| Story |
Wavel M Campbell worked for TKWM around 1920 as a weaver.
Wavel Marie Faulkner was born on 18 July 1901, in Portland, Oregon, to Walter Wallace Faulkner and Catherine “Katie” Alice Loner Faulkner. Her parents had recently immigrated from Nova Scotia, Canada on 23 Sep 1900, bringing with them four children: George (11), Annie (9), Margaret (7), and Alexander (4). Wavel, the youngest, was the only child born in the United States and arrived five years after her closest sibling.
Wavel was not yet a year old when her father passed away in the spring of 1902, leaving her mother, Catherine, to raise five children alone – the eldest, George, was just 13 at the time. After 1903, Catherine and the children disappear from the Portland City Directories, and their whereabouts during that period remain a mystery. However, it appears the family remained in the Portland area, as end-of-term school records show Wavel attended the old Chapman Elementary School in June 1908.
Between 1908 and 1910, it appears Catherine realized she could no longer support her children on her own. By 1910, three of them were no longer living under her care. George, then 21, was working as an electrician and boarding at a home in Portland. Alexander, age 14, had become the ward of G. Elwin Jones, a 36-year-old single farmer in Grant County, Oregon. That July, Wavel was adopted by Morrison and Mary A. Campbell, residents of Douglas County, Oregon. It remains unclear how Catherine selected – or came to know – the individuals who took in her youngest child, Wavel. Daughters Margaret and Annie may have remained with Catherine in Portland for several years. Annie married in 1913, followed by Margaret in 1916. Catherine herself vanished from available records until resurfacing in 1920, when she remarried under her middle name, Alice.
Morrison and Mary Campbell were living in Salem in 1908 when they welcomed Wavel into their home. Not long afterward, they relocated to Douglas County, where Wavel was formally adopted in 1910. She settled comfortably into life with the Campbells, but her teenage years were disrupted when tragedy struck the family.
In 1914, her adoptive father, Morrison Campbell, became involved in a dispute with a neighbor that ended in tragedy – he shot and killed the man. Morrison was tried and convicted in Roseburg, receiving a life sentence at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem. That summer, Mary sold their Douglas County property, and she and Wavel returned to Salem to be closer to him.
Wavel likely left high school in Douglas County and did not complete her final year after relocating to Salem. She and Mary initially lived at 680 North 20th St. later moving to 545 North 21st. During their early years in Salem, there is no record of Mary holding employment, and it’s possible that Wavel took on odd jobs to help support them.
By 1920, at age 17, Wavel worked as a weaver at TKWM and served as the sole provider for herself and 69-year-old Mary, while they lived on 13th St. Her employment there appears to have been brief. That same year, Wavel’s birth mother, Catherine Faulkner, remarried, and Morrison Campbell – still serving his life sentence – had become a respected trustee at the Oregon State Penitentiary, responsible for the landscaping at the prison farm.
In June 1921, a marriage license was issued in Washington State for Wavel and Francis H. Hall of Portland, but the wedding never took place. Instead, Wavel married Dwight S. Vittum, a Californian, in 1922. Later that year, Morrison Campbell was granted a pardon by acting Oregon Governor Ritner and returned to Salem to live out his life with Mary.
Wavel and Dwight settled in San Francisco, California, where she gave birth to their son, Harold, in 1924. Their joy was short-lived, however – Harold tragically died in an accident on 30 June 1929, at just six years old.
The family eventually relocated to San Mateo, where Dwight found work as a gardener on a private estate. In August 1930, Wavel gave birth to their second son, Robert. By 1935, they had settled in Redwood City, California – Dwight found work as an ice deliveryman, while Wavel ran her own knitting shop. Robert went on to complete high school before the family made their final move to Angels Camp, California.
Throughout her life, Wavel appears to have maintained ties with some of her biological siblings. In 1943, her sister Anna Faulkner Julius, who was then living in Portland, arranged for an amendment to Wavel’s Oregon birth certificate – formally adding her first name and preserving er full maiden name as Wavel Marie Faulkner.
Tragedy struck again on 2 June 1948, when Wavel’s 18-year-old son, Robert, was killed instantly in a lumber mill accident in San Andreas, California. The 1950 census recorded Dwight and Wavel residing in Angels Camp, where Dwight worked as a mail carrier while running a chicken ranch in nearby Altaville. He passed away in 1951. Wavel followed on 5 Sep 1958, and was laid to rest beside Dwight at the Altaville Protestant Cemetery in Angels Camp, California. |
| Census |
1900 Morrison Campbell. Age: 48. Birth Date: Jan 1851 in Pennsylvania. Rents house in Barlow, Clackamas County, Oregon. Married, HOH. Married in 1872. Married 28 years. Father and mother born in Pennsylvania. Occupation: Wood Chopper. Household members: Morrison Campbell, age 48 (HOH), Mary A. Campbell, age 50 (wife), Verta M. Campbell, age 13 (daughter).
1910 Wavel Campbell. Age: 8. Birth Date: abt 1902 in Oregon. Residence: Melrose, Douglas County, Oregon. Single, adopted daughter of HOH. Household members: Morrison Campbell, age 59 (HOH, farmer), Mary A. Campbell, age 60 (wife), Wavel Campbell, age 8 (adopted daughter).
1920 Wavel M. Campbell. Age: 18. Birth Date: abt 1902 in Oregon. Residence: 13th St, Salem, Oregon. Single, adopted daughter of HOH. Occupation: Weaver, Woolen Mill. Household members: Mary M. Campbell, age 69 (HOH, married no employment), Wavel M. Campbell, age 18 adopted daughter.
1930 Marie W. Vittum. Age: 28. Birth Date: abt 1902 in Oregon. Married to HOH. Residence: Portola Rd, Township 3, San Mateo County, California. Age 18 at first marriage. Father born in U.S. Mother born in Canada. Household members: Dwight S. Vittum, age 32 (HOH, private estate gardener), Marie W. Vittum, age 28 (wife).
1940 Marie Vittum. Age: 38. Birth Date: abt 1902 in Oregon. Wife of HOH. Residence: 127 Wilson St, Redwood City, California. Same in 1935. Education: 3 yr High School. Household members: D. S. Vittum, age 42 (HOH, ice delivery man), Marie Vittum, age 38 (wife), Robert A. Vittum, age 9 (son).
1950 Marie W. Vittum. Age: 48. Birth Date: abt 1902 in Oregon. Married to HOH. Residence: Rose Addition, Angels Camp, California. Occupation: Housekeeper. Household members: Dwight W. Vittum, age 52 (HOH, no work shown), Marie W. Vittum, age 48 (wife, no work shown), Paul Cinegran, age 30 (lodger). |
| Digital Newspapers |
Oregon Daily Journal 28 Mar 1902, p. 4 – W. M. Faulkner died from an apparently heart attack at the Eastern Lumber Co. in Portland. Age 38 native of Novia Scotia.
Roseburg, OR News-Review, 3 Apr 1914, p. 8 – Industrial Club formed at Cleveland (OR, NW of Roseburg). Wavel Campbell was elected Treasurer.
Oregon Statesman 17 Apr 1914, p. 1 – Morrison Campbell surrendered to the Douglas County Sheriff saying that he shot and killed his neighbor, John Becker, in a quarrel.
Oregon Daily Journal 26 Jun 1914, p. 14 – Morrison Campbell was found guilty of second-degree murder in the death of John Becker in Roseburg. Becker left a wife and four small children. Campbell has a wife and an adopted daughter.
The Oregonian 1 Jul 1914, p. 5 – Morrison Campbell was sentenced to a life term in the State Penitentiary. A motion for a new trial by Campbell’s attorney was overruled.
Roseburg News Review 20 Nov 1914, p. 6 – Morrison Campbell is now employed on the State Prison farm in Salem.
Roseburg News Review 5 Jan 1915 – John Krohn bought the property of Mrs. Morrison Campbell last summer.
Roseburg News Review 6 Jan 1917, p. 1 – Petitions asking for the pardon of Morrison Campbell are being circulated in Douglas County. He has been in prison in Salem for two years. (Full story of the case) Mrs. Campbell moved to Salem so after the conviction to be closer to her husband.
Oregon Daily Journal 8 Jun 1921, p. 11 – Marriage license issued to Francis H. Hall of Portland and Wavel Marie Campbell of Portland. (marriage did not take place)
Oregon Daily Journal 24 Dec 1922, p. 1 – Acting Governor Ritner pardons Morrison Campbell, 72, who rejoins his wife (73) in Salem. The recommendation came from the State Parol Board.
Oakland Tribune 30 Jun 1929 – Harold Vittum, 6, of 2863 Folsom St was crushed to death by a runaway truck after he and three young friends were playing in the driver’s cab.
Capital Journal 11 Jan 1932, p. 9 – Mary A Campbell obituary. Died at 81 yrs. 10 mos. Survived by two adopted daughters; Mrs. Marie Vittum, of Menlo Park, CA and Mrs. May Videl of Ridgefield, WA. Lee Mission Cemetery.
Redwood City Tribune 29 Aug 1936, p. 2 – Mrs. Kelting hosts a party honoring little Master Robert Vittum for his sixth birthday. His playmates Myra Dillard and Genevieve Gable attended with their parents including Mrs. Dwight Vittum.
Redwood City Tribune 9 Jul 1941, p. 2 – Mrs. Marie Vittum is the Marie of Marie’s Knit Shop.
Redwood City Tribune 3 Jun 1948, p. 1 – 18-year-old Robert A Vittum, formally of Redwood City, was killed instantly on 2 Jun 1948 in a lumber mill accident in San Andreas, CA. He resided in Redwood City for 13 years and the family moved to Angels Camp three years ago.
Stockton Evening Record 7 Apr 1952, p. 1 – Dwight S Vittum obituary. Mail carrier in Angels Camp died of a heart attack at age 54. Resident of Angels Camp for 8 years. He and Mrs. Vittum operated a chicken ranch at Altaville. WW1 vet. Survivor, Marie W. Vittum. A son Robert was killed in a sawmill accident three years prior. |
| Public Records |
1901 City of Portland Birth Record. Wavel Faulkner born to W. and C. Faulkner.
27 Jul 1910 Douglas County, OR, Adoption Record. Marie Wavel Faulkner was adopted by Morrison and Mary A Campbell. No other information available.
1930 California Birth Record. Robert Allen Vittum born 28 Aug 1930 in Santa Clara Co, CA. Mother’s maiden name Campbell.
1939 Naturalization Record. Catherine Alice Berry entered the US from Novia Scotia through Canada to Blaine, WA under the name Catherine A. Faulkner on 23 Sep 1900. Children, DOB, place of birth, current residence: Annie, 15 May 1891, Canada, Portland; Margaret, 11 Apr 1893, Canada, Portland; Alexander ,10 Jan 1896, Canada, Siletz, OR; Wavel, 18 Jul 1901, Portland, Portland.
1943 Multnomah Co Correction of Birth Record. Affiant Anna Julius (person who swears to the statements), sister of Wavel Faulkner who was born in Portland on 18 Jul 1901. Original birth certificate given name was not shown. Surname was shown as Faulkner. Names are and should be Wavel Faulkner. Notarized statement by the Portland Public Schools, Supervisor of Attendance says Wavel Faulkner was enrolled in Chapman Elementary School during the term ending in June 1908 at which time her age was given as 6 yrs, 11 mos. Sworn to and dated 29 May 1943.
1958 California Death Record. Marie Wavel Vittum (Faulkner). Born 18 July 1903 in Oregon. Died 5 Sep 1958 in Calaveras Co, California. Mother’s maiden name Loner. Father’s surname Faulkner. |
