Rev. Joseph Camp was a Baptist minister who spent most of his life as a farmer and backwoods physician in Rutherford County, NC, and as a preacher at the Buffalo Creek Church close by on the Broad River in north-central South Carolina. This article discusses Rev. Camp’s life, then details proof that he is a qualifying ancestor for the Society of Colonial Clergy, and details proof of his lineage to the Mullins family.
Rev. Camp was born in Orange County, VA, the son of Thomas Camp and Winnifred Starling [1]. The Camps were Anabaptists, one of several sects of “Protestant Dissenters,” and suffered religious persecution in Virginia [2], providing at least one motivation for their migration further south. Camp [3] wrote an extensive biography of Rev. Joseph Camp.
Rev. Camp had settled in Rutherford County on the southern border of North Carolina by 1772, when he and his neighbors built the Buffalo Creek Church near the junction of the Broad River and Buffalo Creek [4]. The church was . . .
“an undaubed log structure about 40 feet long and 25 feet wide… Wind blew through the church in winter and insects and vermin entered freely through the cracks in the summer” [5].
The land on which the church was built was claimed by both North and South Carolina, and ended up ½ mile over the border in South Carolina [6].
A history of South Carolina Baptist associations published in 1887 quotes an eyewitness, Dr. William Curtis, who personally viewed association records that confirmed that the Buffalo Church was founded in 1772 [7]. These early records have unfortunately been lost to history. Rev. Camp is recorded as the only pastor for the church through 1800 [8].
In 1775 Rev. Camp took missionary trips to nearby settlements, including preaching at the Pacolet Church in Skull Shoals [9].
In its early years, the Buffalo Creek Church was part of the Congaree Association of Baptist Churches. Rev. Camp represented the Buffalo Church at a meeting of delegates from the Congaree Association at the Fairforest Church in September 1776 [10].
On December 23, 1776, Rev. Camp was one of 3 pastors from the Congaree Association who met with a group of settlers on the Sandy River to help them constitute a new church, the Sandy River Church. The meeting was held at Flat Rock meetinghouse at Fairforest [11].
Rev. Camp was present at the founding meeting of the Broad River Association of Baptist churches in 1801 [12], and in 1804 authored a circular letter on Church Discipline [13].
In 1808, Rev. Camp moved to Kentucky for unknown reasons [14]. The move is documented by U.S. Census records showing Joseph Camp in Rutherford County NC in 1800 and Pulaski County, KY, in 1810. The 1800 census lists Rev. Camp’s age as greater than 45, so his birth year was before 1755. Camp states that his birth year was 1741 [15].
Rev. Camp died intestate in about 1813 in Pulaski County, KY. A detailed account of the sale of his estate on April 13, 1814 survives [16].
Qualifications For The Society Of The Descendants Of The Colonial Clergy
Rev. Joseph Camp meets the criteria as a qualifying ancestor for the Society of the Descendants of the Colonial Clergy based on his position as pastor of the Buffalo Creek Church beginning in 1772 and based on his missionary work with other congregations in 1775.
Supporting evidence includes his participation in the September 1776 meeting of the Congaree Association as a delegate representing the Buffalo Creek Church, suggesting that he was well-established as pastor of the church by that date. His attendance at the December 23, 1776, meeting that helped found the Sandy River Church corroborates his leadership position among Baptist pastors in north-central South Carolina by that date.
John Steel Camp
John Steel Camp was the son of Rev. Joseph Camp and Susan Roundtree.
Camp [17] provides a detailed biography of John Steel Camp. The evidence for lineage in this article draws on information in this biography, as well as the biography of Rev. Joseph Camp in the same reference [18].
A deed dated January 7, 1820, is signed by all the heirs of Rev. Joseph Camp, including John Steel Camp [19]. The original deed from the North Carolina State Archives [20] shows the name “John S. Camp” and the land location in the town “formerly Burr”, lot “No. 37”. The deed date is, “This 7th day of January one thousand eight hundred & twenty” and the signature “John S. Camp” appears among the other heirs.
The January 7, 1820, deed does not mention the name of the father, Rev. Joseph Camp. However, Rev. Camp was the documented owner of this specific plot of land [21]. He was one of 3 commissioners of a new town called Burr, and purchased 2 one-acre lots, Nos. 31 and 37, on September 15, 1805. The town was renamed after Aaron Burr killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel.
There is no will because Rev. Camp died intestate in late 1813 or early 1814 [22].
Background
John Steel Camp was born in Rutherford County, NC, in 1784, the eighth of 9 children of Joseph Camp and Susannah Roundtree [23]. He is shown as one of two sons age 16-25 on the 1800 U.S. Census: North Carolina, Rutherford (3rd column). He first married a widow, Mrs. Dottie Morris, with whom his first son was born in 1806 [24]. Shortly thereafter, he moved west with his father and other family members.
Rev. Camp is shown on the 1810 census in Pulaski County, KY, and John Camp is shown in Rockcastle County, KY. Rockcastle County was formed from Pulaski County in 1810, so Camp speculates that father and son lived close by [25]. John Steel Camp was also a Baptist minister [26]. At the time he returned to Rutherford County, NC, to sign the January 7, 1820 deed, he preached for a short time at his father’s former church, the Buffalo Baptist Church [27,28].
John Steel Camp’s wife Dottie died before 1829, and he remarried to Jane Ann Powers, who is shown as the mother of Susan Jane, born in Warrick County, Indiana in Feb 1829 [29].
Elizabeth Ann Camp
Elizabeth Ann Camp was the daughter of John Steel Camp and Jane Ann Powers.
Camp cites the birth of Elizabeth Ann in 1827, the first child of John Steel Camp with his second wife, Jane Ann Powers [30]. The father-daughter relationship, and Elizabeth’s marriage to William R. Madden, are corroborated by census records, tombstone records, and a marriage record.
Elizabeth Ann (born 1827) and her sister Susan Jane (born 1829) are shown on the 1830 census [31] (2 females under age 5) and on the 1840 census [32] (2 females ages 10-15), daughters of John S. Camp. Each census also shows the other children of John Steel Camp as they are listed in Camp.
Elizabeth married William Madden on September 29, 1842, as shown on their marriage return [33]. William and Elizabeth are shown on the 1850 census [34] with their daughter Charlotte Jane Madden, the next in this lineage. The Madden family is listed on the census page immediately after Elizabeth’s half-brother, Joseph W. Camp, and his family (Joseph W. Camp family wife and children’s names match those listed in Camp [35].) William Madden’s birth state is shown as Kentucky.
John Steel Camp died on May 11, 1848, confirmed by his tombstone [36], which also shows his year of birth, 1784.
Jane Ann Camp
Jane Ann Camp is shown as a widow living with her 3 youngest children on the 1850 census [37]. Her daughter Susan Jane has married John Clinton Burnett. They are listed as the next entry on the page.
William Madden and Elizabeth Ann Camp Madden are shown on the 1860 census [38]. The next entry shows Madden’s daughter Charlotte married to Rice Wilson.
William Madden died on May 14, 1865, confirmed by his tombstone [39], which also shows his year of birth, 1823.
Jane Camp is shown on the 1870 census [40], living with her widowed daughter Elizabeth Madden and Elizabeth’s youngest children. Jane’s birth state is shown as Tennessee.
Jane Camp died intestate on June 21, 1876, confirmed by her tombstone [41], which also confirms her year of birth, 1797, and states explicitly that she was the wife of John S. Camp.
Elizabeth Madden remarried to a Mr. Vincent between 1870 and 1880, and he apparently died before 1880. Elizabeth A. Vincent is listed on the 1880 census [42], living with her son, Joseph J. Madden (age 18). Joseph J. Madden was 8 on the 1870 census [43].
Elizabeth died July 29, 1895, confirmed by her tombstone [44], which also confirms her year of birth, 1827. She was buried under the name Elizabeth Madden, rather than Vincent. The tombstone states that she was the wife of W. R. Madden.
Summary
The listing of Elizabeth Ann Camp as the daughter of John Steel Camp and Jane Ann Powers in Camp is corroborated by:
An age-compatible daughter of John S. Camp on the 1830 and 1840 censuses
Elizabeth and her husband William Madden settled next door to or near Elizabeth’s older half-brother, Joseph W. Camp on the 1850 census
Elizabeth’s mother, Jane A. Camp, living with the widowed Elizabeth on the 1870 census.
Charlotte Jane Madden
Charlotte Jane Madden was the daughter of Elizabeth Ann Camp and William R. Madden.
Camp states that Charlotte Jane Madden, born 1842, was the eldest daughter of Elizabeth Ann Camp and William Madden [45], and that Charlotte married Rice Wilson. The year 1842 is off by one year based on documents cited below.
Charlotte’s parents and husband are confirmed by her death certificate [46], which lists her husband, Rice Wilson, father, William Madden, and mother’s maiden name Elizabeth Camp. The certificate confirms Charlotte’s middle name, Jane, probably after her grandmother, Jane Camp. Her date of birth was 1843, and her date of death was 1904.
These relationships are further confirmed by Charlotte’s obituary [47], though we are not sure which newspaper this was from. The obituary gives her birth date as July 3, 1843, in Hart Township, Warrick, IN. The marriage record [48] for Charlotte Jane Madden and Rice Wilson shows their date of marriage, February 5, 1859.
Elisha Wilson
Elisha Aaron Wilson was the son of Charlotte Jane Madden and Rice Wilson.
The wedding return for Elisha Wilson and his wife, Nannie Gough [49], dated December 30, 1886, confirms Elisha’s parents’ names, Rice Wilson and Charlotte Madden.
Rice Wilson, wife Charlotte J. Wilson and son Elisha A. Wilson, age 12, are listed on the 1880 census [50].
Rice Wilson’s obituary [51] lists his wife, Charlotte J. Madden, and third son, Elisha A. Wilson. We are not sure which paper this obituary is from.
Elisha Wilson and Nannie Gough had 3 children (footnotes 52,53): Robert born in 1888, Mary Helen born in 1890, and Ruth born in 1892. Mary Helen died at age 17 of tuberculosis.
© 2013 W. Mullins