The Jonathan Campbell Branch on the Y-DNA Tree

BREAKING NEWS!

A branch on the patriarchal genetic tree has been confirmed to be that of Jonathan Campbell, born 1770 in New York.  The branch, which is synonymous with a Y-DNA mutation known as FTA92871, is unique to Jonathan and his male descendants. This mutation originated with Jonathan.  His father and brothers do not have it.

You can view the tree here:

https://www.familytreedna.com/public/y-dna-haplotree/R;name=R-FTA92871
When the page loads, click the right arrow to expose the branches.

The next branch down the tree has been identified as FTB16962.  This person is estimated to have lived around 1600.  He has not yet been identified.

If you are a descendant of Jonathan, here is your Campbell tree working into the past...

Jonathan 1770 - FTA92871
Joel ~1735
Samuel ~1700
Robert ~1660
Archibald ~1630
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FTB16962 (Scotland)~1600
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FTA93117 (Craignish Campbells) ~1370-1600  See Blog Christian Campbell - Abt 1350 - A Craignish Campbell
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FTB13858 (Campbell Main Line) ~1150

Jonathan was too young to have fought in the Revolutionary War, but he certainly experienced many of its events in the Hudson Valley during its long duration, 1776-1783.  His older brothers and father undoubtedly shared war stories with him.  When he was 13 in 1783, he may have walked the short distance from his father's farm to New Windsor where Washington's Army was waiting for peace negotiations to be finalized. 

As a young man, he moved farther west to what would become Deerpark, New York.  There he owned property on a flood plain of the Neversink River called 'Campbell Flats" by the local surveyor. 

He moved again with extended family to the area where the Chemung River meets the Susquehanna near the NY/PA border. 

He raised a very large family (13 children?).  Ten of his descendants are part of the Campbell DNA Project and have been tested for Y-DNA markers including three that have been tested specifically for the FTA92871 polymorphism.

Maybe someone can write a book on this man who now has his own branch on the Y-DNA Haplotree.

Christian Campbell - Abt 1350 - A Craignish Campbell

My recent research has been focused on the Campbell paternal line. The breakthroughs in Y-DNA (see prior articles) have uncovered more deep ancestors.  

One such discovery is my link to the Craignish branch of the Campbells. The Craignish line started with the second son of a Campbell on the main (Argyll) line in about 1130.  Somewhere along the Craignish line, a non-inheriting son (or a bastard) started the branch to me.

My common ancestor on the Craignish line is estimated to be in the 1400-1600 period. Interestingly, the genealogy of Craignish is fairly well documented in this period. In 1720, one of the Craignish family put to manuscript the history as he had come to know it. It has been published as The Manuscript History of Craignish. (see link below)

One of the more interesting stories in his account (and one whose accuracy has been questioned) is the story of Christian, the daughter of Dugall Campbell of Craignish, who lived in about 1350. Just remember, if you are in the haplogroup FTA93117, you are related to these people.

This Dugall had no sons, so on his death, the clan lands would move to his brother, Malcolm, or to Malcolm's eldest son, Ronald. 

The deadly nature of family quarrels is illustrated by the story of Finguala, the sister of Dugall.  Finguala's husband had a quarrel with Dugall. The dispute led the husband to attempt an ambush of Dugall, which backfired, resulting in the death of Finguala's husband. (p 214).

The manuscript's author, Alexander Campbell (abt 1670-1725), referred to Dugall's daughter as "the Notorious Christian." [Note that this Alexander lived concurrently with my line's first American, Robert Campbell of Newark, NJ].

Christian married McDougal of Lorne and by him had a son. This son supposed that the Craignish lands were his inheritance and proceeded to demand rent from the inhabitants. Christian's cousin, Ronald (son of her father's brother), defended what he saw to be his inheritance.  In one of the skirmishes, Christian's son was killed.

After the death of her son and first husband, Christian married Alexander McNauchton.  Upon his death, she received a third of his Barony.

But Christian was not done.  She courted a younger Iver Campbell, head-servant of the Chief of Clan Campbell. By convincing him to "ly with her" in a wood near the Strath of Craignish and subsequently "happened to be with child", she obtained the Clan Chief's approval for her marriage. But the approval was at the price of signing over the deed's to the lands of her father to the Chief (which she had no right to do.) But who was to question the most powerful man in the Highlands?

Thus, Christian defrauded her cousin, Ronald, and his descendants (I guess that is sort of me) of their rightful inheritance.  It left a bitter taste in the mouths of Ronald's descendants for years to come.

The Manuscript History is here:  https://digital.nls.uk/scottish-history-society-publications/browse/archive/126513622