San Joaquin County
Biographies
JOHN A. CAMPBELL
JOHN A. CAMPBELL, of Farmington, deceased. The subject of this sketch was born in Wellsville, Ohio, February 6, 1833, son of George and Rachel
(Bilderback) Campbell. The father, born in Washington County, Pennsylvania,
December 27, 1800, and the mother, a native of the same State, born November
12, 1812, were married August 16, 1829, and moved to Ohio some time between
1830 and 1833. George Campbell was by trade a millwright, with some knowledge
of civil engineering and surveying. About 1834 he moved to Indiana, settling ten or twelve miles from Delpi, and about 1839 to Kaskaskia,
Wisconsin, where the wife died October 8, 1846, he following
December 7, 1849. Five sons and one daughter survived him, of whom four sons
are living at the present time, namely: Thomas, George, Columbus and Henry; the
last named two being well-known residents of Stockton. The grandparents, Alexander Campbell and wife, had
emigrated from Londonderry, Ireland, toward the close of the last century, and
settled in Washington County, Pennsylvania, where they owned a farm on which
both died at an advanced age and not many days apart, in 1838. Grandfather
Thomas Bilderback was a native of Pennsylvania, of
Pennsylvania-German descent, and was married to Miss Preston, a native of the
same State, or of what is now West Virginia; these two lived to a ripe old age.
John Campbell, the subject of this sketch,
came to California in 1851 and to San Joaquin County in 1852. He was a teamster for a short time, and then
engaged in farm work near French Camp. About 1855 he formed a partnership with
Mr. Sharp and went into the business of threshing and farming. This arrangement
lasted three years, when Mr. Campbell sold out to his partner. In 1859 he
rented 300 acres on Mormon slough near Holden, and was married the same year to
Miss Salvilla A. Funck, an adopted daughter of the late J. P. Funck, a
well-known rancher of Douglass Township. In the summer of 1861 Mr. Campbell bought 160 acres
adjoining the village of Farmington on the west, and the same year became the owner of the Farmington
Hotel. This he sometimes rented and at other times conducted himself together
with his farm. He also resumed the business of running threshing-machines,
using two every season for eight or ten years, and four at least two seasons.
He was justice of the peace for eight years, road overseer for two years,
school trustee for several years, and postmaster of Farmington from January 1, 1872, until his death, of typhoid
pneumonia, May 21, 1873. He was a man of unquestioned integrity and highly
esteemed throughout the entire country. He left five sons and one daughter, all
of whom are now living.
John Franklin Campbell, born in Holden,
August 26, 1860, received a fair education in the local schools and worked on a
farm after quitting school. In 1881 he rented 150 acres and entered
agricultural pursuits on his own account, since which time he has been farming
from 500 to 900 acres. Eugene was a farmer in 1884-’85-’86. He now rents 850 acres
near Grayson, Stanislaus County, where he has resided since January, 1887, and owns
160 acres in Fresno County. In 1883 he bought a half interest in a steam
threshing-machine and became sole owner in 1884; also, in 1883, John and Eugene
ran a barley crusher, John becoming sole owner in 1888.
Mr. Campbell was married, April 7, 1885,
to Miss Hattie Ellen Rogers, a native of this State, born in Placer County, February 26, 1865, a daughter of Benjamin Franklin
and Hattie E. (Lowe) Rogers. The mother died June 24, 1865, in this State; the
father, born near Lockport, New
York, April 7, 1833, came to
California in 1849, and has resided for many years near Stockton, where he served some years as chief of police.
Grandfather John Rogers, an American by birth, and a soldier of the war of
1812, died in Battle
Creek, Michigan, several years ago, aged about eighty. Grandfather
Luther Lowe, born in 1805, in Maryland, is still living in Missouri, and the grandmother, Hannah E. Lowe, born September
15, 1807 and died October 21, 1885, seventy-eight years of age. Mr. and Mrs.
John Campbell have one child, Errol Preston, born August 28, 1889.
Thomas Eugene, the second son of John A.
Campbell, was born October 18, 1861, and received the usual district school
education with some interruptions. After quitting school he went to work on a
farm, and in 1883 he became a partner with his brother John as above stated. In
January, 1887, he bought a half interest in a blacksmith shop in Farmington, and in September, 1888, bought out his partner in
the blacksmith shop. In November, 1888, he was elected constable for two years,
and early in 1889 was appointed deputy assessor for Douglass Township. December 18, 1889, he married Miss Celia Ratledge.
Albert Grant, the third son of squire
Campbell, born September 3, 1863, has been foreman of a large ranch in Douglass Township since 1884, and his brother, William Lincoln, born
August 30, 1865, is engaged on the same farm at present. The four brothers
belong to the Knights of Pythias, lodge No. 124; Eugene is also an Odd Fellow, lodge No. 296; and John F.
belongs to the Ancient Order of United Workingmen, lodge No. 23.
Their only sister, Dora Birdena, born
October 14, 1869, and the youngest brother, Charles Henry, born May 21, 1872,
are attending Stockton Business College, and are living at the old homestead
near Farmington, with their mother, who by her second marriage is the wife of
Milo M. Church. Mr. and Mrs. Church are the parents of four children.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
An Illustrated History of San Joaquin County,
California, Pages 312-313. Lewis Pub.
Co. Chicago, Illinois 1890.
© 2009 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
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