Clans and Chiefs

Recent YDNA evidence that I am descended from the Craignish line of Campbells made me think....so what?

The whole idea of clans and chiefs is very foreign to an American, like myself. But the concept apparently had a lot of value in feudal times. Related persons working together with a recognized leader could accomplish more than a disorganized group. A King could in turn control these groups by "officially" recognizing them and their leader. 

This is where we get to the confusing part. Say I get together with a group of like-minded people and they choose me to be their leader and we all agree to call me the Grand Poohbah. Nope. That does not work. The right to be called a "Clan" or a clan "Chief" can only be bestowed by your Sovereign. [Didn't we win this argument in 1776?] 

To quote from the Court of the Lord Lyon [more on this guy later] ... "The best definition of a clan .... is contained in Nisbet's "System of Heraldry", published in 1722: 'A social group consisting of an aggregate of distinct erected families actually descended, or accepting themselves as descendants of a common ancestor, and which has been received by the Sovereign through its Supreme Officer of Honour, the Lord Lyon, as an honourable community whereof all of the members on establishing right to, or receiving fresh grants of, personal hereditary nobility will be awarded arms as determinate or indeterminate cadets both as may be of the chief family of the clan.' A clan is therefore a community which is both distinguished by heraldry and recognised by the Sovereign. At the head of this honourable community is the chief." 

The Court of the Lord Lyon is part of the Office of the Crown and has been in existence since the 1600s. This was undoubtedly the English continuation of the Seanchaí (sennachie) system used by the Scots in prior centuries. Sennachies were appointed by their clan chiefs to record genealogical, legal, and other historical matters. However, the purview of the current Lord Lyon is strictly heraldic, meaning that they are the only source for granting a "Coat of Arms." By Scottish law, if a clan is not distinguished by heraldry (Coat of Arms) and recognized by the sovereign (via the Court of Lord Lyon), then the clan chief, and hence his clan, have no official recognition. 

Of most importance to genealogists, is that these sennachies and heraldic officers have accumulated genealogies for many of the lines of nobility including cadet branches. The Scottish nobility practiced primogeniture...the oldest son inherited everything. The younger sons, should they manage to acquire lands and power through other means (marriage, inheritance, hard work?, luck?), were referred to as cadets. 

The Craignish line is a cadet branch of the main Campbell line of Argyll. It split off very early in Campbell history, about 1150. Its descendants are pretty well documented. (see Manuscript History of Craignish by Herbert Campbell) My line appears to have branched off rather late (~1600) which is within historical times where making a documented connection is not unrealistic. 

I leave you with a link to an illegible graphic of the cadet branches of the Campbell tree which have Coats of Arms. It is impossible to read, but one gets the message that there are a lot.

More on Craignish in a future blog.

Moses Campbell of the Revolutionary War

 In a recent post I described the family bible of Moses Campbell who lived near Newark Mountain, NJ during the Revolutionary War.  I described my relationship to him back in 2016.  More of the genealogy is here.

One of the greatest gifts to genealogists of this period was an overdue law in 1836 which allowed veterans or widows of the Revolutionary War to apply for a pension. To obtain the pension the applicant needed to appear before a justice and submit the details of service. By 1836, most participants in the War were dead, but even so, an amazing number of applications were filed.  Evidence submitted included depositions from friends, neighbors, relatives, and fellow soldiers, and even pages from family bibles. This has all been digitized and is available from many sources. (Fold3, Ancestry.com)

Moses died in 1808, but his wife Catharine was alive in 1836.  She was 80 years old and so feeble that she could not appear in person at the courthouse. To make a long story short, she was granted a pension in 1838.  She died the following year.

Moses' initial service in 1776 was as a private in the militia attached to Colonel Van Cortlands NJ regiment, stationed near Belleville, Newark, or Elizabethtown. According Catharine's testimony he was in the Battles of Connecticut Farms and Springfield [in 1780].  These battles were literally in his backyard.  The road to Springfield, down which the British marched, led right through the ancestral property of Moses' great grandfather, Robert. She mentions that she was married in the home of Gabriel Ogden by a Pompton, NJ minister, Rev. Marenus.

Included in her pension file are copies of the pages from the family bible, a deposition from her son Benjamin, and a deposition from a contemporary of Moses, 87-year-old, Simon Van Ess. Simon stated that Moses was a millwright at the iron furnace of Gabriel Ogden in Pompton and resided with him. Another contemporary, 87-year-old, York Van Gelder, testified the same. 

Isaac Tichenor, 77, testified that he and Moses enlisted in 1781.  They were stationed at Morristown, NJ, then marched to Dobbs Ferry via Patterson, NJ. [Dobbs Ferry was the departure point for Washington's and Rochambeau's troops enroute to what would be the Battle of Yorktown in 1781.] They were then marched to Connecticut Farms [near his home in NJ] where they were discharged.

David Lyons, 80, recalled being with Moses in New Brunswick, NJ on their way to join the army [which was marching from Philadelphia towards Monmouth]. At that time they heard of the Battle of Monmouth [NJ, 1778] having been fought.

Caleb Davis, 70, stated that he was a neighbor of Moses during the War. He further stated that Moses was in a skirmish with the British at the Hackensack River [probably New Bridge Landing, a critical crossing where many skirmishes occurred] and "had a bullet shot threw his coat."  Moses Dodd, 82, was also deposed and "thinks he saw him under arms in a skirmish at Belleville."

Isaac Dodd testified that Moses was in the company of Captain Amos Dodd.

ALL OF THAT INFORMATION WAS THANKS TO THE PENSION FILES!

Now for some speculation.  If Moses was so close to Gabriel Ogden (owner of the Pompton Ironworks) that he lived and was married in Gabriel's home, wouldn't it make sense that Moses was working at the Pompton Ironworks during the months of the year when he was not with the army? Ogden had purchased the Ironworks in 1774.  During the winter of 1776-1777 the Ironworks was filling an order from General Knox for 7000 cannonballs. I bet Moses was there helping out.

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Benjamin Campbell of Newark Mountain, New Jersey

Benjamin Campbell and his two sons, Moses and Aaron, came to my attention as I read Stephen Wickes' History of the Oranges... for the first time more than a decade ago.  I thought there must be a relationship to my Campbell ancestors who had lived in the same area, but there was no documented connection.

And, sadly, a decade later, there is still no documented connection. What we do have is unequivocal evidence that we share a common ancestor in the circa 1600s time period.  He is known by the Y-DNA variation that is unique to him and his male descendants: R-FTB16962.

Wickes' entry is a baptism in the records of the Newark Mountain Society for the three Campbells on August 3, 1758. That was all I knew of them until I corresponded with a male descendant of Moses. In that descendant's possession was a copy of the Moses Campbell family bible where the family had recorded births and deaths. What a gold mine for his genealogy!

[More on Moses Campbell from a 2016 blog post.]

From the bible we learn the names of all 13 of Moses' children, 10 of whom appear to have lived to adulthood. The oldest child, Rachel, was born November 30, 1773 and died before her first birthday. Their 5th child was also named Rachel, born August 1, 1779

The second child, Anna, was born September 17, 1775, married a Baldwin, and died in 1836. Hers was the only death of a married child recorded, so it is presumed the other children lived past 1836.

The youngest child, James C., was born March 12, 1797.  His oldest sister, Anna, was 21 at his birth and his parents were 45 and 41.  It was James' descendants that appear to have preserved the family bible.

Below is page 1 of the family bible showing the birthdates of this large family of 13 children.

The births are continued on page 2 along with some deaths.

Moses and Catharine were married on April the 18th, 1773....almost exactly two years before the "Shots Hear 'Round the World" at Lexington and Concord. Despite having a family (in fact they had twins in 1779), Moses served in the local militia during the Revolutionary War, which lasted from 1775 until 1783.  More on that in another post.

The Latest on Campbell Y-DNA

 This is my first blog in quite some time.  Some have asked if I was alive.  Alive I am.  I find myself in a new state, with a retired wife, and a new cat.

With three 2023 AG National Championships under my belt (Sprint Triathlon, Sprint Duathlon, and Olympic Duathlon) it may be time to get back to some genealogy??

The YDNA scene is heating up.  Just released is DNA evidence that the Argyll Campbells and the Glenorchy Campbells are not related.  Campbell family | University of Strathclyde

What???  Did someone just take on the Campbell name or did a Campbell take on a foster son?

In my Campbell line, we have definitively shown our connection to the Craignish line, a very early branch off the Argyll line.....via YDNA.  More on this later.

Of most interest is that we have enough participants that JoelCampbell1735 now has his own branch on the YDNA tree!!!  It is called R-FTA92871.  Just go here:  Haplotree | FamilyTreeDNA

More later!