Yeoman of the Revolution: The Untold Story of Joel Campbell 1735 - 1828

By Jay A. Campbell

Joel Campbell was a third generation American whose long lifetime spanned three world wars, two religious reawakenings, and the birth of a new nation. He settled wilderness areas in three states and left a multitude of descendants. This is his story. The e-book contains color maps, images, and links to supplemental content.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Nov 10, 2017
• ISBN: 9781387359622

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Yeoman of the Revolution: The Untold Story of Joel Campbell 1735 - 1828

Yeoman of the Revolution

The Untold Story of Joel Campbell

1735-1828

Tribute

Say not, because he did no wondrous deed,

  Amassed no worldly gain,

Wrote no great book, revealed no hidden truth,

  Perchance he lived in vain.

As pebbles tossed into a pond,

  His legacy unfurled;

His life gave birth to ripples,

  now Thousands ‘round the world.

- Adapted from Charlotte Becker

Copyright

Copyright © 2016 by Jay A. Campbell

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal.

Second Edition:   September 2016

ISBN #: 978-1-365-42613-1

10 Thornbury Road

Scarsdale, New York 10583

http://joelcampbell1735.blogspot.com/

Cover Image: A portion of the 1764 Thomas Ball Map showing the Joel Campbell home.  The original map appears to be lost.  Very large, hand-drawn copies of the map exist, including one at the New-York Historical Society: Copy of a map made by Thomas Ball of the New Ark mountain purchase claim, done in 1764, Maps M5.2.11. A digital copy of the map is at the website of the Millburn-Short Hills Historical Society: http://www.mshhistsoc.org/sites/default/files/BallMap1764_0.jpg.

Conventions

The British used the old Julian calendar until 1752. In that calendar the New Year began not on January 1, but rather on March 25. So the birth of Joel, recorded as January 22, 1734, converts to January 22, 1735 using the current Gregorian calendar. For dates that occur in first 84 days of the year (January 1 – March 25) prior to 1752, the convention January 22, 1734-5 is used to indicate both the old Julian and the Gregorian dates. If the convention is not used, the date uses the Gregorian calendar.

Place names in the 1700s were frequently different than their current names. For example the precinct name in Ulster County, New York where Joel lived, has changed from Hanover Precinct to the Town of Montgomery. Furthermore, that area became part of an expanded Orange County. It is helpful to understand these changes when reading documents of that period. In most cases, place names used in the text match those in use in the time period being discussed. Extensive maps and explanations are provided which link the outdated names to the current names of towns and roads.

Our spell-checked culture is a continual confirmation that there is just one correct spelling for a word. That did not exist for the historical records of the 1700s. Dictionaries did not exist. The only book that Joel probably owned was a Bible, and whether he could read one is unknown. People spelled by sound. The spelling of the name Campbell has at least nine variations in the historical documents:  Campbell, Camble, Cample, Campble, Cammel, Camel, Cambel, Cammell, Campbel, Campbill. In Cadwallader Colden’s Day Book of 1767 there are over fifty entries for Campbells, and none of them use the spelling that is used today. In this book, the actual spellings from the historical documents are used when it adds to the story, for example where historical texts are quoted. In some cases, misspellings and punctuation have been corrected when they add more distraction than color.

Italics are used to indicate historical fiction. The reasons for the use of historical fiction are further explained in the introduction. Passages in non-italics are generally factual. Endnotes point to the relevant facts or suggest further reading.

GPS coordinates of locations are given in brackets and can be typed into any mapping software. i.e. [40.7313,-74.2513]

Prologue

A bead of sweat formed on the young lad’s forehead as he walked into the afternoon sun. The crude lane he followed was the main thoroughfare in this neck of the woods. In parts there were enough wooden planks laid out in the lane that you might call it a road, but in other spots it was rough and rocky, and in the worst places a muddy mess. But it was better than walking through the fields of corn and flax or across the apple orchards. Most importantly, it was the most direct route to his intended destination, Newark Mountain.

His name was Joel Campbell, the five-year-old son of Samuel Campbell, and grandson of one of the first settlers of this area, Robert Campbell. He looked healthy and was of sturdy build, ready to endure a long life filled with the hardships of the frontier. There is no physical description of Joel in written history. Perhaps he appeared as his nephews, Simeon and Robert Campbell, would be described thirty-five years from now:  fair complexion, blue eyes, and brown hair. He is clothed in the dress of yeomen’s children of the period…bare feet, deerskin breeches and homespun shirt.

The year was 1740. George Washington was an eight-year-old in Virginia. Lewis Morris was the royal Governor of the British Province of New Jersey. Newark was seventy-five years old and still heavily populated by the ancestors of its Puritan founders. Aaron Burr Sr. was the local pastor. The religious movement known as the Great Awakening was still in full swing in the mid Atlantic colonies. In this year, the traveling evangelist, George Whitefield, preached in Newark, setting the town aflame with his oratory powers. Many dated their birth to the day they heard him speak.

Joel crested a small hill and started the gradual descent to the river below. Beyond the river loomed Newark Mountain. It was covered with trees hiding everything beneath. On the left he could see the outlines of the Samuel Crowell home where the lane crossed the river. The lane was sometimes called Crowell Road or the road from the Campbell’s to the river.

The location was Newark, New Jersey. In 1740, Newark comprised an area much larger than today’s city. It extended west to the ridge of Newark Mountain, today known as South Mountain Preserve. The road Joel was walking is today called Parker Road and is in the town of Maplewood, New Jersey. The river is the East Branch of the Rahway River, and Newark Mountain (or New Ark Mountain, First Mountain, the Watchung Mountains, or Orange Mountain) is today known as South Mountain. Newark was still rather sparsely populated in 1740 with about 200 families. Joel lived about five miles west of the main settlement of Newark in an area known by the name of its western boundary, Newark Mountain. In this area, farms were scattered about one quarter mile apart. The original settlement of Newark was referred to as Town-at-the-River, meaning the Passaic River.[1]

As Joel approached the river he saw his cousins playing around the home of his Uncle Nathaniel. This home, like that of Samuel Crowell, was also on the river, but on the other side of the lane. Nathaniel was the eldest son of Robert and had inherited Robert’s farm at this location. Joel was tempted to jump into the shallow stream to cool off with his cousins, but his plan had been to climb Newark Mountain, and he stuck to it.

He crossed the river on Crowell’s bridge. The road swung to the left past the farm of his Uncle James, then turned right again. It ended at the lane that led up the river to Rigg’s saw mill, today known as Ridgewood Road. Here Joel left the well-worn lane and headed into the woods, following one of the many streams that found their way down the east side of Newark Mountain. The shade made the ground instantly cooler on his calloused feet. Water oozed from the ground from seemingly endless underground sources as he climbed the gradual slope. Oak, chestnut, hickory, walnut, poplar, and beech trees waved their green canopy gently above him. A group of deer turned slowly and stared at the approaching boy. They froze for a minute, then in unison scampered up the hill.

The terrain grew steeper as the real ascent of Newark Mountain began. Mountain was somewhat of an exaggeration as this hill topped out at a meager 300 feet above the valley below. But compared to the other swampy, flat, flood-prone areas of Newark, it was a feature to impress. The last 100 feet of climb was a scramble on all fours. At the crest, Joel straightened his body and took a deep breath as his heart raced. The gentle breeze occasionally parted the leaves to reveal the valley below.

He walked quietly along the crest, glancing often to the left for a new break in the trees that would provide a view of the farms below. Twenty minutes later, he reached his favorite spot, a place where the rocky edge dropped off so steeply that no tree below would block the view. He sat and stared at the quiet scene.

Before him lay a green canopy of trees that seemed to extend forever in all directions. He could make out clearings where crops were growing or where apple trees were planted in neat rows. Right in front of him the trees were so dense that he could not make out the Rahway River which he knew was hidden beneath them. To the right he could recognize some of the landmarks of the farm his grandfather had purchased in 1714. The road to Springfield cut diagonally though that piece of land.

Further up the river to his left was the camp of Chief Tuscan of the Lenape tribe. Beyond that was Samuel Crowell’s land and home. The lane he had walked on early in the day was not visible due to the tree cover, but he could draw an imaginary line through the trees to the east where he knew the lane passed. He thought he could see the smoke of a cooking fire where his mother would be preparing the evening meal.

Further in the distance he could see some evidence of the town center of Newark. Because Newark covered such a large area, the town center where homes, churches, and businesses were concentrated at the mouth of the Passaic River, was often referred to as Newark-Town-at-the-River. The tree canopy at that location appeared a slightly lighter shade of green and a haze of cooking smoke set it off from the surrounding countryside. It would be another few years before the steeple of the Trinity Church would emerge through the tree cover.

Beyond Newark, fifteen miles away, he thought he could see New York City with its many buildings and commercial activity. The white sails of ships dotted the harbor like spring blossoms in the apple orchard.

Joel looked over his world. This is where he was born and where he had grown up. His aunts and uncles were here as were all of his cousins. His father, Samuel Campbell, had spent his whole life here. Is this where he would farm, marry, and die?

Little did he know that in the coming year his father would sell his farm and begin a series of moves that would take Joel farther into the frontier, chasing dreams of land and independence. He would move through some of the critical events of the 18th century, crossing paths with men who would shape America forever, while his story would remain untold.

The rock he sat on today on Newark Mountain was the same rock that George Washington would sit on forty years later. From this spot in the summer of 1780 Washington observed his continental army delay the march of British forces towards Morristown. The main defense points were the bridges over the Rahway River on Morris Avenue and Vauxhall Road adjacent to the historic Robert Campbell farm. The British would never return to New Jersey after that date.

As Joel imagined his future from the top of Newark Mountain in 1740, the valley below slipped into the shadow of the hill as the sun sat in the west. It was like the dimming of a candle, the closing of the curtains on this part of his life. What would the next act bring?

Two hundred and seventy years later his fifth-great-grandson would sit on the same rock and gaze out on the landscape. Now millions of people lived within this view. Where once the Campbells worked their farms, stood hundreds of homes. Large buildings occasionally popped above the tree cover, but the main view was still one of greenery. Newark Mountain was now a preserve, an oasis for the thousands of people who now lived in its shadow.

This relative of Joel knew hardly anything about Joel, but not for lack of trying. Joel had no will, no diary, and if he purchased land there was seldom a deed. He did not appear to be a joiner of church, military, or civic organizations. Could this be genetic? The reserved, quiet, contemplative nature of his male descendants gives some credence to this hypothesis. Could it be that in his quiet way he influenced events around him in these critical times for our nation? That is unlikely, but sitting on that rock his descendant felt a need to tell his story and the story of the times he lived in.

---

[1] Wickes says that everything east of High Street was called Town-at-the-River. That is the nomenclature I use in this book to differentiate it from areas of Newark to the west.  Stephen Wickes, M.D., History of the Oranges in Essex County, NJ from 1666 to 1806 (Newark: Ward and Tichenor, 1892), 34.

Introduction

Yeoman. It is an antiquated term that has disappeared from our twenty-first century vocabulary. However, if you had asked colonists of the eighteenth century, What is your occupation? the majority would have answered, Yeoman.

The term denoted a person who owned his own land and farmed it primarily for his own subsistence.

The term also denoted a middle class in the society of the day. It was a rung above indentured servant, and a rung below a gentleman.

In many colonies only freeholders could vote or run for office. A freeman or freeholder was someone who owned his own property, a yeoman being a subgroup of that category. Even within the yeomanry there were subgroups, as was indirectly spelled out in the original constitution of the State of New York. For example, in the New York Governor’s election of 1777 only freeholders with estates larger than 100 pounds were allowed to vote.[2] The same rule applied to voting for senators. A vote for an assemblymen required an estate of at least twenty pounds, which would have likely disqualified Joel Campbell.

The subject of this book, Joel Campbell, described himself on several occasions to be a yeoman.

Joel Campbell was born about 1735 in Newark, New Jersey. He came of age at the start of the Seven Years War, known as the French and Indian War in America. At the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, he was forty years old. When the Constitution was ratified, he was fifty-one. When the war of 1812 broke out, he was seventy-seven.

If we believe the traditional birth and death dates of Joel, he was born before two of the most influential men in America, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, and he died after them. Adams lived to ninety years of age and Jefferson to eighty-three.

Joel lived a long life at a very momentous time. However, his connection with national events is not clear. He left little record of his existence except for his offspring, of which he had at least six children and thousands of descendants. He appeared to join no church or serve in any town government. He was not an officer in the military or enlisted in any unit except for the militia, which was a requirement of every able-bodied man. Even his militia service is recorded in only one record and is an exemption from service.

But a lack of documentation does not necessarily confirm a life of isolation from the history of the day. Perhaps so little of him is known because the writings of his involvement with churches or towns or military were destroyed in the fires that took so many of the early records. Or perhaps, because he was poor and not part of the land-controlling class, his name appears only as sidebar, if at all, in the meeting records of towns and the muster rolls of the military.

Certainly this dearth of evidence is problematic for an historian. How can one write the history of a man for whom exists no record of birth, no record of marriage, only one deed, no will, and no headstone?

What follows is an attempt to capture not only Joel’s life, but the times in which he lived. Using the meager facts about when and where and how he lived, together with the stories of neighbors, towns, and regions, an attempt is made to paint a picture of his life. The accounts of people who lived in similar locations and similar times serve as surrogates for Joel.

Picasso once said something like A painting is a thousands lies that together tell the truth.[3] Sometimes a fact tells us less than the story told by the circumstances that surround that fact. Even if a few of the circumstances are neither relevant nor totally accurate, the sum can be illuminating. A single brush stroke observed up close can be confusing until one steps back and looks at the whole.

The narrative that follows, often takes a single fact of Joel’s life, a single brush stroke, and around it paints a picture using the land, the weather, his neighbors, and the issues of the day. In some cases, there is no fact, but the stories of surrogate citizens are used to suggest probable scenarios for Joel’s adventures.

In all cases, an effort was made to include references and notes to clarify what is known and what is postulated.

I apologize in advance for stepping away from a traditional biography. Not only was that not possible due to the limited preserved records, but it would have given a false understanding of who Joel was and the times he lived in.

All italicized text is historical fiction! I fear that italicized excerpts from this book will mysteriously appear on genealogical websites as documented fact, but it will be no worse than some of the inaccuracies that exist in our family histories already.

It is my hope that the following pages will give you an appreciation of the yeoman families who endured much, and for the events that forged a new nation. There was much to be feared on the frontier, yet much to discover. There were horrible tragedies, yet unspeakable wonders. There were times of hunger, yet harvests aplenty. There were cold dark nights when only the huddle of warm bodies kept all from freezing, yet there were glorious sunny days when a young boy could venture alone up the hillside.

No words of a book can take the place of actually looking down on Newark from South Mountain, or gazing towards the Catskills from the hills of Hanover, or towering over Peenpack on the Shawangunk Ridge (There is no universally agreed upon pronounciation of this word, but you will impress the locals if you say Shawn-Gum.), or wading in Bentley Creek. These are all things that Joel probably did. Today one can experience much the same. Even Newark on a summer day with trees in full bloom probably looks very similar to the 1740s view from the outlook on South Mountain. The directions and maps included in the text will direct you to these places and help you connect with Joel and his times.

I am grateful to the librarians and historical societies that provided access to their collections. In addition to the references listed in the endnotes, I have perused the collections of the Ulster Archives in Kingston, the New York State Archives in Albany, the Ulster Genealogical Society in New Hurley, the Orange County Genealogical Society in Goshen, the Deerpark Historian’s Office and Museum in Huguenot, the Minisink Valley Historical Society in Port Jervis, the Montgomery Historian’s Office and Museum in Montgomery, the Historical Society of Newburgh and the Hudson Highlands, the Archives at George Washington’s Headquarters State Park in Newburgh, the New Jersey Historical Society in Newark, the New Jersey State Archive in Trenton, the New-York Historical Society in New York City, and the collections of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society in New York City (now part of the New York Public Library).

I was fortunate to have several willing and able reviewers who gave me valuable feedback on the final draft. Carole Newkirk (journalist) encouraged me to stay in the same tense (among other things). Sandra Ball (Campbell genealogist) pointed out several holes in my thinking. Sandra and I exchanged numerous e-mails during my several years of research. Chris Campbell (Renaissance Man) was also a frequent e-mail correspondent, a mode of communication more successful than his hand-written comments on the draft which were lost by the U.S. Postal Service. Suzanne Izaksen (former Historian for the Town of Montgomery) provided feedback on the Hanover chapter. Sue Clark (my sister) convinced me to beef up the fictional content of the book. Charles McGrath (Newark Mountain cartographer) was unimpressed by my mapping skills, so much so that he could offer no suggestions, only the comment that my maps were unprofessional. Not that my goal was to create professional maps, but his comment pushed me to recreate or touch up many of the draft maps. Michelle Figliomeni (author, president of the Orange County Historical Society and editor of its Journal) coached me on both style and content. To these and many others I am grateful for performing a service with little reward.

The most enjoyable part of researching the life of Joel was spending time where he spent his time. I am fortunate to live only twenty-five miles from Newark, where he was born, and fifty miles from Montgomery, where he spent his best years. I have walked, climbed, hiked, and trespassed where I thought Joel likely to have done the same. That has taken me from the swamps of Livingston, New Jersey, to the ruins of the Colden mansion in the old Hanover Precinct, to the wreckage of Fort Clinton, to the site of the old Fort Edward at the top of the Hudson River, to the scenic Neversink River, up the Delaware River and down the Susquehanna.

This book is a biography, a history, and a tour guide. If you are related to Joel, you will learn about your Campbell relatives who struggled to survive. (You might be a descendant and just not know it. It is estimated he has 300,000 living descendants.) If not, you will view the birth of a new nation from the perspective of yeomen, who made up the majority of the citizenry. Maps and waypoints are included to assist the reader in navigating to historical sites and to Campbell farms.

The beauty of historical research is that there are always new discoveries, lost documents found, connections uncovered, and long-accepted facts disproved. I encourage you to read the following chapters with curiosity and skepticism. I welcome any corrections or illuminating historical records.

Jay Campbell

Scarsdale, New York

2016

---

[2] A copy of the 1777 New York State Constitution can be found here: http://www.nhinet.org/ccs/docs/ny-1777.htm

[3] Picasso actually wrote Art is a lie that makes us realize truth.

Newark Mountain:  1735-1753

[Wednesday  January 22, 1734-5] Newark Mountain, New Jersey

Mary’s sisters bustled about the small cabin, each knowing her role in the birthing process, having done it so many times before. Her mother, sisters, and at least one sister-in-law, Nathaniel’s wife from her home by the river, were also there. A midwife from the Newark-Town-at-the-River, four miles away, had received word and would arrive shortly, braving the winter weather.

Mary’s husband, Samuel, was staying out of the way. There were still chores for him to do and preparations to be made for the winter’s weaving. The birthing process was dominated by women, not men. Even the Newark doctor, James Proust, was not attending.

This was Mary’s fifth birth since her marriage to Samuel Campbell. Her first son, Samuel, was already five years old. Daniel, the second child, was almost four, perhaps named after Mary’s father, or after their beloved pastor, Daniel Taylor. Her third son, Nathaniel, was three. She also had a daughter, Mary. Her sons were with her sister-in-law, John’s wife, in their home just across the road.

When the midwife arrived astride her steaming horse, all was ready. Nathaniel’s young daughter brought warm drink while Mary’s younger sister stood by with clean cloths. Mary’s mother sat beside her speaking words of comfort and encouragement.

Joel, her fourth son, was born on January 22, 1735. For the next three days the cabin remained a woman’s domain. Mary recovered during her laying in as the gaggle of women attended to her and the baby’s every need.

The above account is a mix of fact, tradition, supposition, and historical practices. Let’s begin with the date of January 22, 1735. This date comes from a Baptism for the Dead performed in the Logan, Utah temple by a descendant of Joel.[4] His great-grandson, Samuel, submitted the record on September 18, 1894. It is reproduced below.

Joel Campbell

-- b. 22 Jan 1735, Scot

-- d. 15 Jan 1828

-- Samuel Campbell – Gt Gd Son

Jonathan Campbell

-- b. - - - , Scot

-- d. - - -

--Samuel Campbell – Gd Son

Benoni Campbell

-- b. 10 Feb 1800, Penn.

-- d. 4 July 1850

-- Samuel Campbell – son

Perhaps there is an earlier or more definitive record of Joel’s birth, but it has not been produced. It interesting that Samuel knows the birth/death dates of his father and great-grandfather, but does not even know the year of his grandfather’s birth and death. Does that indicate that Joel had a family bible that contained some of this information? In 1768, Joel’s brother, Jonathan, bought a bible at the same store where Joel also purchased supplies. Bibles were often used to collect dates of births, deaths, and marriages. On the other hand, if the birthplaces from this Logan Temple source, are any indication of the accuracy of the information, it is not reliable. [Joel was not born in Scotland, Jonathan was not born in Scotland, and Benoni was not born in Pennsylvania.]

It should also be remembered that the colonies were still using the old Julian calendar until 1752. A ninety-three year-old man in January 1828 would have been recorded as being born in January 1734, not 1735.

The other evidence of his birth date is based on the birth dates of his children, the eldest of which was born about 1755. That would make 1735 a reasonable birth year for Joel. Little can be deduced from information on his brothers, as their ages also rely on similar extrapolations from their children’s birth dates.

The location of his birth comes from a survey of Newark roads made in 1728. It describes Samuel’s home.

Nov. 19, 1728. Beginning at the road near the house of John Campbell, between the lands of John Campbell and Samuel Campbell, thence along the line that divides John and Samuel till it comes to Samuel Crowell’s land, thence between Crowell’s and Nathaniel Campbell to the house of Crowell, thence on a straight line to the east branch of Rahway River, where there is a bridge, partly built over the same, thence down said branch to lands of Joseph Thompson, thence between Thompson and James Campbell to lands of Thomas Wood’s, thence between Wood and Thomas Lyon, thence through Wood’s land to Crooked Brook, thence across the southeast corner of lands of Samuel Mill’s (deceased), thence between the lands of Mill’s and Thomas Wood’s until it becomes the path that leads to Joseph Riggs, thence along said path, as the same goes, till it comes to the public road that runs by the house of said Joseph Riggs.[5]

A 1740s map of this area by Shaw places the Samuel Campbell home at the northwest corner of Crowell (now Parker) and Boyden.[6] This agrees with the road description above and further indicates the location of the home on that property.

This same property described above was sold in 1740 by Samuel Campbell. It is very likely that this exact location was the birthplace of Joel Campbell. [Latitude/Longitude: 40.7313, -74.2513]

Map 1  Location of farms of Joel Campbell’s father and uncles in what is now Maplewood, New Jersey. Samuel’s home was in the southeast corner of his farm.[7] The exact dimensions of the farms of James, Nathaniel/David, and Norris are not known. Basemap © 2016 Google.

Map 2  Location of Samuel’s Farm on a topographical map from 1891[8]. This map shows Lightning Brook which is not visible today.

Next is the issue of parentage. Despite all of the recent evidence to the contrary, 54 of the 57 entries for Joel on Ancestry.com list Samuel Campbell of Boston as the father. One hundred years of misinformation takes a while to correct. The latest research is thoroughly described by Campbell genealogist, Robert Goodwin. An excellent discussion of the evidence is archived at WellsWooster.com.[9] Here is the short version:

For years it was assumed that a Samuel Campbell, born 1695, son of Lt. Col. William Campbell of Wester Kames, Scotland was the father of Joel Campbell. This famous Campbell line was visible to genealogical researchers and was a logical one to pursue.

Coincidentally, this line was also living in New York during the period of interest. Two pieces of data led genealogists down this incorrect path. The first one was an entry from The Alexanders of Maine:

William [Campbell] had two sons, born in Ireland - James, in 1690, and Samuel, in 1695. They came to Boston in 1728, and thence in 1735, removed to Londonderry, New Hampshire, and afterwards, in 1741, to Cherry Valley, New York. Samuel’s eldest son, Colonel Samuel Campbell was one of the strong characters developed in the state of New York during the Revolution.[10]

The second piece of misleading data was from the Boston Marriage Records:

Samll. Camlett & Mary Hunter Dec. 9, 1731[11]

The first piece of data has a fairly fatal error in that Col. Samuel Campbell of revolutionary fame was the son of James Campbell, not of Samuel. So where was the Samuel Campbell of 1695? Descendants of the Cherry Valley Campbells make no mention in their records of a brother of James named Samuel Campbell. But all of that is irrelevant, as DNA evidence has shown that it is improbable that the Cherry Valley Campbells and the descendants of Joel Campbell share a recent common ancestor.[12]

The second piece of data, the marriage record for Samuel Camlett, identifies a person who is perhaps indeed a Campbell of the correct age to be Joel’s father. His wife is also Mary which we know was the name of Samuel’s wife as recorded in the will of 1773. But those two possibilities do not overwhelm the contrary evidence that the Samuel Campbell living in New Jersey in the early 1700s was Joel’s father.

Here are a few pieces of evidence that the Samuel Campbell who lived in Newark, New Jersey (1735–1760) is the same Samuel Campbell who later lived in Hanover Precinct, Ulster County, New York (1760 – 1773):

Samuel of New York mentions his sons (including Joel) in his will of 1773. Whenever these sons (or their sons) state their place of birth, it is New Jersey.

Samuel’s neighbors in New York have the same surnames as his neighbors in New Jersey. They likely migrated together.

Samuel of New Jersey disappeared from the records of Newark and started appearing in the records of Hanover Precinct, New York at about the same time.

There is a record of a Joel Campbell (not a common given name at the time) living in Newark, New Jersey before he appears in the records of Hanover Precinct, Ulster County, New York.

More circumstantial evidence of the New Jersey connection will appear as the story of Joel’s life unfolds in later chapters.

A more difficult question is Who was Joel’s mother? In 57 out of the 57 entries at ancestry.com his mother is given as Mary Hunter (1708-1792). This data is clearly based on the Mary Hunter mentioned in the Boston Marriage Records which has been shown not to be a record of the Samuel Campbell of interest. It is known that Samuel is married to a Mary at the time of his will in 1773. Whether this is the same woman that bore his son, Joel, cannot be stated for sure. Given the dangers of child birth, it would not be improbable that a different woman bore at least some of Samuel’s eight sons and one daughter who lived to the date of Samuel’s will. Most likely he had more daughters not mentioned in the records and more children that died in childbirth or at a young age.

What can be surmised about Joel’s young mother? She was probably at least twenty-five and not more than thirty-five years old. Like her husband Samuel, she was probably born and raised in Newark. She was likely a descendant of one of the founding families of Newark, as this was a very insular community.  Samuel’s father, Robert, had been accepted into the Newark community, and had acquired several parcels of land as if he were part of a founding family. Campbell was one of the few dozen surnames in Newark in 1735 that does not appear on the list of town founders.

Mary’s daily routine was probably like that of most women of the day. She was responsible for child-rearing and was in an almost constant state of child-bearing or recovery. She had a garden close to the home where she tended to its herbs, vegetables, and fruits. She shared and traded seeds, produce, equipment, labor, and husbandry knowledge with other wives in the area, and especially with her sisters-in-law down the road. She might have kept a written record of this parallel female economy. A few eggs given to a neighbor would be entered into a ledger and was expected to be repaid at some later date, perhaps in homespun or honey. Honey? In fact, most Newark farms in the 1700s had a beehive for honey production.[13]

Martha Ballard’s diary of a slightly later period (1790) in New England describes the wide variety of produce that was probably also possible in Newark. It included beans, cabbages (roots kept in cellar over winter; first to yield in the spring), lettuce, parsnips, carrots, turnips, beets, cucumbers, radishes, onions, garlic, peppers, peppergrass, squash, sugar and string peas, muskmelon, watermelon, pumpkins, currants, apples, cherries, gooseberries, and plums.[14] They also had turkeys, pigs, goats, sheep, and cows. They were aware of farming techniques such as the use of manure, lime, raised beds, generating seed and preserving roots.

Joel’s mother probably always had a fire burning in the home. Bringing in wood and even splitting the wood was a woman’s job or arranged by women. The fire warmed the home and provided the heat for cooking. Water was fetched from the Lightning Brook that flowed in front of the home. She was likely also the family physician who tended to the sick and prepared balms and curative teas from herbs grown in her garden.

Samuel was a second generation American. His father, Robert, had come from Scotland as a young man aboard the ship, Henry and Francis, in 1685.[15] By 1701, Robert was working land in Newark’s First Division and by 1714 (at the age of about 50) he owned at least two parcels of land in Newark’s Second Division and at least one parcel in what is known as the Horseneck Purchase.

Robert had been very successful, despite arriving in New Jersey worse than penniless. His release from the prison in Edinburgh and transportation to America came with an obligation of indentured servitude. The story is told that George Scot, Laird of Pitlochie, was given his liberty in Scotland with the proviso that he transport to East Jersey other troublemakers who had rebelled against the non-protestant King and who had refused to take an oath of allegiance.[16] The Laird promised the passengers twenty-five acres of land and a suit of new clothes on the completion of four years of service. However, the Laird and his Lady died on the fifteen-week voyage. On landing, the banished passengers refused to acknowledge the transfer of that obligation of servitude to the ship’s tyrannical captain and fled into the December night. This rebelliousness, independence, and devotion to Protestantism were traits that Robert would likely pass on to his offspring.

How Robert ended up in the tight community of Newark is a mystery. Newark had been founded in 1666 by a group of ultra-conservative Puritans. They did not come from Europe, rather from the neighboring province of Connecticut. They were convinced that recent provincial policies in the New Haven area would prohibit them from practicing their religion as they wished. Assurances from the East Jersey proprietors not to interfere with their religion and local government, led them to design a city and relocate en masse to this site along the Passaic River.

This was a planned community. In fact, they essentially transplanted their Connecticut community to this new spot. They brought their existing tools, materials, household goods, and livestock, making several trips back and forth through the Long Island Sound. They knew who was to be the blacksmith, the miller, the weaver, the tanner, the cobbler, and the preacher. The village was well-laid out along a main street (Broad Street) with Market Place, Watering Place, Landing Place, and burial grounds.[17] (See Map 3)

Map 3  Map of Early Newark-Town-at-the-River

Most were second generation Americans of English stock. They were relatively wealthy compared to other settlers who were fleeing Europe.[18] They were uncompromising Puritans. They had a large voice in the laws of New Jersey, which had a royally appointed proprietor but was governed by a General Assembly that had two members from each of the five major settlements. Newark was one of those settlements. Arson, murder, kidnapping, incorrigible theft, rape, smiting and cursing of parents (only on complaint of parent), and gross and unnatural licentiousness were all capital offences.

Games, plays, masques, revels, cock-fights, or other activities that excite people to rudeness were punished. Swearing incurred a one shilling fine. Only confessed Congregationalists could vote or hold office.[19]

The nature of Newark was essentially unchanged when Robert Campbell arrived in New Jersey in 1685. There were only about one hundred families in Newark in 1685 compared with sixty-five at its founding. It was truly an insular community.

Newark was set up according to the tradition of Divisions. The purchased land stretched from the Passaic River on the east to the Watchung Mountains on the west. How would the sixty-five purchasers divide the land? The best spot (the site of the Town-at-the-River) was called the First Division and it would be divided up into sixty-five relatively small lots of six acres each. Each partner in the purchase would draw his lot. Lands located a bit further from the Town-at-the-River, were called the Second Division. Here the lots were bigger. Some land patents in the colonial era had as many as eight Divisions. Newark eventually had at least four divisions.