Campbell, Donald

From: An Island Refuge- Loyalists and Disbanded Troops on The Island of Saint John, The Abegweit Branch of UELAC, 1983

  • The minutes of the Executive Council of the Island of Saint John, on June 17, 1785, lists DONALD CAMPBELL as a refugee, (sometimes referred to as Daniel) and his wife, Margaret Fullerton, had owned a large cotton plantation in North Carolina. They were forced to flee their plantation shortly after the outbreak of the Revolutionary War and sought refuge in the West Indies. The story is told that the Campbells left in such haste that the cows on the farm could not be milked before departure, and were left bawling at the farm gate.
  • From the West Indies, Donald and his family left for North America, first landing in Shelburne, Nova Scotia. They then journeyed to the Island of Saint John where a land grant of five hundred acres was secured on Lot 16.
  • On February 27, 1794 Donald Campbell was appointed surveyor master of lumber at Richmond Bay. The March, 1811 Weekly Recorder lists Donald as the fenceviewer and constable for Lot 16.
  • The 1798 census lists the family of Donald Campbell as containing ten persons; these were probably Donald Campbell (sometimes called John), Archibald, Elizabeth, Campbell, Margaret Fullerton (sometimes called Daniel), Thomas and Mary Jane (called Janet).