Hosea Camp was born January 21, 1775, in North Carolina. As a child, Camp lived near the site of the Battle of King’s Mountain in South Carolina. When he was about six or seven, Camp, his father Nathaniel, and others were walking across the battlefield when one of the party found a “silver-mounted conch shell” reportedly used by British Commander Colonel Patrick Ferguson[1] as a bugle[2]. An account of the incident stated, “Each of the adults in turn tried to ‘blow’ the conch shell, and, all having failed, the elder Camp suggested that his little son, Hosea, try it ... His success was so complete that by unanimous consent he was presented with the conch shell.”[3] Another version of the story indicates Nathaniel Camp, who was listed as a participant in the battle, found the shell on the battlefield and used it to signal dinner for years. When Hosea married Elizabeth Jordan in 1797, the elder Camp presented the horn to Hosea as a present.
In 1805, Camp’s wife Elizabeth passed away at the age of 27. She and Camp had six children together. The following year, Camp married Elizabeth Kennedy.[4] He and Kennedy had three children between 1807 and 1812.
During the War of 1812, Camp served as a private in the 1st Regiment, Georgia Militia, commanded by Captain Harris.[5] After the war, he and his second wife had an additional four children between 1816 and 1822.
In 1825, Camp was appointed to a Jackson County Auxiliary Colonization Society committee created to celebrate the Nation’s jubilee by soliciting donations on behalf of the Society and encouraging the formation of other auxiliaries.[6] An August 29, 1825, newspaper article about the Augusta Auxiliary Bible Society lists him as an agent “For the Distribution of the Holy Scriptures” in Jackson County[7].
In 1830, prior to purchasing lot 870, Camp was referenced as serving on a jury in Gwinnett County with Elisha Winn who is a well-known figure in that county’s history.[8]
In June 1835, Camp purchased lot 870 from Luke Johnson. Camp was 60 years old at the time of purchase.
Despite owning property in Floyd County, the 1840 census lists Camp as living in Gwinnett County. In 1847, he won a lawsuit against Sugar Bonds which resulted in the sale of 650 acres in Jackson County to satisfy the fieri facias (fifa), a Latin phrase that refers to a court order to seize a debtor's assets to pay a judgment.[9] A History of Rome and Floyd County[10] lists Camp as someone who participated in transfers of Rome and Floyd County real estate between 1833-1837. During this period, Camp was referenced in various newspaper articles as a missionary and also as a part-time Methodist preacher[11].
In 1840, Camp sold lot 859 to William S. Simmons. Camp was not the original lottery winner of 859 and it is not known when he acquired that lot. It is, however, adjacent to lot 870. In May of 1847, Camp sold lot 870 to Simmons.
Though Camp owned lot 870 for at least 12 years, it is unknown if he ever lived on the property.
In 1850, Hosea Camp was listed as the owner of 19 slaves according to the 1850 Slave Census.[12] He was also listed in the 1850 Census as a farmer and Methodist preacher.[13]
Camp died on April 30, 1857,[14] and is buried in the Hosea Camp Cemetery in Polk County near Cedartown.[15] At the time of his death he owned more than 800 acres of land on the Euharlee, about seven miles from Van Wert and 10 miles from Cedartown.The executor’s sale notice describes the property as “well improved and well watered, having on it some of the best springs of water to be found in this county.” The property also included a new gin house, all necessary out houses, 180 acres of good bottom land and 300 acres of open land. The sale notice also mentions various other lots in the county as having been owned by Camp, “numbers not recollected.”[16]
As for Camp’s prized possession – his silver conch shell – he reportedly used it to call field hands until his death.[17] When he died, he bequeathed it to his youngest child, his daughter Elizabeth, wife of Stephen Alexis Borders Jr.[18] Elizabeth bequeathed it to her daughter, Emma Cordelia Borders[19], wife of Robert William Everett, in 1892. In 1895, Emma loaned it to the Atlanta Cotton States Exposition, where it was prominently displayed in the Colonial Department at the Women’s Building.[20] Thirty years later, on April 20, 1925, Emma donated the conch shell to the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Museum in Washington.[21] As of 2025, the shell, which is believed to be a horse conch common in waters from North Carolina to Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, remains in the DAR collection.[22]
[1] https://www.historynet.com/patrick-ferguson-revolutionary-war/
[2] The Rome Tribune, August 25, 1895, Image 12
[3] The Sword of Lord and Gideon - A Catalogue of Historical Objects Related to the Battle of King’s Mountain by James C. Kelley, p. 28-29.
[4] https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/details/L2ZB-ZQ9
[5] Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/18191185/hosea-camp: accessed March 28, 2025), memorial page for Rev Hosea Camp (21 Jan 1775–30 Apr 1857), Find a Grave Memorial ID 18191185, citing Hosea Camp Cemetery, Polk County, Georgia, USA; Maintained by Raymond B. (contributor 47259819).
[6] The Missionary, April 25, 1825, Image 3
[7] The Missionary, August 29, 1825, Image 2
[8] Southern Recorder, April 10, 1830, Image 3
[9] Southern Banner, April 27, 1847, Image 4
[10] A History of Rome and Floyd County by George MacGruder Battey Jr., p. 519
[11] The Christian Index, November 22, 1844, Image 1
[12] Polk County Georgia The First One Hundred Years by Larry D. Carter, p. 151
[13] Carter, p. 145
[14] https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/details/LRHQ-NPG
[15] Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/18191185/hosea-camp: accessed March 28, 2025), memorial page for Rev Hosea Camp (21 Jan 1775–30 Apr 1857), Find a Grave Memorial ID 18191185, citing Hosea Camp Cemetery, Polk County, Georgia, USA; Maintained by Raymond B. (contributor 47259819).
[16] Weekly Chronicle and Sentinel, October 28, 1857, Image 4
[17] Polk County Historical Society family records. The note in the file indicates the account was copied from The Cedartown Standard by Mrs. Pauline Pickett in 1950.
[18] https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/details/L556-X8H
[19] https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/details/KFYQ-2VR
[20] Possibly a reference to the Cotton States and International Exposition of 1895.
[21] Kelley, p. 28-29
[22]https://collections.dar.org/mDetail.aspx?rID=1819%20&db=objects&dir=DARCOLL