San
Joaquin County
Biographies
WILLIAM CAMPBELL
A time-honored pioneer resident of
San Joaquin County, who is honored and esteemed not alone for the length of his
residence, but also for the excellence of his citizenship and the worthy part
he has taken in the various activities of the county
is William Campbell. Only such old
residents as he can fully appreciate the transformation that has been wrought
in this beautiful and fertile valley of the San Joaquin Valley. He has been intimately identified with these
changes and development, and in the history of the state he deserves mention as
a man of enterprise, eminent public spirit and broad usefulness in whatever
field of endeavor the fortunes of the world have placed him. He was born in County Down, Ireland, April
16, 1841, of Scotch ancestry who had left Scotland for Ireland during the reign
of Cromwell. Ancestors on both paternal
and maternal side were Scotch, belonging to the Presbyterian Church, and for
many generations were farmer folk.
William Campbell was a lad of eight years when he accompanied his
parents, John and Mary (McKee) Campbell to America. The voyage was made in a small sailing vessel
and thirty days were consumed before they reached New York. From New York they proceeded up the Hudson
River to the Erie Canal, through the canal to the Great Lakes, then by water to
Chicago, and overland 180 miles in covered wagons to Rock Island,
Illinois. There were eight children
besides the parents and many hardships and privations were suffered before reaching
their destination. In 1850, one year
after arriving in Illinois, the death of the father occurred, and seven years
later the mother left the home circle.
She was a kind, patient and devoted mother and her children cherish her
memory. Three of the sons enlisted in
the Eleventh Iowa Volunteer Infantry and served valiantly, one being killed in
action at Atlanta, Georgia, on August 19, 1864.
As soon as William Campbell was old
enough he began to work on the farm and was fortunate in being able to attend
the Camden public schools and so received a fairly good education. At fifteen years of age he began to learn the
harnessmaker’s trade in Camden, where he worked for two years. In 1858, in company with his brother John, he
started west to Kansas City, then a place of 2,500 inhabitants. There were no railroads beyond the
Mississippi River, all transportation being made by boats on the river and
teams overland. William Campbell soon
had an opportunity to drive a team across the plains to New Mexico for the
Government freighters, Russell, Majors & Wardell. This was an
exciting period in his life, as the route was through a wild, unpeopled region infested by Indians and wild beasts and
none but brave men cared to face the dangers of the journey. The safety of the company was in the number
of wagons and the first train that Mr. Campbell joined consisted of twenty-five
wagons with six yoke of oxen to each wagon, laden with supplies for the
Government posts in New Mexico. The
train left Kansas City in May and ninety days were consumed making the round
trip. Mr. Campbell agreed to make
another trip, and on this trip his train was attacked by Indians, but
fortunately there was no loss of life.
Mr. Campbell followed freighting until 1860 when he left Nebraska City
with a train and got as far as the North Platte and late in the fall of 1860 he
entered the service of the pony express, as a rider from Cottonwood Springs,
subsequently called Ft. McPherson, to Lowell, seven miles below Ft.
Kearney. The quickest news service from
the east to the Pacific coast in those days was twenty-five to thirty days via
the Isthmus of Panama, or by stage coach.
St. Joseph, Missouri, at that time, was the western terminus of the
Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad, and the only town on the Missouri River
north of Jefferson City that had rail and telegraphic communication with
Washington, D. C. The route of the pony
express followed the stage coach line through Seneca, Marysville, to Big Sandy,
up the valley of the Little Blue, then across to the valley of the Platte,
through Fort Kearney and Julesburg, then across to Fort Laramie, and across the
South Pass to Fort Bridger and Salt Lake, and from there through Nevada to
Sacramento, a distance of 1,980 miles.
On April 3, 1860, the first pony express started from St. Joseph, Missouri,
going west, and at the same time a rider left Sacramento going east. The stations were from twenty-five to thirty miles
apart, and the riders rode from seventy-five to 100 miles. Mr. Campbell tried very hard to go with the
first lot of riders, but his opportunity did not come until in the fall of 1860. His ride covered a distance of seventy-five
miles and on the first trip he faced a snowstorm all night and was nearly blind
for several days. Mr. Campbell rode
twice a week over his route and stopped at Fort Kearney to get the latest
telegraph news, as the Civil War was coming on and, of course, there was great
interest in the latest dispatches. The telegraph
line was completed to Fort Kearney in the fall of 1860 and was extended to
Sacramento in the fall of 1861. The
riders carried about twenty pounds of express, and the company charged five
dollars per letter for one-half ounce, written on tissue, waterproof
paper. The pony express made a wonderful
record, not only for its speed, but for its efficiency, due to its fearless
riders, who braved the dangers of swollen streams and lurking savages. In 1862 Mr. Campbell took care of the stage
coach horses at the Gilman ranch and the following year, 1863, he and his
brother bought teams and freighted from Nebraska City to Denver, Colorado, and
during that year made two trips; the following year they increased their stock
and wagons and carried freight to Montana, receiving sixteen cents a pound for
all freight carried. In the fall of 1864
they sold their outfit in Montana and returned to Nebraska on horseback. In the spring of 1865 Mr. Campbell purchased
surplus Government mules at a reasonable price and again entered the freighting
business to Salt Lake City, receiving twenty-five cents per pound for
everything carried. He continued this
business until 1868, when he and his brother John took a contract to build a
portion of the Union Pacific Railroad in eastern Nevada and western Utah, and
one year later, 1869, the brothers sold their stock and returned to Nebraska
City. Mr. Campbell then purchased 320
acres on the wild prairie and there established his home.
On August 6, 1869, Mr. Campbell was
married to Miss Jennie M. Fitchie, a native of
Pennsylvania, the daughter of the well-known James Fitchie,
then justice of the peace and pioneer citizen of Nebraska City. Eight children were born to Mr. and Mrs.
Campbell: Grace, deceased; Joy is
married and has a wife and two children residing in Stockton, where he is
assistant manager for the Hedges, Buck Company, wholesale grocers; Margaret C.
is at home; Tesora, Mrs. C. G. Wakefield resides in
Stockton; James is married and has a wife and one child residing in Stockton,
where he is associated with the Wilhoit Abstract Company; John is a rancher at
home; Bess, Mrs. Arthur Ross, has one son and resides in Oakland, California;
Helen, Mrs. Donald Burnett, resides in Stockton, where Mr. Burnett is the
vice-president of the Harris Harvester Company.
Twenty-five years were spent on the Nebraska farm, where Mr. Campbell
became one of the most successful breeders of fine driving and draft horses in
the state. For eight years he served as
chairman of the board of supervisors of Otoe County, Nebraska, and in 1881 was
elected state senator to fill the unexpired term of C. H. Van Wyke, who was elected to the U. S. Senate. In 1893 the family removed to California and
acquired valuable ranch property about twenty-two miles southeast of
Stockton. Mr. Campbell engaged in stock
raising and grain farming and is ably assisted by his son John and they are
active and influential in community interests and champion every measure that contributes
to public progress and improvement. He
has always been a strong advocate of irrigation and was one of the organizers of
the South San Joaquin Irrigation District.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
537-538. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County Biographies
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County Genealogy
Databases