James S. Campbell

CAMPBELL, HAZELWOOD, KELLIPS, BEAUMONT, WOODRUFF, GULLIVER, JANES, JONES, O CONNOR

Posted By: Volunteer Transcriber
Date: 3/5/2007 at 20:44:02

Biographies from the 1914 "Past and Present of O'Brien and Osceola Counties of Iowa"

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. In the Methodist Episcopal church, to which he belongs, he has been class leader and a member of the official board for many years. He is a strong temperance advocate and never loses an opportunity to give the liquor traffic a blow.

Politically, Mr. Campbell has usually voted the Republican ticket, although he now classes himself as an independent voter. It is a fact that thousands of our best citizens are now breaking away from party ties and, especially in local elections, voting for the best man irrespective of their party affiliations. To this large and intelligent class Mr. Campbell belongs and if there were more such men of independent thinking the country would be far better off than it is.

Fraternally, he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and has always taken an interest in the work of this old fraternal organization. Such is the outline of the life of Mr. Campbell, which indicates that his career has been the result of careful and conscientious work and that in all the relations of life he has performed his full duty. Successful in business, respected in social life and as a citizen discharging his every duty in a manner becoming an intelligent, patriotic man, he has earned and retained the good will and regard of all who know him.

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