Rev. Samuel Camp

Notes:

"Samuel Camp was graduated at Yale College in 1764; was ordained pastor of the church in Ridgebury, Conn,. in 1770; was dismissed in 1805; and died in 1813." [Annals of the American Pulpit, citation details below]

From Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Yale College (citation details below):

Samuel Camp, the youngest son of deacon Hezekiah and Lydia (Clark) Camp, of Milford, East Haven, and Canaan, Connecticut, was born in Canaan about 1744.

His ability was such as to secure for him a Berkeley Scholarship at graduation.

He studied theology, and was licensed to preach by the Litchfield South Association of Ministers in 1766.

From December, 1766, to November, 1767, he preached in that part of Woodbury Connecticut, which is now called South Britain, in Southbury.

In October, 1767, he was named as a candidate for the tutorship in College, in case of a vacancy, but no vacancy occurred.

Early in 1768 he was invited to settle in Mount Carmel Society, in the northern part of New Haven, now Hamden, but the negotiations were for some reason broken off. At this time he was described as of Salisbury, Connecticut.

In April, 1768, he began to preach in a very small society by the name of Ridgebury, which had been set off in the northern part of Ridgefield, Connecticut, in 1761, but had not yet maintained a settled preacher. He gave such satisfaction that he was called to the pastorate, and a church of over eighteen members was gathered and he was ordained over it by the Fairfield West Consociation on January 18, 1769. The parish was a very long and narrow ridge of land and sparsely populated, though an annual salary of 75 pounds was promised to him. After upwards of thirty-six years' service, he was dismissed in November, 1804.

His residence continued in the parish, and he died there on March 10, 1813, in his 68th year.

He was married on September 21, 1769, by the Rev. Dr. Joseph Bellamy, of Bethlehem, to Hannah Garnsey, who died on September 25, 1777, in her 34th year.

He next married on October 28, 1778, Lucretia, third daughter of James and Abigail Barker, of Branford, Connecticut, and granddaughter of Colonel John Russell (Yale 1704), who died on Feb 2, 1782, at the age of 35.

He married thirdly Mrs. Mary (Keeler) Northrop, on October 17, 1782, who died on October 14, 1800, in her 55th year.

By his first marriage, he had one son and two daughters; and by his second marriage a son and a daughter.

He contributed to the first volume of the Connecticut Evangelical Magazine a doctrinal treatise which was printed in six successive parts (January - June, 1801) with the title, "The Gospel a doctrine according to Godliness"; it is designed to illustrate the truth that the Gospel system is calculated to promote real godliness.

A prefactory note by the author, dated November 15, 1800, informs us that he has languished for many years under great bodily weakness, and that as he considers death to be now in near prospect, he offers for publication this imperfect work.

Rev. married Hannah Garnsey on 21 Sep 1769. Hannah was born about 1744; died on 25 Sep 1777 in Ridgefield, Fairfield, Connecticut. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Rev. married Lucretia Barker on 28 Oct 1778. Lucretia (daughter of James Barker and Abigail Russell) was born on 18 Mar 1747 in Branford, New Haven, Connecticut; died on 2 Feb 1782 in Ridgebury, Fairfield, Connecticut; was buried in Ridgebury Cemetery, Ridgebury, Fairfield, Connecticut. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Rev. married Mary Keeler on 17 Oct 1782. Mary was born about 1746; died on 14 Oct 1800. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

familysearch.org has a birth record stating that Sarah Camp was born 15 Jan 1782, daughter of "Rev. Samuel and Hannah." This is linked, not to a contemporary record, but to a typed index card marked "Ridgefield, Vital Records, Vol. 1, Page 30."

This record of Sarah Camp's birthdate and of her parentage cannot be correct, for the following reasons:

First, Sarah Camp's gravestone says that she died 9 Aug 1818, aged 36 years. This would place her birth in 1782.

Second, the only wife of the Rev. Samuel Camp named Hannah was Hannah Garnsey, who died in 1777.

Third, Samuel Camp's wife who was alive in early 1782 was his second wife, Lucretia Barker.

Fourth, a transcription of Ridgebury church records on familysearch.org, taken from dunhamwilcox.net, says that Lucretia, second wife of Rev. Samuel Camp, died on 2 Feb 1782, and that Sarah, daughter of Rev. Samuel Camp, was baptized 3 Feb 1782 (by the Rev. William Wetmore of Bethel).

Quite obviously, Lucretia (Barker) Camp, second wife of the Rev. Samuel Camp, died of complications from the birth of Sarah Camp, because she, not someone named "Hannah", was the mother of Sarah Camp.

Sarah married Samuel Smith Baldwin on 10 May 1796 in Ridgebury, Fairfield, Connecticut. Samuel (son of Samuel Baldwin and Hannah Northrup) was born on 5 Jul 1777 in Danbury, Fairfield, Connecticut; died on 12 Jul 1822 in Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio; was buried in Harvard Grove Cemetery, Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 30 Aug 1800

Lucretia married Reuben Irving Henry on 29 Apr 1828 in Portage County, Ohio. Reuben (son of James Miller Henry and Sarah Cochran) was born on 13 Jun 1800; died on 11 Aug 1862; was buried in Aurora Cemetery, Aurora, Portage, Ohio. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Sarah married Brig. Gen. Charles Turner on 20 Oct 1853. Brig. (son of Rev. Charles Avery Turner and Mary Bailey) was born on 2 Mar 1825 in Hampden County, Massachusetts; died on 13 Jul 1880 in Pekin, Tazewell, Illinois; was buried in Lakeside Cemetery, Pekin, Tazewell, Illinois. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]