Elias Campbell (1)

Life of Elias Campbell

4 Jul 1814 – 4 Dec 1868

By James A. Campbell

2nd Great-grandfather of James Alan Campbell

Campbell Tree #1

There are many theories about the parents, birth, and youth of Elias. I will try to present some of the more viable theories in this article leaving out some of the obvious errors.

In the 1850 census for Marlborough Co, SC, it gives his age as 38 (should be 35), birthplace as New York, profession Carriage Maker, wife Annis, age 36 (should be 34), daughter Elizabeth, 6, James 4, Joseph, 2, Sara, 5 months. Also living there was Sara Britton, age 57, and Elizabeth Britton, age 38. Everyone except Elias was born in South Carolina.

Byron Lassiter (a cousin) gave the following information:

There is some information, completely unconfirmed, that Elias’s mother may have sailed from, possibly England to New York, but this is more guess than fact. Elias migrated from New York to Marlborough Co, South Carolina, where he married and had 9 children. Elias’s family moved to Choctaw Co, Alabama where he is buried in Hamrick Field Cemetery, which is near Gilbertown and Silas, on the south end of the county.

Thomas (Pete) Campbell (an uncle) gave the following information:

Elias Campbell was born in New York and journeyed by coastal packet to Charleston, SC, then to a plantation outside Charleston where the father was bonded to the plantation owner for a period of five years as payment for passage from Scotland to America. After the father had served out his bondage and became a free man, he started west with his family, but settled at a small settlement called Branch near the present town of Silas. He homesteaded 620 acres of land, most of which is now divided into three parts and is owned by our Uncle Fred’s son and two daughters. No one lives on any part of it and all traces of any houses are long overgrown with second growth vines and hardwoods. They had a fairly good income from the sale of pulp logs, and there has been some oil exploration conducted in recent years. There is an old family burial ground near the site of Grandpa Campbell’s las home. Grandpa and Grandma’s graves are the only two with date marker, the others wer marked with slabs of local limestone and all traces of names and date have long since weathered away. Last time we were the in April 1980, we requested that it be made into a historical site and cleaned out and fenced, then maintained by the county. No action taken yet.

The following was submitted to the Clan Campbell Society by a son (or daughter) of Joseph Campbell:

Our great grandmother, a widow at the time, came from England and landed in New York. Where or for how long she lived there we do not know. She had four children – one girl. She, with the children, left New York and moved to South Carolina. How long she lived there or in what part of the state, we have no record. Later, she and the four children moved from South Carolina and settled in Wilcox Co, Alabama. The daughter married and went to live out west, we never know her name. The son’s names were Grant, A.P. and Elias. We have no history of Grant or A.P.

Elias was our grandfather. Some time before the War Between the States, Elias married Annie Steede of Wilcox Co, Alabama. They moved to Choctaw Co, Alabama and homesteaded land on or near the Tombigbee River. He built a boat landing there on the river which is, so far as I know, still there, and is referred to as Campbell’s Landing of just Campbell. Their home was between the two towns of Barrytown and Womack Hill, just three miles apart. While living there, they raised a family of 4 sons and 5 daughters who were children and young grown-up at the time of the Civil War. The oldest son, James Alonzo, was a soldier in the Southern army.

Update 3 Mar 2020: For the past year, I thought I had found an error in the 1850 census giving New York as the birthplace of Elias. I found an Elias Campbell named in the will of a James Campbell which was filed in York Co, SC. I believed that the census taker wrote down NY when he heard York Co. However, upon closer investigation, I find that there was another Elias Campbell in York Co, SC in the 1810, 1820 and 1830 census as the head of household. 1810 would be before our Elias’s birth and 1820 and 1830 would be too young to be head of household, unless we have his 1814 birthdate wrong, which is doubtful.

Update 26 Jun 2020: Upon further research, I have found what I believe is Elias's father and grandfather. The 1840 Census for Marlborough Co, SC shows a John Campbell age 40-50, living with 1 male age 20-30, who I believe is Elias, his age would be 26. This John has a military record showing he was born in Albany NY in 1789 and living in Marlborough Co SC in the 1810 and 1830 census. So when Elias was born in 1814, his father was living in SC. It appears that if Elias was born in NY, his parents returned to NY for a short time for his birth. The 1790 census for New York City Out Ward shows a John Campbell over 16, living with 1 male under 16 and 2 females, no age given. I believe this is Elias's grandfather.

The 1820 census shows an Ann Campbell age 70-80 living alone in Marlborough Co SC. The 1810 census for New York Ward 5 shows an Ann Campbell age 26-44, living with 1 male under 10, 4 males 16-25 and 1 female 26-44. The 1800 census for New York Ward 5 shows an Ann Campbell age 26-44, living with 1 male over 45 and 1 female over 45. At one time I believed this was Elias's mother and/or grandmother but have recently decided this is not substantiated.

ELIAS AND ANNIS PEARSON CAMPBELL FAMILY HISTORY

Author: Dorothy W. Campbell Date: 2012 Revised: 2013

Researchers have found very little data that would help identify the parents of our Elias Campbell. Elias himself was listed as head of a household in Marlboro County, SC (see details below) . Family bible records indicate that Elias married an Annice/Annis Pearson on February 2, 1842. Location of their marriage has not been established.

It was customary in those days for a marriage to take place in the county where the bride resided. Assuming that Annis was living in the home with her mother, Mrs. Sarah Britton, in 1840, as the census seems to indicate, it seems logical for them to marry in Marlboro County, SC.

Another researcher indicated on a Family Tree page on Ancestry.com that Elias and Annis were married in Wilcox County, Alabama. Research done by this writer has not found a marriage record for Elias and Annis in Wilcox County, but some marriage records don't get recorded. More about Wilcox County is discussed below. Elias was probably single and still living at home with his parents in 1840. Prior to 1850, the name of the head of a household was the only name listed on federal census records. Not knowing the name of either parent of Elias, it is impossible to know who he lived with or where he lived in 1840. Beginning In 1850, federal census records listed every member of a household by name, age, occupation, place of birth, and relationship to head of the household. The head of the household was usually listed on the first line of the census record.

One of the earliest bits of data found on Elias in Marlboro County SC, was located in 1845 Marlboro Court of Common Pleas records, indicating that Elias Campbell was cited for failure to pay his debts. His mother-in-law, Sarah Britton, was also cited for failure to pay debts. In 1847, Elias was listed as a purchaser of several old wheels and a few cattle at the estate sale of a John Campbell (no proven relationship). In 1850 Elias was listed on the Marlboro County census as the head of a household with his wife Annis, children Elizabeth, James, Joe, Sarah, mother-in-law Sarah Britton, and sister-in-law Elizabeth Britton (probably meant to be Elizabeth Pearson). All 4 children were born between 1843 and 1850, not including their daughter, Mary Jane, who was born and died in 1845. Elias was listed as age 36 or 38, born in NY (New York?) and occupation was carriage-maker. According to other researchers, Elias was also the overseer of Sarah Britton's farm.

Much research was done to track Elias Campbell's movements after he left Marlboro County, SC around 1852. It seems unlikely that he left Marlboro County until after the birth of his son, William Gransy, in February 1852. His mother-in-law, her unmarried daughter, and possibly her son, W.G. Steed, might have been part of an ox-drawn wagon train headed west. After research failed to produce any information about Elias and Annis Campbell in AL, this writer located a death record on Sarah Britton proving that she died in Wilcox County, AL.

Research also proved that Sarah's oldest son, Wm. G. Steed, lived in Marlboro County, SC in 1850, but lived in Wilcox Co, AL in 1860. William H. Pledger, Sarah's former guardian (Marlboro County in 1804) and possibly her brother, lived in SC before 1820, but was in Wilcox County, AL in 1830, 1840, and 1850 (census) and owned many slaves. He lived in Prairie Bluff in the Western Division of Wilcox County and died there in 1856. Sarah's son was living in Prairie Bluff in 1860. Those discoveries make it more likely that Elias and his family did live in Wilcox County, having arrived there after 1851 and leaving there before 1860. If they were there in 1860, they probably would have lived near their relatives and should have been listed on the 1860 census. It is likely that they moved on after the death of the mother of Annis Campbell.

Assuming that Elias and Annis Campbell lived in Wilcox County, AL during part of the 1850's and assuming that the slave narrative (discussed below ) was true, it is possible that Elias and Annis went on to Clarke County, AL. One researcher listed on a public family tree on Ancestry. com that Elias' daughter, Francis Jane, was born around 1854 in Clarke Co, AL. The source of that information was not given. Clarke County is only about 30 miles northeast of Wilcox County and just across the Tombigbee River from Choctaw County which is bounded on the west by the state of Mississippi.

Elias and Annis were not found on the 1860 census in Wilcox or Clarke or Choctaw or any other county or state. If Elias and Annis did live in Clarke County in 1854 or later, they may have crossed the Tombigbee River to take up residence in Choctaw County, AL. One of Elias' descendants related a story said to be told by the oldest daughter of Elias and Annis about traveling in a wagon train and how white and black boys together played and chased wild game through the woods. She may have been referring to earlier days traveling from SC to Wilcox County and from Wilcox to Clarke County. Although no census records have been found that listed Elias Campbell in 1860, he must have been in Clarke or Choctaw County if the slave narrative is correct (see below). Elias and Annis probably has at least four slaves at the end of the Civil War in 1865. Family lore indicates that Annis Campbell was "as mad as fury" when she was forced to release her slaves at the end of the war but they did not give the number of slaves. According to the slave narrative, Elias and/or Annis Campbell did own slaves during the Civil War and they were released at the end of the war.

Although Elias and Annis Campbell were not found on the 1860 census in any county or state, Elias' name was found listed on a Choctaw County voter registration record in 1867. That leaves a period of about 15 years of not knowing for certain where Elias and Annis were living. It seems logical to assume that those years were spent between Wilcox, Clarke, and Choctaw counties in Alabama.

According to the 1870 Choctaw County, AL census, the widow and children of Elias Campbell were listed . Annis was listed as A. Campbell, her sister Rachel Pearson was listed next, and the children were listed by their initials only. Elizabeth Ann was the only child not in the home as she had married in 1867 and lived in another household. James Alonzo was the oldest child at 24 years of age. Annis died on December 22, 1871, and her sister, Rachel Pearson died in 1872.

Elias and Annis Pearson Campbell are said by Choctaw County descendants to be buried in Hamrick field in unmarked graves. Choctaw County genealogists have indicated that the Hamrick field burial site is now known as the Old Barrytown Cemetery and is located near Barrytown in Choctaw County, Alabama. A register of graves lists names of some who are buried in marked graves in the Old Barrytown Cemetery. Those few names include Robert D. Potter and several of his family members. Robert D. Potter was connected to the Powe and Mills families through the marriages of his two daughters. Those connections probably account for the burial of Elias and Annis Campbell in the Hamrick field (Old Barrytown Cemetery).