History of the Campbell Family: 1242 - 2025

Clan Campbell, politically (and in every other way), was the most successful clan in Scottish history. With that, it has not survived the turning of time’s wheel without a share of its own dark days and disasters. The Campbells of Argyll represent one of the most successful arms of the Clan. However, even they struck hard times due to political and religious regime change. As with all the clans of Scotland, it was often the chosen allegiance to Kings and their religious leanings that made or broke its fortune.Clan Campbell’s royal connections, along with their fierce loyalty to Robert the Bruce (they fought at the Battle of Bannockburn and beyond) gave them in return many gifts of land and fortunate marriages from grateful Scottish Kings.This book follows the Campbells of Auchinbreck. They were a great military support to the Argyll Campbells. Yet, their Chief, Sir Duncan Campbell, commanded under Archibald Campbell during the massacre at Inverlochy and was executed by the Marquess of Montrose, while Archibald fled..The next chief of the Campbells of Auchinbreck had to surrender at the end of the failed Monmouth Rebellion of 1685 against James II (VII of Scotland) and was executed. Three years later, William of Orange succeeded in overthrowing the king. By that time, the family had converted to the Catholic faith and now supported the Jacobite cause, just in time to lose in both the 1715 and the 1745 Jacobite rebellions. Because the Auchinbrecks were the only branch of the Campbell Clan to chose the losing side, they forfeited all their lands and titles.Gilbert Campbell, a son of the Auchinbreck clan, left Scotland and settled in Virginia in 1735 as a successful ferry owner on The Great Wagon Road. His descendants fought in the Revolutionary War and the Civil War and eventually spread throughout the United States.George Washington Campbell, born in 1799, took his family of six girls and one boy west to Indiana in 1831and built up a prosperous farm there. Three more sons were born before the Campbells moved further West to another farm near Macon, Illinois. By 1863, the whole family, including grown children and their spouses, had settled in Scotland County, Missouri. Later, they settled near Eureka, Kansas, and Ray Thomas Campbell became a celebrated rodeo rider and baseball player. Children of Ray and Marie Campbell spread throughout the United States. The depression and dust bowl of the 1930s sent many, including Ray and Marie, to California. Ray Campbell brought his family back to Kansas and worked hard to make a better life for his children and grandchildren. This book celebrates both the history and the present of the Campbell family.The History of the Campbell Family is lavishly illustrated with color photographs and maps. Read more