There are at least two interesting conclusions from this fact. Firstly, the Campbells were in the valley of Bentley Creek (future Ridgebury) prior to 1805. All of the written histories say 1805 or later.
Secondly, at least one Campbell had association with the Baptists while living in Orange County.
Joel and Eunice were living in the town of Mamakating in 1800 and were probably in the area of current Bloomingburg/Wurtsboro (then called Mamacotten Hollow). From there it would have been a ten mile journey to worship at the Brookfield church. There was a closer congregation at New Vernon (about three miles from Bloomingburg) and perhaps the congregations shared the same minister. The New Vernon Primitive Baptist Church was erected in 1800 and David Campbell (nephew of Joel Sr, the namesake of this blog) is buried there.
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| Area of Deerpark and Mamakating. The cluster of pins on the left is the settlement of Peenpack in Deerpark. The pin labeled "J" is where Jonathan Campbell had his farm on the Neversink River. The purple pin at the top is the location of Bloomingburg and Wurtsboro (Mamacotten Hollow). The Brookfield Baptist Church is the lowest purple pin. The middle puple pin labelled "R" is the New Vernon Baptist Church. "L" is the Mt Hope Cemetery were Nathaniel Campbell is buried. The village of Montgomery is seen on the far right. The ridge of mountains passing to the SW is called the Shawangunk Ridge. You can see a zoomable version of this map at this link. |
The origins of the Chemung congregation dated to fifteen years prior to Eunice's arrival. In 1789, a group of settlers who had belonged to Baptist churches in the east, now "having our lots cast in the wilderness land in the town of Chemung," founded a church. It was the first church of any denomination in the Tioga (now Chemung) River Valley. Apparently they met in a church structure which was perhaps one and the same as the log home of Roswell Goff, the first pastor. It was located south of the river just east of the current village of Wellsburg. A marker on the farm of Smith Burt, Wilawanna Road, indicates the location was about a quarter mile north in what is currently a field (north of the railroad tracks). (GPS location: 42.019061, -76.701263) (Marker at: 4045 Wilawanna Rd, Elmira, NY 14901 42.015285, -76.701163)
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| Location of Chemung (Wellsburg) Baptist Church. "A" (red pin) is the location of the marker on Wilawanna Rd. "B (yellow pin) is the area of the main meeting place of this church until 1812. "C" (green pin) is the location of the new church built in 1812. "D" (blue pin) is approximate location of the Fuller farm on Bentley Creek. Campbell farms are further south on the creek. The Chemung River (then called Tioga River) at the top flows east to join with the Susquehanna. New York-Pennsylvania border bisects this map. A zoomable version of this map is here. |
Did other Campbells join this church? More later.
[i] Records of
the Chemung [Wellsburg] Baptist Church, p. 78,
http://www.joycetice.com/church/welsbg43.htm, accessed 2015-07-24; The
Brookfield Church was located in what is now Slate Hill, Wawayanda, NY. It is about 10 miles from Peenpack or
"the lower neighborhood" and slightly closer to Deerpark settlements
on the east of the ridge. This area was
part of the town of Minisink in 1800.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primitive_Baptist_Church_of_Brookfield.
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