As I mentioned previously, Cousin Harry Curtis Kemp, wrote a long letter
to the editor for the 100th anniversary issue of the Wellsboro Agitator,
Sept 23, 1954, beginning on page 5 and ending on page 4. He was born
June 17, 1868 in Farmington Twp., Tioga Co., PA, died in 1960, and
outlived two wives. A long life, but shorter than that of his father,
David Cook Kemp (1831 - 1929).
In my introductory message, I indicated that from what we know know,
there appear to be a number of errors in the oral history Harry
relates. He had the advantage of knowing people who knew all of our
immigrant Campbell, Hazlett, Lugg, and Blackwell ancestors that came to
Tioga Co., PA. We have a presumed advantage in having access to letters
and printed material from a variety of sources, some of which were not
available to him.
I hope no one thinks I was ridiculing oral history. But presumably
everyone knows the process of handing down stories from generation to
generation is fallible, and alterations often creep in. I know how
disappointed I was when I began researching and discovered that a number
of the grand stories I grew up listening to were at variance with the
facts -- which were much duller than the "improved" stories I listened to.
There is a very important sense in which any errors in the stories Harry
relates are unimportant. They were the history that his generation grew
up believing. They defined their image of themselves and their
"roots'. "Warts" and all, in an important sense they ARE the history
of
our family. Partly because that's what they believed. But also, the
myths and legends families create about themselves can also offer
insights as to how they wanted to see themselves. And sometimes perhaps
what someone felt made a "good story".
To avoid potential copyright problems, I will just summarize and
critique Harry's letter, because RootsWeb mail list messages are
"published" on the web in addition to going directly to the
subscribers. I will include brief quotes here and there, which is
allowed under the legal principle of "fair use".
Harry begins by acknowledging that the Agitator is the oldest paper in
Tioga Co. and that he has been reading it for 70 years. I doubt that
many of us have been reading one paper that long (in fact, most of us,
me included, haven't been reading that long).
He goes on to mention his great-uncle, John Campbell -- "Uncle Johnnie",
as "a rich merchant in Philadephia". John Campbell died in Tioga Co.,
in 1867, and was apparently born in Scotland in 1761 or 1762. He seems
to have been the first of our Campbells to come to America. When he came
is uncertain. He may have come as a boy during the Revolution, while
Philadelphia was in British hands. Perhaps as an apprentice to a
tailor, but that is uncertain. Munsell's "1883 History of Tioga county
Pennsylvania" speaks of him being in Philadelphia before 1800 and being
a tailor and a land agent. Whether his wealth came from a tailor shop
or from land speculation is uncertain, but the latter seems a distinct
possibility. Munsell's "History" itself is primarily a compilation of
oral traditions, and contains many errors of it's own. The same could
be said of Brown's "1897 History of Tioga County", but the more sources,
the better the chance of getting a fair idea of what happened. Unless
someone invents a time machine, we'll never have certainty about the
early times.
Harry then goes on to a dramatic, and not very flattering, portrayal of
Clan Campbell in Scotland and an infamous Duke of Argyll. He also tell
a famous story about a 1745 incident in which a McLean, Lord of Duart
castle, on the Isle of Mull, opposite the Argyll coast, tried to murder
his Campbell wife, as a way of obtaining a "quicky" divorce. This led
to the McLean being fatally stabbed by one of her brothers, and hard
feelings on both sides for a long time.
Mary and I visited Duart castle, and I believe Marylyn did also. It has
been used as a location in the Sean Connery movie, "Entrapment," and the
movies "I Know Where I'm Going" and "When the Eight Bells Toll".
You
can see it at
www.scotlandthemovie.com/movies/*duart*.html or
www.duartcastle.com
In Harry's version she is tied to a rock in the Sound of Mull, and left
to drown when the high tide covers it. In the version they tell at
Duart Castle, which one might expect to me more favorable to the
McLeans, she was tied and left ON the rock. Having seen the rock, that
version sound more likely, but the distinction doesn't matter much to
someone left to drown. Supposedly, a fisherman discovers and saves her,
without the McLean realizing it. In the official History of the Clan
Campbell books, they tell of McLean coming to a banquet at his
father-in-law's castle, and telling a long tragic story about the sad
death of his wife. As he finished the lament, she makes a surprise (at
least to him) sudden appearance. He is allowed to leave, but has a
short life expectancy.
Harry attributes that incident as the beginning of the feud between the
Campbells, but I think you'll find it goes back much farther and that
the marriage was an attempt to end the feud - albeit an unsuccessful
attempt.
Harry ends his account of Clan Campbell in Scotland with "History says
that the Campbells were Proud, Haughty, and Handsome". Obviously
"history" doesn't say such things, but someone who called himself a
historian may have. No doubt Harry read it somewhere. My impression is
that the chieftains of virtually every Scottish clan were proud and
haughty. "Handsome" is harder to evaluate. There are lots of portraits
of Campbell Chiefs of the 17th century and since, so one can decide for
themselves about how handsome they were. Of course 'handsome' in 1700
may be different than today's standards. Certainly they didn't have
orthodontists and Pepsodent to provide beautiful smiles. But the first
Campbell probably was not handsome, since the name supposedly comes from
the Gaelic for "crooked mouth", i.e. from a birth defect or injury.
In the next episode, I'll cover Harry's account of our Campbells and
Hazletts coming to Lycoming and Tioga Cos. And the arrival of the
Blackwells in Lycoming Co. Most intriguing is Harry's apparent
assertion that in addition to "Uncle Johnnie" and his brother, the 1748
- 1822 Joseph Campbell, there was a third brother, James Campbell, who
went to Pittsburgh along with Joseph and Mary Harper Campbell's oldest
son John. We knew about the younger John going to Pittsburgh, but
that's the first time I've encountered the name of another sibling in
the 1st generation or heard of one going to Pittsburgh. I knew there
were other siblings, but have no idea how many or where. All the John
Campbells and James Campbells are almost as confusing as all the Sam
Hazletts and John Hazletts. Unfortunately, Allegheny Co. history has a
surplus of all four names.
To be continued.