The Campbell Story
The Campbell family's story is fascinating and multi-layered. As early as the 1600s, the family had been associated with the tradition of emigration, travelling from Scotland to settle in Ulster.
As told in the Ulster American Folk Park, the Campbell story begins with the ‘Campbell House’, originally located in Plumbridge, Co. Tyrone. Sometimes called Aughlane House, it was a grand property built in 1786 by Hugh Campbell, earning him the nickname, Hugh ‘the House Builder’.
This house was the home of Hugh and Robert Campbell, both of whom emigrated in the early nineteenth century, relocating to Philadelphia and St. Louis respectively. Their stories are inevitably intertwined with the danger and dynamism of the then burgeoning country.
Robert Campbell’s legacy is of particular note. Beginning his career as a fur trapper and trader, he later became a hugely successful businessman, amassing a substantial fortune. This fortune would, in the 1930s, become the centre of intense legal proceedings as claimants from all over the world sought a share in the Campbell millions. It is the family letters, legal documents and newspaper clippings that make up this exciting collection.