Samuel Louis Campbell, of Wabasha, was one of the oldest living members of the Bar of Minnesota. Samuel Louis Campbell was born on August 16, 1824, in Columbus, Chenango County, New York. He is of Scottish descent, tracing his paternal ancestry in a direct line back to that famous clan of Argyle, the Campbells of Scotland. His grandfather, Ephraim Campbell, was the founder of the American branch of the family, having settled in Stonington, Connecticut, about the year 1872.
After the British destroyed his home and personal effects during the Revolutionary War, he fled to New York with his family. His son, Samuel—the father of the subject of this sketch—was at that time seven years of age, and he was reared in Otsego County, New York, which was then a frontier locality. His early education was meager and his mode of life primitive, but he was full of wholesome ambition, and he resolved to acquire a knowledge of the law sufficient to equip him for legal practice.
A vigil of nightly vigils enabled Samuel Louis Campbell to pour over the page over which he poured, illuminated only by the fire on his hearth. With the same determined perseverance, he worked his way up to an acknowledged place among the foremost lawyers of the State of New York, and he attained still greater distinction in the realm of statesmanship. During a period of 27 years, he was a member of the State Assembly and Senate, was colonel of militia in the War of 1812, administered justice from the bench of the Circuit Court for a term of years, and was eventually elected to Congress.
His wife, and the mother of our subject, was Maria (Queen) Campbell, a distant relative of Lord Baltimore, the famous early settler at Queensboro. Blessed with an inheritance of firm and energetic character and fortified in his early years by the high precepts and example of his parents, Samuel Louis Campbell grew to manhood. Following his education at the common schools of his home county, he studied at the Clinton Institute in the Empire State for two years. Therefore, he taught school for several years. As a young man he was attracted by the greater business opportunities in the West, so he moved to Red Wing in October 1855 and settled here.
He at first took up a pre-emption claim with the intention of cultivating it, but he soon abandoned the agricultural idea in favor of legal study. He moved to Wabasha, which has since been his place of residence, becoming associated about this time with Judge Welch, who was then Chief Justice of the Territory. Under Judge Welch, Mr. Campbell received the appointment of clerk of the District Court, in which office he served until the admission of the Territory as a state.
While acting as clerk of court, he began the practice of law and has ever since followed the profession. Samuel Louis Campbell was the second mayor elected in the town of Wabasha, and he has served as county attorney of Wabasha County. He has been in the State Legislature for several years, his term of service being divided between the House and Senate, and in spite of his Democratic principles, he was made chairman of the Judiciary Committee.
Samuel Louis Campbell has specialized in railroad litigation since 1879. It was during this time that he shared his services with two construction companies, the Iron Range and the Minnesota Southern. He worked for the Great Northern Railroad Company as an assistant solicitor and later as an employee of the land department. He served as first master of the local lodge for seven years, in which capacity he belongs to the Masonic order.
On March 4, 1848, Samuel Louis Campbell was united in marriage to Octavia H. Hayward, daughter of Dr. Levi Hayward of Chenango County, New York. The three children born of their union are Clarence, Ina C.—now the widow of Solon Huff, late of Dubuque, Iowa—and Darwin H. Mrs. Campbell, though in her eightieth year, is still “hale and hearty as a girl.”‘ Her high character and attainments have made her a worthy companion and helpmate of her honored husband.
Samuel Louis Campbell, at the age of 76, relaxed his hold upon the more arduous professional duties, but his name is inseparably associated, not only with the history of the bar of Minnesota, through his connection with some of the state’s most important litigation, but also with the political and social life of his community. The welfare of which he has had at heart throughout his forty-five years of active and earnest labor in its midst
