Campbell, Rasmus (1840-1916)

CAMPBELL

Posted By: Joyce Hickman (email)
Date: 11/10/2007 at 23:04:59

Rasmus Campbell
May 28, 1840 - Sep 24, 1916

(From the 1883 History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, by J. H. Keatley, p.126, Keg Creek Twp.)
Rasmus Campbell, farmer, P. O. Keg Creek, was born in Wayne County, Ind., in 1840. He is the oldest settler in Keg Creek Township, coming here in 1852, and he has lived here ever since, within one mile of the place he first settled on. He received his education in the schools of this county. His father, William Campbell, was a native of New York, and lived in Harrison County, Iowa. He died in Monona County, Iowa, in 1880. When our subject first settled in the county, there was only one settler between him and Council Bluffs. This was Mr. Thomas Moffatt, who lived on the farm now owned by S. G. Underwood. It was five miles up Keg Creek to any settler, and to the south there was no settlement till Glenwood was reached. Mr. Campbell was married, in this county, in 1864, to Miss Martha M. Moffatt, a daughter of Thomas Moffatt, one of the earliest settlers in this township. They have had six children, three boys of whom are living. They lost two children by typhoid fever in 1881. Mr. Campbell's farm consists of 127 acres. He is engaged in stock-raising and general farming. He has three brothers - one living in Hardin Township, one in Lewis Township, and one living in Monona County. In politics, Mr. Campbell has always been a Republican.

(From the 1891 Biographical History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, p.382)
RASMUS CAMPBELL, of section 50, Keg Creek Township, has been a resident of Pottawattamie county since the summer of 1853. He was born in Wayne County, Indiana, May 28, 1840, the son of William and Maria (CROSS) CAMPBELL, both natives of New York; the Campbells were of an old family in the East, some of the ancestors taking part in the Revolutionary War and originally from Scotland; the Cross family were of Irish ancestry. The parents were married in New York, but afterward moved to Ohio, in the vicinity of Cincinnati, and afterward settled in Wayne County, Indiana, in 1838, where they lived until 1846, when they came to Holt County, Missouri, and remained until 1853. The mother died in Pottawattamie County in the year 1865, and the father in Monona County, January 28, 1880.
Rasmus, the fourth in a family of thirteen children, was a lad of thirteen years when his parents settled in this county, and here on the frontier he grew to manhood, passing his youth at farm work. His first purchase of land in this county was on section 29, which farm he improved and sold. He then bought the land where he now lives in 1868, which consists of 127 acres of sections 21 and 20. A large portion of the land consists of rich, second bottom, on the west side of Keg Creek, which flows through the eastern portion of the farm, furnishing an abundance of water for stock purposes. Mr. Campbell is engaged in general farming and stock-raising. He has served as Assessor seven years, when Silver Creek and Keg Creek townships were one, as Justice of the Peace for two terms, dispensing justice in an impartial manner to all who were called before his court, and also as president and member of the school board. Politically he is a Republican, and is an active and zealous worker for his party. He was a delegate to the State Convention at Sioux City, Iowa, in June, 1890, and is a member of the Farmers' Protective Alliance.
He was married in Atchison County, Missouri, June 8, 1862, to Miss Martha M. MOFFITT, a native of North Carolina. She was four years of age when, in 1849,her parents came to Jefferson county, Iowa, and seven years of age when they came to this county. Her parents, Thomas MOFFITT and Nancy CRAVEN, were natives of North Carolina, and lived in this county from the time they came until their death. Mr. and Mrs. Campbell have three children: Alma W., who resides on the old farm, and has also been engaged in mercantile business since 1886; he carries a good stock of staple goods, and has a good trade; he was married to Minerva ORME; Edwin N., who resides in Keg Creek Township, was married to Josephine FORBES; and Winifred, at home. They have lost three children by death: Pearl, the fourth child died when nine years of age; Paralie, the third, died when eight months old; Henry, the sixth, died when four days old.