Dr. Andrew Campbell
Dr. Andrew Campbell was born in Franklin, Ohio, on the twenty-second day of June, 1807. His parents were pioneers of Revolutionary stock, mainly of scotch ancestry, and educated beyond the usual attainments of their day. His father died in 1846; but his mother, at the advanced age of ninety-six, is living on the farm to which she emigrated in the last century. Andrew’s youth was spent at Franklin, accessible to but limited advantages for mental culture. He made the best use of them, however, acquiring the higher branches of English study and a solid groundwork of classics upon which to build his future professional training. He was an eager student, and his well-thumbed "Virgil Delphini" and other textbooks are yet preserved and treasured by his descendants. His mind developed rapidly, and his desire for learning increased with his store of general knowledge; so that, in mature years, he was widely known for varied and extended information, especially upon sciences kindred to his profession.
At twenty-one he entered the office of Dr. Otho Evans, Sr., of Franklin, and attended the usual course of study at the Medical College of Ohio, from which institution he graduated in 1830. His intention in choosing this profession was to become a naval surgeon, and his early studies, as well as his subsequent practice, were such as to perfect him in surgery, to which he was exceedingly devoted. He abandoned his early design, however, at his mother’s request, and, in the Spring of 1831, opened an office at Middletown. There he soon entered upon a large practice, which he retained until his removal to Hamilton in the Fall of 1848.
During these years of active and laborious practice at Middletown, his reputation as a successful physician was wide-spread, and many students sought his office. Among those who profited from his teaching, and became a credit to their preceptor, were Dr. Samuel Hyndman, Sr., now deceased, Dr. W. W. Caldwell, and Dr. John Corson.
In March, 1835, he married Laura P. Reynolds, daughter of John P. Reynolds, Sr., an early merchant of Middletown, and by her had two children – Laura S., who died in 1865, and James E., now residing in Hamilton.
Dr. Campbell’s move to Hamilton was prompted by the hope of a less toilsome practice, which his failing health demanded, but the unprecedented labor of the "cholera Summer" – 1849 – and the spread of small-pox in the following winter, drew too heavily upon him. An attack of whooping-cough, succeeded by a long period of laryngitis and bronchitis, marked the end of his career, and, on the fifth day of September, 1851, at the old homestead near Franklin, he breathed his last.
His character was that of a high-minded, generous man, affectionate in his family, and pre-eminently honorable in all the affairs of life. As a physician he was in high repute for thorough but speedy diagnosis, prompt and skillful surgery, and advanced methods of treatment. In appearance, he was prepossessing having a rather spare and very erect figure, a quick but dignified movement, clear blue eyes, thick, dark hair, and an expressive face, always smoothly shaven, and slightly bronzed by exposure.
The following extracts, taken from letters of two prominent friends of Dr. Campbell , speak for themselves. One says: "He had a look and bearing that never failed to impress even the most superficial observer with the fact that he was a man of no ordinary cast. Courage, justice, and generosity were his prominent traits. So strongly did they mark him that he could not do a mean or selfish act." The other says: "I have had the good fortune to know some of the most eminent physicians of the day – have been present when they prescribed; but I have yet to meet one who so thoroughly examined all the symptoms, habits of life, temperament, etc., of his patients, or whom I deemed his superior in the profession. He was one of the best, most generous, and self-sacrificing men I ever knew."
From A History and Biographical Cyclopædia of Butler County Ohio, With Illustrations and Sketches of its Representative Men and Pioneers, Western Biographical Publishing Company, Cincinnati Ohio, 1882.