Sarah was the oldest of the two known daughters of
Joseph and
Mary (Tussey) Walker. Based on the 1830 Census,
she may have had an older sister, or the woman listed
might have been someone else. Sarah was born about 1827
in Little Sycamore
Valley in Claiborne County, Tennessee.
She married Eldridge Campbell, half-brother to Alzira
Rice who would marry Sarah's brother Isaac
about 6 years later. Eldridge was a son of Jacob Campbell
and Temperance Rice, and Eldridge and Sarah married
in Claiborne County on 1 September 1842.
Although still in the Little Sycamore/Mulberry area,
they probably settled in what is now Hancock County,
more in Mulberry than in Little Sycamore. There they
raised five known children, but Sarah died in Hancock
County in January 1860 of complications of childbirth.
She is probably buried in the cemetery where her parents
are buried or perhaps in a Campbell family plot somewhere
in the area, but her grave has not been found.
Eldridge went on to marry a woman named Joana, born
in Virginia on 23 July 1835. They might have been married
in Hancock County, as marriage records there for the
era are lost, but they seem to have married soon after
Sarah (Walker) Campbell died.
Eldridge and Joana would have seven known children
themselves in addition to raising the first family.
After the Civil War, they moved for a few years to Jackson
County, Alabama, before settling finally in Faulkner
County, Arkansas. Their seven children are not documented
in this article, but there is some information in my
family file on them. Both Eldridge and Joana probably
died in Faulkner County, Arkansas, Eldridge on 21 September
1903 and Joana on 12 January 1905. They are buried in
Faulkner County at Naylor Cemetery at the Naylor Baptist
Church with several other family members.
The five known children of Eldridge Campbell and Sarah
Walker were Doctor C. (his name, not a title), Timothy
S., Nancy, Jacob F., and Robert G.
Doctor, born about 1843, and Timothy, born about 1846,
both served in the Confederate Army during the Civil
War in Company A of the 63rd Regiment of the Tennessee
Infantry, also known as the 74th or Fain's. Their first
cousin once removed, Jonathan
Walker, served with them. Neither of the Campbells
would survive the war, and Jonathan made a tremendous
walk home later with typhoid.
Finding out where a company was at a given time during
the Civil War is typically easy. Finding out where a
specific individual was, however, is often impossible.
While Doctor and Timothy were likely with their unit,
at any given time they could have been on leave or on
special guard duty or sick in the hospital or any number
of other places. So where they died can only be guessed.
Timothy was the first to die, on 10 November 1862.
At the time, his unit was either in Knoxville or had
already begun a march to Cumberland Gap in heavy snow.
The unit saw no significant combat at the time, so he
may have died of illness or accident, like the vast
majority of soldiers.
Doctor died four months later, on 15 March 1863, when
his unit was still stationed at Cumberland Gap. The
conditions there were horrible, and he probably also
died of illness, although he could have been killed
in small actions such as foraging.
The burial places of neither are known. Especially
given how close they were to home, they may have been
brought back and buried with their mother wherever she
may be buried, but perhaps not. As far as is known,
neither boy married, but marriage, perhaps in Hancock
County, is possible.
The next child was Nancy, the only daughter of the
couple. She was born about 1848 and lived at least until
1850. In the 1860 Census, her father is listed with
all the boys but not Nancy, who was a bit too young
to have married by then. As was quite common, Eldridge
may have sent her to live with another family when her
mother died, but given that he kept all the boys, including
two younger than her, she might well have died before
1860.
Jacob F. Campbell was born in December 1852 and died
sometime after 1910. He went with his father and stepmother
to Alabama and then Arkansas and married first Della
Harris on 22 August 1880 and then Elizabeth Brown on
27 January 1889. His only known child was a son with
Elizabeth named Iley W. Campbell, who was born April
1890 probably in Faulkner County, Arkansas, and was
still living in 1910. The family has not been found
beyond 1910 yet.
The youngest son of Sarah Walker with Eldridge Campbell
was Robert G. Campbell, born 9 August 1854, who died
3 April 1914 in Faulkner County, Arkansas. On 19 January
1879 in Faulkner County, he married Lauvinia L. Stewart,
who was born 29 April 1858 in Tennessee and died 20
June 1904 probably in Faulkner County; they had five
known children. He then married Elizabeth Burgain from
Georgia on 13 January 1907; any children they may have
had are unknown.
