William Archibald Campbell
William Archibald Campbell, postmaster at Lima, belongs to one of the old Scotch families which left Scotland in 1700 and, to escape religious persecution, settled in Coleraine, County Derry, Ireland. The decendants of Dougald, Robert and John Campbell came to America between 1730 and 1840, settling in Pennsylvania; from there the descendants of Dougald removed to Rockbridge County, Virginia, and three sons of Robert settled at Augusta, Virginia.
Mr. Campbell's ancestry dates to Robert Campbell. Samuel Campbell, grandson of Robert Cambell and grandfather of our subject, became a distinguished physician in Rockbridge County, Virginia, where he died in 1840. He was connected with Washington College and Washington and Lee University as rector of the board of trustees, was treasurer of the college and was president of the faculty from 1796 to 1799. Two of his sons were graduates of the institution. He was married September 19, 1794, to Sarah Alexander, sister of Rev. Archibald Alexander, D. D., afterward president of Princeton College.
Charles Fenelon Campbell, son of Samuel L. Campbell and father of our subject, was born September 13, 1803, at Lexington, Virginia, and died at Georgetown, Ohio, September 2, 1864. He was graduated at Washington College in his 20th year and was admitted to the bar as attorney and solicitor in chancery for the State of Virginia. In 1824 he went from Virginia to Brown County, Ohio, and practiced his profession until his death, becoming eminent as a jurist throughout Southern Ohio. He published the Whig, and later the Bee, at Ripley, Ohio. He received a military education at the Virginia Military Institute, at Lexington, Virginia, and when the Rebellion broke out he was commissioned by the Governor of Ohio to organize the militia of his section of the State. His labors in this capacity brought on the disease which resulted in his death. He was an astute lawyer and an able and impartial judge. On September 12, 1833, he was married to Harriet E. Kephart, of Ripley, Ohio, and they had issue as follows: August K., Francis T., John Quincy Adams, Mary Antoinette, William Archibald and Charles Delevan. William Archibald Campbell was born at Ripley, Brown County, Ohio, July 4, 1844, where he was reared and educated. In young manhood he became interested in newspaper work and in this he has continued to the present time. Mr. Campbell came to Lima in July, 1877, and with his brother, Charles D. Campbell, established the Allen County Republican, which was later consolidated with the Lima Gazette, under the name of the Lima Republican- Gazette, and is now one of the leading journals of the city. Mr. Campbell served in the War of 1861-65, in the Second Independent Battery, O. N. G., Light Artillery. Since March 24, 1904, he has been postmaster at Lima.
Mr. Campbell married Sallie S. Shaw, a daughter of Rev. Joseph Shaw, of Bellefontaine, Ohio, and they have five children, Florence, Lillian, Donald D., Beatrice and Dudley A. The family home is a comfortable residence at No. 622 West North Street.