The daughter of Charles Henry Ferguson and Hannah Ann O'More, Clara Ferguson was born 6 May 1867 in Sidney, New York. When she was nine years of age in 1876, Clara moved with her parents from Sidney, New York, to Canton, Pennsylvania. En route they visited Clara's sister Mary at Owego, New York, where she was working.

Clara's education was obtained in the public schools of Canton. She graduated from Canton High School with the class of 1883. Immediately she took a position as teacher in the schools of nearby Fox township, Sullivan County, where she taught grade school for three years. From school teaching until marriage, Clara worked as a secretary in the law firm of Emerson Cleveland in Canton.

Clara Ferguson was married on 23 October 1889 at her home in Canton, Pennsylvania, to Ambrose Earl Campbell, son of James Hann Campbell and Hannah Elizabeth Hoagland. Clara and Ambrose had three children: Harry Earle (22 December 1890); Edgar Carlton (5 April 1892); and Leslie Harland (11 April 1894).

Clara, Edgar, Leslie H. (in the center), Harry, and Ambrose. Click photo for a larger version. [Uncle Harry dates this photo at ca. 1907, but the boys appear much younger than that to me.]

A personal note regarding the ever-lovable Clara May: Her middle name May was self-devised! She wrote in 1951, "I named myself May, I suppose, for my birthday month."

(Look here for more information about Clara's parents and other forebears.)