The following information was assembled from numerous sources and cannot be used directly as proof of Qualifying Service or Lineage.
It is considered a research aid and is intended to assist in locating sources that can be used as proof.
State of Service: NC
Qualifying Service: Patriotic Service
"OLD BLUFF PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH HISTORY" By John C. Rosser, Jr, http://www.ncgenweb.us/cumberland/bluffcreek.htm
Spouse: Elizabeth Kennedy Children: James Jr;
Members Who Share This Ancestor
None*
*This means that the NSSAR has no applications for this Patriot on file.
Instead the information provided is best effort, and from volunteers who have either researched grave sites, service records, or something similar. There is no documentation available at NSSAR HQ to order.
Campbell, James, Sr. (b. about 1700; d. 1780) Occupation: Reverend serving the Cape Fear area and the Chester, South Carolina churches. Education: University of Glasgow Buried in the Old Bluff Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Wade, northeastern Cumberland County, NC GPS Coordinates: Latitude: 35.18377, Longitude: -78.72529
Born in Campbeltown, Kintyre, Scotland about 1705, the Rev. James Campbell came to America about 1730.
Campbell was probably licensed the Presbytery of New Castle in 1735, and "well received" on May 22, 1739, by the Presbytery of Philadelphia.
During the summer of 1739, Rev. James Campbell preached at Tinicum and Newton in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. On September 18, 1739, he received a call from the Tohickon Presbyterian Church (now called the Tinicum Presbyterian Church), but wasn't sure about accepting. He apparently talked with the Great Awakening preacher George Whitefield and reassured began his call in November. He continued to preach to churches. In Spring 1740, the churches and Rev. Campbell were transferred to jurisdiction of the Presbytery of New Brunswick.
In 1741 thre was a split within the Presbyterian denomination between the New Side and Old Side factions. Campbell preached to his church congregations as well as to churches on the Forks of the Delaware River.
Reverend Campbell was ordained on August 3, 1742, and ordered to split his time between the Forks of the Delaware and Greenwich, New Jersey.
He was installed on May 24, 1744, at the Tohickon Presbyterian Church. During the late 1740s a controversy arose of the siting of a new meeting house (church) and Rev. Campbell resigned his call at Tohickon in May, 1749.
He moved back to the Presbytery of New castle and preached at Conecocheague, Rocky Springs and others.
Rev. Campbell was still in Pennsylvania during the mid-1750s, preaching in Lancaster County on the Coneweheog. This is where Rev. Hugh McAden visited him, and convinced Campbell to go to North Carolina in 1757 to minister to the growing Scot population. Rev. Campbell spoke both Gaelic and English.
He came to North Carolina late 1757 or early 1758 and settled on a tract of two hundred acres on the west side of the Cape Fear River opposite to where the Old Buff Presbyterian Church now stands.
The Presbyterian Church in the Upper Cape Valley was formally organized on October 18, 1758, with the signing of a contract with Reverend Campbell by “Presbyterian Gentlemen” — Hector McNeil, Gilbert Clark, Thomas Gibson, Alexander McAlister, Malcom Smith, Archibald McKay, John Patterson, Dushie Shaw, Neil McNeill, Archibald Buie, Angus Culbreth, and John McPherson for “the sum of 100 pounds in good & lawful money of North Carolina . . . yearly.”
Although the Upper Cape Fear call was effective from June 22, 1758, Reverend Campbell was not legally allowed to preach or perform marriages in the Colony until January 18, 1759, when he subscribed to the required oath that he would not oppose the doctrine, discipline, and liturgy of the Anglican Church of England.
Reverend Campbell commenced his preaching among the Scots, in both Gaelic and English, in three locations: at the home of Roger McNeill, near Tranthams Creek, at the home of Archibald McKay on the Long Street (the Yadkin Road), and at John Dobbin’s Ordinary on Barbecue Creek. Reportedly, he delivered two sermons at these churches as he rotated weekly among them. One sermon was in Gaelic and the other in English. The fourth Sunday, he was said to have visited other communities and preached, including some in the Colony of South Carolina.
Reverend Campbell served the three congregations, now represented by Bluff, Longstreet, and Barbecue Presbyterian Churches, and assisted in the Barbecue area from 1770 by Reverend John MacLeod. Apparently threatened about his prayers supporting the Patriot Cause during 1776, he left the Cape Fear area and moved to Guilford County. In 1780, Reverend Campbell returned to his home on the west bank of the Cape Fear River, where he died and was buried in a family graveyard.
Patriot biographies must be the original work of the author, and work submitted must not belong to another person or group, in observance with copyright law. Patriot biographies are to be written in complete sentences, follow the established rules of grammar, syntax and punctuation, be free of typographical errors, and follow a narrative format. The narrative should unfold in a logical manner (e.g. the narrative does not jump from time period to time period) or have repeated digressions, or tell the history of the patriot's line from the patriot ancestor to the author. The thinking here is that this is a patriot biography, not a lineage report or a kinship determination project or other report published in a genealogy journal. The biography should discuss the qualifying service (military, patriotic, civil) of the patriot ancestor, where the service was rendered, whether this was a specific state or Continental service, as well as significant events (as determined by the author) of the patriot's life. This is the entire purpose of a patriot's biography.
Additional guidelines around the Biography writeup can be found here:
Send your submission1, in a Microsoft Word compatible format, to patriotbios@sar.org for inclusion in this space 1Upon submission of a patriot biography, the patriot biography becomes the property of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and may be edited to conform to the patriot biography submission standards.
Additional Information:
DAR NOTE: (there are potential issues) regarding this man's service- NO SERVICE FOUND IN ANY ACCEPTABLE SOURCE.6/2017
