Cameron, James 1856 - 1938

CAMERON, WATERMAN, MCCORMICK, SMITH, FULTON, WADSACK

Posted By: Reid R. Johnson (email)
Date: 6/25/2023 at 11:40:25

Clayton County Register, 16 Feb. 1938.

Funeral services were held last Thursday afternoon at the Chas. Wilson home and the Congregational church for James Cameron, who had died at the Wilson home last Tuesday morning, Burial was in the East Side cemetery, the Rev. N. O. Bartholomew officiating.

James Cameron, son of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Cameron, was born at Freeport, Ill., March 04, 1856. At the age of seven years he came to a farm about two miles south of Elkader. He attended public school for one year at Spring Valley, Minn. The next few years he spent working in the pine woods of northern Wisconsin.

In Neillsville, Wis., he met and married Miss Eliza Waterman, July 16, 1879. They were a happy, devoted couple for the next 47 years. The first seven years they spent in Wisconsin and Arkansas, where Mr. Cameron was employed as foreman for the Stolpher Sawmill Co.

In 1886 they came to a farm south of Elkader, which was their home until they moved to Elkader in 1913, where Mrs. Cameron died Sept. 23, 1927. Since that time he has made his home with his daughter, Mrs. Wilson, and family. He died Tuesday morning at five o'clock, Feb. 08, 1938, at the advanced age of 81 years, 11 months and 04 days.

Mr. and Mrs. Cameron were the parents of six children, all of whom lived to grow up. They are: Guy Cameron of Oskaloosa; Mrs. Lydia McCormick of Fenton, Mich.; Mrs. Martha Wilson of Elkader; and Mrs. Sarah Smith of Fenton. He was preceded in death by two daughters, Mrs. Etta Fulton of Sioux City, Iowa, and Mrs. Margaret Wadsack of Dennison, Texas. He also leaves 16 Grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

Mr. Cameron worked at the carpenter trade, in which capacity he lathed most of the public buildings and many of the homes in Elkader and surrounding country and towns, over a period of 45 years.

While Mr. Cameron was never a rugged man, he enjoyed unusually good health until last fall. At that time he suffered a heart attack and has been gradually failing since.

Mr. Cameron was one of the pioneers of this community and passed through the privation and hardships of early days. He was hard working, thrifty and honest to a fault. He was a true friend and a kindly Christian neighbor, always ready to assist in time of sickness or trouble. We shall miss him walking along the highway and over the hills that he loved so well.