William C Campbell (bef. 1745 - 1781)

Born before 1 Sep 1745 in Beverleys Manor, Staunton, Augusta County, Colony and Dominion of Virginia

Ancestors

Husband of Elizabeth Anne (Henry) Russell — married 2 Apr 1766 in Studley, Hanover, Virginia Colony

Descendants

Died 22 Aug 1781 after age 35 in Rocky Mills, Hanover County, Virginia, United States

Problems/Questions Profile managers: A. Tomkins [send private message] and Linda Scheer [send private message]

Biography

William Campbell is a DAR Patriot Ancestor, A018793.

Brigadier General William Campbell served with Washington County Militia, Virginia Militia during the American Revolution.

Sketch

William^[1][2][3] was born in 1744-1745 in Staunton, Augusta County, Virginia,^[4] the older of two known children and only son of Charles and Margaret Buchanan Campbell. He was baptised on 1 September 1745 in Augusta County.^[5]

In 1775, when he was about thirty and war broke out against Great Britain, he entered the military service in Virginia^[6] as a captain. In the next year, he married Elizabeth Henry, a younger sister of Patrick Henry, and they became the parents of two children, a son and a daughter:

1. Sarah Buchanan Campbell
2. Charles Henry Campbell.

Despite taking time off to serve in the Virginia House of Delegates, he rose rapidly through the ranks, earning the praises of men like General Nathaniel Greene and the Marquis de Lafayette. In mid-June 1781, when he was in his mid-thirties, he was promoted to brigadier-general.^[7]

"Sadly, William Campbell was not able to serve for an extended period as a Brigadier General. He commanded the rifle corps in Lafayette’s army during the early stages of the Yorktown campaign that would result in the surrender of Lord Cornwallis’s army, but to the great regret of his comrades Campbell did not live to witness the surrender. He became ill with chest pains and fever, and died near Richmond at the home of his wife’s half-brother, Colonel William Syme, on August 22, 1781. ^[8]

He died of an unknown illness on 22 August 1781 in Hanover County, Virginia when he was in his mid-thirties. By the order of Lafayette, he was buried at that location with full military honors (his body was later moved to Aspenville in southwest Virginia by his son-in-law, where he was re-interred in a family cemetery under an impressive headstone), at Seven Mile Ford, Smyth County, Virginia.^[9] Lafayette wrote that Campbell was 'an officer whose service must have endeared him to every citizen, and particularly to every American soldier.' "^[10] Some years later he was re-interred in Aspenvale Cemetery, at Seven Mile Ford, Smyth County, Virginia,

Biographical Sketch

Soldier, Commander Battle of Kings Mountain. General William Campbell was born in 1745 in Augusta County, Virginia. Following his father's death, he moved with his mother and four sisters to the Holston Valley of Virginia where they established the family home called Aspenvale south of present day Marion, Virginia. In 1774 he became a Captain in the Militia and served in Col. Christian's regiments in the campaign against the Shawnee. In 1777, he returned to Aspenvale where he served as Justice of the Peace and was made a Lt. Colonel in the militia. In September 1780, he led his regiment on a march from Southwest Virginia to Kings Mountain, North Carolina. There on October 7, 1780, Col. Campbell lead his regiments in the Battle of Kings Mountain, defeating the British Forces lead by Major Patrick Ferguson. The victory by Col. Campbell destroyed the left wing of Cornwallis’s Army and forced the British to retreat from Charlotte into South Carolina. In March 1781 Col. Campbell joined General Nathanael Greene at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. After a term in the legislature he was made a brigadier-general in the militia, and served under Lafayette in the battle of Jamestown. Shortly after the battle General Campbell fell ill and died at Rocky Mills, which was the home of his half-brother, Col. John Syme, Jr, in County_VA Hanover County, Virginia. He was originally buried at Rocky Mills, but in 1823, relatives moved his remains to his old home of Aspenville on the Holston, and laid him to rest next to his mother (Margaret Buchanan), His widow Elizabeth Henry Campbell, (the sister of Patrick Henry, the orator) his young son and other relatives. The Aspenvale Cemetery is located on private property on the north side of Seven Mile Ford Road, south of Marion in Smyth County, Virginia. (bio by: S.G. Thompson)

From Wikipedia.org

William C Campbell

William Campbell (born 1745 and died on August 22,1781) was a Virginia farmer, pioneer, and soldier. One of the thirteen signers of the earliest statement of armed resistance to the British Crown in the American Colonies, the Fincastle Resolutions, Campbell represented Hanover County in the Virginia House of Delegates. A militia leader during the American Revolutionary War, he was known as the "bloody tyrant of Washington County" known for his leadership at the Battle of Kings Mountain and the Battle of Guilford Courthouse.

Civic and military leader

In 1775, Campbell was one of the thirteen signers of the Fincastle Resolutions,the earliest statement of armed resistance to the British Crown in the American Colonies. Campbell represented Hanover County, Virginia in the Virginia House of Delegates twice: in 1780, and again in 1781 (the year that he died).

He was a militia leader of the American Revolutionary War, known as the "bloody tyrant of Washington County" for his harsh treatment of Loyalists.[examples needed] He became a colonel in 1780, and was noted for leading his militia to victory at the Battle of Kings Mountain, where he charged the enemy while telling his men to "shout like hell and fight like devils!" Afterward, he worked in conjunction with Continental Army troops to oppose the British invasion of Virginia, providing support at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. The Virginia Assembly commissioned him a brigadier general in 1781, however, he died soon after.

Personal life

Campbell was married to Elizabeth Henry, sister of Virginia Governor, Patrick Henry. They had two children: Sarah Buchanan Campbell, and William Henry Campbell.[1] Following Campbell's 1781 death of an apparent heart attack, his widow subsequently married General William Russell.

Salt Lick

The tract of land where the Campbells settled was called "Salt Lick" for the area's numerous salt deposits. The salt works that were eventually established there became an important source of revenue for the family, also playing an important role in supplying salt for the Confederacy during the Civil War. It had been surveyed in 1748, when James Patton entered the area with an expedition of several men, including one Charles Campbell.[2] After William Campbell's death, the General Assembly of Virginia granted 5,000 acres to his young son, Charles Henry Campbell, in consideration of the distinguished services of his father.[3]

Burial and legacy

William Campbell is buried in the Aspenvale Cemetery (near present-day Marion, Smyth County, Virginia), alongside Elizabeth Campbell "Madame" Russell. The cemetery is a Virginia Historical Landmark, with soldiers from six different wars interred there.

Campbell County, Virginia, is named for General Campbell.

In her later years, Elizabeth [did a great deal to promote and popularize the Methodist Episcopal Church in Southwest Virginia and eastern Tennessee, and in particular she ] founded the Madame Russell Methodist Church.

Burial: Aspenvale Cemetery, Seven Mile, Ford, Smyth County, Virginia.^[11]

William Campbell Image 1

From Findagrave.com

Gen William Campbell

Birth: 1745 Augusta County, Virginia; Death: 22 Aug 1781 (aged 35–36) Hanover County, Virginia, USA; Burial: Aspenvale Cemetery, Seven Mile Ford, Smyth County, Virginia, USA. Memorial #: 9507923.

Bio: Soldier, Commander Battle of Kings Mountain. General William Campbell was born in 1745 in Augusta County, Virginia. Following his fathers death, he moved with his mother and four sisters to the Holston Valley of Virginia where they established the family home called Aspenvale south of present day Marion, Virginia. In 1774 he became a Captain in the Militia and served in Col. Christians regiments in the campaign against the Shawnee. In 1777, he returned to Aspenvale where he served as Justice of the Peace and was made a Lt. Colonel in the militia. In September 1780, he lead his regiment on a march from Southwest Virginia to Kings Mountain, North Carolina. There on October 7, 1780, Col. Campbell lead his regiments in the Battle of Kings Mountain, defeating the British Forces lead by Major Patrick Ferguson. The victory by Col. Campbell destroyed the left wing of Cornwallis's Army and forced the British to retreat from Charlotte into South Carolina. In March 1781 Col. Campbell joined General Nathanael Green at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. After a term in the legislature he was made a brigadier-general in the militia, and served under Lafayette in the battle of Jamestown. Shortly after the battle General Campbell fell ill and died at Rocky Mills, which was the home of his wife Elizabeth's half-brother, Col. John Syme, Jr, in Hanover County, Virginia. He was originally buried at Rocky Mills, but in 823, relatives moved his remains to his old home of Aspenville on the Holston, and laid him to rest next to his mother (Margaret Buchanan), His widow Elizabeth Henry Campbell, (the sister of Patrick Henry, the orator) his young son and other relatives. The Aspenvale Cemtery is located on private property on the north side of Seven Mile Ford Road, south of Marion in Smyth County, Virginia.

Family Members: Parents: Margaret Buchanan Campbell (1720-1777); Spouse: Elizabeth Henry Russell (1749-1825); Siblings: Ann Campbell Poston (1760-1796); Children: Daniel Campbell (1772-1870), Joseph Campbell (1778-1841), Sarah Buchanan Campbell Preston (1778-1846), Charles Henry Campbell (1780-1786).^[12]

William Campbell was born in 1745 at Beverleys Manor, Staunton, Augusta County, Virginia, the oldest of three known children and only son of Charles Campbell.

On 2 April 1766, when he was in his very early twenties, he married Elizabeth Henry. She bore him two known children, a son and a daughter:

1. Ann Campbell
2. William Campbell.

On 22 August 1781, he died in military service near Yorktown, in York County, Virginia.

Alternate place of death: Hanover County, Virginia.^[13]

Sources

1. ↑ National Park Service , U.S. Civil War Soldiers, 1861-1865. Ancestry.com.
2. ↑ Thompson, S.G. (46616521), maintained by Find A Grave, “Gen William Campbell,” Findagrave.com. Record added 23 Sep 2004. URL: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/9507923. Accessed 17 April 2018.
3. ↑ U.S. House of Representative Private Claims, Vol. 1. Ancestry.com.
4. ↑ Thompson, S.G. (46616521), maintained by Find A Grave, “Gen William Campbell,” Findagrave.com. Record added 23 Sep 2004. URL: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/9507923. Accessed 17 April 2018.
5. ↑ ____. "William Campbell," 1745-1781. Ancestor number A018793 Daughters of the American Revolution, URL: http://services.dar.org/Public/DAR_Research/search_adb/default.cfm, Accessed 17 April 2018.
6. ↑ National Park Service , U.S. Civil War Soldiers, 1861-1865. Ancestry.com.
7. ↑ John Beakes, "The Service of Colonel William Campbell of Virginia," Journal of the American Revolution, June 18, 2014. URL: https://allthingsliberty.com/2014/06/the-service-of-colonel-william-campbell-of-virginia/. Accessed 17 Apr 2018 by Patricia Prickett Hickin.
8. ↑ Thompson, S.G. (46616521), maintained by Find A Grave, “Gen William Campbell,” Findagrave.com. Record added 23 Sep 2004. URL: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/9507923. Accessed 17 April 2018.
9. ↑ Thompson, S.G. (46616521), maintained by Find A Grave, “Gen William Campbell,” Findagrave.com. Record added 23 Sep 2004. URL: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/9507923. Accessed 17 April 2018.
10. ↑ John Beakes, "The Service of Colonel William Campbell of Virginia," Journal of the American Revolution, June 18, 2014. URL: https://allthingsliberty.com/2014/06/the-service-of-colonel-william-campbell-of-virginia/. Accessed 17 Apr 2018 by Patricia Prickett Hickin.
11. ↑ Various, "William Campbell," Wikipedia.org. URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Campbell_(general)#Personal_life. Accessed 17 April 2018.
12. ↑ S.G. Thompson (46616521), maintained by Find A Grave, “Gen William Campbell,” Findagrave.com. Record added 23 Sep 2004. URL: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/9507923. Accessed 17 April 2018.
13. ↑ S.G. Thompson (46616521), maintained by: Find A Grave, “Gen William Campbell,” Findagrave.com. Record added 23 Sep 2004. URL: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/9507923/william-campbell. Accessed 30 May 2019.

• _____. "William Campbell," 1745-1781. Ancestor number A018793 Daughters of the American Revolution, URL: http://services.dar.org/Public/DAR_Research/search_adb/default.cfm, Accessed 17 April 2018.

• Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR Genealogical Research Databases, database online, (http://www.dar.org/ : accessed April 27th, 2015), "Record of William Campbell", Ancestor # A018793.

• Beakes, John. "The Service of Colonel William Campbell of Virginia," Journal of the American Revolution, June 18, 2014. URL: https://allthingsliberty.com/2014/06/the-service-of-colonel-william-campbell-of-virginia/. Accessed 17 Apr 2018 by Patricia Prickett Hickin.

• Thompson, S.G. (46616521), maintained by Find A Grave, “Gen William Campbell,” Findagrave.com. Record added 23 Sep 2004. URL: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/9507923. Accessed 17 April 2018.

• Malgee, David George. A Frontier Biography: William Campbell of King's Mountain. Master's Thesis. pp. 260. University of Richmond, UR Scholarship Repository. August 1983.

• Various, "William Campbell," Wikipedia.org. URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Campbell_(general)#Personal_life. Accessed 17 April 2018.

• U.S. House of Representative Private Claims, Vol. 1. Ancestry.com.

• National Park Service , U.S. Civil War Soldiers, 1861-1865. Ancestry.com.

• Alabama, Surname Files Expanded, 1702–1981

• American Genealogical-Biographical Index (AGBI)

• Appletons' Cyclopedia of American Biography, 1600-1889

• Early Western Augusta Pioneers

• Historical sketches of the Campbell, Pilcher and kindred families : including the Bowen, Russell, Owen, Grant, Goodwin, Amis, C <https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/16029/dvm_GenMono002738-00006-1/10?backurl=https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/88505119/person/83020663469/facts/citation/1002114325814/edit/record>

• North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000

• U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900.

• U.S. House of Representative Private Claims, Vol. 1.

• U.S., Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783.

• U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970.

• Virginia Land, Marriage, and Probate Records, 1639-1850.

• Virginia, Select Marriages, 1785-1940.

• Lyman Draper, Kings Mountain and Its Heroes: History of the Battle of King's Mountain, October 7, 1780, and the Events Which Led to It, (Overmountain Press, 2nd edition, January 1, 1996).
• Robert M. Dunkerly, The Battle of Kings Mountain: Eyewitness Accounts, (The History Press, March 20, 2007).
• http://www.avocamuseum.org/william-campbell

Acknowledgments

• Linda (Sandford) Scheer created William C Campbell (1745-1781) on 15 Apr 2019.