James V. Campbell papers, 1830-1941

Summary

Creator:

Campbell, James V. (James Valentine), 1823-1890

Abstract:

University of Michigan professor of law, Detroit, Michigan, attorney, Michigan Supreme Court justice. Family correspondence, journal of trip to Sandusky, Ohio, in 1844, and lecture materials; also papers of Valeria Campbell, corresponding secretary of the Soldiers' Aid Society of Detroit, U. S. Sanitary Commission, concerning the society, the Detroit Soldiers' Home, and other relief agencies; and University student letters, 1872-1876, of Henry M. Campbell.

Extent:

4.2 linear feet (in 5 boxes)
1 oversize volume

Language:

English

Call Number:

85893 Aa 2

Authors:

Finding aid created by Michigan Historical Collections staff. Revised by Leonard A. Coombs, June 1993, M. Ricah Marquez, 2006, Devon Proudfoot, 2017.

Background

Scope and Content:

The James V. Campbell papers include materials documenting Campbell's career as professor of law at the University of Michigan, lawyer, and Michigan State Supreme court justice as well as papers of other Campbell family members. The papers include family correspondence, a journal of a trip to Sandusky, Ohio, in 1844, and lecture materials; also papers of Valeria Campbell, corresponding secretary of the Soldiers' Aid Society of Detroit, U. S. Sanitary Commission, concerning the society, the Detroit Soldiers' Home, and other relief agencies; and University student letters, 1872-1876, of Henry M. Campbell.

Biographical / Historical:

While called the James V. Campbell papers, this collection is actually a collection of papers of Campbell's family, prominent in legal affairs in Detroit, Michigan, during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Henry Munroe Campbell (1783-1842), and his wife Lois Bushnell Campbell (d. 1876), brought the family to Detroit in 1826. Henry M. Campbell was born in the upper Hudson River Valley of New York, moved to Buffalo and then in 1826 to Detroit. He worked as a merchant, banker, and judge. Henry and Lois had five children, Valeria (1815-1895), Henry Munroe (1821-1835), James Valentine (1823-1890), Lois, and Elizabeth.

Children of Henry M. Campbell:

Valeria Campbell (1815-1895) was a teacher in Detroit and during and after the Civil War served as secretary of the Soldiers' Aid Society of Detroit, later known as the Michigan Soldiers' Aid Society and the Michigan branch of the U.S. Sanitary Commission.

James Valentine Campbell (1823-1890) was born in Buffalo, New York, and came to Detroit with his family in 1826. He was admitted to the bar in 1844 and entered partnership with Samuel T. Douglass. Campbell served as secretary of the Board of Regents of the University of Michigan 1845-1846, justice of the Supreme Court of Michigan 1857-1890, and Marshall Professor of Law at the University of Michigan 1859-1890. In 1849 he married Cornelia Hotchkiss Campbell (1823-1888). Together they had six children, Henry Munroe (1854-1926), James Valentine (1856-1894), Charles Hotchkiss (1858-1927), Douglass Houghton (1859-1953), Edward DeMille (1863-1925), and Cornelia Lois (known as Nellie).

Elizabeth Campbell Douglass in 1856 married Samuel Townsend Douglass (1814-1898), the law partner of James V. Campbell. Douglass moved from Fredonia N.Y. to Detroit in 1837, where his cousin Douglass Houghton was a leading physician and State Geologist, and entered the law office of Henry N. Walker and Asher B. Bates. In 1840 Bates retired and Douglass became Walker's partner. In 1844 James V. Campbell became a member of the firm now called Walker, Douglass and Campbell. Elizabeth (Campbell) Douglass and Samuel T. Douglass had three children: Mary Campbell Douglass, who attended the University of Michigan, 1874-1876, and married Frederic P. Anderson of Grosse Ile, Michigan; Benjamin Douglass (1859-1911), an 1882 engineering graduate of the University of Michigan and engineer for several Detroit companies; and Elizabeth C. (Lily) Douglass.

Children of James V. Campbell:

Henry Munroe Campbell (1854-1926) graduated from the University of Michigan in 1876 and University of Michigan Law School in 1878. He became the law partner of his brother Charles and of Henry Russel. He served as a delegate to Michigan's 1908 Constitutional Convention.

James Valentine Campbell (1856-1894) was a broker in Detroit.

Charles Hotchkiss Campbell (1858-1927) graduated from the University of Michigan in 1880, and became law partner of his brother Henry and of Henry Russel.

Douglass Houghton Campbell (1859-1953) graduated from the University of Michigan in 1882, and received his Ph.D. there in 1886. He later studied in Germany and became professor of botany at Stanford University.

Edward DeMille Campbell (1863-1925) graduated from the University of Michigan in 1886 and became professor of chemistry there. He was blinded in a laboratory accident in 1892.

Acquisition Information:

The bulk of the collection was donated between 1940 and 1943 by Mary Campbell Hays (daughter of Edward D. Campbell). Mrs. Hays donated the Valeria Campbell material on behalf of Mary C. D. Anderson (daughter of Samuel T. Douglass). (Both donors under donor no. 1319 ) A small addition was made in 1993 by Catharine L. Campbell (donor 8148 ). Another addition was received from the Macomb County Genealogy Group (donor no. 8785 ) in 2006.

Arrangement:

Arranged in 7 series: 1. Family Materials. 2. Charles H. Campbell Materials. 3.Cornelia L. Campbell Materials. 4.Henry M. Campbell (1783-1842) Materials. 5.Henry M. Campbell (1854-1926) Materials. 6.James V. Campbell Materials. 7.Valeria Campbell Materials.

Related

Additional Descriptive Data:

Related Materials

Papers of James V. Campbell's law partner and brother-in-law Samuel T. Douglass are found in the Douglass family papers, 1812-1911, in the Bentley Library.

Student notebooks of Charles H. Campbell and Edward D. Campbell, and some later work of Edward D. Campbell are found in Charles H. Campbell student notebook, 1879, and Edward D. Campbell papers, 1882-1903, in the Bentley Library.

The Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Public Library, has papers of Henry Munroe Campbell (which also include Michigan Soldiers' Aid Society material), James V. Campbell, Samuel T. Douglass, and the law firm of Douglass and Walker.

Separately cataloged items in the Bentley Historical Library and the University Library include:

1. Closing remarks of Prof. J.V. Campbell to the graduating class of the Law department, March 21st, 1863. (Bentley call no. DA 2 C188.5 C645)
2. Closing remarks of Prof. J.V. Campbell to the graduating class of the Law department, March 21st, 1863. (Hatcher call no. HATCH/ARGM: 350 C188cl, electronic version available)
3. [Pamphlets and articles about Campbell] (Bentley call no. J17 .C1883 A1)
4. Oration delivered by Hon. James V. Campbell,1861 (BUHR/GRAD: E286 .C19)

Subjects

Click on terms below to find any related finding aids on this site.

Subjects:

Blind -- Michigan.
Charities -- Michigan -- Detroit.
Christmas.
Judges -- Michigan.
Law.
Public welfare -- United States.
Veterans -- Employment -- Michigan.
Women -- Michigan -- Societies and clubs.
Women's resources -- limited extent.

Formats:

Tintypes.
Photographs.

Names:

Detroit Soldiers' Home (Mich.)
Harper Hospital.
Michigan Committee for the Relief of the South.
Michigan Soldiers' Aid Society.
Michigan. Supreme Court.
Northwestern Sanitary Fair (1863 : Chicago, Ill.)
St. Paul's Episcopal Church (Detroit, Mich.)
Soldiers' Aid Society of Detroit.
Stanford University -- Faculty.
United States Sanitary Commission.
University of Michigan -- Faculty.
University of Michigan. Dept. of Law.
University of Michigan -- Students -- Social life and customs -- 1871-1880.
University of Michigan -- Students -- Correspondence.
Campbell family.
Campbell, James V. (James Valentine), 1823-1890.
Anderson, Mary Douglass.
Campbell, Charles Hotchkiss, 1858-1927.
Campbell, Douglas Houghton, 1859-1953.
Campbell, Edward De Mille, 1863-1925.
Campbell, Henry M. (Henry Munroe), 1854-1926.
Campbell, Henry M. (Henry Munroe), 1783-1842.
Campbell, Nellie.
Campbell, Valeria, 1815-1895.

Places:

Germany.
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865.