William Campbell

You haven’t said what denomination the Campbell family was. Their births and marriage were before the start of statutory registration in Ireland. You would need to search church records for them. And they are unlikely to be on-line. I would start with Cullybackey Presbyterian church. There is a copy of their records in PRONI in Belfast.

Thanks Elwyn, I've always pretty much assumed they were Presbeterian,I haven't found much on their arrival in the US other than the daughters marriage in NJ and there were a few Neal and Elizaberhs in the US,I haven't found the family in census records in the US either before William and his siblings started showing up around 1870. William is buried in a cemetery that includes Lutherans,Reformed Lutherans,Episcopalians and Methodists,same with his siblings in Hazelton. Are the Proni records you mentioned online?

Butch,

The Cullybackey Presbyterian records are not on-line. (Only a handful of Presbyterian church records in Ireland are on-line). A visit to PRONI or the Presbyterian Historical Society (both in Belfast) is required to view them. On the positive side, if that was the family church, their records go back to 1726 when it was built. That’s pretty rare for church records in Ireland.

http://www.proni.gov.uk/guide_to_church_records.pdf

Researchers in the PRONI area: http://sgni.net

There was another Presbyterian church in Cullybackey which opened around 1820. Latterly called the United Presbyterian church (and known locally by some as the Scots Kirk), it has no baptism records before the 1860s. Their earlier records have been lost.

I note from the grave information Miriam found that there was reportedly a Thomas Campbell who remained in Ireland and died in Co. Antrim in Jan 1938. I checked the death records on GRONI and there isn’t a match with that. There were only 3 people of that name who died in 1938. 2 were children and the third lived in Co Down, and died in December 1938.

I found a Thomas Campbell whose father was named Neal/Neill and who married Sarah Mawhirter (McWhirter) on 27.9.1878. He was 20 (so born c 1858).  They married at Ahoghill 1st Presbyterian. Tradition was to marry in the bride’s church so that isn’t necessarily Thomas’s church. Thomas was living in Lisrodden in 1878. Here’s that family in the 1901 census, by then in Drumrankin (which is just outside Cullybackey):

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Antrim/Ballyconnelly/Drumrantin/924630/

His age at marriage has him born c 1858 and the 1901 census c 1860. Something similar in the 1911 census:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Antrim/Ballyconnelly/Drumrankin/115779/

Obviously if he was born after your family had gone to the US then it can’t be the same family. However I note you don’t actually have details of when they left. Perhaps it was after 1858?

There is a possible death for Thomas Campbell on 31.12.1937, aged 77, registered in Ballymena. That’s very close to January 1938! You can view the original certificate on-line on the GRONI website, using the “search registrations” option:

https://geni.nidirect.gov.uk

You will need to open an account and buy some credits. It costs £2.50 (sterling) to a view a certificate.

Looking at location, father’s name and the date of death I suspect that may be the Thomas who remained in Ireland. He had 6 children who were still alive in 1911, so there may be some descendants around. I can see a marriage for Agnes Campbell to Andrew McMillan on 12.5.1915 at Ahoghill 1st. So that’s a hint that the Campbell family were probably attending that church then.

https://churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/

I had forgot about this post until it came up in a search yesterday,I have more information that might hopefully give me more direction to finding records. About a year ago I had a DNA test done and found a cousin in Australia,we found an Alexander Campbell who was a son of Neal and Elizabeth that went to Australia in the 1860s. She also has a DNA match to a relative that still lives in the Culleybackey area,she is a descendant of Thomas that is mentioned in the post above who married Sarah McWhirter. She was also able to find possible baptism records for some of Neal and Elizabeth's children that were baptised in a Church of Ireland but I have to go through my records to find out what church it was. She also found death certificates for a Neal and Elizabeth that were recorded in Agoghill,Neal died in 1891 at 76yo and Elizabeth died in 1895,it looks like they never left Ireland. I'm thinking that it's probable that the rest of their children didn't leave Ireland until the 1860s either but so far haven't found any travel records for them,there was also another daughter that came to America that was apparently married to a Hugh Leith but again no records to back that up. I've also tried searching Griffiths Valuation and cemetery records for Craigs church and a few other churches in the area but I'm not coming up with many Campbells buried there. 

Here’s Neal’s death in 1891. He lived at Dreen which is in the parish of Craigs, not too far from Cullybackey. He was a scutcher. That’s a trade in linen making. Probably wouldn’t be wealthy enough to have a gravestone, so won’t be in the Braid graveyard website. Son Thomas, also of Dreen, was the informant.

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/deaths_returns/deaths_1891/06083/4735275.pdf

I cannot find a death for Elizabeth in 1895. This looks to be the nearest, in Ballymena workhouse in 1897, but I cannot say for certain it is the right lady:

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/deaths_returns/deaths_1897/05877/4666356.pdf

In the 1901 census, there’s 1 main Campbell family in Dreen:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Antrim/Ballyconnelly/Dreen/924577/

2 other Campbells were working nearby as servants, so they may be from that same family:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Antrim/Ballyconnelly/Dreen/924596/

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Antrim/Ballyconnelly/Dreen/924588/

William Campbell was married to Mary Malie or Mailey:

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_returns/births_1884/02705/1995907.pdf

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/marriage_returns/marriages_1877/11146/8082553.pdf

William’s father was an Alexander Campbell.

This looks to be Thomas Campbell, son of Neal/Neill who married Sarah Mawhirter/McWhirter:

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/marriage_returns/marriages_1878/11106/8064994.pdf

And in the 1901 census:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Antrim/Ballyconnelly/Drumrantin/924630/

I don’t see a marriage for Hugh Leith in Irish records. Perhaps they married outside Ireland?

Thanks for that information Elwyn.I do have Elizabeths death certificate,my cousin from Australia found that,she also found Neal,Thomas and families in the 1851 census and Neal in Griffith's valuation.It is possible that Hugh Leith and Margaret may not have married until they were in the US,she passed away within a few years and is suppose to be buried in Hazelton,Hugh remarried and went west,Kansas I believe,there were a few Dicks traveling with him which was Elizabeth Campbells maiden name.