Daniel Campbell: Businessman, Patriot, Human

This post was written by library volunteer Robert Baldwin.
Readers are advised that this post includes quotes from historical primary sources which contain offensive, insensitive, and racialized language. In the interests of accurately presenting the historical record, we do not alter the language used in original primary source documents. Spellings, punctuation, and grammar in the transcriptions are unaltered from the original document. 

 
For a recent research request at the SCHS Library, I investigated land-purchase activities of Daniel Campbell. The individual whom I assisted in this research effort was primarily interested in Campbell’s acquisition of land in Ballston; particularly, property the researcher owned in Ballston Spa that Mr. Campbell did at one time. Though my efforts had limited success for this individual, I became interested in gleaning the personality of Daniel Campbell. Research began with the Letter Book of Daniel Campbell 1771-1801, transcribed by Elizabeth D. Shaver, 1982-3. Subsequently, after investigating other sources, I discovered that information relating to the personality of Mr. Campbell was nominal. Thus, I determined that it was a worthy effort to probe Shaver’s work to paint Campbell’s personality. A fur trader, land speculator, salesman, and a military officer were among the most common labels associated with Mr. Campbell. Yet, my investigations indicated that there was much more to learn about him. What did he like? What caused him great disdain? What types of people did he embrace, or attempt to disenfranchise? Who were his favorite acquaintances, and who were not? What about politics and loyalty? How did family play a role in Mr. Campbell’s life?



Portrait of Daniel Campbell by Thomas McIlworth.

Let us begin with the most commonly known practices of Mr. Campbell without much reference to personality. The fur trade was not limited to the historical and stereotypical beaver pelt trade. He dabbled a great deal in a wide variety of furs/skins with his friendly "aborigines" (Campbell used this word frequently to describe Native Americans and used it interchangeably with "Indians"). Among these were as follows: leather (tanned cow or cattle hides), beaver, fox, deer, raccoon, otter, seal, martin, bear, fisher, musquash (muskrat), cat (referring to large cats such as mountain lions and bobcats), and elk. Of course, beaver was the most important, and followed by deer, leather, raccoon and bear. The least desirable was musquash, being inferior in quality, smaller than a beaver, and more difficult to skin and process. 

Among his most important inventory stores were wampum and cord to trade with Native Americans. Second in importance was rum, a common bartering item for fur trade. Let us not forget knives, very commonly a trade items for furs. Campbell's fur trade interactions with Native Americans led to his great feeling of appreciation towards them. He considered his Native trading partners both industrious and an excellent source of promoting revenue.



Mr. Campbell attributed his success as a merchant to the people with whom he worked. Diplomacy was critical. The fur trade was the basis for his early successes. Thus, appeasing Native American fur hunters and traders was essential for acquiring furs. Constant communication and negotiation with transporters, both within the colonies and over to Europe, required finesse. As for providing trade with the military, neither politics nor loyalty had a place until the outbreak of the Revolutionary War. Mr. Campbell and several other prominent citizens, were examined about their relationship with the British military. An ultimatum was decreed by the Schenectady Committee of Conspiracies, requiring said businessmen to cease all activities with the British or be imprisoned on a ship in Kingston for the duration of the war. Unfortunately for Mr. Campbell and his affiliates, their sworn allegiance to the United States destroyed many of their business activities until the end of the war. While the American Revolution did not destroy Mr. Campbell’s practice of land acquisition or nominal trade, it caused a great deal of angst and significant loss of commerce. Furthermore, Mr. Campbell spent a great deal of time attempting to recuperate unpaid debts created prior to the war. I would venture to say that approximately twenty percent of his letters were some form of correspondence with debtors as well as law enforcement to recuperate his revenues. As anyone might surmise, his letters reflected frustration and anger, not only towards debtors, but also with the legal system.

Though the fur trade was lucrative, Mr. Campbell’s merchandise trade is nothing to disregard. Within the letters there were two times that inventory was included, and quite extensive. He was very hard on his employees to assure that conducting inventory was complete and accurate. As a matter of curiosity, I discovered that the store’s ending inventory in 1772 was £2917:19:67 (2917 pounds, 19 shillings, 6 pence); or, equal to 2024 inflation rate $664,0768 (2024 USD). Mr. Campbell understandingly had reason to be so particular. Some inventory include: wampum, linen, textile, buttons, sewing supplies, clothing, hats, hand tools, garden tools, spices, wine, rum, dishes, chimney tile, playing cards, bridles, hardware, playing cards, gun powder, paper products, and horse trade or livestock. The inventories also provide evidence of Mr. Campbell’s involvement in the slave trade.

Painting of Campbell Mansion, State Street, Schenectady.

We cannot afford to be historical apologists for the darker sides of our ancestors. Mr. Campbell was not an exception. Five of the letters reference Campbell’s willingness and promotion of slave trade. He claimed ownership over enslaved people in his own household. Within his business practice, he brokered deals to purchase enslaved people for his clients. The following are a few examples of this from the transcribed letters:


2 August 1771 Letter:


“…It is very hard to get such negroes as you described and you are very right to purchase none but such as good character. If there of any I will immediately acquaint Mr. Sherbrook…”


28 August 1771 Letter: 


“…Mr. Walker desired me to remit the amount of these bills to Mr. Mills Sherbrooke merchant in New York as he said he wanted to purchase some Negroes I have paid the money to Mr. Mills Sherbrooke Merchant in New York agreeable to such directions…”



January 1772 Letter: 


“…to Mr. Tymes…I shall do my best to procure you a good Clarke and a servant or negro…”



26 April 1773 Letter:


“…I wish you could meet with a bargain of a negro gerrill* of about from 10 to 12 years old let her be sound. I have seen several advertisd in Mr. Gains paper. I have an order from Mr. Andrews at Detroit for one.”



I would be remiss to exclude how Mr. Campbell felt about the enslaved people on his property. He did value loyalty; and, he got it. His Black enslaved servants occasionally made sure he knew about ongoing property encroachments of contiguous landholders. Furthermore, he insisted that his servants were of sound body and high personal character.

Aptly dubbed a land speculator in a multitude of resources, Mr. Campbell gained most of his wealth in later years from purchasing, selling, and leasing land. The records indicate that Mr. Campbell purchased more than forty thousand acres of land. Land acquisition within the Kayaderosseras Patent was over twenty-four thousand acres alone. With very little thinking effort, we can clearly relate his prowess to real estate magnates of today. However, this undertaking not an easy task. He wrote many letters of inquiry, and those relating to offers and acceptances; relying heavily on messenger services via horseback and carriage. Several correspondence letters were unrelenting to the point of frustration and disappointment among parties. The acquisition of land was not only to increase his land wealth; rather most often his purchases led to lease agreements for tenants to pay to use the land, as well as improving the land. 

For example:

18 November 1773 Letter:


“…I have purchased amounts to 24000 acres. It is all wood land free of any quit rent to the (King?) or any other person forever…there are on my lands about 8 tenants who must either agree with me for rent or must purchase the land…”



January 1774 Letter:


“…I have been down to York this fall & made a purchase of 20,000 acres of land which lays all around Bauls Town** & is very convenient to settle…I make no doubt but next summer I shall settle fifty or sixty families…I shall endeavor to settle it by giving leases forever.”



It was Mr. Campbell’s expectation to find tenants who were capable, hardworking and trustworthy, being of very good character. Mr. Campbell often wrote letters admonishing those who did not meet his high standards, both tenants and neighbors. As a remote landlord, Mr. Campbell was fiercely protective of his land. When individuals living contiguous to his lands encroached, he took swift legal actions. Three common encroachment issues reflected in his letters referenced theft of wood, grains, and claiming property as their own. Mr. Campbell frequently communicated intentions of litigation and incarceration. Furthermore, he did not have any compunctions to claim property of perpetrators. The following excerpts from his letters illustrate this:

30 March 1773 Letter:


“As my negroes has informed me…that you cut down part of the grass to the amt of a wagon load of hay this seems to me strange that such measures should be carried into execution at a time when I was 100 miles from home…I suppose by measuring my land which no man had a right to do and what I never in my life expected from you…”     



24 January 1774 Letter:
 

“…having proof that William Brisby cut 150 loggs of my land…be assured I will prosecute you as the law directs if you do not immediately come & make me payment for the full value of every log you have cut & for deceiving me in this manner you shant have one acre of land from me altho I was determin’d to have given you a lease.”



Mr. Campbell was very possessive with his land holdings. It was apparent that what land he had great value. For instance in 1779, the land tax assessment value for his property in Ballston was £9,045. I took the time to determine the inflation and exchange rates from 1779 to 2024. The above-mentioned amount would equal $1,505,992.5013 (2024 USD) today. Who would not be protective of such an investment? Apparently, he took land holdings very seriously.



Ireland, the place of his birth, was always on Mr. Campbell’s mind. Several letters were to his brother, Davy. The letters give a positive portrayal of how Mr. Campbell felt about America. Whether the letters were about politics and business, the gist was obviously in favor of being an American. His letters would include land acquisition and his plans for them. Planting fruit trees, keeping sheep, growing profitable livestock, and a variety of trade excursions with the Native Americans were commonly addressed. In these letters, Mr. Campbell was a braggart; for example:
    


18 October 1773:


“… I now begin to follow your example in somethings which is in purchasing land…I have of late made a very large purchase of land which is well situated to settle, 20 & farthest not more than 25 miles from this town & a fine patent of land…I have purchased amounts to 24,000 acres…”


(then expressing his patriotic perspective) “…encouraging those to come to do making them & there posterity to come over to a free country not loaded with taxes, tythes, hearth money, high rents & twenty other burdens that must forever crushd the heart of goodmen…”



Ironically, the political, economic and social climate in America quickly changed shortly after this letter to Davy. In a colonial community increasingly confronted by taxation issues, restlessness of citizens, and increase in trade restrictions, Mr. Campbell began to question on which side of the fence he should fall:



22 July 1775 to George Folliot Esq:


“…I hope Mrs. Folliot & you enjoy your health these unhappy times As yet I have been a perfect looker on neither leaning to one side nor the other this far I wish & hope that America may never be tax’d without their own concent…”    
   


One letter to his brother Davy expressed feelings about war’s end and his ability to persevere:    


2 January 1784:


“…happy to be able to write and receive letters, unable to do during the unhappy war…I have not suffered much by the war in my property farther than it has prevented me from settling my land at present there seems to be a demand for land…I have good prospects having a good many tenants next year as many people from New England states are dayly moving in our state on account of having cheape land...I have not done any business as a merchant during the war…”



In studying history, we often see people of the past as a series of life events: birth, education, graduation, marriage, military service, election to office, etc. Their personalities, preferences, and viewpoints are often lost to time or difficult to determine from accessible sources. Delving into primary source documents such as these letters maintained at the Schenectady County Historical Society provides an opportunity to explore the personality and character of Mr. Campbell. Daniel Campbell can easily be perceived as a scoundrel, money-monger, demanding landlord, unrelenting bill collector, and a self-serving community leader. Certainly, his perspective on ownership and servitude of humans is neither politically correct nor humanly acceptable to today’s standards. Notably, a great deal of his economic and political endeavors are not foreign to leaders of today. Further study of Mr. Campbell’s letters might reveal more connections and parallels to the people, places, and events we encounter today as well as give insight into the person he was and the Schenectady he inhabited and helped shape.

* sic: girl

**Ballston, Saratoga County

The WGY Players

This post was written by Gail Denisoff, library volunteer, and originally appeared in the SCHS Newsletter, vol. 65, no. 4, 2021.

Today, a century after the first commercial radio station began broadcasting, over 80% of Americans ages 12 or older listen to the radio in a given week. It’s a technology that we may take for granted now, but the rapid development of radio technology and programming in the early 1920s led to significant changes in American culture and communication. According to Professor Tom Lewis of Skidmore College, “radio became the first modern mass medium, one that knew no geographic boundary, and excited the imagination and minds as well as the ears of listeners.” The act of tuning in to hear the latest news, the weekly antics of beloved characters, the current sports game, and the most popular music quickly became a standard ritual in the daily lives of Americans across every age, class, and race. It exposed millions to new entertainment, politics, culture, and information. General Electric, as a leader in technology and invention, was one of the companies pushing the envelope of what radio could and should do. The creation of the WGY Players, GE’s in-house radio acting troupe, was one such innovation.

Early performers at WGY (from the Grems-Doolittle Library Photo Collection)

In February of 1922 General Electric received its first broadcasting license for a new radio station to be located in Schenectady, NY. The debut broadcast took place on February 20th of that year. It began at 7:47pm with announcer and Program Director, Kolin Hager, welcoming listeners to station WGY, explaining the call letters signified W for wireless, G for General Electric and Y for the last letter of Schenectady. The broadcast, “furnished by some of the city’s best talent,” consisted of live music with announcements of song titles and lasted about an hour. The next broadcast was two days later and featured a speech about George Washington delivered by W.W. Tranch, the commander of Schenectady’s American Legion post, followed by a live concert.

 
With one of the strongest signals in the state, more than three times the power of other stations, WGY could be heard in at least a 500-mile radius. The broadcasts quickly became more sophisticated and innovative. Just three days after signing on, they presented a speech by Governor Nathan L. Miller from the Union College gymnasium followed by a short concert, becoming a pioneer in remote broadcasting. They also aired the Harvard-Yale football game live from New Haven, CT, the WGY String Orchestra live from the State Theater in Schenectady, the first live broadcast of a World Series game as well as many other remote presentations from GE scientists, explorers, and politicians during their first year.

Edward H. Smith, the director of “The Masque”, a community theater group from Troy, NY, suggested to Kolin Hager that the station carry weekly adaptations of plays. On August 3, 1922, “The Wolf”, directed by Smith and mainly using actors from his theater group, became the first full length melodrama ever produced for radio. Since there was no rigid schedule to follow, listeners heard the play in its entirety, about 2 hours, with the WGY orchestra performing between acts. The response was overwhelming; the station received over 2000 letters asking for more radio dramas. One letter, from Pittsfield, Massachusetts, claimed that the screams of the character “Hilda” were so real that a policeman on foot patrol hearing the program through an open window burst into the writer’s home to stop the “assault.”

 
By September, the WGY Players were formed, becoming the first dramatic radio troupe for radio, ultimately presenting 43 plays during the initial 1922-23 season. After the production of “The Wolf”, 40 minutes were allotted for these plays as it was thought unwise to dedicate an entire evening’s programming to a single play. Director Edward H. Smith worked to carefully edit full length plays to the required 40 minutes. They became such a popular feature that after the first eight plays the time limit was abandoned and many were performed in their original length. As more regular programming was introduced, the Schenectady GE Works News included the WGY weekly broadcast schedule in each issue. Detailed information including the names of the actors playing each character was included in the schedule.

Most of the WGY Players had professional theater backgrounds, but performing on radio was a new experience for everyone. When “microphone fright” was discovered, the microphone was covered by a lampshade. The actors initially wore costumes and stage make-up, thinking it would help them get into character, but that was soon abandoned as unnecessary. They became pioneers of radio sound effects, experimenting with many found objects to get the desired effect for radio. The actors carefully rehearsed their roles, but read from scripts during broadcasts to avoid missed cues and forgotten lines.

Dr. Francis Norton, GE Research Laboratory, and Neil B. Reynolds presenting a radio broadcast on experiments in sound, 1937. (Photo from the Grems-Doolittle Library Photo Collection).

 
The WGY Players served as a springboard for talented actors in the early stages of their careers, such as Lola Sommers. Sommers, an orphan from Hoosick Falls, started her career as a Vaudeville dancer and stage actress, and supplemented her acting income by working as a maid in Schenectady. She became a household name and a Capital District celebrity as one of WGY’s first leading ladies. Several successful and celebrity radio performers and personalities started their careers with The WGY Players. Rosaline Greene, for example, started her career in radio when she auditioned for The WGY Players during her sophomore year of college. After three years with WGY, Greene went on to win a ‘perfect voice’ competition at the 1926 Radio World’s Fair, perform in numerous radio plays, and host regular programs for CBS during the Golden Age of Radio. Stars of stage, opera, and concert halls, intrigued by the novelty of radio, considered it an adventure to come to Schenectady to be part of a broadcast.

By December of 1922, WGY became part of the first radio “network” linking it to stations in New York City and Washington DC who were able to listen in to The WGY Players. Eventually that network expanded, and one night each week listeners across the country tuned in to hear Kolin Hager announce: “Station WGY, General Electric Company, Schenectady, New York. Our program for this evening will consist of the drama/comedy —,” followed by the title of the play.

The WGY Players staged both dramas and comedies. Some of their early broadcasts, in addition to “The Wolf” included such plays as:” “The Garden of Allah,” “Way Down East,” “Are You a Mason?” “Within the Law,” “Under Cover,” “Bought and Paid For,” “The Witching Hour,” “The Man from Home,” “The Sign of the Cross” and “Miss Lulu Bett.”  The light operas, “H.M.S. Pinafore,” “The Mikado” and others were also performed with the WGY orchestra and singers joining the productions. Actors in leading roles were paid, usually $5.00 to $7.50 a week. Actors in lesser roles received no pay, although they may have experienced the thrill of stardom when a limousine and chauffeur brought them to the station.

On November 6, 1922, The WGY players presented their twelfth play of the first season, “The Sign of the Four,” a Sherlock Holmes mystery by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Edward W. Smith performed the role of Holmes and F.H. Oliver, who usually did sound effects, played Dr. Watson. What makes this particular performance interesting is that the famous Sherlock Holmes actor, William Gillette, has often been cited as the first actor to portray Holmes on the radio in “The Speckled Band” on October 20, 1930. However, this distinction actually goes to Edward H. Smith for his 1922 performance, although Gillette can still be credited as the first to perform Holmes in a radio network series.

Since many of the actors came from the professional ranks, they usually left Schenectady to perform in summer stock theaters from July through September. In order to continue the radio dramas, the Schenectady GE Works News encouraged workers to try out for the “WGY Student Players”. Many applicants, eager to make their radio debut, came forward and Edward W. Smith was kept busy interviewing prospective thespians. A group was selected, most employees of General Electric, and “has given some very credible performances during the summer season… which was demonstrated by the many complimentary letters received by WGY during their run” according to the Works News. Several of these players were also selected to augment the regular player group when they returned. 

The WGY Players performed many of the popular dramas and comedies of the day. By their second season, they were looking for new material. An article in the October 1923 GE Monogram, a nationwide GE publication, advertised a contest to be held “for the best play written for the specific purpose of being broadcast in Schenectady by the WGY Players.” The first-place prize was $500 (over $7700 in today’s dollars) and having the play produced over the WGY airwaves. According to the rules for the contest, the plays should be 1.5 hours in lengths and “plots must be clean with no attempt at questionable situations… No ‘sex dramas’ will be considered.” Over one hundred plays were submitted and, according to Kolin Hager, only one produced with disappointing results. 

The WGY Players perform the radio play "Danger" circa 1924 (Photo from miSci)

 

Radio dramas were soon being broadcast by many stations around the country. The WGY Players as well as groups in other cities could be heard through radio networks from coast to coast. In the late 1920s, WGY added the WGY Matinee Players that performed a weekly daytime radio drama in addition to the evening plays. Later, plays for children were introduced. By the 1930s, daily radio dramas, eventually referred to as “soap operas,” were being broadcast from New York City and quickly became very popular. Network shows for children such as “Little Orphan Annie” and weekly scripted comedy and drama programs written specifically for radio were mainstays in American households.

 
The WGY Players were also were responsible for the earliest known attempt at a television drama in the country. A production of “The Queen’s Messenger” was presented with the Baird/Jenkins mechanical TV process in 1928. As television gained popularity, radio dramas slowly declined. The WGY Players performed into the 1940s with a weekly show called “The FBI in Action” and continued to provide radio dramas on a limited basis as late as 1956. 

In their early years, no other actors had as large an audience as The WGY Players. It was estimated up to a million people tuned in around the country to listen to their productions. Thanks to the vision of Edward H. Smith and Kolin Hager, WGY in Schenectady became the true birthplace of the radio drama as well as the first “network” dramatic programs.

References:
Barnouw, Erik, A History of Broadcasting in the United States: Volume 1: A Tower in Babel, Oxford University Press, 1966.
“Forty Years of Radio Broadcasting Leadership,” WGY 40th Anniversary 1922-1962. Booklet
Huntly, Charles H., “Plays by Radio,” The Drama, Nov. 1923, pg.52-53.
Huntly, Charles H., “When All the Air’s a Stage,” The Wireless Age, May 1923, pg. 27-28.
King, R.R., “The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes and the 1920’s Radio Drama,” Radio Recall, June 2008.
McLeod, Elizabeth, “The WGY Players and the Birth of Radio Drama,” The Radio Historian.
Schenectady GE Works News, various issues 1923-1929.
WGY (AM), Wikipedia.
WGY 25th Anniversary, 1922-1947. Booklet
Lewis, Tom. “‘A Godlike Presence’: The Impact of Radio on the 1920s and 1930s.” OAH Magazine of History, vol. 6, no. 4, 1992, pp. 26–33. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/25154082. Accessed 26 Aug. 2021.
Lewis, Tom. Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio, Harper Collins, 1991.
Becque, Fran. “Rosaline Greene, Alpha Epsilon Phi, #NotableSororityWoman, #WHM2021” Fraternity History and More, March 29, 2021. https://www.franbecque.com/rosaline-greene-alpha-epsilon-phi-notablesororitywoman-whm2021/