Jane Corneigle Campbell (1763–1835) was the wife of Thomas Campbell and the mother of Alexander Campbell.

Jane was born in 1763 to Presbyterian parents. Jane’s parents lived in County Antrim, Ireland, having descended from French Huguenots who fled to the area in 1681; County Antrim was “a center of New Light strength.” The township where Jane grew up, which the Corneigles and another family—called the Bonners—owned, was in County Antrim near Shane’s Castle. Jane was an only child, and her father died when she was around seven years old.

Jane received a thorough education in accordance with her family’s Presbyterian beliefs. Her education took place at a school that the Corneigles and Bonners built and established themselves. It was at this school that Jane learned her lifelong practice of scripture memorization—a practice which she later instilled in her own children.

Jane Corneigle became Jane Corneigle Campbell upon her marriage to Thomas Campbell in June 1787. Both Jane and Thomas were twenty-four years old at the time of their marriage. The Campbells moved from County Antrim to County Armagh after their son, Alexander, was born. Together they had ten children, three of whom died as infants; the other seven outlived their mother. In 1798, the Campbells (Jane, Thomas, and three children) moved to Hamilton’s Bawn, where Thomas worked as a pastor and farmer. 

Throughout her husband’s ministry, Jane supported both his efforts and their children’s wellbeing. In describing her devotion to Thomas, their son Alexander cited an adaptation of the third verse of Nathaniel Cotton’s hymn “If solid happiness we prize” as Jane’s life motto:

“To be resigned when ills betide,
Patient when favors are denied,
And pleased with favors given;
Dear husband, this is wisdom’s part,
This is that incense of the heart
Whose fragrance smells to heaven.”

Each evening, the Campbells devoted themselves to scripture, and every Sunday they reflected upon that day’s service. These routines, along with Jane’s regular training of the Campbell children in scripture memorization, ensured that the Campbell family fulfilled Thomas’ expectations of Christian training.

In 1804, the Campbells (Jane, Thomas, and six children) moved from Hamilton’s Bawn to Rich Hill, where Thomas established a school. On April 8, 1807, Thomas departed for Philadelphia while Jane and the rest of their family remained in Ireland. While Jane and Alexander watched over the younger Campbells in Rich Hill, some of the children contracted smallpox, but each of them survived. 

Jane and the seven children left Ireland to join Thomas in Philadelphia on October 1, 1808, on the Hibernia, a ship setting sail from Londonderry. Aboard the Hibernia, the Campbells continued their practice of worshipping together each morning and night. Just six days into their travel, Jane and her children suffered a shipwreck that required them to stay in Glasgow for another ten months. The shipwreck took place near Islay, where the Campbells encountered family members who cared for them and helped them find a place to stay. They began their journey again on August 3, 1809, and on September 29, they landed in New York. The family then took a 350-mile wagon ride to Washington, Pennsylvania.

Almost two years after Jane and her children’s arrival in the United States, Thomas’ Christian Association officially became the “First Church of the Christian Association, meeting at Crossroads and Brush Run,” eventually referred to as the “Brush Run Church.” A year after Brush Run Church’s formation, Jane was rebaptized by Matthias Luce, along with several of her family members, on June 12, 1812, in Buffalo Creek.

Jane Corneigle Campbell died on April 28, 1835, at the age of seventy-one. Her last words, recorded by Thomas, were, “Receive my spirit. My spirit—he will receive my spirit.” In his letter informing Alexander of her death, Thomas described Jane as having a “truly noble and independent spirit” and a “kind and generous disposition.” Jane and Thomas named the fourth of their seven children  Jane, and their son Alexander named a daughter Jane as well.