John Alexander Cameron was born 25 December 1818 in Barcholl, Argyll, Scotland to Alexander Cameron and Catherine MacCallum. According to Murdo MacDonald, Argyll District Archivist, “Barcholl” is Barachuil, a house on the north side of the village of Kilmelford. There is still a house there by that name, spelled Barachuile. It is found less than one half mile north of the church. The property is green, covered with grass and wild flowers. A two-story white house sits at the end of the drive, and stone farm buildings can be found on the hillside. A small stream crosses under the drive to the house. John was christened in the parish church of Kilmelford in January of 1819. The parish church of Kilmelford is a small, gray church surrounded by green hills and grazing sheep. Alexander worked as a laborer and servant at Melford.
 
 

When John was eight years old, the family moved to Catherine’s home parish of Kilbrandon. Two years later they moved to the parish of Inishail, further inland near beautiful Loch Awe. John had an older brother, John, who died as a baby, and an older sister, Hellen, and a younger sister, Flora, and five younger brothers, Malcolm, Duncan, Peter, James, and Alexander (Sandy).

Margaret became very ill: “While there, they suffered many hardships. His wife was taken very ill and the doctors said there was nothing could be done to save her life. John Cameron heard of some Mormon Elders thirty miles away. He wrote them and asked if they would come and administer to his wife. He told them he would pay their fare if they would come. They came and administered to her and promised her she would be healed and that a son would be born to them. James A. Cameron was born and was the delight of his parents and was called a promised son.” (George H. Southam)  A son James was born in 1851.
 
 

The family moved to St. Louis, Missouri: “They moved to St. Louis, Missouri in 1852. The family had very little money: “When they arrived in St. Louis, it was probably Friday night. They had enough money to buy food for his wife and two children and himself for one week, or else enough to pay for lodging for his family. They decided that they must have a place to live, so they spent every cent they had for lodging. He went out and got himself a job at his trade of shoemaking, but he could not start work until Monday. Being a faithful man, he located the Church, which was about nineteen blocks from where they lived. Sunday morning on his way to Church he found 25 cents in paper money lying on the board sidewalk. There were people coming and going all the way, but by the time he had reached the church, he had found enough money to feed his family for one week.” (George H. Southam) The family lived at 6th and St. Charles Streets in St. Louis.

Margaret became ill again, and died of pneumonia in St. Louis in 1855, leaving John to care for his eight-year-old daughter and four-year-old son.
 
 

Later that same year, John married again, to Mary McFall on 16 October 1855. Mary’s mother, Mary Cunnachy McFall, kept a wonderful journal. She tells about how John and Mary met, “We journeyed to St. Louis from New Orleans. We went to stay for a while with a friend John Cameron from Scotland. Mary, my daughter who had come with the McKeechies married John Cameron in 1851, his first wife was Margaret Fairgrove or Ferguson. Mary had two girls.” (Our Pioneer Heritage, Vol. 13, p. 352)  John and Mary had two girls, Margaret (1855), who died the day she was born, and Mary (1857), who died as a baby, and a son Robert. Mary's mother, Mary Cunnachy McFall, went to Utah in 1855, and died in Salt Lake in 1856. Mary's sister, Margaret Ann McFall Caldwell and her children traveled to Utah with the ill-fated Willie Handcart Company, and arrived about a month after her mother died. Mary McFall Cameron died in St. Louis on 16 November 1857.
 
 

John married Alice Parkinson on 7 August 1958. A son, John, was born to them in St. Louis a year later.
 
 

The 1860 census for St. Louis, Missouri shows John working as a whitener, or someone who bleaches cloth:
 

John Cameron, age 42, occupation: Whitener, born Scotland

A history of William H. Parkinson says "The Parkinsons lived in separate quarters in the same house as William's Aunt Alice, her husband John Cameron and their family. John Cameron worked as a plasterer or whitener. Both John Parkinson and John Cameron list their home addresses as their place of business, so maybe they were building houses together...John Parkinson and Alex Graham were active as ward teachers in the St. Louis branch, and John Cameron was a counselor in the branch presidency. Another story we don't quite know. In May 1859 the Parkinsons and Grahams made a trip across the river to Illinois, where John Cameron rebaptized them. When William turned eight in 1860, it was John Cameron who baptized him as well."
 

 In 1861 the family prepared to cross the plains to Utah to join the Saints. Family stories say that they had in their care a little nephew of Alice Parkinson's, William Parkinson. However, the William H. Parkinson site says "According to John Cameron's history, Alice Cameron had the card of William when they crossed the plains, which appears to be an error. Perhaps Alice cared for him after his mother died until his father remarried." (http://wbp.parkinsonfamily.org)

The Cameron family traveled up the river by boat from St. Louis to Florence, Nebraska. While they were camped there, a daughter, Jennette, was born in a covered wagon. The Captain of the company was Joseph W. Young. Ancel Harman assisted John Cameron in driving his two yoke of oxen to draw the heavy wagon. After they had traveled several days, John Cameron became sick, and was not able to drive the wagon: “The worry and hardship caused by this new responsibility, which he felt he was not fitted for, and the hardships of bringing his family across the plains, contributed to the circumstances which caused him to take Mountain Fever.” (George H. Southam)   John was very ill, and Alice was still recovering from childbirth. The family was worried that they would have to drop out of the wagon train, but it was decided that Catherine would drive the wagon, with help when needed. Captain Young and his assistant, Ancel Harmon, said they would help them until they were well and could keep up with the company that way. Catherine was only fourteen years old, but she drove her father's oxen with Oscar Young's help. The company of Saints traveled all the hot summer over prairies and mountains to Salt Lake Valley, and arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in late October 1861.
 
 

The family settled in Salt Lake Valley, until called by Presiding Bishop Hunter to settle Round Valley in northern Utah. They were the first settlers in Round Valley. Round Valley is described as “a very verdant and almost round valley, tucked away behind some low hills at the southern tip of Bear Lake. Buffalo, elk, antelope and mule deer were plentiful…Into this paradise came the first white settlers in 1863, setting up some log and sod cabins near Big Spring Creek toward the south end of the oblong valley. Nearby mountains were heavy with timber and men built a dam on the creek of logs, brush and sod. In 1864 a canal was completed and a sawmill built. More settlers came in and set up homesteads. As log cabins and barns began to appear, the local Indians became hostile so the whites built their homes in small clusters. Indian troubles became more serious in 1866…In 1870 the Indians came prepared for a great battle, complete with war colors and trappings, dancing and chanting on a knoll in the middle of the Valley. Pres. Brigham Young, being advised of imminent war, had Stake Pres. Charles C. Rich of the Bear Lake area meet with the Indians, which resulted in the Indians being located on a new reservation in the Wind River country of Wyoming.”(The Historical Guide to Utah Ghost Towns, Stephen L. Carr)
 

Catherine met George Southam in Round Valley, and they were married in 1862. Robert Cameron, John’s son by his second marriage died here in 1864. While the family lived at Round Valley, little John Cameron had an accident that left him a cripple the rest of his life: “He was a very bright child and was handy at mending the wooden tubs and other useful things.” (George H. Southam)  George Henry also recalled: "Grandpa Cameron lived on Bishop Hunter’s (the second Presiding Bishop of the Church) farm. Round Valley is a very short distance from Laketown, Utah. He lived there during three years of a bad grasshopper scourge."
 
 

John lived there until the fall of 1870, and then was called to Randolph, Utah: “In 1870, John Cameron (with several others) was again called to uproot his family and help settle a new community. This time it was in the middle of the bleak, sagebrush-covered Bear River Valley, and the settlement was Randolph. All of the courageous pioneers had a struggle to make a living in this cold country.” (Nola Cornia Jackson)  A history of Randolph at http://history.utah.gov says "On the 14th of March 1870, the first settlers came into this valley, responding to a call from the general authorities of the church...Coming from St. Charles, Idaho were Randolph H. Stewart, Robert and Charles Pope, Edwin T. Pope, William Pearce and others. One week later, Apostle Charles C. Rich and Company arrived...Many others soon came, including Levi O. Pead, William Howard, Jr., Mrs. Agnes Smith, Samuel Henderson, Alfred G. and William Rex, John Cameron, Samuel Brough, Wiliam Tyson and Archibald McKinnon, Sr. They continued to come with a spirit of hope, not seeking wealth, but responding to a call wanting only a peaceful, progressive way of life." John's grandson remembers: “In 1870, my grandfather, with others, started to make a home at Randolph in Rich County. At that time he gave six hundred dollars for a pair of mules, both of which were blind; they had been used to help construct the Union Pacific Railroad. I remember as a boy that he did a lot of work with those mules. He cut his hay with a scythe, raked it with a hand rake, cut his grain with a cradle and bound it by hand. When he visited us, I used to ask him to put me on the mules while they grazed.” (George H. Southam)
 
 

Randolph was a challenging place: “They had a hard time making a living in that cold country. He still worked at his trade as shoemaker most of the time, making his own wooden pegs for the soles of the boots and shoes. Many of the men working on the railroad wore high top boots. When the soles wore out they would throw them away. When my grandfather came to visit us, he would encourage me to gather these up and cut the good leather out and save it. This contributed much to his shoemaking materials, Salt Lake City being the closest place where leather could be bought and this was five or six days journey away. He worked nights at his bench to keep people shod as best they could at the time. As I remember it now, he and his family worked hand in hand to make a home.” (George H. Southam)  A history of Rich County recounts: “In the early days the Fast and Testimony meetings were held on Thursday. The people fasted, prayed, and bore testimony to the truthfulness of the gospel. At one of these meetings John Cameron spoke in Tongues.” Rich Memories (FHS #979.213 H2t)
 
 

John and Alice’s son, John died in 1879. His family remembers him as “a boy that was loved and respected by all.” (George H. Southam)
 
 

John did not forget his Scottish ancestors. In 1893 John and his daughter Catherine worked in the Salt Lake Temple, doing the temple work for their ancestors. Catherine sought counsel from her father, as she tried to balance the many demands on her life: “The first year after the Salt Lake City Temple was dedicated, (1893) she was working in the temple, assisting her father to do the work for their dead relatives. She told her father that she thought she should have to give up the work among the sick as she felt it was almost more than she was able to stand- to take care of her family and be out with the sick so much. Her father said, "Catherine, you are all that your mother has to represent her here on earth and you are only fulfilling your patriarchal blessing where it says that you shall be as a well of living water in a desert, and people shall flow unto you and call you blessed.” (Amy Gardiner and Dorothy Hein)  Catherine accepted her father’s wise counsel and continued to provide medical care for her community.
 

John, Alice and Janette lived in a log house on the corner of Main and Church Streets in Randolph. As John and Alice became older, Jennette took care of her aging parents: “During September 1882, her mother, Alice Parkinson Cameron, died leaving Jeanette to take care of a feeble father in his last years, which she did well and faithfully.” (George H. Southam) Janette is described in a history of Rich County: “Many years ago, on the corner where the Randolph Garage now stands, stood a vine-covered house with a lean-to shanty. Janette lived there with her father and kept house for him. Her mother Alice Perkerson Cameron had passed away. The children loved to go there to have their shoes mended, because of her sweet, charming personality. She would sit the children on a block of wood, and while their shoes were being mended, she would amuse them by telling stories or cutting out beautiful flowers from seed catalogues. Janette was active in the church and especially loved to work with the young people of the MIA. After her father’s death she married John Bennett and moved to Uintah County.” (Rich Memories)  Local histories also mention MIA service projects for Father Cameron.
 
 

John's grandson, George Henry Southam remembered his grandfather: "In those days clothes were scarce and people wore what they could get, so as a young child I recall following behind my grandfather Cameron and listened to his white canvas wagon cover pants scuffing or rubbing together and thinking how wonderful it would be to be a man and wear pants like that." Others who knew John said: "Della McKinnon said she heard Grandpa Cameron speak in tongues on one occasion and her son, Arthur McKinnon, said he heard him speak in tongues twice. He also had a nail for every one of tools and kept them there."
 
 

John died in Randolph 8 October 1903. It was his wish that when he died his body would be carried by hand to the cemetery. Following the funeral service, six of his friends hoisted his casket on their shoulders and carried the body of John Cameron to its resting place in the Randolph Cemetery on the hill at the top of Church Street. His grave overlooks the town of Randolph, which is full of beautiful lilacs in May. His grave is still cared for by his descendants. He was a good and faithful Saint who survived much hardship, and raised wonderful children.
 
 

(Quoted from the obituary of John Cameron)
 

John Cameron's spirit returned to his Maker on Thursday, October 8, 1903, after quite a long illness. The speakers all testified of his good character and faithfulness and sterling integrity to the cause of truth. From the day of his baptism to the day of his death, he has been a faithful, consistent member of the Church, ever ready and willing to respond to every call made upon him... He was a plain, unassuming man, simple in his manner of living and having implicit faith in the Gospel, and it can be truthfully said of him, "Well done thou good and faithful servant; enter in the joys of thy rest."
 
 

From another obituary:

Funeral services over the remains of Father John Cameron whose spirit returned to his Maker on Thursday, October 8, 1903, after quite a long illness, were held at the Randolph Meeting house on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. The house was well filled with relatives and acquaintances who had known him during his long life. The speakers were Elder Wm. Rex, Bp. John Kennedy of Argyle, Pres. A. McKinnon, Elders C. R. Spencer and O. Jacobson and Bp. John C. Gray, who each testified of his good character and faithfulness and sterling integrity to the cause of truth. At the end of the service his remains were carried to the cemetery by six of the brethren it having been his request that he be carried to the cemetery in this way. Father Cameron was born on December 25, 1819, in Barrcholl, Argyleshire, Scotland and had he lived until the coming December he would have been 85 years of age. His parents were Alex and Catherine Cameron. He was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on November 15, 1845 and from that time up to the day of his death he has been a faithful consistent member of the church, ever ready and willing to respond to every call made upon him. He has thrice been married, his wives names having been Margaret Fairgreve, Mary McFall, and Alice Parkinson. He emigrated to America in 1848 or 49 and resided for sometime in New Jersey and a number of years in St. Louis, Mo. He came to Utah in 1861 locating in Morgan, Utah where he resided until the fall of 1870 when he moved to this place (Randolph) and has since resided here. Being one of the first settlers of this valley he suffered all the trials and hardships incident to pioneering in those early days. Father Cameron was the father of six children, three of whom as well as his wives have preceded him into the other world. He was a shoemaker by trade and for years mended the footwear of all comers. He was a plain unassuming man, simple in his manner of living and having implicit faith in the gospel and it can be truthfully said of him, “Well done thou good and faithful servant, enter into the joys of thy rest.”
 
 

John Cameron, son of Alexander and Catherine McCollum Cameron, was born in Barcholl (Barachuile), Argyleshire, Scotland, December 25, 1819. He was baptized into the L.D.S. Church in Scotland, November 25, 1845. He married Margaret Fairgraves (or Fairgrove), and on April 21, 1847, a daughter, Catherine was born to them.
 

They immigrated to America in 1848 and resided in Patterson, New Jersey until the year 1852. While there, they suffered many hardships. His wife was taken very ill and the doctors said there was nothing could be done to save her life. John Cameron heard of some Mormon Elders thirty miles away. He wrote them and asked if they would come and administer to his wife. He told them he would pay their fare if they would come. They came and administered to her and promised her she would be healed and that a son would be born to them. James A. Cameron was born and was the delight of his parents and was called a promised son.
 

In 1852, John moved with his family to St. Louis, Missouri, and they lived there until 1861. When they arrived in St. Louis, it was probably Friday night. They had enough money to buy food for his wife and two children and himself for one week, or else enough to pay for lodging for his family. They decided that they must have a place to live, so they spent every cent they had for lodging. He went out and got himself a job at his trade of shoemaking, but he could not start work until Monday. Being a faithful man, he located the Church, which was about nineteen blocks from where they lived. Sunday morning on his way to Church he found 25 cents in paper money lying on the board sidewalk. There were people coming and going all the way, but by the time he had reached the church, he had found enough money to feed his family for one week. While in St. Louis he buried his wife, Margaret Fairgrove. He then married Alice Parkinson. To this union John Cameron was born in September 9, 1859, in St. Louis. In 1861, he moved to Florence, Nebraska with his wife Alice and the three children: Catherine, James, and John. While camping there, in preparation for a further journey across the plains to Utah, a daughter, Jeanette Cameron, was born in a covered wagon on June 9, 1861. He was assigned to drive two yoke of oxen and a wagon across the plains. The worry and hardship caused by this new responsibility, which he felt he was not fitted for, and the hardships of bringing his family across the plains, contributed to the circumstances which caused him to take Mountain Fever. He had to be assisted by his family in taking care of his duties. They suffered the usual trial and hardships, such as gathering buffalo chips for fuel, at times having poor feed for the stock, shortage of water for culinary purposes, and such other things that accompanied the journey across the plains.
 

After all these hardships, they landed in Salt Lake City the last part of October 1861, with all of their family. Here again he took up his trade as a boot and shoemaker until he was called to help settle Round Valley in company with Joseph W. Young. Round Valley is on the Weber River. He lived there until the fall of 1870. During his stay there, the Union Pacific Railroad was completed on June 9, 1869. I have heard Jeanette Cameron say that her brother John and her father accompanied her to see the first train that went through.
 

While the family lived at Round Valley, little John Cameron met with an accident that left him a cripple the rest of his life. He was a very bright child and was handy at mending the wooden tubs and other useful things. This left more responsibilities on Jeanette, but she always accepted them willingly.
 

In 1870, my grandfather, with others, started to make a home at Randolph in Rich County. At that time he gave six hundred dollars for a pair of mules, both of which were blind; they had been used to help construct the Union Pacific Railroad. I remember as a boy that he did a lot of work with those mules. He cut his hay with a scythe, raked it with a hand rake, cut his grain with a cradle and bound it by hand. When he visited us, I used to ask him to put me on the mules while they grazed.
 

They had a hard time making a living in that cold country. He still worked at his trade as shoemaker most of the time, making his own wooden pegs for the soles of the boots and shoes. Many of the men working on the railroad wore high top boots. When the soles wore out they would throw them away. When my grandfather came to visit us, he would encourage me to gather these up and cut the good leather out and save it. This contributed much to his shoemaking materials, Salt Lake City being the closest place where leather could be bought and this was five or six days journey away. He worked nights at his bench to keep people shod as best they could at the time. As I remember it now, he and his family worked hand in hand to make a home. His life was much the same as that of other pioneers who worked and toiled there in the Bear River Country.
 

On April 2, 1879, little John Cameron died, a boy that was loved and respected by all, leaving Jeanette the main person to help in their home in their parents' declining years. During September 1882, her mother, Alice Parkinson Cameron, died leaving Jeanette to take care of a feeble father in his last years, which she did well and faithfully.
 
 

John Cameron, son of Alexander and Catherine McCullen (or McCullah), was born Christmas Day, 1819, in Barrecholl, Argyleshire, Scotland. John married Margaret Fairgrove (Fairgrave, Fairgrieve), and a daughter, Catherine, was born to them April 21, 1847. The following year, the family emigrated to America, residing in Patterson, Passaic County, New Jersey, until 1852. Meanwhile, a son, James Alexander Cameron, was born September 22, 1851.
 

During 1852, John moved his family to St. Louis, Missouri. His wife, Margaret, died there February 26, 1855, and John married Mrs. Mary McFall Thompson, but she died April 6, 1857. He married a third time- this wife being Alice Parkinson- and the union produced John Cameron, Jr., September 9, 1859, in St. Louis, and Jeanette, born June 9, 1861, in a covered wagon while camped at Florence, Nebraska, during preparations for the further journey across the plains.
 

All of the family arrived in the Salt Lake Valley during the latter part of October, 1861, after John drove two yoke of oxen and a wagon all of the way. He learned the trade of boot and shoe making, and was called to go with the Joseph W. Young Company to help settle Round Valley on the Weber River, east of present-day Ogden.
 

In 1870, John Cameron (with several others) was again called to uproot his family and help settle a new community. This time it was in the middle of the bleak, sagebrush-covered Bear River Valley, and the settlement was Randolph. All of the courageous pioneers had a struggle to make a living in this cold country.
 

Along with putting up hay and raising grain, John Cameron worked at his trade making footwear for the residents, usually making his own wooden pegs for the soles of the boots and shoes he made or repaired. His leather was obtained in Salt Lake City, over a week's journey from Randolph. People from all around the area brought their all-important foot coverings to him for repair.
 

John Cameron lived in a log house on the corner of Main and Church Streets where the Bell, Inc. garage now stands. It was long his wish that when he left behind his mortal remains, they be carried by hand to the cemetery, and so it was done. John passed away October 8, 1903, in Randolph. Following the funeral service, six of his friends hoisted his casket on their shoulders and carried the body of John Cameron to its resting place in the Randolph Cemetery on the hill at the top of Church Street.
 
 

JOHN ALEXANDER CAMERON was born 25 December 1818 in Barcholl, Argyll, Scotland to Alexander Cameron and Catherine MacCallum. According to Murdo MacDonald, Argyll District Archivist, "Barcholl" is Barachuil, a house on the north side of the village of Kilmelford. There is still a house there by that name, spelled Barachuile. It is found less than one half mile north of the church. John was christened in the parish church of Kilmelford in January of 1819. He married Margaret Fairgrieve 26 August 1845 in Scotland. She was born 14 April 1818 at Fallhills, Peebles, Scotland, the daughter of James Fairgrieve and Margaret Murdison/Morrison. Margaret died 5 March 1855 in St. Louis, Missouri, of "croup". John married again, to Mary McFall 16 October 1855. Mary died, in St. Louis on 16 November 1857. John married Alice Parkinson 7 August 1958. John Cameron died 8 October 1903 in Randolph, Rich, Utah. John and Margaret had the following children:
 

1. Catherine, born 15 April 1847 in Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland; married George Southam 28 November 1862; died 29 August 1930.

1. Margaret, born 16 November 1855 in St. Louis; died the same day.
 

2. Mary, born in St. Louis; died 16 September 1857.
 

3. Robert, born in St. Louis; died in 1864.
 
 

John and Alice had the following children:
 

1. John, born 9 September 1859 in St. Louis; died 1 April 1879.

SOURCES: Parish register- Kilmelford, FHS# 102380; Catherine Cameron Southam Temple Record Book, FHS# 218887; James A. Cameron Temple Record Book, FHS# 673267-8; Glasgow Branch LDS records FHS# 104152.
 
 
 

If you have any additional information about this family, please contact me at alice@boydhouse.com.