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Archiver > CAMPBELL > 2004-08 > 1092046473


From: "Diarmid Campbell" <>
Subject: Re: [CAMPBELL] CAMPBELLS FROM ISLAY
Date: Mon, 9 Aug 2004 11:16:55 +0100
References: <cf.135993cd.2e4815e2@aol.com>


Lesley,

What you have there is (historically) a distinct possibility, for this
reason:

Captain Lachlan (Lauchlan) Campbell got an agreement from a Governor of New
York that he could have a large tract of land on the then frontier up the
Hudson (roughly opposite the Dutch settlement at Albany) if he brought
settlers from the Highlands of Scotland. They were not urban people and so
were capable of making a life for themselves, and also some of them had
experience of conflict ('brought up in a warlike tradition') and therefore
it was thought that they could cope better with any local tribal people who
objected to their arrival and settlement.

The lands designated were clear, but when Lachlan later arrived with a
couple of shiploads of folk from Islay, there was a new Governor of NY and
he refused to honor his predecessor's agreement. So the people from the
first couple of ships settled locally, some in New Jersey, while Lachlan did
what he could to have the Governor change his mind.

However Lachlan died before the land was granted. When it eventually was
granted, some of the descendants of the original emigrants took up the
lands. Many had already settled elsewhere. The land b ecame known as The
Argyle Colony (the old way of spelling Argyll) and I have visited the small
community of Argyle. The late Col. Bob Campbell whoserved as president of
the Clan Campbell Society of North America, was a descendant of one of the
Campbell families who settled there.

However, my point is that if James came first and waited in vain for the
Argyle Colony land, but meanwhile settled in the lower Hudson Valley or
Connecticut or New Jeresey and wrote home to his brothers to join him, it is
highly likely that they would have adventured to Roanoke to find land enough
for all three in 1740, since that was still open for settlement and I thhink
that the move into Kentucky and Tennessee came later - although it is
curious that they chose Virginia rather than Pennsylvania. Perhaps James had
explored into Pennsylvania and felt that more level riverine land in
Virginia would be easier to farm. Islay has some of the best farmland in
Argyll and is not that hilly, where north-eastern Pennsylvania has so may
ridges. It does suggest that James was probably the eldest of the three.

The Campbell families on Islay were mostly descendants of the Campbells of
Cawdor who had purchased the island from the crown in the 17th century - it
overstretched them and eventually bankrupted their efforts there, Cawdor
being up north near Inverness. Cawdor had come to a son of the Earl of
Argyll by marriage to the Caddell heiress of Cawdor in about 1500. But
there may well have been other Campbell families who went to the Isle of
Islay from the mainland to join Lachlan's ships, so there is no certainty
that the three boys were of Cawdor descent. But it does sound as though the
three boys were probably brought up on Islay since two lots sailed from the
same island. I wonder what they named their farms in the Roanoke area? It
might give a clue as to where they had grown up. It is also likely that
they were younger sons who would not inherit either the ownership of a farm
on Islay or the tenancy of one there.

Some of the Islay farms have Norse names ending in 'bus' like Sorabus,
others are estate names like Octomore - the big eighth.

Diarmid
(Campbell, Kilmelford, Argyll, Scotland)

----- Original Message -----
From: <>
To: <>
Sent: Monday, August 09, 2004 12:48 AM
Subject: [CAMPBELL] CAMPBELLS FROM ISLAY


> In 1738 a shipload of settlers left Isley and sailed to New York.
Included
> in the passengers was a James CAMPBELL.
>
> Again in 1749 another shipload of settlers left Islay for New York.
Included
> this time amongst the passengers was a Malcolm CAMPBELL and a John
CAMPBELL.
>
> Does anyone know if these three were brothers.
>
> I have a Malcolm,James and John CAMPBELL who arrived in New York around
1740
> and moved west to where Roanke, Va. is today.
>
> Any help would be appreciated.
>
> Lesley Campbell, North Carolina.
>
>
> ==============================
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>


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