Traveling with Alexander Campbell to Glasgow: Part 2 – The Interruption

By Carisse Mickey Berryhill, PhD

Series introduction: Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was born and grew up in Northern Ireland. In 1807, his father Thomas Campbell (1763-1854), a Presbyterian minister, emigrated from Northern Ireland to western Pennsylvania and sent for the rest of the family to join him in 1808.  Shipwrecked on the western coast of Scotland, the family spent almost a year in Glasgow before joining Thomas in 1809. During that time Alexander studied at the University of Glasgow. In 2019 I set out to visit the places in Ireland and Scotland that are the backdrop for this crucial year in his life. Travel with me as we retrace his journey in three posts: the Homeland, the Interruption, and the University of Glasgow.

Alexander, his mother Jane Corneigle Campbell, and six younger siblings sailed from Londonderry for Philadelphia aboard the Hibernia on October 1, 1808. The younger children were Dorothea, 15; Nancy, 13; Jane, 8; Thomas, 6; Archibald, 4; and Alicia, 2. Jane was 45. Alexander was 20. There were 70 passengers and 12 crew on the ship. From Londonderry the ship sailed northeast a little more than twenty miles through Lough Foyle, a wide body of water that opens into the Atlantic Ocean.

Lough Foyle runs from left to right across the middle of the photo with the hills of Donegal on the other shore and a plowed field in Northern Ireland in the foreground.

Lough Foyle was the channel running northeast from the port of Londonderry to the Atlantic Ocean. This view from Northern Ireland looks northwest across Lough Foyle to County Donegal, in the Republic of Ireland. Londonderry lies to the left, and the Atlantic Ocean to the right.

On Sunday, October 2, The Hibernia passed out into the ocean at McGilligan’s point and paused to anchor off the Inishowen Point.

The grassy hill of McGilligan's point lies in the foreground. In the middle is the opening of Lough Foyle into the Atlantic Ocean. Beyond the mouth of the Foyle is the Inishowen peninsula and the Shrove Lighthouse.

View to the northwest from McGilligan’s Point, Northern Ireland, across Lough Foyle where it opens into the Atlantic ocean. In the distance is the Inishowen Head Lighthouse on the point of County Donegal, Ireland.

On Monday, October 3, the ship sailed west as far as Malin Head, the northwest tip of Ireland. On a clear day, it is easy to see the southwestern islands of Scotland from the coast of Northern Ireland. But toward evening strong winds rose and drove the ship northeast toward the western islands of Scotland about thirty-five miles away.

View from the dramatic north coast of Northern Ireland out to sea with the dim blue shape of the Scottish islands on the horizon about thirty miles away.

The Isle of Islay thirty miles away on the north horizon, across the North Channel, seen from the north coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, at the Giant’s Causeway and Causeway Coast World Heritage Site.

The western coast of Scotland consists of islands. The southernmost group, the Inner Hebrides, includes Islay at the south tip of the group and Jura just north of it. Islay is crescent-shaped, almost divided in half by Loch Indaal Bay. The rocky coasts of the islands are treacherous.

Mountainous islands of Islay (left) and Jura (right) seen from a ship approaching from the east.

Westernmost of the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, the mountainous Isles of Islay (left) and Jura (right), lie only about thirty miles north of Northern Ireland. View from a ferry east of the two islands, looking west.

The ship Hibernia ran before the wind all night and near daylight made its way into Loch Indall Bay. That morning, October 4, two local pilots came aboard to warn the captain to move the ship a couple of miles northeast to a safer spot near Bowmore harbor.

The harbor of the village of Bowmore, Islay, with the round Kilarrow Parish Church rising above the houses clustered by the waterside.

The harbor at the village of Bowmore, with the round Kilarrow Parish Church rising above the town. Looking northeast from the pier.

However, the captain opted to stay anchored near rocky Gartbreck point, waiting for favorable winds to continue the voyage. Three more days passed.

On the evening of Friday, October 7, after family worship, Alexander dozed off while reading and dreamed that the ship had struck a rock. He woke with a sense of premonition and warned his family to be prepared for an emergency. He decided not to undress and kept his shoes near his bed. Everyone went to bed. At about ten pm, a gale suddenly struck the anchored ship and pushed it onto the rocks. Water began rushing in the bottom of the ship and the wind threatened to capsize it. The passengers left the flooded bottom of the ship and crowded in terror on the sloping deck. The crew and passengers hacked down the masts to right the ship. It settled on the rock. Sheets of rain and towering waves broke over the terrified travelers. All they could do was pray and wait for daylight. In this crisis, Alexander saw the futility of ambition and remembered the nobility of his father’s ministry. He decided that if he survived, he would devote his life to ministry.

In the morning of October 8, rescuers could not reach the ship from the shore because of the incoming wind and waves, until they signaled to the sailors to tie a rope to an empty cask and let it float to shore. Then the Islay folk attached a rescue boat to be pulled to the ship. Beginning with the women and children, the passengers were shuttled to the shore. Alexander decided to wait for the last boat. So Jane gathered her younger children on a large rock. They huddled there to wait for him.  When he waded ashore about 2 pm, he found them there, wet and numb but all safe. No one on the ship was lost.

View to the west across Lochindaal Bay from a ridge of grey stone spotted with golden lichens.

On a rock ridge like this on the southeast side of Loch Indaal Bay, Jane Corneigle Campbell gathered her children in the tempest that had wrecked their ship on the rocky coast here.

The islanders fed and warmed them. A widow who was also descended from the Campbells of Argyllshire welcomed them into her nearby home until they were warm and dry. Then they went on to the village of Bowmore and found lodging with a family there. Bowmore was a new town. It had been established in 1768 on the Bay by the previous Laird, Daniel Campbell, who had been an effective manager of the island and its products.

A field of white daisies in the foreground, with the village of Bowmore on the far right in the distance. On the horizon are peaks of the island of Jura.

From the shipwreck site on Loch Indaal Bay, the white buildings of the village of Bowmore are visible to the right in the distance. The tall mountains on the horizon are on the Isle of Jura, which lies north of Islay.

Islanders provided carts to help move salvaged baggage from the wreck to a secure location. A local merchant, Hector Simpson, stored the passengers’ salvaged luggage in his Bowmore warehouse. He had been appointed by Laird Walter Campbell, the current owner of the island and a member of Parliament, to supervise the recovery efforts. Alexander went daily back and forth to the wreck site to collect the family’s belongings, with special attention to his and his father’s books.

On Sunday, October 16, Alexander visited an early morning Sunday school for children in Bowmore run by George Fulton, a school teacher who was also an independent evangelical.  Then he attended Presbyterian services at Kilarrow Parish Church, where Rev. McIntosh preached in English in the morning and in Gaelic in the afternoon.

A steep town road lined with houses rises to a white round church with a stone steeple facing the street. Kilarrow Parish Church, 1767

Kilarrow Parish Church (1767) in the village of Bowmore, Islay, UK. Its unusual round shape is accented by white walls and a stone tower facing the harbor. Laird Walter Campbell was buried there in 1816.

In his salvage efforts, Alexander paid special attention to drying his and his father’s books. Laird Campbell noticed his books and learned his name. He invited Alexander to visit his estate, Islay House, where, Richardson says, Alexander “spent many pleasant hours.”

White mansion with more than a dozen chimneys, two storeys, and attic windows below the grey roof. Photograph across a wide green lawn and lane. The main entrance in the center faces to the east side.

Islay House, home of the Campbell Lairds on Islay. It was begun in 1677. In 1808 it was owned by Laird Walter Campbell, who befriended Alexander, and who is buried at the Kilarrow Parish Church in Bowmore. See also the entrance and one of the grand staircases.

The estate lies at the top of Loch Indall Bay and faces south with views of the bay over a spacious lawn and park.

View from Islay House through nine panes of glass south across the estate's lawn toward Lochindaal Bay and the moors of Gearach.

Loch Indall Bay and the Rinns of Islay viewed from Islay House, the former home of Laird Walter  Campbell, who befriended Alexander Campbell. Looking south.

During their three weeks on Islay, the family discussed what to do next. They were reluctant to sail again, especially since the winter storms were soon to come. Alexander wanted to attend Glasgow University where his father had been educated, so they decided to relocate to Glasgow until the next summer.

After a second visit to the Kilarrow Parish Church on October 23, the family was ready to leave for Glasgow. On October 24, Alexander shipped the family baggage on a freight ship from Bowmore to Greenock, a port near Glasgow. Then the family left Bowmore and traveled by wagon ten miles to Port Askaig on the northeast shore of Islay. Alexander followed on foot.

Village of Port Askaig founded 1767. View from dockside toward hotel at left, post office and shop at center, and dock buildings at right.

Port Askaig, from which Campbell family sailed for Glasgow. The little village on the north coast of Islay dates from 1767. It is now one of three ferry ports on the island.

From Port Askaig, their plan was to take a fairly direct route on a “packet boat,” a lighter boat used for mail and passengers, to Tarbert, on the Scottish mainland peninsula of Kintyre, and from there to get another packet to Greenock.

Port Askaig hotel, a two-story white building beside the harbor

This hotel at Port Askaig is where the Campbell family stayed while waiting for the packet boat to Tarbert on Kintyre.

While they waited for the packet boat, Alexander made a day trip on October 26 across the half-mile sound that separates Islay from its mountainous neighbor, Jura. He spent the day hiking and reflecting.

Two green hills of the island of Jura seen across a half-mile channel separating Port Askaig on Islay from Jura to the north..

Mountains of Jura seen from Port Askaig, looking northeast from Islay. The sound between the two islands is only about half a mile wide.

On the morning of October 27th, the awaited packet arrived and the family embarked for Tarbert, where they planned to catch the boat to Greenock. Because of adverse winds, it took the packet ship 24 hours to travel about 23 miles to ArdPatrick, where the ship could make no further progress up the West Loch Tarbert. The Laird Campbell’s family at one of their estates, Ardpatrick house, supplied a large rowboat for the 24 passengers and their baggage.

Laird Campbells white home on a dark shore with sunset colors in the sky

Barely visible at sunset, the large white Laird Campbell Ardpatrick House  faces West Loch Tarbert, UK

Alexander rowed with others for another ten miles northwest to the end of West Loch Tarbert, arriving on Saturday afternoon, October 29th.

West Loch Tarbert looking southwest between green hills of Kintyre on left and Argyll on right.

West Loch Tarbert, looking southwest. Alexander rowed the whole distance seen here and several miles further northeast.

The passengers then made a two-mile trip over land to the port of Tarbert in wagons.  In helping other passengers out of the boat, Alexander fell into the water and was soaked. Nevertheless, he let others go ahead. For several hours he waited alone and chilled with his baggage for a wagon to return and take him to join his family in Tarbert.

The waters of West Loch Tarbert at left end at a hill. To the right, a road winds toward the hill and around it.

The northeast end of West Loch Tarbert. Here the Campbell family unloaded to travel two miles by wagon across the isthmus to the port of Tarbert on East Loch Tarbert.

The following day, Sunday, October 30th, Alexander spent the day in Tarbert in family worship and reading. The next morning they boarded a packet boat from Tarbert Harbor for a 45-mile trip to Greenock.

Tarbert harbor with stone wall in foreground. On the right a hill slopes steeply down to the harbor with village buildings clustered next to the water. At the top of the hill at right is a ruined castle.

Tarbert Harbor on East Loch Tarbert, Kintyre, with Tarbert Castle above the town.

They sailed for eighteen hours until the wind failed them. On the next day, November 1, Alexander went ashore with the other male passengers in a small boat. He walked five miles into Greenock, arranged a place for the family to stay, and returned to get them and their baggage back to their lodgings in Greenock that night.

The port of Greenock lies on the Firth of the Clyde River. A wide river with a blue protective rail and pavement on the right, and mountains across the river.

The Scottish port of Greenock, looking southeast up the Firth of Clyde toward Glasgow, which is about 25 miles away.

On November 2 Alexander made arrangements for his family and all their baggage to take a fly-boat, a small sailing ship, from Greenock to Glasgow on November 4. Then on November 3, he left early and walked twenty-three miles that day to Glasgow, carrying with him letters of introduction from Hector Simpson, the Islay merchant, to William Harley, a manufacturer; from Rev. Mr. McIntosh of the Scots parish church in Bowmore to Rev. Mr. McKenzie of Glasgow; and from the Islay Sunday-school teacher George Fulton to the famous Independent evangelist Greville Ewing. Alexander got a bite to eat, found #4 Carlton Place, and knocked on Greville Ewing’s door.

NEXT: Part 3: Glasgow

Open-Access photographs selected from my trip retracing Alexander’s journey to Glasgow are available for free download at ACU’s Stone-Campbell Teaching Archive for use in teaching. Read more about the Campbell family and Alexander’s life in Memoirs of Alexander Campbell by Robert Richardson (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1868).

Traveling with Alexander Campbell to Glasgow: Part 1 – The Homeland

By Carisse Mickey Berryhill, PhD

Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was born and grew up in Northern Ireland. In 1807, his father Thomas Campbell (1763-1854), a Presbyterian minister, emigrated from Northern Ireland to western Pennsylvania and sent for the rest of the family to join him in 1808.  Shipwrecked on the western coast of Scotland, the family spent a year in Glasgow before joining Thomas in 1809. During that time Alexander studied at the University of Glasgow. In 2019 I set out to visit the places in Ireland and Scotland that are the backdrop for this crucial year in his life. Travel with me as we retrace his journey in three posts: the Homeland, the Interruption, and the University of Glasgow.

Alexander Campbell was born in Northern Ireland near Ballymena about a mile from Lough Neagh, a huge lake in the center of Northern Ireland.

Jane Corneigle Campbell, Alexander’s mother, had grown up in that area, the only child of a widowed mother. Nearby was Shane’s Castle, a beautiful lake estate with a park where Alexander played as a child. When Alexander was little, his family moved south of the lake to Sheepbridge, where Thomas preached as a probationer.

Sheepbridge was in County Down on the old Belfast road about seven miles north of Newry, Thomas’s family home. Several members of Thomas’s family, including his brother Enos, are buried in Newry at the churchyard of St. Patrick’s Church of Scotland.

View from St. Patrick's churchyard across a valley to green hills.

Newry, County Down, Northern Ireland, view to the south from St. Patrick’s Church. Photo by David Mickey Berryhill.

About the time Alexander was old enough to go to school, Thomas moved the family to County Armagh to Market Hill to work with churches in that area and to teach for families there.  Alexander attended an elementary school there. He also attended an academy in Newry taught by his uncles Archibald and Enos Campbell. During this period Thomas avoided involvement with political groups in County Armagh during a time of extreme political tension and armed skirmishes between rival Protestant and Catholic militias.

Thomas received an invitation from the Governor, Lord Gosford, who admired his peaceable ministry, to move to the Gosford estate near Market Hill as a tutor to his family, with a residence and salary. Thomas declined because he did not want his children to learn to admire a wealthy lifestyle.

White stone castle with a round tower and arches windows

Gosford Castle near Market Hill, home of  Arthur Acheson, the Earl of Gosford, the governor of Armagh at the time.

As Alexander approached his teens, his father supervised his education. In 1798, Thomas accepted a call to the Ahorey Presbyterian Church and moved the family about five miles north of Market Hill to a farm in what is now the village of Hamiltonsbawn, a few miles closer to the Ahorey church. Alexander thrived on farm work and outdoor sports and began to develop as a scholar.

Two story stone house painted light blue with dark red trim near the main road in Hamilstonbawn village

Campbell Farm House now in village of Hamiltonbawn near Market Hill, Armagh, UK. Photo by David Mickey Berryhill.

Also in 1798, Thomas helped found the Evangelical Society of Ulster, begun in Armagh as an interdenominational association to support Bible literacy and gospel preaching. This affiliation proved to be a problem with his Presbyterian supervisors, who insisted he withdraw his membership two years later. At the same time, he was involved in efforts to reconcile two Irish Presbyterian factions.

Grey stone church with square corner tower entrance, surrounded by church graveyard.

Ahorey Presbyterian Church, County Armagh, where Thomas Campbell ministered, 1798-1807.

When Alexander was about seventeen, Thomas decided to start a school in Rich Hill to supplement his salary as the pastor of the Ahorey church.The family moved to a house across the town square from the castle of William Richardson, the High Sheriff of Armagh, and brother-in-law of Lord Gosford. Alexander assisted his father in the school, which became successful.

On Sunday evenings, when the Ahorey church had no services, Thomas and Alexander frequently visited the Independent congregation in Rich Hill, where they occasionally heard visiting ministers connected to the independent evangelical movement in Northern Ireland, England, and Scotland. That meeting house is at the bottom of the hill just below the Rich Hill square where the Campbells lived.

White two story building with red door and red trim.

Meeting house of the Independents in Rich Hill, below the square.

Thomas, his health worn out by his work, decided to relocate to the United States and emigrated in 1807. Alexander managed the Campbell school and helped his mother with his younger siblings. He became the tutor to the young daughters of the Richardson family in the castle just across the Rich Hill square.

Castle of William Richardson, large U-shaped house in Rich Hill.

William Richardson House, Rich Hill, Armagh, UK

The following year, Thomas, having secured a job with a presbytery, sent for Jane and their seven children to sail to meet him in Washington, Pennsylvania. The letter dated January 1, 1808, arrived in March. They began to get ready to leave, but their departure was delayed when smallpox swept through Rich Hill. By the time everyone in the family had recovered, it was late in the sailing season. In September Alexander went to Londonderry in the northwest of Ulster to arrange their tickets, admiring the old walled city, its history, and its buildings.

Londonderry view of town on the south side of the Foyle River

Londonderry Waterside district on the east side of the River Foyle.

When the time came, the family traveled for four days to the port of Londonderry to embark on their voyage to America. Their ship, the Hibernia, sailed on the first day of October, 1808, bound for Philadelphia. It never arrived.

NEXT: Part 2: The Interruption (coming soon)

Open-Access photographs selected from my trip retracing Alexander’s journey to Glasgow are available for free download at ACU’s Stone-Campbell Teaching Archive for use in teaching. Read more about the Campbell family and Alexander’s life in Memoirs of Alexander Campbell by Robert Richardson (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1868).

Dr. Carisse Berryhill’s Presentations on Foremothers of the Faith: The Campbell Women

Today’s post was written by student archive assistants Jeaniece Silas and Sarah Dillinger. Jeaniece Silas is a Senior Social Work major and child and family services minor from Fort Worth, Texas. She has been working in Special Collections for three years. Jeaniece enjoys processing collections and finding out historical information while working in Special Collections and hopes to pursue a career in social work when she graduates. Sarah is a Senior Social Studies major from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She has been working in Special Collections for three years. Sarah enjoys the research and connections she makes while working in Special Collections and hopes to pursue a career in history teaching when she graduates.

If you missed part one of this series on the Foremothers of the Faith you can catch up here.

Foremothers of the Faith: The Campbell Women

Why women? Well, men are everywhere, and even though women are physically in the story, they are often underrepresented in Christian literature and archives. For example, fifty-six single women went to Japan in the twentieth century as missionaries, and many people currently are not aware of this historical significance because it did not receive much coverage until Bonnie Miller’s book Messengers of the Risen Son in the Land of the Rising Sun was published in 2008. Also, in the appendix she alphabetically lists the women and puts how long they were in Japan as missionaries. Examples like this, where Christian women are hidden from historical significance despite great achievements, spurred Dr. Berryhill to research women in the Church of Christ Movement.

Selina Bakewell Campbell

Specifically in her research of women in the Church of Christ Movement, Dr. Berryhill has a deep understanding of the Campbell family, especially the women. Margaret Brown Campbell was the first wife of Alexander Campbell. She married Alexander at the age of 20 in 1811 and despite their personality differences, they complimented each other. Sadly, Margaret died at the age of 36 after a battle with tuberculosis, but she was able to see her youngest daughter read before she passed. Margaret also instructed Alexander to marry Selina Bakewell, a friend of Margaret’s and a member of a Church of Christ that Alexander preached at occasionally. Margaret wanted her five daughters to grow up with a mother and for Alexander to be able to pursue his speaking career. Selina was 14 years younger than Alexander, and married him just as his speaking career started causing him to travel frequently. Both of these women affected Alexander in different ways. Margaret and Alexander matured together, whereas Selina’s age difference as well as being a caregiver to Alexander’s children from Margaret as a foundation of their marriage caused their relationship to be different than his marriage with Margaret. However, Selina was influential in preserving Alexander’s legacy by writing a book about his life and his impact on the Church of Christ movement.

Two other influential Campbell women are Alexander’s mother, Jane Corneigle Campbell, and his sister, Jane Campbell McKeever. His mother brought him and his six siblings to the US from Ireland in 1809 to reunite with Alexander’s father, Thomas, in western Pennsylvania. Alexander was their eldest child and was 21 when they made the journey to America. While separated from Thomas, Jane continued to hold the family together and raise the children in a Christian setting. She led family devotion with the children each morning and every day she gave them individually Bible verses to memorize. Without this woman’s courage in taking seven children across the ocean by herself, and continuous dedication to the Christian upbringing of her family, we would not have the contributions to the Stone-Campbell Movement that her children provided.

Jane Campbell McKeever

In addition to his mother, Alexander’s sister, Jane Campbell McKeever also valued Christian teachings and she did so by starting a girl’s school called Pleasant Hill Seminary. Before starting the school, Jane McKeever helped her father, Thomas, with teaching children in churches and this helped form her to become a leading Christian educator that spurred her to create an intellectually stimulating school for girls. Alexander’s daughters were pupils in his sister’s school, and he considered his sister to be a valued colleague in Christian education. Pleasant Hill Seminary required the girls to take grammar, composition, geography, history, Latin, algebra, mathematics, natural philosophy, chemistry, botany, moral science, sacred literature and more. Alexander started Bethany College and both his college and Jane’s seminary frequently interacted with each other. Because of his relationship with Jane he was able to further develop an interest in education for women. Alexander speaks highly of Jane’s school Pleasant Hill Seminary in a letter included in The Millennial Harbinger stating that her school imparts “a rational, useful, and ornamental education” for females. Jane’s influence on Alexander and on the education of females added to the history of Christian education in the Stone-Campbell Movement.

These four women all contributed to the Stone-Campbell Movement, and because of their namesake they are more recognized among Christians within that movement. Dr. Berryhill for a large portion of her life has researched the Campbell family and through this research she discovered her desire to uncover other women leaders in the Christian movement. Next time we will travel to Tennessee to look at the lives of two other influential women.

References:

Campbell, A. (1848). Pleasant Hill Seminary. In W. K. Pendleton & R. Richardson (Eds.), The Millennial Harbinger (pp. 479). Bethany, VA: Alexander Campbell.

Miller, B. (2008). Servants of the Risen Son in the Land of the Rising Sun. Abilene, TX: Leafwood Publishers.