Pre-War Era
Elizabeth Clarke was born on December 23rd, 1774, in Windsor, Nova Scotia to John and Eleanor Clarke. John had immigrated from Ireland and farmed livestock on his own property.[1] In most records of the time, he was styled as a gentleman and was listed as a member of the Presbyterian Church in Windsor.[2] According to genealogical research, Elizabeth had nine brothers and sisters who were born between 1766 and 1782.[3]
In 1805, Elizabeth entered a marriage bond with Donald Campbell, a Scottish immigrant to North Carolina who had fought for the British Army during the American Revolutionary War.[4] Donald had joined the army as an ensign, or junior officer, at the age of twenty-seven, enlisting in the Royal North Carolina Regiment. Donald was present at the surrender of the British at Yorktown in 1781, was captured and sent to Wilmington, North Carolina. Once exchanged, he went to St. Augustine, Florida. In 1784, his regiment was sent to Nova Scotia and disbanded.[5] According to a list of arrivals in Country Harbour, NS, Donald had with him a servant named James Gibline, whose identity and relationship to Donald is undocumented.[6] Gibline may have been a servant or an enslaved person, because slavery was still legal throughout the British empire at the time. In either case, his presence on the ship suggests that Donald arrived in Canada with economic means.
Although Campbell received 550 acres in Country Harbour, Nova Scotia, he was apparently more interested in pursuing his military career, serving as an officer in the Nova Scotia Regiment, the Royal Fusiliers, and the 5th Foot.[7] In 1800, Lieutenant-General Henry Bowyer recorded the promotion of Donald Campbell to Fort-Major of Fort George in Upper Canada. As a fort-major, Donald would have reported directly to the British army command, rather than a specific unit, and would have been responsible for the administration of the fort. Bowyer attested that Campbell's “character is good, &, as far as I have had it in my power to Judge, I think you will find him an useful officer in Your Command.”[8] One year later, the Duke of Kent sent a reply from England, approving the appointment of Campbell to Fort-Major.[9] In 1808, Donald received further responsibility as an Inspecting Field Officer in Canada, which was supposed to give him the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, though most accounts referred to him by the administrative rank of Fort-Major.[10]
It is probable that Donald returned to Nova Scotia in 1805 to marry Elizabeth and bring her to Fort George in Upper Canada. They lived in Newark, a busy town at the junction of the Niagara River and Lake Ontario. Although it is difficult to pinpoint the exact date of their arrival in Newark, their eldest son, Edward Clarke, was born there on February 26, 1806. He was baptized by Reverend Robert Addison of St. Mark's Anglican Church on March 9. Two more Campbell children, John Angus and Eleanor Sarah, were baptized between 1808 and 1810.[11] According to documents submitted after the war, the Campbells lived in “A neat frame house, well finished and painted consisting of six Rooms, with Stable & other outhouses.”[12] The house is described as thirty-two by thirty-eight feet, having one and one-half stories.[13] The house was fairly typical of more spacious houses in Newark, heated by three cast-iron stoves and possibly fireplaces between rooms.[14] The Campbells also owned at least a cow, a calf, and three horses, which were probably kept in a farmyard surrounded by a split-rail fence.[15]
As documented in Elizabeth’s post-war claim for losses, the family owned a moderate amount of furniture, pots and pans, stoves for heating and cooking, dishes and utensils, tools and fabrics, and even barrels of food. As the administrative commander of the fort, Donald may have been expected to host dinners and gatherings at his home for other military officers and visiting government officials. The need to host social events might explain why the Campbells owned six dozen plates, two dozen dishes, and extra tables and chairs.
Fortunately, Donald's military appointments included income enough to feed his family and meet his social responsibilities. Because he was at different times a captain, fort-major, and possibly an inspecting field officer, Donald would have earned between £86 and £310 per year. The exact amount he earned would have depended on which appointments he held that year and whether he was paid separately for each appointment, or paid only the salary for one appointment.[16] Considering that one historian estimated that a farmhouse, stable, and outbuildings might have been worth about £100, the Campbell family must have lived reasonably well in Newark. They were not, however, amongst the most wealthy inhabitants.[17] Established merchant families owned many articles that the Campbells did not, including wagons, sheep, hogs, sleighs, spinning wheels, bee hives, and saddles. Some residents of Newark were extremely successful and wealthy. William Dickson, a businessman, lawyer, and friend of the Campbells, had one brick house in the town and another brick house on his farm.[18] His library was worth over £500, and the furnishings of his two houses were valued over £600. Dickson later estimated the total value of his property at over £4600.[19] Although the Campbells did not enjoy the highest economic status in Newark, Donald's role at the fort and their comfortable income meant that they socialized amongst the more wealthy, influential families in town.
Notes
[1] Commissioner of Public Records, “Census, Assessment, and Poll Tax Records, 1767–1827, RG 1 No. 444” (Windsor, Hants County, Nova Scotia, 1792), Nova Scotia Archives, http://novascotia.ca/archives/virtual/census/returnsTax.asp?ID=9113.
[2] The American Historical Society, Americana (American Historical Magazine), vol. X (New York: The American Historical Society, 1915), 90.
[3] Shirley Benoit, “Descendants of John and Lydia (Green) Clarke,” My Nova Scotia Family, 1998, http://sbenoit.tripod.com/clarke.html.
[4] Donald Campbell and John Brenner, “Marriage Bond, Donald Campbell and Elizabeth Clarke,” Marriage Bond (Halifax County, NS, 1805), Nova Scotia Historical Vital Statistics, https://www.novascotiagenealogy.com/ItemView.aspx?ImageFile=1800-2012&Event=marriage&ID=191805.
[5] Society of Interpretive Historians, “Timeline of the Royal North Carolina Regiment,” Royal North Carolina Regiment, accessed April 3, 2015, http://www.rncr.org/rncr/timelinemain.htm.
[6] Gail Edwards, ed, “List of Men, Women, Children and Servants Belonging to the Late Royal North Carolina Regt. Settled and Carrying Country Harbour 12th June 1784” (Nova Scotia GenWeb Project, n.d.), http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~canns/military.html.
[7] W. D. Ardagh and Robert A. Harrison, eds., “Judge Campbell,” in The Upper Canada Law Journal and Municipal and Local Courts’ Gazette, vol. 6 (Toronto: Maclear & Co., 1860), 3–4.
[8] Lt.-Gen. Henry Bowyer to Unknown Recipient, August 26, 1800, Library and Archives Canada, RG 8, Series C, Vol. 366, pp. 98–99a.
[9] Given the time required to send messages across the ocean, and the low-priority of a single promotion, the delay of a year is not unusual. Prince Edward, Duke of Kent to Lt.-Gen. Peter Hunter, January 13, 1801, Library and Archives Canada, RG 8, Series C, Vol. 224, pp. 6-9.
[10] The available sources do not answer whether Donald ever acted in the capacity of an inspecting field officer.
[11] W. D. Ardagh and Robert A. Harrison, eds, The Upper Canada Law Journal and Municipal and Local Courts' Gazette, vol. VI (Toronto: Maclear & Co, 1860), 3; Ontario Historical Society, Papers and Records (Toronto: Ontario Historical Society, 1901), 22; Shirley Benoit, “Descendants of John and Lydia (Green) Clarke,” My Nova Scotia Family, 1998, http://sbenoit.tripod.com/clarke.html.
[12] Edward Campbell, RG19 E5A, Volume 3742, File 3, Claim 175, 1823, Library and Archives Canada.
[13] Ibid.
[14] Compared with other house sizes listed in claims, the Campbells' house was in the top 13 per cent in square footage. Peter Babcock and David Hemmings, “War Claims Index, by Surname,” Niagara Historical Society Museum, 2011.
[15] Elizabeth Campbell, RG19 E5A, Volume 3742, File 3, Claim 174, 1823, Library and Archives Canada.
[16] Each of Donald's appointments carried a different salary. Fort-major was lowest, just over £86 per annum, while inspecting field officer was over £310. The commander of Fort George made over £129, but it is unclear precisely who carried that title. Charles James, The Regimental Companion: Containing the Pay, Allowances and Relative Duties of Every Officer in the British Service, vol. 1, 3 vols. (London: T. Egerton, 1811), 290–291.
[17] Sheppard, Plunder, Profit, and Paroles, 123.
[18] Bruce G. Wilson, “William Dickson” (Toronto: University of Toronto/Université Laval, 1988), http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/dickson_william_7E.html.
[19] Today, Dickson's equivalent wealth would be over £5 million. William Dickson, RG19 E5A, Volume 3740, File 1, Claim 5, 1823, Library and Archives Canada; Lawrence H. Officer and Samuel H. Williamson, “Purchase Power of the Pound,” MeasuringWorth, 2015, http://www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare/index.php.