- JAMES S. CAMPBELL. The history of Osceola county is but a
record of the doings of its
- people and the value of the present volume is greatly enhanced
because it is written while many of the first pioneers of the
county are still living. The story of the plain, common people
who came here in the sixties and seventies attracts the attention
and interest of all the succeeding generations of this county.
One hundred years from now this volume will be of intense interest
to people who will be then living here and the many incidents
which gather around the lives of the early settlers of the county
will make interesting reading at that far-away time. The "grasshopper
war" will undoubtedly cause much curiosity in the generations
to come and yet the history of many of the pioneers which are
presented in this volume gives testimony of the frightful ravages
wrought by these little invaders. The life history of James S.
CAMPBELL, who is now living retired in his comfortable home in
Sibley, is a record of a life true to its highest ideal and there
is much in it that should stimulate future generations of Osceola
county to higher and better things.
- James S. CAMPBELL, the son of J. M. and Elizabeth (HAZELWOOD)
CAMPBELL, was
- born in Jefferson county, New York, May 9, 1851. His father
was born in New York, while his mother was a native of England.
J. M. CAMPBELL was the son of James CAMPBELL, a native of Scotland.
The wife of J. M. CAMPBELL came to America with her father from
England when she was twelve years of age. In 1858 the CAMPBELL
family left New York state and moved westward, finally locating
at Beaver Dam, Dodge county, Wisconsin. In 1886 they removed
to Crawford county, Iowa, where they lived until the death of
father and mother. J. M. CAMPBELL was born April 3, 1827, and
died in August, 1906. He was twice married. His first wife, the
mother of James S. whose history is here portrayed, died in 1856
and he subsequently married his first wife's sister, Mary Maria
HAZELWOOD, who died January 1, 1910, at the age of seventy-five.
There were two children by the first marriage, James S., with
whom this narrative deals, and Mrs. Ida Elizabeth KELLIPS, of
Milwaukee, Wisconsin. To the second marriage were born six children:
Walter J.. of South Dakota; Charles Ambert, of Iowa; Mrs. Louise
BEAUMONT, of Denison, Iowa; Wilmer, of South Dakota; Mrs. Martha
WOODRUFF, of Denison, Iowa, and Rev. Albert Gilliver, a Methodist
minister, now preaching at Rapid City, South Dakota. In this
connection it might be noted that the father of the two HAZELWOOD
sisters was a Methodist minister.
- James S. CAMPBELL was seven years of age when his father
left New York for Wisconsin and
- consequently received most of his education in the latter
state. He was reared to manhood in Wisconsin and married in that
state, living the life of a farmer there until the spring of
1889. He then migrated to Crawford county, Iowa, where he purchased
a farm on which he lived for two years, after which he sold it
and moved to Osceola county. Iowa, where he bought two hundred
and forty acres of land in East Holman township for twenty dollars
an acre. On this farm he lived for nine years, when he sold it
and built a modern home in Sibley, where he is now living. He
moved to Sibley in order to give his children better educational
advantages. Three years after moving to Sibley he purchased one
hundred and sixty acres in East Holman township adjoining the
town of Sibley on the east and still later purchased three hundred
and twenty acres in Wilson township. For some years he resided
at times during the summer season on these farms. He owns two
residences in Sibley, also the Tribune building, the opera house
block and a half interest in the store building adjoining the
opera house. Mr. CAMPBELL has been remarkably successful as a
business man, a success which has come about solely through his
own business ability, together with the strictest integrity in
all of his financial dealings.
- Mr. CAMPBELL was married March 9, 1874, to Ellen JANES, the
daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
- William JANES, early settlers of Wisconsin. To this union
have been born three children: William Madison, a farmer of South
Dakota and the father of four children; Clarence Eugene, a farmer
of Alberta. Canada, and Mrs. Katie Elizabeth JONES, of South
Dakota. Mr. CAMPBELL was married a second time on September 1,
1908, to Mrs. Alice BISHOP O'CONNOR, a widow, of Janesville,
Wisconsin. She was born, reared and educated in Wisconsin and
has been a prominent church worker all of her life. She is a
member of the Northwestern Iowa Conference Board and now secretary
of the Home Missionary Society. In October, 1913, she was selected
as secretary to the national convention of the Woman's Home Missionary
Society. She is a very able and intelligent woman and has devoted
several years of her life to church and missionary work. In this
she is now ably assisted by Mr. CAMPBELL, who has been a church
worker all of his life.
-
- [Taken from "Past and Present of O'Brien and Osceoloa
Counties, Iowa, Vol. II" by J. L. E. Peck, Hon. O. H. Montzheimer
and Hon. William J. Miller; (c)1914 B. F. Bowen & Co., Indianapolis,
IN; pp. 826-827]
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