There is much to cast doubt on "Zachariah" as the name of the Campbell
from whom many of the Campbells of Perry and Breathitt Co., KY descend.
I have seen the old handed down information which says his name was
Zachariah and accepted it for a long time until I found information to
the contrary. Rev. J.J. Dickey was a circuit rider in the mountains of
Kentucky, and in the late 1800's he made a practice of asking older
people about their ancestors and writing down what they said. One of
the people he interviewed was Phoebe Campbell Noble, daughter of Lewis
Campbell. According to her, her grandparents were John and Nancy
Campbell, who came to the Perry/Breathitt Co. area from the Shenandoah
Valley of Virginia. She proceeds to name John and Nancy's children
(Caleb, Lewis, John Jack, etc.) and tells about how John Campbell
deserted his wife and children and left the territory and never came
back. This is borne out by the fact that the 1830 census shows a Nancy
Campbell as head of a household. The name Zachariah, in my opinion,
actually came into the family a generation or two later when Lewis
Campbell married a daughter of Zachariah Fugate. This is most likely
how Dr. Zach got his name. I too am descended from this line, and I
believe Phoebe Campbell Noble would have known the correct names for her
grandparents. Interestingly, there is a marriage record in Shenandoah
Co., VA in 1789 for John Campbell and Nancy Sherley. I have no proof
that this is the same John and Nancy who came to southeast Kentucky, but
the time fits very nicely with the birth of their children.