To make matters worse, the entire country was in the midst of a devastating influenza epidemic that was claiming many lives. Campbell and Jeanette stayed close to home and were not affected by the flu but three members of Jeanette's family had died due to the flu. Mrs. Hopf sent hot food up to the young couple and cheered them with afternoon pots of coffee and her wonderful "Kuchen" (coffee cake). Jeanette became pregnant right away. Campbell's depression continued and he would sit for hours in the basement next to the furnace. In desperation, Jeanette sat down and wrote to Uncle Edward and Campbell's sister Helen in Scotland telling them of Campbell's state of mind.

Edward and Helen were devastated to hear of Campbell's blindness and swung into action. Edward, the executor for all of the family fortune and also the estate of James Stewart, made a trip to London where all the family banking was done. He arranged for Campbell to receive his large portion of his inheritance in view of his misfortune and because he was the oldest son. So, the Bank of England handled it all at Peter's direction.

A month later, after crossing the Atlantic, taking a week to do so, who should arrive at the door of the flat but Helen...suitcase in hand and ready for action!

Aunt Helen (Chapter 11)

Helen Stewart's arrival and the sound of her voice made Campbell weep for joy!

It was the sound of HOME and the Highlands of Scotland.

Wise, loving, kind Helen took in the situation at a glance - Jeanette - beautiful, young, and about to give birth. Helen knew what she had to do and set about doing it right away! She fixed a little space for herself on the glazed-in heated porch, then set about the rehabilitation of her brother, and the saving of his family! Helen went downtown the next day and bought a typewriter, a ream of paper, a sturdy cane, AND a radio!

Young 18 year-old Eric Hopf, who lived downstairs, helped her with this last purchase as he was working in the large Philco Radio Store downtown. The radio was the latest model in 1919. It had a huge "horn" speaker and two sets of earphones. Helen sat Campbell down at the dining room table and patiently taught him to type. In three months he was typing very well! The radio put him in touch with the world again as he loved sitting with the earphones on listening to the news of the world - the ravings of the latest Evangelist preacher, and the strange new popular music called JAZZ! He was typing his own letters now and corresponding with Uncle Edward in Scotland and Nan in London. Helen subscribed to the two major newspapers in Chicago, the Chicago Tribune and the Daily News, so that they were delivered every day to the front door and she and Jeanette read the news hot off the press to Campbell every day!

Helen painted the sturdy cane that she had purchased white to identify Campbell as blind. She took him out and about for walks and trips downtown to the Loop. She patiently taught him how to identify curbs and how to use the cane for maximum safety. They rode streetcars everywhere as Chicago had an excellent transportation system. His account had been established at the First National Bank downtown so he was welcomed there and visited often with the president of the bank along with Helen. Back at the flat, Helen also spent time with Jeanette, helping her to fix up the extra bedroom as a nursery.

The Children (Chapter 12)

Martha Mary Stewart was born to Jeanette and Campbell while Helen was still visiting them. Once again, Helen was a huge help, not only to Campbell, but to Jeanette, as well. She taught Jeanette how to cook some of Campbell's favorite Scottish dishes - Scotch broth with lamb, barley and vegetables, oatie cakes, scones and steak, and kidney pie. She taught Jeanette basic hygiene as to the care and feeding of the baby. Her experience as a nurse in the war served them all well!

Campbell's other sister, Nan, decided to come to America, as well, and she arrived in Chicago the day that Jeanette discovered that she was pregnant again. She stayed at a hotel downtown with her two children, and after a few months stay, decided to move to Vancouver, B.C. where there was a large Scottish community. Her children were of school age and she wanted them to be educated in Canada. Helen decided to follow her there as Campbell was doing so well. His rehabilitation was complete, he had made many friends downtown and in the community, was interested in the world about him, and was coming up with real plans as to how to invest his money. He was in the process of buying a house in the beautiful suburb of Sauganash, just starting on the N.W. side of Chicago.

Jeanette gave birth to their second child, Anne Gertrude Stewart. Later to be called Nancy. This was followed in rapid succession by the births of two more children - Irving Eugene Stewart and Helen Scott Stewart.

Jeanette, like her mother, was a good Catholic, so the priest was there when she was rushed to the hospital to give birth to a fifth child. She was ill with failing kidneys when the child was stillborn. She was baptized Jeanette. Mother gave up her Catholic faith after that and was converted to Christian Science. She recovered and her sister Gertrude once again moved in with the family to help her in her long recuperation.

The 20's (Chapter 13)

The years following Campbell's rehabilitation - the TWENTIES - were the happiest and most productive of his life. He moved his family of six into a lovely, brand new Colonial house in the newly developing suburb of Sauganash on the northwest side of Chicago. Our new house was a spacious home with an elegant open stairway that Martha and I quickly discovered was also a marvelous slide. It also had a huge kitchen with a large but cozy breakfast nook in one corner, a spacious front entry way that opened with French doors into the living room with a fireplace, a lovely dining room with a sparkling chandelier, and a glazed-in spacious three season porch which we used all year-round and where Campbell kept his latest radio with the huge speaker with attached earphones. We also had a console radio for the family in the living room. There were four large bedrooms upstairs, plus a small nursery room upstairs that also served as a sewing room.

I was five years old when we moved to our first Sauganash home, and I loved the evening walks that Martha and I would take with our dad watching the Lamplighter light the street lights, occasionally stopping to chat with a neighbor.

The year was 1925.

My baby sister Helen was just learning to walk. My brother, Irv, was a mischievous little three year old who kept wandering away from home so that Mart and I often had to retrieve him from a neighbor's yard. It was about this time that Campbell hired a full time "maid/housekeeper" for mother. She arrived in the person of Florence Green, a handsome, articulate African American woman the same age as my mother. She became my friend on sight, and I loved her truly. She stayed with us for eight years until a month before my fourteenth birthday. She adored Campbell, and from the very beginning, looked after him in her own special way - cutting up his food so that he could handle it easily - cooking his breakfast every day and serving it to him at the dining room table where he would have his typewriter set up to begin his writing of his correspondence for the day. She kept the house immaculate, the beds freshly made and the laundry done. Mother was freed of all these duties...free to shop, visit relatives, and pursue anything else she wished to do. She continued to visit her old landlady who owned the two-flat where she and Campbell had spent the early years of their marriage - the lady being Gertrude Hopf.

Gertrude's son, Eric, had grown from a teenager to a young man, marrying a lovely young woman named Christine who, very sadly, was killed outright when on the way to a wedding where she and a girlfriend (driving the car) were trying to outrace a train on the way to a crossing.

The twenties were also years when Campbell reached his full potential as a business man, and will write about that in the next chapter...

Campbell's Business (Chapter 14)

George Koester lived directly behind us on Forest Glen Avenue. He, along with his partner, a man named Zander, were the founders and principal developers of the new sub-division which they named Sauganash. We had been in our first house only a few months when he and Campbell became fast friends. Campbell had made the decision to invest his legacy that had been made available to him by uncle Edward back in Scotland in lots that were for sale in Sauganash, and a few in Irving Park.

At first, he planned to keep the lots as an investment and sell them off at, hopefully, a profit. Campbell made frequent trips down to the Loop where he became acquainted with the president and staff of the 1st National Bank. There he met a man about his own age named Ed Gregor. It wasn't long before they became fast friends and Campbell hired him as his business manager. It was an excellent decision as Ed became his confidente and lifetime friend.

George Koester came over one evening and told Campbell about a beautiful Tudor house that was under construction on Forest Glen Avenue. He said that the builder had run out of funds and could not continue. To shorten the story, Campbell and Ed Gregor put their heads together and assembled a team of a Master Carpenter, named Irv Keck, who also became a good friend, and carpenters, bricklayers, plasterers, electricians, and decided to finish the job. Campbell also had the advantage of his oldest brother in law (Jeanette's brother, Gay (Gahartus) Beck), a top salesman for the Chicago Firebrick Company who would (and did!) supply him with all the brick, stone, and even marble that he needed. Campbell met with the architect who approved it all. And so Campbell was very successful in this whole project and assembled a team that would serve him well in the years ahead. He became successful in all his building projects.

Jeanette had no interest in any of it, and did not participate in any way. She enjoyed her new prosperity very much. She became possibly tho most fashionably dressed woman in Sauganash with fox furs, dresses from Marshall Field's, and hand made wigs from France. In those early twenties years, we made several train trips to British Columbia to visit with Aunt Helen, Auntie Nan, and Uncle Jim. They were always so kind and welcoming to us. I always loved seeing Aunt Helen in particulsr.

Downtown in Chicago, Campbell's business projects and his successes became almost legendary, and he commanded respect wherever he went. If I had a day off from school, I would sometimes go downtown with him when he had to go to the bank or the Chicago Title and Trust Company, and I remember him being surrounded by people wanting to serve him before being ushered into a private office. He took taxis everywhere, and I remember that we would always end up having a wonderful lunch somewhere (once at the Palmer House!) and occasionally a show afterwards.

Once, because of a taxi strike, we had to take the EL home, followed by a bus, to Sauganash, and I had to use the public rest room before I got on the train. Campbell, knowing that we were in a fairly dubious neighborhood, came with me into the rest room and stood just inside the door. A woman swung the door open, saw him, and screamed, "What are you doing here - get out or I'll call the police!" Campbell stood tall and said calmly, "Madam, you have nothing to fear, I am with my little daughter and I am totally blind." Then, he called out, "Nannie, are you all right?" I answered from my stall, "I'm fine, dad." The woman apologized profusely when she saw his white cane. I must add that Campbell always carried a very LOUD police whistle in his pocket! Chicago could be a very dangerous place if one did not exercise caution. I was always amazed, however, at the extreme HELPFULNESS that citizens displayed toward a blind individual. They were almost without exception - kindness itself!

AND, this was Al Capone's CHICAGO!

Growing up in the 20's (Chapter 15)

My memories of life in the twenties - of the years 1925 to 1929 - are perhaps the most vivid of my childhood. Martha and I started school in 1926 exactly one year after moving into our new house in Sauganash. Father finished the beautiful Tudor, offered it to mother, but she refused saying that it would be too much work. Florence was relieved. So it was sold and Campbell and his team quickly moved on to other projects, at first building some bungalows in Sauganash and Irving Park.

The solid two and three bedroom brick houses were a very popular style house in Chicago in the 20"s. George Koester convinced him that the elegant Tudor style was what people wanted when moving to a suburb like Sauganash. The architect agreed, and being an Englishman, had many beautiful plans. So, the lots that Campbell had bought in Sauganash were disappearing fast with one new house after another! This kept Campbell very busy but he surrounded himself with knowledgeable and competent people who worked for and with him. Ed Gregor, his trusted business manager, was always at his side, and Campbell never put his name to anything until Ed had approved it. Campbell go up early in the morning, and the first thing he would do before breakfast, was to go into the sun room where he kept his radio and turn on the world news and the latest market returns. He was always involved and intensely interested in ALL the news. He also began investing in stocks, and did very well in the market.

Letters from Uncle Edward in Scotland arrived frequently as Uncle Edward was very interested in all of Campbell's acivities. I believe that it was about this time that uncle Edward set up a trust fund for Jeanette that she could collect from until the year 1945 as long as she remained Mrs. Stewart. I remember the checks coming about twice a year from the Bank of England, but I never knew the amount as mother never divulged it to us.

I remember how much Irv and I loved to go to the building sites with Ed and father. We were never allowed in the houses until all the floors were put in, and there were no open stairways. But, we loved the huge piles of sand and stones to play on. And watching the plasterers was such fun - I was always amazed at how FAST they worked! Also, the bricklayers. Martha never went along as she would sneeze and seemed to be allergic to something used in construction, although in those years we never used the word allergic.

Father often had meetings with Ed, Irv Keck, Uncle Gay, the architect, George Koester, and others whose names I didn't know. They would sit around our big oak dining room table, and I would curl up in a ball underneath it, sometimes with Irv, and we would just listen to them. I always loved the smell of uncle Gay's pipe, but not Mr.Koester's cigar! They would talk about everything - Prohibition, Coolidge, Al Smith, Al Capone - the need for more and more houses out of the inner city and into the outlying areas of Chicago. The word SUBURB had not been coined yet! I liked the droning of their voices. Campbell would always have his typwriter set up in front of him as he would take notes of anything he wanted to check out later. If Campbell sensed that we were under the table, he would tap his cane on the table, and say, "Nanny, Omink, go to bed!" "Omink" was his nickname for Irv!

In my next chapter, I want to tell you about Campbell - as a father.

Father Campbell (Chapter 16)

Before I write about Campbell as a father, I must talk about his family.

All of his siblings moved to British Columbia, Canada in the early twenties. Campbell was not able to follow them there because Jeanette would never consider living anywhere but Chicago as all her relatives were there. She cared nothing for Campbell's family - was even scornful of them with their old-world Scottish ways and manners. She did, however, love Aunt Helen, and was forever grateful to her for rescuing and rehabilitating Campbell when he returned from overseas.

Even as a child I was acutely aware that my parents were poorly matched, indeed! I never saw any display of affection between them, and they never conversed in an amiable fashion. Father tried - I could see that, but there was never any fun or banter between them. Mother's family was the limit of her social life, and she had few women friends. She loved gossiping with her sisters and competing with them, and she totally enjoyed her position as the most affluent of them all. As children, we were given lavish Christmas' and on Christmas morning the living room would be so full of toys that it was impossible to walk through it. I cannot help but feel that she was compensating for her own deprived childhood. The Christmas that Irving was four years old, she bought an overstuffed bear for several hundred dollars that was mounted on wheels and it was under the tree with Irv's name on it. He took one look at it and screamed in fear and would not sit on it, refusing to go near it. Campbell told her to return it to the big department store where she had bought it, but she refused and gave it to one of her sister's children the same day. Mother could be very generous with her own family and with Florence Green, our beloved housekeeper and maid. She was always struggling with her Catholic faith and her new-found Christian Science, and found Campbell's relaxed Agnosticism very irritating.

Back in Scotland, Uncle Edward kept in touch with Campbell and his family regularly. Since he had no family of his own and was so fond of his nephew Campbell, he was very generous to us at Christmas and wrote frequently. All of his packages and letters came by surface mail in those days, and it was always a thrill for us all when one of his huge boxes arrived! We received tinned Dundee Cake, shortbread, and wonderful marmalades in beautiful tins and jars all decorated with scenes of the Highlands. Wonderful soft Scottish woolen Tams, mittens and Scarves were there also, along with sweaters in all our correct sizes. And books - there were always books included. When I was in first grade, my own little set of Beatrix Potter 's little pocket sized books in a little cardboard bookcase all covered with pictures of her characters - my favorite gift ever! Later, a complete set of Robert Louis Stevenson when I was older. When Martha was twelve, she received a two year subscription to The Tatler, which she reluctantly shared with me, and I received a gorgeous book of Elizabethan paper dolls. He sent Irv a hand held magnifying glass and a Harris tweed cap, which he loved. Uncle Edward seemed to know what kids liked! I dont remember the year that he sent us the complete works of Sir Walter Scott and Charles Dickens, but they were on our book shelves all the while I was growing up. I learned to read with those books as Campbell asked both Martha and I to read to him on cold winter evenings from Fair Maid of Perth or Great Expectations among others.

Later in his life, Uncle Edward met a lovely Norwegian lady named Thekla on a trip to North Africa. She was riding a camel as were the others in the travel group. He fell in love with her, and they were married and lived at Lignwood until he died on 1950. It was a very happy marriage, and after he died, Thekla sold Lignwood and went briefly back to Norway. She returned to Scotland later where she died in 1956, and is now buried beside Edward in the family plot in Perth.

Children's Names (Chapter 17)

Campbell and Jeanette had taken turns naming their children as they all arrived so quickly in the years fromk 1919 to 1926.

Mother named her first Martha Mary - after her own mother. Then Campbell named me Anne - after his mother. This was followed by Irving Eugene - simply because mother liked the name Irving, but we learned later that she had a boyfriend before she met Campbell whose name was Irving. Dad's turn came next, and he named the fourth, Helen - after his beloved sister. Baby Jeanette died at birth and was baptized by the attending priest after her mother. So, father was filled with chagrin when mother enrolled me in school in 1926 as Nancy Stewart! He wanted me to be called Anne - or Nan - which is the Scottish nickname for Anne. All my life he never called me Nancy - always Nannie. After a couple of months I got so used to the teacher and all my classmates calling me Nancy that I accepted it as my name.

Campbell had his own nicknames for all his children...Martha's was "Woos Poos"...Mine was "Nannie Bug"...Irving's was "Omink", but occasionally dad would call him "WILBURFORCE" And, surprisingly, Helen's was "Pink-Brown! Father never gave any explanation for his names for us, but he ALWAYS used them! When he would sit in his big red leather wing chair, his lap was a coveted place, especially when he would tell us stories or talk about his childhood in Scotland. He always referred to us, especially when we were small, as his "wee bairn", and in the case of Irv, his "braw laddie", and in the case of any of the girls, as his "wee lassie" or "bonnie lass". He would whisper these endearments in our ears if we came to him with a problem or a skinned knee. He was always a source of comfort. I always liked to watch him shave as he did it so slowly and methodically, and surprisingly, whenever he allowed it to grow, it came out RED! A sure testimony to his ancient PICT heritage as a Stewart and a Campbell. He was a direct descendant of the ancient Picts that occupied central Scotland for so long!

The redheaded PICTS!