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?
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Portrait of Daniel Campbell by Thomas McIlworth.
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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.
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Painting of Campbell Mansion, State Street, Schenectady.
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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
