JAMES M. CAMPBELL
Independence Daily Reporter, February 7, 1913, Pg. 1:
HAD BEEN FAILING FOR YEAR AND BED-RIDDEN SINCE CHRISTMAS
Was Man of Fine Qualities, Good Citizen, and His Death is Mourned by Wide Circle of Friends.
James McClain Campbell, father of Walter K. Campbell, and well known throughout the oil fields, passed away at his home on the corner of South Fourth and Stephenson streets this morning at 4 o’clock, after a long illness and much suffering. Dissolution came as a blessed relief.
Mr. Campbell had been failing for a year. Last Thanksgiving day he was suddenly stricken, with serious attack and from that time until the end came he was confined practically all the while in his home and most of the time to his bed. The last time he left the house was on Christmas when he crossed the street to spend the day with his son. He remarked then that he felt the end was fast approaching and that the would not be with his family another Christmas.
During the past six weeks he had been confined to his bed and had been a great sufferer. Many times it was thought he was dying and was only revived with great effort. The attending physicians did not give up until recently restoring him to health again, but he was discouraged and did not have the vitality to make the fight. Night before last it was thought he was entering his last sleep, but heroic efforts brought him back and he spent a comfortable night. But last night was more than he could withstand and he was so weak that in the small hours of the morning his spirit took its flight and he was no more.
In the death of James M. Campbell the community loses one of its most upright and honorable citizens. There was nothing small or ignoble in his makeup. He was every inch a man in the highest and fullest sense. One of the last positions of trust he held, he gave up because the methods used did not coincide with is ideas of right.
Decedent was born in Martinsville, Indiana, October 20, 1842, and spent his early life in Aurora, Indiana. He enlisted at the age of eighteen as a musician in the Twenty-first Kentucky band and served until stricken with typhoid fever. Poor health finally drove him from the army and he went west and spent a year in Nevada and later engaged in the harness business with his father in Aurora, Ind.
While on a trip to Boston, Mass., Mr. Campbell stopped at Urbana, O., on the invitation of a friend, and attended a camp meeting. It was there he met Miss Ella Mary Knight of Washington, D. C., who was visiting relatives in Bellfontaine, Ohio. They were married a year later, September 18, 1873. To this union was born five children: Anna Florence, Walter K., Stanley J., Edgar F. and Hazel R. Anna and Edgar died of diphtheria in 1890.
After his marriage, Mr. Campbell embarked in the dry goods business in Washington, Ind. In 1883 he moved to Lima, Ohio, and engaged in the same business. Later he was connected with the oil business and was cashier of a bank. He moved to Kansas in March 1908, and helped form Beeler & Campbell Co., of which he was secretary and assistant treasurer.
Mr. Campbell’s earliest remembrance of religion was going to Methodist class meeting with his father and mother. He was an earnest Christian and church worker always. He was a class leader and served for years both on the official board of the Methodist Episcopal church at Lima and here in Independence.
Aside from his own immediate family he leaves two sisters, Mrs. Harry Spratt and Mrs. Candace Lawrence, both residents of East Myrtle street, and the only other surviving relatives.
The funeral will be held from the First Methodist church, Saturday afternoon at 3 o’clock. Interment will be in Mt. Hope cemetery.
South Kansas Tribune, Wednesday, February 12, 1913, Pg. 5:
The illness of Mr. J. M. Campbell noted in recent issues, resulted in death last Thursday at the age of 70 years. He was born in Martinsville, Ind., and spent most of his life in Aurora in that state. During the civil war, he enlisted in the Twenty-first Kentucky volunteers as musician, and served until mustered out because of typhoid. In 1873 he was married to Miss Ella Mary Knight of Washington, D. C., who with their children, Walter K., Stanley J., and Hazel R., survive him. He had long lived a consistent Christian life, and member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and at death a member of the official board in this city. He had always been actively engaged in business and was successful. He came here with his sons, who engaged in the oil business and in which company he was secretary and treasurer. His sisters, Mrs. Harry Spratt and Mrs. Candace Lawrance, are also residents of our city. The funeral was held at the Methodist Episcopal church and was largely attended, including a large delegation of young oil men from the Oklahoma field. His pastor, Rev. W. P. Wharton spoke from the ninety-first Psalm which was a favorite of the deceased. Interment in Mount Hope.