The house of Argyll, head of the Scottish Clan Campbell, have an authenticated history extending back to the great Diarmid Mac Dwibhne, who was contemporary with the 79th King of Scots, Anno Domini, 977. From him through lyric odes of the bards and tradition they trace thirteen generations further back into antiquity to Constantine, who came over from France in the year 404 and died Anno Domini, 420. In the seventeenth generation from Constantine the whole clan O'Dwibhne in Argyllshire assumed the surname Campbell in courtesy to their chief, Archibald, whose name or title was translated in the Latin Campus Bellus, and Campbell the name has since been. The family were noble for ten generations to Archibald, the tenth earl, who in 1701 was created by William the Third, Duke of Argyle. He was of the fortieth generation. The present Duke of Argyle is the thirty-first Campbell in direct descent to hold the title.
The first of the clan to come to America and settle in northern New York was Captain Laughlin Campbell, a soldier of great courage, who visited Washington county in 1737 in response to the invitation of the New York authorities to Scotch Highlanders to settle here. Laughlin Campbell was a younger brother of the then Duke of Argyle. Being pleased with the country, he was promised a grant of thirty thousand acres for colony use, for survey fees and quit rent, by Lieutenant-Governor Clark. He returned to Scotland, sold his property, raised a colony of four hundred and twenty-three adults, and with a part of them came the next year (1738) to New York, where Governor Clark insisted on full fees and a share in the land. Campbell refused his demands, and Clark recommended the legislature to grant the colony assistance, but that body, then at war with the governor, declined to respond, as they suspected the money would go to the colonial officials for fees. The colonists were obliged to separate to earn their living, and Campbell, with the remains of his broken fortunes, purchased and settled down upon a small farm in the province. A few years after, in 1745, when the rebellion broke out in Scotland, he went back to that country and served under the Duke of Cumberland until the close of the war. He then returned to his family here, and died soon after from the effects of wounds received in the war. His children were afterward granted, in 1763, a tract of ten thousand acres in Washington county, in the town of Argyle, now Greenwich.
(II) Duncan, son of Captain Laughlin Campbell, settled in the town of Argyle, Washington county, New York, on the "Campbell Patent," near the Batten Kill, in 1765. In 1803 the town of Greenwich was created from Argyle and his farm was in the new town. It contained four hundred and fifty acres. From 1772 to 1780 Duncan Campbell was supervisor of the town. He married and had issue. In the old burying ground at Fort Edward, New York, may be seen an old tombstone, which must not be confounded with the burial place of Duncan Campbell, although he was a kinsman. "Here lyes the body of Duncan Campbell of Invershaw Esq. Major to the old Highland regiment; aged 55 years who died the 17th of July 1758 of the wounds he received in the attack of the Retrenchments of Ticonderoga or Carillon 8th of July 1758."
(III) Archibald, son of Duncan Campbell, was born on the farm in Argyle in 1739, died at Jackson, New York, January 31, 1808. He was a merchant, and one of the five trustees appointed to divide and distribute the land to the grantees under the Campbell patent. In 1772-73-74 he was town clerk. In 1789 his name heads the list of subscribers to the fund for erecting a church building for the United Presbyterian congregation, of which he was one of the original members. He married Flora McNeil, born 1755, died in Jackson, New York, November 1, 1825. They are buried on the old farm near Salem, New York. Children:
- Catherine, born January 4, 1772;
- Ann, April 27, 1774;
- John, June 15, 1776;
- Alexander, see forward;
- Ellen, June 12, 1783;
- Duncan (2), September 26, 1785;
- Margaret (twin), October 8, 1787;
- Ann (twin);
- Archibald, Jr., 1790 (q. v.).
(IV) Alexander, son of Archibald and Flora (McNeil) Campbell, was born at Jackson, Washington county, New York, February 19, 1779. He married, February 22, 1812, Eleanor, born 1791, in Center Falls, Washington county, New York, daughter of J. Ezra Dyer. Children:
- Angeline, born January 13, 1813;
- Catherine, January 22, 1815;
- Alexander, October 19, 1817;
- Ezra Dyer, September 12, 1819;
- Melancthon Wheeler, see forward;
- Nancy E., September 27, 1827;
- Esther Ann, April 21, 1830.
(V) Melancthon Wheeler, son of Alexander and Eleanor (Dyer) Campbell, was. born in Jackson, Washington county, New York, November 9, 1822, died March 1, 1894, at Troy, New York. He married Adelia Caroline Schoonmaker, born in Stillwater, Saratoga county, New York, June 12, 1825. Children:
- Alexander F., born November 9, 1856, he is a lawyer of New York City, unmarried;
- Charles Dunning, see forward;
- William Melancthon, November 21, 1861, a physician of Cohoes, New York.
(VI) Charles Dunning, second son of Melancthon Wheeler and Adelia C. (Schoonmaker) Campbell, was born in Stillwater, Saratoga county, New York, March 17, 1859. He was educated in Troy, New York, and resided there until 1907, when he removed to Newark, New Jersey. He is engaged in business in New York City and Troy. He married, April 27, 1886, in Troy, New York, Georgianna Sumner (see Sumner VIII), born February 22, 1863. Children:
- Sumner E., born January 30, 1887, a student at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute;
- Dorothea Adelia,, July 11, 1892.
(The Sumner Line)
The principal family of this name in the United States trace their ancestry to Roger Sumner, of Oxfordshire, England, a husbandman. He married, at Bicester, November 2, 1601, Joane Franklin, and died there December 3, 1608. His widow married, January 10, 1611, Marcus Brian, of Merton, a neighborhood parish, who died in 1620. Roger Sumner had a brother William, who died at Bicester in 1597. The only child of Roger and Joane Sumner was William.
(I) William, only child of Roger and Joane (Franklin) Sumner, was born at Bicester, England, 1605. He married there and in 1636 emigrated to New England, settling at Dorchester, Massachusetts. He became a man of importance there, holding many offices. He was made a freeman May 17, 1637, and was selectman of Dorchester for more than twenty years. From 1663 to 1680 he was one of the feoffes of the school fund, and from 1663 to 1671 commissioner to try small causes. He was a member of the train band and clerk. In 1658-66-70-72-78-81-83-86 he was deputy from Dorchester to the general court. He married, at Bicester, England, October 22, 1625, Mary West. Children, first born in Bicester: William;
- Joane, married Aaron Way, of Dorchester, and after his death went to South Carolina with two of her brothers;
- Roger;
- George, see forward;
- Samuel;
- Increase.
(II) Deacon George, fourth child of William and Mary (West) Sumner, was born in Bicester, England, in 1634, died at Milton, Massachusetts, December 11, 1715. He formed part of the family emigration in 1636. He was made a freeman of Massachusetts May 6, 1657. He removed to Milton, Massachusetts, where he was lieutenant of the train band. In 1693-1703-08-09 he was deputy to the general court from Milton. He was ordained a deacon of the church July 30, 1699. He married, at Northampton, Massachusetts, November 7, 1662, Mary, died April 1, 1719, daughter of Edward Baker, of that town. Children:
- Mary, married Joseph Swinerton;
- George (2), married Ann Tucker;
- Samuel, was sergeant in Captain Withington's company in the Canada expedition of 1690 and was never heard from later;
- William, lost on the same expedition as Samuel;
- Ebenezer, married Abigail Lovett;
- Edward, see forward;
- Joseph, married Sarah Lovett;
- Benjamin, married Elizabeth Babcock.
(III) Edward, sixth child of Deacon George and Mary (Baker) Sumner, was born at Milton, Massachusetts, August 29, 1676, died in Roxbury, Massachusetts, 1763. He removed from Milton to Roxbury early in life, and was a useful citizen. He married, at Roxbury, September 25, 1701, Elizabeth, died September 26, 1758, daughter of Samuel Clap, of Dorchester. Children, all born in Roxbury:
- Edward (2), see forward;
- Elizabeth, died in infancy;
- John, was a Harvard graduate, A.B., in 1723, married Susanna Stevens;
- Elizabeth, married Benjamin Boylston, of Brookline and Mendon, Massachusetts;
- Samuel, married Abigail, daughter of Increase Mather, of Boston;
- Increase, married Sarah, daughter of Robert Sharp, of Roxbury;
- Hannah, married (first) Rev. John Newman, of Edgartown, (second) Jonathan Metcalf, of Dedham;
- Mary, married Rev. Thomas Batch, of Boston;
- Nathaniel, graduated A.B. from Harvard, class of 1739, resided in Dedham, where he was captain of militia, deacon of the church, selectman, and in 1757-62-69-70 deputy to the general assembly of Massachusetts from Dedham, married Hannah Bullard, of Walpole;
- Ebenezer, was a lieutenant in the expedition against Louisburg in 1745;
- Benjamin, lived at Ashford, Connecticut, where he was captain, deacon and deputy, married Bridget Perry.
(IV) Edward (2), eldest child of Edward (1) and Elizabeth (Clap) Sumner, was born at Roxbury, Massachusetts. He removed to Ashford, Connecticut, where he died in 1780. He married Sarah ————. Children, all born in Ashford:
- Edward (3), married Experience ————;
- Sarah, married Solomon Keyes;
- Elizabeth, born in 1732;
- Mary, died in childhood;
- John, see forward;
- Hannah, married Christopher Webber;
- Mary, married Daniel Allen;
- Bridget, was of Corinth, Vermont, in 1819;
- Clap, removed to Corinth, Vermont, where he was a captain of militia, he married (first) Keziah ————, (second) Mehitable Lassel, (third) Mary Stevens, who survived him and was afterwards twice married.
(V) John, fifth child of Edward (2) and Sarah Sumner, was born at Ashford, Connecticut, in 1736, died in Edinburg, New York, August 6, 1804. He served in the revolution, attaining the rank of captain. Prior to 1800, with wife and family, he removed to the town of Edinburg, Saratoga county, New York, settling near Batchellerville, on the north side of the river. The sons, John, Robert, Amasa and Benjamin, all took up farms in the neighborhood. John Sumner built the first saw mill on Batcheller creek. Two of his sons, Robert and Benjamin, served in the revolution; Benjamin was taken prisoner and conveyed to England in chains. The long confinement and galling chains broke down his health and be never recovered. He is buried on his farm in Saratoga county. John Sumner was a cousin of the father of the illustrious Charles Sumner, United States senator from Massachusetts. He married, January 1, 1761, Mehitable Perry, of Ashford, where all his children were born:
- Robert, see forward;
- Mary (Polly), married Jonathan Smith, of Edinburg, she lived to be one hundred years old, dying in 1862;
- Benjamin, the revolutionary soldier of previous mention, married Ruth Palmer;
- Amasa, married and had issue;
- Mehitable, married Milliard Trowbridge;
- Jane, died in childhood;
- Sarah, married Steelson Benson;
- John, married and had issue;
- Elizabeth (Betsey), married George Bradford and lived to the age of ninety-four years;
- Piercy, married James Perry;
- Ebenezer, married and had issue.
(VI) Robert, eldest child of John and Mehitable (Perry) Sumner, was born in Ashford, Connecticut, September 18, 1761, died at Edinburg, New York, November 19, 1845. He served in the revolution, and was the first supervisor of Edinburg, serving four years. He married, December 22, 1784, Jemima, daughter of John Younglove, of Thompson, Connecticut, and later removed to Edinburg, New York, where he died. His wife died May 5, 1849. Children, first four born in Connecticut, the last five in Edinburg:
- Clarissa, married Peter Thompson;
- Elsie, married David Page, of Northampton, New York;
- Abigail, married Lebbeus Olcott, of Fabius, New York;
- Sarah, married (first) ———— Goodwin, (second) Elias Sheldon, of Fabius, New York;
- Amasa, see forward;
- Jane, married David Benson, of Fabius;
- Robert, died in childhood;
- Alanson, married (first) Emily D. Beecher, (second) Diadama B. Fay, he removed to Albany, New York, where he died;
- Jemima, married Joseph Covell.
(VII) Amasa, fifth child and eldest son of Robert and Jemima (Younglove) Sumner, was born in Edinburg, New York, February 10, 1794. He lived in Edinburg all his days and died there May 2, 1871. He married, February 10, 1816, Abigail Ellithorp, who died in 1848. Children, all born in Edinburg:
- Emily, died in infancy;
- Elsie, born in 1821;
- Robert T., born March 12, 1824, married Mary Smith and removed to Brewerton, New York; children: Courtland L., David C., Emma A. and Emily E.;
- Solomon, born in 1827, married Mehitable Sumner, a kinswoman;
- Alanson A., born February, 1829;
- Jackson A., see forward;
- Cyrus, born in 1833, married Mary Pullen; children: Charles M., William C. and Emma Helena;
- Helena, born in 1835, married B. R. Jenkins, of Batchellerville New York.
(VIII) Jackson Amasa, sixth child of Amasa and Abigail (Ellithorp) Sumner, was born in Edinburg, New York, October 16, 1831, died in Albany, New York, March 13, 1870. He was actively engaged in the lumber business in Albany. He was of political prominence in the Democratic party. He married, January 29, 1862, Katherine Elizabeth Smith, of Troy, born at Clifton Park, New York (see Smith III). Children:
- Georgianna, born February 22, 1863, married Charles Dunning Campbell (see Campbell VI);
- Robert, born June 30, 1868, died July 31, 1869.
(The Smith Line)
The family line of Katherine E. Smith (Mrs. Jackson A. Sumner) was founded in America by Johannes Schmidt, of Germany, son of Ludwig. [Edward M.] Smith's "History of Rhinebeck, New York," records one Johannes Schmidt who was baptized there April 5, 1730, and married Elizabeth Zipperlee, February 3, 1761, and had a son Frederick. The name being the same and the dates being nearly so, it is strongly probable that Johannes of Rhinebeck and Johannes of Brunswick are the same.
(I) Johannes Schmidt, son of Ludwig Schmidt, was born in Germany, emigrated to America, and is found associated in Rensselaer county, New York, at an early date with the` Wager family, with whom he is said to have emigrated. He married and had issue.
(II) Frederick, son of Johannes Schmidt, was born in the town of Brunswick, Rensselaer county, New York, February 19, 1783. He was a farmer there all his days. He married Eva File, born September 9, 1783, daughter of an early settler of the town. Children: Katherine, John F., see forward, David, Betsey, Jonas, Sarah, Moses, Daniel and Silas. The File family are frequently found in the early records of Brunswick. The Schmidts were members of Gilead Lutheran church, where their family records are found.
(III) John Frederick, eldest son of Frederick and Eva (File) Schmidt, was born in Brunswick, Rensselaer county, New York, December 6, 1804, died at Clifton Park, New York, November 16, 1846. He was a farmer of the town and a member of the Lutheran church. He married Lanah Wager, born in Brunswick, Rensselaer county, New York, November 3, 1810. Children:
- Mary Savilla, born October 6, 1831, married Francis A. Fales, of Troy;
- Evelyn, born May 7, 183—, married ———— Fales, brother of Francis A. Fales; children:
- Louis H., a practicing physician of Madison, Wisconsin, and
- Ida B. Fales;
- Katherine Elizabeth, married Jackson A. Sumner (see Sumner VIII);
- Francetta, married Richard James Richardson.