The Cameron Family Legacy, through war and peace
by Paula Cochran
Market Street in downtown Sunbury wraps around a little grassy island called Cameron Park. Named for Col. James Cameron, the park holds park benches, a gazebo and a tall soldiers monument with a statue of the colonel. The Cameron family moved to Sunbury from Lancaster County around 1807. Shortly thereafter, the father, Charles, died, leaving his children, Simon and James, to fend for themselves.
James Cameron (March 1, 1801-July 21, 1861) At age 19, James began a printer apprenticeship to his brother in Harrisburg. He then moved to Lancaster, where he served as editor of a newspaper while studying law. After serving as superintendent on the Philadelphia and Columbia railroad, he served in New Orleans during the Mexican War. He then returned to this area to a farm in Milton. When the Civil War broke out, his brother, then secretary of war, appointed James a colonel of the 79th New York Highlander regiment. The regiment marched to Virginia, where the First Bull Run battle was fought on July 21, 1861.
Dressed in highland fashion, the colonel charged the hill not once, not twice, but three times. The 79th lost 32 men that day, including Col. Cameron, who was killed when a .58-caliber rifle bullet hit him in the chest. In 1879, the grassy park was named in honor of the colonel, the first officer from Northumberland County to be killed in the war. The park was rededicated at Sunbury's 225th anniversary celebration. 2009 marks the 130th anniversary of the monument's dedication.
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