XCVII.
XCVII. DAVID CAMPBELL.
XCVII. Governor.
XCVII. March, 1837, to March, 1840.
David Campbell was descended from a distinguished
Scottish family. His father, John Campbell, was one of those
Justices who, after the County of Washington had been
formed, in 1776, met at Abingdon, Virginia, and organized
and held the first County Court, January 28, 1776. In 1778,
John Campbell married Elizabeth McDonald, and their eldest
son, David, the subject of this sketch, was born August 2,
1779, at "Royal Oak," in the valley of the Holstein, about
one mile west of Marion, the county seat of Smyth County.
When about eight years of age, his father removed to
"Hall's Bottom," in Washington County, and here young
David Campbell received that early education which ever
forms the groundwork of future character.
Nurtured upon the frontier of Virginia amid scenes that
developed self-reliance, and among the men who had taken
part in the establishment of the country, David Campbell in
his fifteenth year was ready to shoulder his musket and
assume the duties of a soldier. In 1794, when a mere boy,
he was appointed an ensign in Captain John Davis's Company
of Militia, in the 2d Battalion of the 70th Regiment. When,
in 1799, the 70th Regiment was divided and the 105th formed,
in the 2d Battalion of this Regiment, David Campbell was
commissioned as Captain of a company of Light Infantry
assigned to it, which company he raised and organized. In
this same year he married his cousin, Mary Hamilton. He
now studied law and obtained a license, but never practiced
his chosen profession, though he employed much time in useful
reading and enriched his store of information by communion
with the best authors. In this way he cultivated a naturally
vigorous mind, and acquired a style for written composition
which was peculiarly pleasing and forcible.
Having a taste for military life he gave up the clerkship
of the County Court of Washington County, which he had
held from 1802 to 1812, and on the 6th of July, 1812, accepted
a commission as Major in the 12th Infantry, United States
Army. He marched with his command to the lakes of
Canada in August following, and efficiently served there
under the command successively of Generals Smyth and
Van Rensselaer. On 12th March, 1813, he was promoted to
the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel of the 20th Regiment, United
States Army, and participated in the trying campaigns of that
regiment on the St. Lawrence and towards Lake Champlain.
The exposure which Colonel Campbell here suffered seriously
impaired his health, and in consequence, on January 28, 1814,
he was compelled to resign his commission. Returning
home he soon entered the service of Virginia as Aide-de-Camp
to Governor Barbour, and gave valuable assistance in organizing
the Militia force, called into service in the neighborhood
of Richmond and Petersburg, in the summer of 1814. In
the session of the Virginia Assembly of 1814-15, a law was
passed for raising 10,000 troops, and under it Colonel Campbell
was elected General of the 3d Brigade. On the 25th
January, he was appointed Colonel of the 3d Virginia Cavalry,
but was afterwards transferred to the 5th Regiment of Cavalry.
Upon his return to Abingdon, Virginia, he again
entered the clerk's office, where he continued until 1820,
when he was elected to the Senate of Virginia. In 1824, he
was elected clerk of the County Court of Washington County,
and held this office until 1836, when he became Governor of
Virginia.
A review of the Acts of the General Assembly during
Governor Campbell's administration, will show the great
strides Virginia was now making in the march of internal
development—her Railroads, Mining Companies, Manufactories,
Foundries, Banks, and Colleges, all sharing legislative
attention and attesting the steady growth of a state whose
progress, was ever "onward and upward."
Governor Campbell retired to his home in Abingdon after
the expiration of his term as Governor; there he accepted the
office of Justice of the Peace, which position he filled until
1852. Declining health now compelled him to withdraw
from public life, where for nearly half a century he had in
various capacities served his country. He died March 19,
1859, bringing to a close a well-spent life, and bearing to the
grave the veneration and gratitude of his fellow-citizens.
