My WICKSON Tree

Demographics and Geographical Proximity

William Campbell (1819-1897) was the third son of six born to Sylvester Campbell and Helen Mason in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.  Their names were, in order, Alexander, Sylvester, William, Adam Corbet, George and David.  Another child of unknown gender was stillborn and may have represented a seventh son.  In the Scottish census of 1841, all the sons, with the exception of Alexander, were living at home with Sylvester Campbell and Helen Mason.  By the recording of the Canadian census of 1851/1852 Adam Corbet Campbell, together with two of his sisters, Isabel and Helen, and their Isaac husbands and a handful of related and associated Scotsmen had emigrated to Canada and traveled by way of Norfolk County to take up permanent residence in Haldimand Township, Northumberland County,Ontario, Canada.  The Canadian census of 1851/1852 shows William Campbell residing in Hamilton Township, Northumberland County – a few miles from the Campbell-Isaac settlement in Haldimand Township.  As recorded in the 1861 census, George Campbell and his wife, Sarah Grubb, have emigrated to Canada and taken up residence within the Campbell-Isaac settlement in Haldimand Township.  By the time of the 1871 census, William Campbell has purchased land in Percy Township, Northumberland County, about the same distance from the Campbell-Isaac settlement.  Also recorded in the 1871 census is the fact that George Campbell and Sarah Grubb have purchased an adjoining farm, literally across the road from William Campbell`s farm in Percy Township.  Within a few years William Campbell moves his family to a farm in Chandos Township in Peterborough County.  In their later years, George Campbell and Sarah Grubb move to the USA to live with their son, Sylvester Campbell in LeRoy, New York. However, throughout most of their adult life, the Campbell sons remain in fairly close geographical proximity to each other – a characteristic of many emigrating families.

Based on the fact that William Campbell (1819-1897) appears to never be far from the rest of the Campbell-Isaac immigrant group during their travels through Norfolk County to Northumberland County and in the locations in which they settle permanently, one could assume a family relationship.  This tendency for related families to remain and settle geographically close to each other is a characteristic of many emigrating families and is probably caused by a combination of several factors, all of which support a successful transition from the old country to a new life in Canada.

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