CAMPBELL, James

CAMPBELL, GRENNEN, DONAHUE, REARDON, DAVIE

Posted By: Volunteer Transcribers
Date: 1/20/2003 at 12:02:57

JAMES CAMPBELL 

Occupying an enviable position among the railroad men of Clinton is this well-known engineer on the eastern Iowa division of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway. He was born in Jo Daviess county, Illinois, on the 22d of December, 1847, a son of Patrick and Kate (Grennen) Campbell, the former a native of the Isle of Man, the latter of Ireland. The father, who was a millwright by trade, came to America when a young man, and after residing here for some years returned to the Isle of Man, where he died in 1847. He left his family in Illinois, and his wife died in Jo Daviess county, that state, about 1871. Of the nine children born to this worthy couple, four died in early childhood, and three since coming to this country.  Those living are Kate, wife of D. Donahue, of Jo Daviess county, Illinois; and James, the subject of this sketch.

James Campbell acquired his education in the common schools of Illinois, and at the age of fourteen began to aid in supporting his mother, working as a farm hand for a few years. He next entered the employ of the Illinois Central Railroad as messenger boy for the agent at Dundee, and later was check clerk in the freight department for three years. Subsequently he was employed as fireman on that road for six years, and in 1875 was promoted to engineer, in which capacity he remained with that corporation for one year.

In 1876 Mr. Campbell removed to Clinton, Iowa, and entered the employ of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Company, running between that place and Chicago for some time. He has been in the passenger service since 1893, and is engineer on the Colorado special and the “overland limited” on the eastern Iowa division between Clinton and Boone, Iowa. He has never met with any accident since he entered the employ of the road, and is to-day one of its most trustworthy and faithful employes.

Mr. Campbell was married May 17, 1871, to Miss Mary Reardon, who was born in Galena, Illinois, in January, 1855, and they became the parents of three children, of whom Katie died at the age of eight years. Nellie is now the wife of John Davie, an employe of the telephone company at Clinton. James J. is a brakeman on a passenger train on the Chicago & Northwestern Railway and lives with his parents. They attended the high school and also the business college of Clinton. Mr. Campbell purchased a home in this place about 1878, and has since sold and purchased other property at three different times.

Fraternally Mr. Campbell is a member of Clinton Division, No. 125, B. of L. E., and Ivanhoe Lodge, No. 45, K. P. In religious faith he is a Catholic. Few men on the road are better known or more highly respected than he, and he has a large circle of friends and acquaintances in Clinton, where he has now made his home for a quarter of a century.
Source: The 1901 Biographical Record of Clinton Co., Iowa, Illustrated published: Chicago : S. J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1901.