I have been following the "John Camp" DAR discussion. My reaction
is,quite frankly,SO WHAT?
Just as we have some Camp relatives who are Democrats & others who are
Republicans,some who are Yankees and others who are Unreconstructed Rebels,
in RW times I am sure there were many who liked the "status quo",while
others wanted to throw the B......s Out. It really makes no difference to me
whether John was a Loyalist or Whig ,Tory Or Rebel, as long as he was
faithful to his politics. He may have been like my Dad ,"often Wrong,but
never in Doubt"; Let's celebrate his long-life and forget his Political
views.
Thanks for Freedom of Speech. Differences of opinion is the AMERICAN WAY.
John
Best regards,
John Camp,CPA
Camp Moring & Cannon,L.L.C.
1418 Laurel Street
Columbia, South Carolina 29201
PH.(803)252-9375 ; FAX (803)252-9378
"America counts on CPA's"
-----Original Message-----
From: camp-bounces(a)rootsweb.com [mailto:camp-bounces@rootsweb.com]On
Behalf Of Carole Johnson
Sent: Thursday, September 21, 2006 9:54 AM
To: camp(a)rootsweb.com
Subject: Re: [CAMP] John Camp
To clarify:
The DAR marker at the cemetery of Lebanon UMC
near Princeton, SC is to honor ALL patriots of
the church. It is not a tombstone, but a DAR
memorial marker. It is quite large. John
Camp's name is listed as "Jhn Camp" I have a
photograph of it that I personally made as well
as a rubbing of John's name.
Although the marker does not prove or disprove
that our John Camp was a patriot, I am inclined
to think that among the church membership it
was thought that he was. I am also inclined to
think that the charter members of the church most
likely moved to the area from NC (not really that
far) as a small group. From the church history,
several charter members (among them our John)
went to Virginia looking for a pastor.
I don't recall where I heard this, but it is speculated
that the second group of Thomas Camp's children
were possibly miffed at the first group because Thomas
most likely gave them land and or money while he
was still alive, and the second group received their
inheritance at his death when he most likely had
less to leave. We know little about Thomas' first
wife, Winifred Starling. Possibly Thomas gave
more to her children because her family might
have given to her. We do know that Margaret Carney
was a feisty Irish woman who reportedly hated
the British. The story was that she was not baptized
until she was an elderly woman and that she was
so large she was placed in a rocking chair in order
to baptized her in the Broad River near their home.
It would be easy to speculate that there was no
love lost between the two sets of children. Also,
in those frantic, early days of the new US government
it would be very easy to make accusations that
could not be supported. Just looking at events
of today, when reporting is instantaneous,
it is easy to see how people rush to
judgement. Once the accusation
was made there would probably also be no
apology once a charge was dropped. It would
just "go away". This probably led to John's
family to want to just leave and go somewhere
else. Once Thomas was dead, there probably
was no desire to remain in NC.
While visiting the land where Thomas and Margaret
made their home I met with an elderly lady who
owned the adjacent land. She told me that her
father had farmed where the Camp's original home
had been (it was burned by the British) and had
found bottles, pottery chards, etc. which proved that
a home had once been there, to ad credence to the
story. Also, remember that Thomas was too old
to fight in the Revolution so there should not be
any payment record made to him for any service.
John was approaching what was then middle
age.
We will probably never know the real truth. I just don't
see how John could have kept the company he did
and still be considered a traitor. That he was willing
to embrace a "new religion" such as Methodism and
break with the Anglican church adds support that he
didn't want to be connected with anything British.
Methodism had a foothold in the colonies well before
the Revolution. That the two Bishops remained in
the colonies and did not return to England after the
new country was formed also spoke volumes. They
were obviously accepted and Methodism spread
where Anglican churches were forced to adapt
and if memory serves correctly, became Episcopalian
churches.
I am going to pursue this like a mad dog.
Carole Camp Johnson
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