John T. Campbell, probate judge of Nemaha county, and a resident of Seneca, Kan., is a native of Coles county, Illinois, where he was born Feb. 25, 1857. He was reared on the farm and educated in the district schools and in the graded schools of Mattoon, Ill. At the age of sixteen he began teaching in the district schools, and thus earned the money to take a course at Lincoln University, Lincoln, Ill. After three years' work at Lincoln, he entered the Wesleyan University at Bloomington, Ill., but did not complete his course. He began reading law in the office of Judge L. C. Henley at Mattoon, and spent a year there prior to entering Wesleyan University. In 1881 he came to Seneca, Kan., and taught school two terms, after which he became associated with the law firm of Wells, Curran & Campbell. This partnership lasted for about one year, when it was dissolved, and since that time, Judge Campbell has been engaged in the practice of law alone. He has served as city attorney and police judge of Seneca, and in the fall of 1906 he was elected to the office of probate judge, taking charge of the office on Jan. 1, 1907, and is now serving on his third successive term. On April 23, 1884, he was married to Miss Anna Wells, the daughter of William R. Wells, one of Nemaha county's earliest pioneers. This union was blessed with six children: Lester C.;. Marie; Edgar W.; Edith; Amma, and Bertha, all residing in Nemaha county. Judge Campbell believes in the principles and policies of the Republican party, and is one of the leaders of that party in local politics. Fraternally, he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in which order he has passed all of the chairs. He is also a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, and of the Knights and Ladies of Security. Judge Campbell is descended from stanch Virginia ancestors on the paternal side, as his father, John M. Campbell, was a native of Virginia. His mother was a Miss Mary A. Mayfield, prior to her marriage, and a native of Tennessee.