Biography from History of Clay Co., Indiana, Vol. II,
au: William Travis,
publ. 1909
JAMES M. CAMBELL.—Long an extensive farmer and a large land
owner of Washington township, Clay county, James M. Campbell has for
some time been retired from active work. A soldier, bearing with him the
wounds of battle, and for many years a Republican leader and an active
participant in the administration of township affairs, he was born in Shelby
county, Kentucky, on the 26th of October, 1842. His parents were John S.
and Julia A. (Miles) Campbell, the father being born near Lewisburg.
Pennsylvania, and the mother in Shelby county. They were also married
in Kentucky, and lived there nearly eleven years before coming to Clay
county, Indiana. John S. Campbell came to this locality in December, 1852,
and purchased eighty acres of land in Washington township. He died in
1856, leaving a widow and seven children, of whom James M. Campbell
was the oldest. The family kept the estate intact until 1907, when it was
divided among the heirs. The elder Mr. Campbell took an active part in
politics and was a Democrat of local influence. He held the offices of
township clerk and township trustee, and died while serving his second
term in the latter office. At the time of his decease he was only forty-two
years of age. His widow lived until October 4, 1900, when she passed
away at the age of seventy—five, the mother of the following: James M.
Campbell, of this review Rebecca, who resides with him Lucy F., widow
of Major W. W. Carter, of Brazil, Indiana; Smith, of Bowling Green;
Enos M., also a resident of that place; and Sarah and William, both
deceased.
James M. Campbell received a common school education, and lived
on the farm with his mother until August 27. 1861, when he enlisted in
Company A, Forty-third Indiana Volunteer Infantry. He served for a
few days over three years and was active during the bulk of that period,
the scenes of his military experience being in the southwest. For about a
year he was attached to the fleet operating in the Mississippi Valley, and
during the term of his service was twice wounded. One of his injuries
was accidental, and the other was so serious that he was reported mortally
wounded—the latter being received at the battle of March Mill, Arkansas.
He was with the first regiment that landed at the capture of Memphis,
Tennessee, and really has occasion to claim that he knows something of
the horrors of war, and the unspeakable relief of returning to home scenes
and paths of peace.
Upon his return from the front in the fall of 1864 Mr. Campbell
secured an interest in a grist mill in Shelby county, Kentucky, his partner
being James Miles, his maternal grandfather. After about a year lie
returned to Clay county and engaged in the lumber and milling business,
thus continuing for a number of years. About 1874, in association with his
brother, he bought forty acres of land which is now a portion of the
County Poor Farm, and at one time he had amassed a landed estate
amounting to eight hundred acres. At present he is the proprietor of
some four hundred and thirty acres in sections 7, 12 and 13, over whose
cultivation and improvements he retains a general supervision. Mr.
Campbell is a firm Republican, and has served Washington township as
trustee for two terms and as a member of the advisory board for two
years. As is natural, he has taken a deep interest in the affairs of the
Grand Army of the Republic.
His wife, to whom he was wedded on the 10th of December, 1878,
was Ann Mae Boothe, who was born in Clay county, Indiana, daughter
of Thompson and Huldab (Thomas) Boothe. Mrs. Campbell’s maternal
grandfather was a native of Kentucky, and at a very early day came with
his wife by boat to Spencer, Indiana; thence blazing a way through the
forest to what he called the Promised Land, located on section 13, Wash-
ington township. This tract of land is owned by James M. Campbell, and
as Grandfather Thomas is conceded to be the first permanent settler of
Washington township it has a sentimental value as “historic ground.”
Mrs. Campbell died April 12, 1905, without issue.