Tracing Lizzie’s Family: Margaret Lindner’s “Campbell of Hastings County”

Probably the best source for tracing Lizzie Leslie‘s family, both her ancestors and her descendants, is a book by Margaret Leslie Lindner called Campbell of Hastings County, Ontario.

Actually, the book’s full name is William and Isabella Masson Campbell of Hastings County Ontario: Their Ancestors and Descendants.

William and Isabella were Lizzie’s maternal grandparents. Their daughter, Flora McDonnell Campbell (1829–1905), who married William Leslie (1822–1904), was Lizzie’s mother.

The author, Margaret Lindner (1923–1995), who was born Margaret Duncan Leslie, was Lizzie’s first cousin twice removed. She was the granddaughter of Lizzie’s much older brother, William Edward Leslie (1846–1921).

I remember in the early 1980s, how excited my mother and my Aunt Betty were about the forthcoming book, and how they diligently collected and shared with Margaret whatever information they had about our branch of Lizzie’s descendants. It was all done by letter in those days. Since Margaret lived in Michigan and most of our branch lived in Toronto, it was a slow process. Although I wasn’t aware at the time, some other fairly close relatives were also involved in providing information, including my Uncle Harley, my father’s aunts, Frances and Hazel, and his first cousin, Isabel Moore.

Margaret Lindner’s research provides us with most of what we know about Lizzie’s ancestors on her mother’s side. The family tree below shows us what Margaret found, supplemented a little by some of my own internet-based research.

When my copy of the book finally arrived in the mail in 1983, it was accompanied by this letter:

Looking back from thirty-seven years later, her words seem even more poignant:

It is hoped that this book will enable each one of you to gain a greater appreciation of those who went before you, which in turn will lend understanding and a strength-giving sense of perspective to your own life. Perhaps, as the years pass and we become the remote ancestors of the past, this book will be especially cherished by our descendants as they strive to discover their roots!

Margaret (Leslie) Lindner

As I write this, there are two copies of the book available on Amazon.ca and one (much more expensive) copy on Amazon.com. If you’re in the Toronto area, you can also consult it, at no cost, at the Toronto Reference Library at Yonge and Bloor.

Easiest and cheapest of all, if you want to know something that might be in Margaret’s book, reach out to me by leaving a comment (below) or by using this website’s contact page. I would be happy to look up whatever you like.