Campbell-Alexander-Haywood (CAH) FAMILY REUNION. The last CAH Family Reunion was held in 2025 in Biloxi, MS.  The next one will be in June 2027 in San Antonio, TX.

Brief History of Campbell-Alexander-Haywood Family

The Campbell-Alexander-Haywood Families roots were planted with the union in holy matrimony of Otis  (Burr) Campbell and Eula Lee (Bill) Alexander in 1917 in Holmes County, Mississippi. 

The history of the maternal side of Otis Campbell’s family is traced back to 1841, with the birth of his slave grandfather, Noah Thurmond (Thurman).  After slavery, Noah and his wife, Jane, lived in Holmes County, Mississippi. The 1870 and 1880 census records show the couple had seven children:  Mollie (Otis’ mother) born 1867; Mary, born 1869, Nora Ann, born 1872; Will, born 1876; Laura, born 1877; Mittie, born 1884 and Phoebe, born 1886.  Mollie gave birth to Otis in January 1895.  Oral history reports that even though Rogers Haywood was Otis’ biological father, Mollie married Dan Campbell several months after Otis’ birth and gave the infant the surname Campbell. Mollie also gave Otis' older siblings, Inez and Paul, the surname Campbell.

The history of the paternal side of the Eula Lee (Ulee) Alexander family is traced back to 1814, when Eula Lee’s grandfather, Daniel, was born in Virginia.  Daniel and his wife, Jane, lived in Marshall County, Mississippi (near Holly Springs) in 1870 with their five children:  Paralee (Age 20): David (Age 17); Sarah (Age 12): Roxie (Age 5); and Frank (Age 2) --Eula Lee’s father. Though oral history reports that the Alexanders were of Indian heritage, census records for 1870 recorded both Daniel and his wife Jane (born 1821) as Black.  The race of three of the couple’s children, Paralee, David and Sarah, was shown as Black, but that of Roxie and Frank, the two younger children, was recorded as Mulatto--indicating that at least one parent was of mixed heritage.  The 1870 census also recorded Jane as Daniel’s “implied” wife, which suggests that they were possibly not married, but cohabiting.

Frank, Eula Lee’s father, relocated to Carroll County, MS,  and married Ella Washington on December 26, 1888.  Ella brought one child named Vincent Thompson in the 1900 Census to the marriage.  The couple relocated to Beat 5 in Holmes County.  Including Eula Lee (Ulee)--born in 1897, the couple reported six children to the 1900 census taker:  Katie (born 1890); Viola (born 1892); James (born 1894); Paralee (born 1896); and John (born 1900).  Note that Frank and Ella named their fifth child, Paralee, for Frank’s sister Paralee.[i]  Frank and Ella parented three more children after 1900:  Frank, Jr., born in 1904; Charles, born in 1908; and Scott, born in 1910.  Frank’s first wife, Ella, passed between 1910 and 1920, and Frank took a second wife, Lena Lewis, born in 1882,  Lena brought one child to the marriage, Jonnie Hurt reported to be age 9 in the 1920 Census.  Lena and Frank begat at least one child, Desiree.

Selected Sources:

"Mississippi, Marriages, 1800-1911," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/V2ZW-YDR : accessed 27 Jan 2014), Frank Alexander and Ella Washington, 1888.  Also, "United States Census, 1870, 1900, 1910 and 1920," index and images,  FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/M96B-PQV,  Frank Alexander, Beat 5, Holmes, Mississippi, United States; citing sheet , family 193, NARA microfilm publication T623, FHL microfilm 1240811.