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Note: Alexander Campbell left Ireland in about 1868. The ports and the name of the ship are unknown. Family tradition says that Alex, James, Thomas, Sarah and Annie came to America together. Alexander first lived with a cousin in Tamaqua , PA. (unknown). He worked in the mines for one year and saved enough for his own brest in the mine. This gave him the right to hire people and have the profit that comes from that piece of the mine. He kept this for 21 months and then sold it to his brother James. In 1871 he took the proceeds from the sale and some other savings and bought a hotel & bar in Tamaqua. He worked and saved and traded this hotel & bar for another. He made several trades before buying the hotel & bar located in Storm Hill in Lansford, PA. This was also a liquor bottling and distribution company. He sold liquor wholesale and distributed to the entire surrounding area. His customers were Welch, German and Irish tavern owners. (This information is taken from the trial transcripts - more about the trial later) Alex was active in the community, belonging to St. Joseph's Church in Summit Hill; a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) - the Storm Hill Division Treasurer; an encourager of mine workers to stand up for their rights; politically active in Carbon and Schuylkill Counties as a member of the Republican Party because they were sympathetic to the Irish working man; at one time the Body Master of the AOH in the Tamaqua Division; campaigned against Franklin Gowan's candidate for Governor.
James Carroll bought a bar from Alexander on Broad Street in Tamaqua. James had been a customer. This is marked with an historical marker today.
Alex's name became connected with the Molly Maguires (an Irish secret organization which worked for better conditions in the mines and are connected with much violence in the area in the 1860's &70's). The organization had meetings in Alex's tavern in Lansford. On September 3, 1875, John P. Jones, a Welsh mine boss, was killed by three Irish miners. Alex was implicated in this death also - by association. He was found guilty of accessory to murder and hanged in the Mauch Chunk, Carbon County, Jail on June 21, 1877. He claimed several times that his innocence would be proven in the end. On the day he was walked out to the gallows, he rubbed his hand in the dirt on the floor and put his handprint on the wall of Cell 17 of the jail. He said that to prove his innocence, that handprint could never be removed from the wall. To this day, the print is still there even though it has been painted over numerous times and even plastered over. Today, this jail is a tourist attraction and cell 17 is not open to the public, but it can still be seen through the locked bars.
Numerous book have been written with a lot more detail about this story and the story of the Molly Maguires. One of which is A MOLLY MAGUIRE STORY written by Patrick Campbell, a great grand nephew of Alex.
According to Patrick Campbell during an oral interview - March 1996 - the Campbell home is on Quay Road, Dungloe. The name of the family catholic parish is St. Peter's on the main street in Dungloe.
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