James CAMPBELL was my gr-gr-grandfather, and son of the elusive Charles Muir CAMPBELL.

Most of his family had middle names, but I've never seen any evidence that his middle initial was "C" or "A" as frequently reported. The Virden cemetery records were transcribed from the headstone, and there is no "C" on his memorial. (See photo of headstone.) However, the cemetery records were published and the transcibed version of those records included the middle initial that is now frequently reported.

I prefer to list him as "James NMN CAMPBELL" until I see something more definitive. His son was James Haddock CAMPBELL "Sr.", who also named his son James Haddock CAMPBELL, JR. The Haddock "middle name" was handed down to others in the line, including my uncle, William Haddock CAMPBELL, "Sr."

The Haddock name seems to trace back to the WHITLOCK side of the family, and Catharine Morrell WHITLOCK married this James (NMN) CAMPBELL. There appears to be a related male named Haddock WHITLOCK in NJ, born circa 1800 and found in the 1850, 1860, and 1870 census in NJ. This may be the origin of the subsequent Haddock names.

So… until we are sure that this James CAMPBELL had a middle name, it would help keep things straight if we didn't assign him a middle initial of "C". If it is in error, it has already crept into at least 10 Ancestry public trees, plus OneWorldTree, etc..

If anybody has any source documents to definitively clear this up, please let me know.

Similarly, I'll caution you that the dates entered above are based on William Orlin CAMPBELL's excellent research, which has similarly been propagated to the same 10 Ancestry trees. Hopefully they are correct, if not, let me know and I'll change them. The year should be pretty accurate - and I hope to find the memorial photos soon.

I don't know exactly what county this guy was born & died in.
Presumably he was born in Penns Neck NJ, but the counties kept getting renamed up there - so maybe it was Somerset, Monmouth, Atlantic, etc.. He may have died anywhere, but we know he's buried in Virden, Macoupin, Illinois. I thought he was living in Carlinville at the time of his death, but that needs more research. For now, I just put in New Jersey for the birth (I'm 98% certain that's correct), and Illinois for the death (maybe 80% certain about that.)

Thanks for your patience & any contributions of facts & sources!
Greg Campbell

UPDATE reminder: Cousin Jen in NYC sent me a helpful brief biography -
slightly low res from Virden circa 7 Feb 1909. It has some facts including the fact that he had 10 of 14 children still living at his death, 28 grand children, 6 gr-grandchildren, etc.. To be transcribed as time permits.