I want to thank you for the many replies to my original message. Because of all the
hustle and bustle at Xmas I haven’t been able to answer them individually, but will do so
in Jan. But first some general information.
There are three lines of Campbells who immigrated. 1) the Scottish Campbells of Clan
Campbell in Scotland; 2) Scotch-Irish Campbells who were protestant Scots that the English
“planted” in the Ulster Plantation to subdue the catholic Irish; and 3) Irish Campbells
who were originally members of the Irish Clan Cathmhoal, pronounced “cammel”, similar to
“Campbell” and eventually was written as “Campbell.” These Irish Campbells were centered
around Tyrone in Ireland. I descended from the Irish Campbells. The groups 2 and 3 are
generally lumped together as Scotch-Irish.
For some reason the Scotch and the Scotch-Irish Campbells didn’t mingle in America, going
to their own separate settlements. An important Scotch-Irish settlement was Londonderry,
NH, where my ancestors went. We must remember that immigrating to America in the early
1700s was a hardship because America was for the most part a wilderness; therefore, the
Campbells immigrated as families or groups of relatives to support eachother. The port of
entry was usually Boston. So if your ancestors immigrated to America in the early 1700s
and then to Londonderry, we might have a relationship.
In closing I want to wish all of you a Merry Christmas,
George Campbell