An Historical Account of the Settlements of Scotch Highlanders in America Part 14

[Footnote 89: Oglethorpe to H. Verelst, Dec. 29, 1739. Georgia Hist.

Coll., Vol. III, p. 96.]

[Footnote 90: See Appendix, Note H.]

[Footnote 91: Thomas Jones, dated Savannah, Sept. 18, 1740 Georgia Hist.

Coll., Vol. I, p. 200.]

[Footnote 92: Dated April 28, 1741. Georgia Hist. Coll., Vol. III, p.

113.]

[Footnote 93: Georgia Hist. Coll., Vol. III, p. 370.]

CHAPTER VII.

CAPTAIN LAUCHLAN CAMPBELL'S NEW YORK COLONY.

The fruitful soil of America, together with the prospects of a home and an independent living, was peculiarly adapted to awaken n.o.ble aspirations in the b.r.e.a.s.t.s of those who were interested in the welfare of that cla.s.s whose condition needed a radical enlargement. Among this cla.s.s of Nature's n.o.blemen there is no name deserving of more praise than that of Lauchlan Campbell. Although his name, as well as the migration of his infant colony, has gone out of Islay ken, where he was born, yet his story has been fairly well preserved in the annals of the province of New York. It was first publicly made known by William Smith, in his "History of New York."

Lauchlan Campbell was possessed of a high sense of honor and a good understanding; was active, loyal, of a military disposition, and, withal, strong philanthropic inclinations. By placing implicit confidence in the royal governors of New York, he fell a victim to their roguery, deception and heartlessness, which ultimately crushed him and left him almost penniless. The story has been set forth in the following memorial, prepared by his son:

"Memorial of Lieutenant Campbell to the Lords of Trade. To the Right Honourable the Lords Commissioners of Trade, &c. Memorial of Lieut.

Donald Campbell of the Province of New York Plantation. Humbly Showeth,

That in the year 1734 Colonel Cosby being then Governor of the Province of New York by and with the advice and a.s.sent of his Council published a printed Advertis.e.m.e.nt for encouraging the Resort of Protestants from Europe to settle upon the Northern Frontier of the said Province (in the route from Fort Edward to Crown Point) promising to each family two hundred acres of unimproved land out of 100,000 acres purchased from the Indians, without any fee or expences whatsoever, except a very moderate charge for surveying & liable only to the King's Quit Rent of one s.h.i.+lling and nine pence farthing per hundred acres, which settlement would at that time have been of the utmost utility to the Province & these proposals were looked upon as so advantageous, that they could not fail of having a proper effect.

That these Proposals in 1737, falling into the hands of Captain Lauchlin Campbell of the Island of Isla, he the same year went over to North America, and pa.s.sing through the Province of Pennsilvania where he rejected many considerable offers that were made him, he proceeded to New York, where, tho' Governor Cosby was deceased, George Clarke Esqr. then Governor, a.s.sured him no part of the lands were as yet granted; importuned him & two or three persons that went over with him to go up and visit the lands, which they did, and were very kindly received and greatly caressed by the Indians. On his return to New York he received the most solemn promises that he should have a thousand acres for every family that he brought over, and that each family should have according to their number from five hundred to one hundred and fifty acres, but declined making any Grant till the Families arrived, because, according to the Const.i.tution of that Government, the names of the settlers were to be inserted in that Grant. Captain Campbell accordingly returned to Isla, and brought from thence at a very large expense, his own Family and Thirty other Families, making in all, one hundred and fifty-three Souls. He went again to visit the lands, received all possible respect and kindness from the Government, who proposed an old Fort Anna to be repaired, to cover the new settlers from the French Indians. At the same time, the People of New York proposed to maintain the people already brought, till Captain Campbell could return and bring more, alledging that it would be for the interest of the Infant Colony to settle upon the lands in a large Body; that, covered by the Fort, and a.s.sisted by the Indians, they might be less liable to the Incursions of Enemies.

That to keep up the spirit of the undertaking, Governor Clarke, by a writing bearing date the 4th day of December, 1738, declared his having promised Captain Campbell thirty thousand acres of land at Wood Creek, free of charges, except the expence of surveying & the King's Quit Rent in consideration of his having already brought over thirty families who according to their respective numbers in each family, were to have from one hundred and fifty to five hundred acres. Encouraged by this declaration, he departed in the same month for Isla, and in August, 1739, brought over Forty Families more, and under the Faith of the said promises made a third voyage, from which he returned in November, 1740, bringing with him thirteen Families the whole making eighty-three Families, composed of Four Hundred and Twenty Three Persons, all sincere and loyal Protestants, and very capable of forming a respectable Frontier for the security of the Province. But after all these perilous and expensive voyages, and tho' there wanted but Seventeen Families to complete the number for which he had undertaken, he found no longer the same countenance or protection but on the contrary it was insinuated to him that he could have no land either for himself or the people, but upon conditions in direct violation of the Faith of Government, and detrimental to the interests of those who upon his a.s.surances had accompanied him into America. The people also were reduced to demand separate Grants for themselves, which upon large promises some of them did, yet more of them never had so much as a foot of land, and many listed themselves to join the Expedition to Cuba.

That Captain Campbell having disposed of his whole Fortune in the Island of Isla, expended the far greatest part of it from his confidence in these fallacious promises found himself at length constrained to employ the little he had left in the purchase of a small farm seventy miles north of New York for the subsistence of himself and his Family consisting of three sons and three daughters.

He went over again into Scotland in 1745, and having the command of a Company of the Argyles.h.i.+re men, served with Reputation under his Royal Highness the Duke, against the Rebels. He went back to America in 1747 and not longer after died of a broken heart, leaving behind him the six children before mentioned of whom your Memoralist is the eldest, in very narrow and distressed circ.u.mstances."

All these facts are briefly commemorated by Mr. Smith in his History of the Colony of New York, page 179, where are some severe, though just strictures on the behavior of those in power towards him and the families he brought with him, and the loss the Province sustained by such behavior towards them.

"That at the Commencement of the present War, your Memoralist and both his brothers following their Father's principles in hopes of better Fortune entered into the Army & served in the Forty Second, Forty Eighth and Sixtieth Regiments of Foot during the whole War, at the close of which your Memoralist and his brother George were reduced as Lieutenants upon half pay, and their youngest Brother still continues in the service; the small Farm purchased by their father being the sole support of themselves and three sisters till they were able to provide for themselves in the manner before mentioned, and their sisters are now married & settled in the Province of New York.

That after the conclusion of the Peace, your Memoralist considering the number of Families dispersed through the Province which came over with his Father, and finding in them a general disposition to settle with him on the lands originally promised them, if they could be obtained, in the month of February, 1763, pet.i.tioned Governor Monckton for the said lands but was able only to procure a Grant of ten thousand acres, (for obtaining which, he disbursed in Patent and other fees, the sum of two hundred Guineas), the people in Power alledging that land was now at a far greater value than at the time of your Memoralist's Father's coming into the Province, and even this upon the common condition of settling ten Families upon the said lands and paying a Quit Rent to the Crown. Part however of the People who had promised to settle with your Memoralist in case he had prevailed, were drawn to pet.i.tion for lands to themselves, which they obtained, tho' they never could get one foot of land before, which provision of lands as your Memoralist apprehends, ought in Equity to be considered as an obligation on the Province to perform, so far as the number of those Families goes, the Conditions stipulated with his Father, as those Families never had come into & consequently could not now be remaining in the Province, if he had not persuaded them to accompany him, & been at a very large expence in transporting them thither.

That there are still very many of these Families who have no land and would willingly settle with your Memoralist. That there are numbers of non commissioned Officers and Soldiers of the Regiments disbanded in North America who notwithstanding His Majesty's gracious Intentions are from many causes too long to trouble your Lords.h.i.+p with at present without any settlement provided for them, and that there are also many Families of loyal Protestants in the Islands and other parts of North Britain which might be induced by reasonable proposals and a certainty of their being fulfilled, to remove into the said Province, which would add greatly to the strength, security and opulence thereof, and be in all respects faithful and serviceable subjects to His Majesty.

That the premisses considered, particularly the long scene of hards.h.i.+ps to which your Memoralist's Family has been exposed, for Twenty Six years, in consideration of his own and his Brothers'

services, & the perils to which they have been exposed during the long and fatiguing War, and the Prospect he still has of contributing to the settlement of His Majesty's unimproved country, your Memoralist humbly prays that Your Lords.h.i.+ps would direct the Government of New York to grant to him the said One Hundred thousand Acres, upon his undertaking to settle One Hundred or One Hundred and Fifty Families upon the same within the s.p.a.ce of Three years or such other Recompence or Relief as upon mature Deliberation on the Hards.h.i.+ps and Sufferings which his Father and his Family have for so many years endured, & their merits, in respect to the Province of New York which might be incontestably proved, if it was not universally acknowledged, may in your great Wisdom be thought to deserve.

And your Memoralist: &c., &c., &c.[94]

May, 1764."

It was the policy of the home government to settle as rapidly as possible the wild lands; not so much for the purpose of benefiting the emigrant as it was to enhance the king's exchequer. The royal governors apparently held out great inducements to the settlers, but the sequel always showed that a species of blackmail or tribute must be paid by the purchasers before the lands were granted. The governor was one thing to the higher authorities, but far different to those from whom he could reap advantage. The seeming disinterested motives may be thus ill.u.s.trated:

Under date of New York, July 26, 1736, George Clarke, lieutenant governor of New York, writes to the duke of Newcastle, in which he says, it was princ.i.p.ally

"To augment his Majesty's Quit rents that I projected a Scheme to settle the Mohacks Country in this Province, which I have the pleasure to hear from Ireland and Holland is like to succeed. The scheme is to give grants gratis of an hundred thousand acres of land to the first five hundred protestant familys that come from Europe in two hundred acres to a family, these being settled will draw thousands after them, for both the situation and quant.i.ty of the Land are much preferable to any in Pensilvania, the only Northern Colony to which the Europeans resort, and the Quit rents less. Governor Cosby sent home the proposals last Summer under the Seal of the Province, and under his and the Council's hands, but it did not reach Dublin till the last day of March; had it come there two months sooner I am a.s.sured by a letter which I lately received, directed to Governor Cosby, that we should have had two s.h.i.+ps belonging to this place (then lying there) loaded with people but next year we hope to have many both from thence and Germany. When the Mohocks Country is settled we shall have nothing to fear from Canada."[95]

The same, writing to the Lords of Trade, under date of New York, June 15, 1739, says:

"The lands whereon the French propose to settle were purchased from Indian proprietors (who have all along been subject to and under the protection of the Crown of England) by one G.o.dfrey Dellius and granted to him by patent under the seal of this province in the year 1696, which grant was afterwards resumed by act of a.s.sembly whereby they became vested in the Crown; on part of these lands I proposed to settle some Scotch Highland familys who came hither last year, and they would have been now actually settled there, if the a.s.sembly would have a.s.sisted them, for they are poor and want help; however as I have promised them lands gratis, some of them about three weeks ago went to view that part of the Country, and if they like the lands I hope they will accept my offer (if the report of the French designs do not discourage them:) depending upon the voluntary a.s.sistance of the people of Albany whose more immediate interest it is to encourage their settlement in that part of the country."[96]

That Captain Campbell would have secured the lands there can be no question had he complied with Governor Clarke's demands, although said demands were contrary to the agreement. Private faith and public honor demanded the fair execution of the project, which had been so expensive to the undertaker, and would have added greatly to the benefit of the colony. The governor would not make the grant unless he should have his fees and a share of the land.

The quit rent in the province of New York was fixed at two s.h.i.+llings six pence for every one hundred acres. The fees for a grant of a thousand acres were as follows: To the governor, $31.25; secretary of state, $10; clerk of the council, $10 to $15; receiver general, $14.37; attorney general, $7.50; making a total of about $75, besides the cost of survey.

This amount does not appear to be large for the number of acres, yet it must be considered that land was plenty, but money very scarce. There were thousands of substantial men who would have found it exceedingly difficult to raise the amount in question.

It is possible that Captain Campbell could not have paid this extortion even if he had been so disposed; but being high-spirited, he resolutely refused his consent. The governor, still pretending to be very anxious to aid the emigrants, recommended the legislature of the province to grant them a.s.sistance; but, as usual, the latter was at war with the governor, and refused to vote money to the Highlanders, which they suspected, with good reason, the latter would be required to pay to the colonial officers for fees.

Not yet discouraged, Captain Campbell determined to exhaust every resource that justice might be done to him. His next step was to appeal to the legislature for redress, but it was in vain; then he made an application to the Board of Trade, in England, which had the power to rectify the wrong. Here he had so many difficulties to contend with that he was forced to leave the colonists to themselves, who soon after separated. But all his efforts proved abortive.

The pet.i.tion of Lieutenant Donald Campbell, though courteously expressed, and eminently just, was rejected. It was claimed that the orders of the English government positively forbade the granting of over a thousand acres to any one person; yet that thousand acres was denied him.

The injustice accorded to Captain Campbell was more or less notorious throughout the province. It was generally felt there had been bad treatment, and there was now a disposition on the part of the colonial authorities to give some relief to his sons and daughters. Accordingly, on November 11, 1763, a grant of ten thousand acres, in the present towns.h.i.+p of Greenwich, Was.h.i.+ngton county, New York, was made to the three brothers, Donald, George and James, their three sisters and four other persons, three of whom were also named Campbell.

The final success of the Campbell family in obtaining redress inspired others who had belonged to the colony to pet.i.tion for a similar recompense for their hards.h.i.+ps and losses. They succeeded in obtaining a grant of forty-seven thousand, four hundred and fifty acres, located in the present towns.h.i.+p of Argyle, and a small part of Fort Edward and Greenwich, in the same county.

On March 2, 1764, Alexander McNaughton and one hundred and six others of the original Campbell emigrants and their descendants, pet.i.tioned for one thousand acres to be granted to each of them

"To be laid out in a single tract between the head of South bay and Kingsbury, and reaching east towards New Hamps.h.i.+re and westwardly to the mountains in Warren county. The committee of the council to whom this pet.i.tion was referred reported May 21, 1764, that the tract proposed be granted, which was adopted, the council specifying the amount of land each individual of the pet.i.tioners should receive, making two hundred acres the least and six hundred the most that anyone should obtain. Five men were appointed as trustees, to divide and distribute the land as directed. The same instrument incorporated the tract into a towns.h.i.+p, to be called Argyle, and should have a supervisor, treasurer, collector, two a.s.sessors, two overseers of highways, two overseers of the poor and six constables, to be elected annually by the inhabitants on the first day of May. The patent, similar to all others of that period, was subject to the following conditions:

An annual quit rent of two s.h.i.+llings and six pence sterling on every one hundred acres, and all mines of gold and silver, and all pine trees suitable for masts for the royal navy, namely, all which were twenty-four inches from the ground, reserved to the crown."[97]

The land thus granted lies in the central part of Was.h.i.+ngton county, with a broken surface in the west and great elevations and ridges in the east. The soil is rich and the whole well watered.

The trustees were vested with the power to execute t.i.tle deeds to such of the grantees, should they claim the lands, the first of which were issued during the winter and spring of 1764-5 by Duncan Reid, of the city of New York, _gentleman_; Peter Middleton, of same city, _physician_; Archibald Campbell, of same city, _merchant_; Alexander McNaughton,[98] of Orange county, _farmer_; and Neil Gillaspie, of Ulster county, _farmer_, of the one part, and the grantees of the other part.

While the application for the grant was yet pending, the pet.i.tioners greatly exalted over their future prospects, evolved a grand scheme for the survey of the prospective lands, which should include a stately street from the banks of the Hudson river on the east through the tract, upon which each family should have a town lot, where he might not only enjoy the protection of near neighbors, but also have that companions.h.i.+p of which the Highlander is so particularly fond. In the rear of these town lots were to be the farms, which in time were to be occupied by tenants. The surveyors, Archibald Campbell, of Raritan, New Jersey, and Christopher Yates, of Schenectady, who began their labors June 19, 1764, were instructed to lay off the land as planned, the street to extend from east to west, twenty-four rods wide and extending through the width of the grant as near the center as practicable, and to set aside a glebe lot for the benefit of the school master and the minister. North and south of the street, and bordering on it, the surveyors laid off lots running back one hundred and eighty rods, varying in width so as to contain from twenty to sixty acres. These lots were numbered, making in all one hundred and forty-one, seventy-two being on the south side of the street, and the remainder on the north. The farms were also numbered, also making one hundred and forty-one.

In the plan no allowance had been made for the rugged nature of the country, and consequently the magnificent street was located over hills whose proportions prevented its use as a public highway, while some of the lots were uninhabitable.

The following is a list of the grantees, the number of the lot and its contents being set opposite the name:

Lot. Name. Acres.

1. Catharine Campbell 250 2. Elizabeth Cargill 250 3. Allan McDonald 300 4. Neil Gillaspie 450 5. Mary Campbell 350 6. Duncan McKerwan 350 7. Ann McAnthony 250 8. Mary McGowne 300 9. Catherine McLean 300 10. Mary Anderson 300 11. Archibald McNeil 300 12. Dougall McAlpine 300 13. David Lindsey 250 14. Elizabeth Campbell 300 15. Ann McDuffie 350 16. Donald McDougall 300 17. Archibald McGowne 300 18. Eleanor Thompson 300

Lot. Name. Acres.