William Willard / Wilbur Campbell 1881-1939

William Willard Campbell is my great grandfather. We don't know much about him as he died suddenly when my grandmother was just six years old, and we don't have much information about him. Here is what we know:

(William Campbell and Louis Mattier on a CA beath about 1928)

John Wilbur Campbell (discovered different middle name on WWI Draft Registration form: Willard)

Birth: 2 Oct 1878 - 1883 (depending on the document: Death Certificate and WWI Draft Registration)
Married: 9 May 1932 to Geneva Laura Maze Mattier (widow with two sons). He listed this as his first marriage. They were married in Redwood City, San Mateo, California.
Died: 8 Nov 1939. San Mateo, California. Poisoned himself with Strychnine because of financial troubles. I have a news article, death certificate, and coroner's report.

"When William and his father had the falling out his father told him to leave and never come back again, so William went into Mexico and sheep herded. He came back out when there was a Mexican uprising and all of the Gringo's were chased out. William said he came into the town his parents lived but did not go to his parents house but did visit a sister who also lived there. At this time he was told his mother had died in the interim. His father had bad health suffering from Gout and had hired hands to do work. He remembered his mother being the strong one who never complained about any heath problems. (All of this was told me by my mother so all of the facts may not be correct)."

His WWI Draft Registration lists the new middle name, not Wilbur. It also notes an earlier birth year that in other documents, 1878.  He lists his father as John William Campbell from Brownwood, Brown County, Texas, United States. My grandmother remembers her father saying that his father called his mother "Ella", so this is likely a nickname.

                     (World War I Draft Registration Card)

It appears that he arrived in California around 1915 and worked in the San Mateo area before marrying Geneva Laura Maze Mattier in 1932. They had one daughter, Wilma. William died when she was 6 years old. We have several records documenting his death.

We've also located him in the 1930 census, living in California.

There is a lot of varying information for William, so we'd love to hear from everyone, even individuals that are not connected to Texas.