CAMPBELL. 



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GEOGRAPHICAL SITUATION. 



This is an interior town, lying southeast of the centre 

 of the county. It is bounded on the north by Bath and 

 Bradford, east by Hornby, south by Erwin and a part of 

 Addison, and west by Thurston. 



PHYSICAL FEATURES. 



The surface of the town consists chiefly of high, broken 

 ridges, separated by the rich valleys of the streams. The 

 declivities of the hills are generally steep, and their sum- 

 mits from three to five hundred feet above the valleys. 

 The streams are the Conhocton River, which flows south- 

 east through the west part of the town, and its tributaries, 

 Wolf Run, McNutt's Run, Mead's Creek, Dry Run, and 

 Stevens and Michigan Creeks. The valley of the Conhoc- 

 ton River is about one mile in width, and afl*ords a beauti- 

 ful scope of rich farming country. A similar valley lies 

 along Mead's Creek, in the northeast part of the town. 

 The soil of these valleys is a rich alluvium, while that of 

 the hills is clayey and gravelly loam. 



EARLY SETTLEMENT. 



Among the early and prominent settlers of the town 

 were the Campbell family, from whom its name is derived. 

 Before them, however, came a few others, who had built 

 their cabins on the fertile banks of the river, and at Mead's 

 Creek, before the beginning of this century. These pio- 

 neers were Joseph Wolcott, Elias Williams, Samuel Cal- 

 kins, and David McNutt, who gave his name to McNutt's 

 Run. Mr. Wolcott, with his family, occupied a cabin near 

 Wolf Run, on a part of the present residence lot of J. D. 

 Hamilton ; Mr. Williams was a blacksmith, and lived at 

 Mead's Creek ; Mr. Calkins built his cabin on the bank 

 of the river below where Curtisville now is, and Mr. 

 McNutt lived with his family in a little log cabin on 

 McNutt's Run. These were all the persons or families re- 

 siding within the six miles square when Mrs. Lucy Teeple, 

 daughter of Rev. Robert Campbell, still residing in the 

 town, came here with her parents, in 1803. Abram and 

 Isaac Thomas, hunters, had built a cabin on Mead's Creek, 

 but they probably were not occupying it at the time referred 

 to. It was unoccupied and apparently abandoned when the 

 settlers came into that section. 



The first conveyance of this town (number three in the 

 second range) was made by Oliver Phelps to Prince Bry- 

 ant, of Pennsylvania, in a deed bearing date Sept. 5, 1789. 

 Mr. Phelps then resided in Massachusetts, although he 

 had established a land-office at Canandaigua. This deed, 

 conveying the whole township for a consideration of 

 £1000, New York currency, was conditional upon the 

 acceptance of the terms by Nathaniel G-orham. Prince 



Bryant conveyed the township to Elijah Babcock, Oct. 2, 

 1789. Elijah Babcock sold 7680 acres to Roger Clark, 

 Nov. 22, 1798, and various parcels at other times to Sam- 

 uel Tooker, David Holmes, and William Babcock. The 

 title to a large portion of the township afterwards reverted 

 to Oliver Phelps, who sold to Joshua Hathaway, Zalmon 

 Tousey, Robert Campbell, and Gideon Granger. Joshua 

 Hathaway's deed for 2037 acres bears date Oct. 2, 1801. 

 He bought of Oliver Phelps for $5092.52. Robert Camp- 

 bell purchased half of the township, Nov. 21, 1801, and 

 the deed of Mr. Phelps to Zalmon Tousey for 1132 acres 

 is dated Dec. 2, 1801, 



Most of these later purchasers became prominent in the 

 early affjiirs of the town. 



In the year 1803, Rev. Robert Campbell and Capt. Sol- 

 omon Campbell, his nephew, who had served as an officer 

 in the Revolutionary war, emigrated from Stillwater, Sara- 

 toga Co., and settled in this town. Robert Campbell 

 brought with him four sons, viz., Robert, Jr., Miner 

 Campbell, flither of Rev. Dr. S. M. Campbell, of Rochester, 

 N. Y. ; Bradford, who died the second year after their 

 arrival, and was the first person buried in the Campbell 

 burying-ground ; Philo, who resided at Painted Post until 

 his death ; and his daughters, Rebecca, Rachel, Tamar, and 

 Lucy. Rebecca married Daniel Curtis, one of the old 

 settlers at Mead's Creek, and father of Daniel B. Curtis, 

 proprietor of Curtis' Mills ; Rachel married Asa Milliken, 

 and their marriage was probably the first in the town ; 

 Tamar married her cousin, Capt. Solomon Campbell, who 

 came from Saratoga when a young man. They moved to 

 the West many years ago. 



Lucy, widow of the late George Teeple, still resides in 

 town, and is the only one living of the large family. She 

 was eighty-seven years old on the 5th day of May, 1878, 

 and still retains a distinct recollection of the incidents of 

 their settlement here in the wilderness when she was but a 

 little girl. When her father came with his family they 

 rented a house near Bath until he could erect a house to 

 live in near where the grave-yard now is. He built a frame 

 house which stood until 1877, when it was burned down. 

 Mrs. Teeple has still living with her an old colored servant, 

 Jen, who is the daughter of a slave woman, and was born 

 in Robert Campbell's house in Saratoga County. She came 

 here with the family when a child ten years old, and is 

 eighty-five, and almost entirely blind. She had a brother, 

 Jehu, who was drowned while running rafts down the river. 

 Joseph Stevens was one of the first settlers of Campbell. 

 He came to this town from Sangerfield, Oneida Co., in 

 1805, and bought land and became a prominent and influ- 

 ential citizen. He had sons Joseph and John, who settled 

 and reared families in Campbell. Joseph Stevens, Jr., had 



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