Nicholas Campbell

(December 24, 1732 – July 21, 1829)

A mariner and merchant born on the island of Malta, Nicholas Campbell had arrived in the colonies prior to his participation in the Boston Tea Party on December 16, 1773.

As a sailor, it is assumed that he found work along Boston’s waterfront. Around 1775, Campbell moved to Warren, Rhode Island, following the Siege of Boston. He served in the American Revolutionary War, likely in unrecorded roles such as a deckhand, infantry, or privateer. Francis S. Drake’s Tea Leaves states that he “was employed in the marine service, and by many deeds of noble daring, aided the cause of liberty, and evinced his attachment to his adopted country”. 

Campbell died at the age of 97 in Warren, Rhode Island, on July 21, 1829. He is buried in the North Burial Ground in Warren. As he never married nor had any children, his estate of about $5000 was to be placed in some public funds for the purpose of schooling “indignant children” in the town of Warren.