USA > Virginia > Virginia and Virginians; eminent Virginians, executives of the colony of Virginia, Vol. I > Part 18
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DAVID CAMPBELL.
Of all the family names of Scotland, there is hardly another so in- vested with lustre in the varied manifestations of human greatness, so renowned for valorous deeds, or so proudly enshrined in the national affection, as that of Campbell : and the race transplanted in America has flourished alike, and in its distinguished representatives, by numer- ously attested examples, has lost naught of that which constitutes true nobility; for in every department of learning and of useful service, and in heroism by sea and land, has the name lent honor to our national annals.
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It is believed that a majority of those in this country, of the name. who claim Scottish origin, are descended from Duncan Campbell, of the noble branch of Breadalbane .* Duncan Campbell, born in Inver- ary, Scotland, accompanied, it is thought, the English army sent by Queen Elizabeth, in March, 1579, under the Earl of Essex (who was succeeded by Mountjoy), to suppress the rebellion in Ireland, headed by Hugh O'Neale, Earl of Tyrone. After the forfeiture of lands in Ulster was declared in the reign of James I., in 1612, Duncan Camp- bell, who had married Mary McCoy, bought a lease from one of the English officers, and remained there. His son Patrick bought the lease and the estate in remainder, thus acquiring the estate in fee simple. Another son, John Campbell, born in 1621; married, in 1655, Grace, daughter of Peter Hay, f and had issue :
i. Dugald, whose descendants settled in Rockbridge County, Vir- ginia.
ii. Robert, born in 1665; married in 1696. His descendants settled in Orange (now Augusta) County, Virginia, in 1740.
iii. John, born in 1666; died in 1734; emigrated to America in 1726, and settled in Donegal, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, but soon re- moved with several of his family to that part of Orange County, Vir- ginia, which in 1738 was formed into Augusta County. Had issue : i. Patrick, born in 1690; "a strong churchman ;" removed to Virginia in 1738, and was the father of General William Campbell, the hero of King's Mountain (after whom the county of Campbell, formed in 1784 from Bedford, was named), born in 1745, and was killed in September, 1781 ; married Elizabeth, the sister of the orator Patrick Henry, and she married, secondly, General William Russell, of the Revolution, born in Culpeper County, Virginia, in 1758, and died in Fayette County, Kentucky, July 3, 1825. ii. John, born in 1692; a minister of the Protestant Episcopal Church at York, Pennsylvania; died in 1764; married, and had issue: James, born in 1731; removed to Vir-
* The Breadalbane branch are of the same lineage as the House of Argyll and Lorne. The arms of Duncan Campbell, as preserved in the hands of his descend- ants, are identical in their quarterings with the Marquis of Breadalbane, as follows: Quarterly, first and fourth, gyronny of eight or. and sa. for Campbell ; second or. a fesse chequey ar. and az. for Stewart; third, ar. a lymphad, her sails and oars in action, all sa. for Lorne. The Breadalbane arms agree with those of Argyll save in the addition of those of Stewart. The crest of the Marquis of Breadalbane is a boar's head, erased ppr., and his motto is, Follow Me. The crest of the Duke of Argyll is a boar's head couped or., and over the crest the motto, Ne Obliviscaris.
t The name of Hay is a most worthy one. A Dr. Peter Hay died at Williams- burg, Virginia, in 1767, and his library was advertised that year for sale at auc- tion. The Rev. Robert Rose, of fragrant memories for piety, worth, and usefulness, and whose remains lie in the church-yard of the venerable St. John's, at Richmond, Virginia, was of this connection,
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ginia in 1760; Ellen Frances, and John, born in 1740; died in 1797; one of the most eminent lawyers of Pennsylvania ; married Ellen Par- · ker, and their descendants in the names of Lyon, Chambers, and others, are quite mimerous. The late Parker Campbell, banker of Richmond, Virginia, was a son. iii. Robert, migrated to Virginia; had issne five children, of whom four danghters survived. iv. William, died in youth. v. James, died in England. vi. David, married, in 1735, Mary Ham- ilton (who came to America in the same ship with him), and, about the year 1772, settled at the " Royal Oak," in the Valley of the Hol- stein (now rendered Holston), about one mile west of Marion, the county seat of Smyth County. He left issue seven sons : i. John, born April 20, 1741. ii. Colonel Arthur, born in 1742; hero of Indian wars ; married a sister of General William Campbell; removed in 1804 to Yellow Creek, Knox County, Kentucky, where he died in 1815. He had two sons, who died in the war of 1812-Colonel James Campbell, at Mobile, and Colonel John B. Campbell, who fell at Chippewa, where he com- manded the right wing of the army under General Winfield Scott. iii. James; iv. William; v. David, first clerk of Washington County, which office he held until March 17, 1779, when he was succeeded by his brother John. Removing to Tennessee, he became distinguished in its annals. vi. Robert, Colonel, and Indian fighter, born in 1755; dis- played great bravery in many conflicts with the Cherokees, and sub- sequently at the battle of King's Mountain ; nearly forty years a mag- istrate of Washington County, and in 1825 removed to Tennessee; died near Knoxville in February, 1832. vii. Patrick.
Of the above sons of David Campbell, the eldest-born, John, was one of the justices (commissioned by Governor Patrick Henry) who, after the county of Washington (embracing portions of Wythe, Taze- well and Grayson, and all of Smyth, Russell, Buchanan, Dickinson, Wise, Scott and Lee, and its own present limits) had been formed in 1776, met at Abingdon and organized and held the first county court, January 28, 1777. He succeeded, March 17, 1779, his brother David Campbell as clerk of the county, and continued to hold the office by successive re-election until 1814. In 1778 he married Elizabeth, daugh- ter of Edward and Mary ( Robinson) McDonald, ¿ of the section of what is now Botetourt County, Virginia, and, it is said, built the first dwelling in Abingdon (a log-house), on the lot on which the Arlington Hotel now stands. In 1788 he purchased of Thomas Madison, attorney of James Buchanan, a farm of eleven hundred acres in the south-western portion of Washington County, to which he gave the name of "Hall's Bottom," and shortly
# His grandfather, Bryan McDonald, the son of a Highland chief of Glencoe, Scotland, migrated to America near the close of the 17th or the beginning of the 18th century and settled in Newcastle, now in the State of Delaware, whence Edward McDonald removed to Virginia.
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after removed to and continued to reside there until his death, on the 20th of April, 1825. David Campbell, his eldest son, and the subject of this sketch, was born August 2d, 1779, at "Royal Oak," and was about eight years of age when his father removed to "Hall's Bottom." There he grew up, receiving such education as the frontier settlements could provide. In the way of books it was necessarily limited, but this great disadvantage was largely compensated for by the character of the people among whom he was reared ; by their recitals of the scenes and deeds of the Revolution, in which they bore so conspicuous and im- portant a part, and which were then but as the acts of yesterday ; and by the lessons of self-reliance which were taught by all his surround- ings. In 1794, being then in his fifteenth year, David Campbell was appointed an Ensign in "old" Captain John Davis' company of militia in the 2d Battalion of the 70th Regiment, which position he held until he removed to Abingdon as an assistant in the clerk's office there. In the spring of 1799 the 70th Regiment was divided and the 105th Regi- ment formed. In the 2d Battalion of this regiment David Campbell was commissioned as Captain of a company of Light Infantry assigned to it, and which he raised and organized. In the fall of the same year Captain Campbell married his cousin Mary Hamilton, by whom he had no issue. He now studied law, and obtained a license, but never prac- ticed his profession. He was fond of reading (history and the English classics being his special favorites), and thus enriched his mind and acquired his style of written composition. In 1802 he was appointed deputy clerk of the county court of Washington County, and chiefly discharged the duties of the office to the year 1812, on the 6th of July of which he was commissioned a Major in the 12th Infantry, United States Army. He assisted Colonel Parker in collecting recruits, organizing and drilling them at Winchester, and marched with his com- mand for the Lakes of Canada on the 29th of August, and efficiently served there under the command successively of Generals Smyth and Van Rensellaer. On the 12th of March, 1813, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel of the 20th United States Regiment and participated in the arduous campaigns of that regiment on the St. Law- rence and towards Lake Champlain. The troops on the Northern frontier were greatly exposed during the campaigns of 1812 and 1813, and the constitution of Colonel Campbell, naturally delicate, gave way under the hardships to which he was exposed. He was so severely at- tacked with rheumatism as to incapacitate him for duty, and in conse- quence applied to the Secretary of War for a transfer to the Southern Division of the Army. His application was recommended by his su- perior officers, Colonel Randolph and General Parker, but from some cause was disapproved by the Secretary of War, and Colonel Campbell was necessitated to resign his commission January 28th, 1814. Upon
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returning home, he in a short time entered the service of Virginia as Aide-de-Camp to Governor Barbour, and gave valuable assistance in or- ganizing the large militia force called into service in the neighborhood of Richmond and below it and about Petersburg in the summer of 1814. These services Colonel Campbell performed without pay. In the session of the Assembly of 1814-15 a law was passed for raising 10,000 troops and under it Colonel Campbell was elected General of the 3d Brigade. On the 25th of January he was appointed Colonel of the 3d Virginia Cavalry, and by the formation of the 5th Division of militia was after- wards transferred to the 5th Regiment of cavalry. Upon his return to Ab- ingdon, Virginia, he re-entered the clerk's office, where he continued until 1820, when he was elected to the Senate of Virginia for four years. He actively participated in public affairs both before and after his elec- tion to the Senate. He was remarkable for his ready and correct judg- ment of men, and this, coupled with the opportunity which his position gave him, enabled hin to exercise a wide-spread influence in his resident section of the State. In 1824 he was elected clerk of the county court of Washington, and continued to hold the office until he was elected Governor of Virginia, in 1836, and entered upon the office March 31, 1837.
Virginia at this period was preponderantly Democratic in politics ; so decided was the sentiment of Washington County, in the Presidential election of 1828, that only thirteen votes against General Andrew Jackson were cast. David Campbell was a Jackson Democrat, as was also each of his four brothers. In his first message to the General Assembly, among other matters of public utility he proposed the establishment of the common school system, of which he was one of the earliest advocates. This was, no doubt, greatly stimulated by the fact that his own section of the State was, by its remoteness from the institutions of learning of high grade, deprived of their advantages, and was due, also, largely to his attachment to Republican institutions; and his decided conviction was potential, if not essential, in their preservation. Whilst Gov- ernor, and during the administration of President Van Buren, the Sub- Treasury scheme and the Standing Army bill, as they were commonly called, were made party measures; being opposed to them, he warmly supported General Harrison in the canvass of 1840, and ever after acted with the Whig party. He was alike opposed to centralization on the hand, and nullification and secession on the other. Governor Camp- bell was succeeded in the office, March 31, 1840, by Thomas Walker Gilmer, and retired to his home in Abingdon. Soon afterwards the office of Justice of the Peace being tendered him, he accepted it, and was diligent in the discharge of its entire duties to the year 1852, when he retired to private life after having spent nearly a half century in the public service. In person Governor Campbell was about five feet eleven inches in height, spare, and erect in carriage, with dark hair
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and eyes, an intellectual countenance, and pleasing manners. He was not gifted as a public speaker. As a writer, his style was simple, terse, and vigorous.
He was not a member of any religious denomination, but, profoundly convinced of the truth of the Bible, he believed that the highest and best manifestation of religion was a life in accordance with its teach- ings.
For the last two years of his life he was confined by declining health to his chamber, but gave no evidence of that mental decay which some- times attends old age, and his interest in public affairs seemed unabated. He died, calmly and peacefully, March 19, 1859, in the eightieth year of his age. A portrait of Governor Campbell is exhibited in the State Library at Richmond. A nephew, Hon. John A. Campbell, of Abing- don, Virginia, a distinguished jurist, late Colonel Confederate States Army, gallantly commanded during our late war the 48th Virginia Regiment, which he raised and organized. It was incorporated in the 2d Brigade of the Division of General "Stonewall" Jackson, which was composed of the 21st, 42d, and 48th Virginia Regiments, the Irish Battalion, and the Battery of Lawrence S. Marge, afterwards Colonel Marge. The Brigade was for a time commanded by Colonel William Gilham of the 21st Virginia, then by Colonel Jesse S. Burks of the 42d Virginia, who, receiving a disabling wound at the battle of Kernstown in March, 1862, was succeeded by Colonel Campbell, who remained in command until the month of May, when he also was severely wounded in front of Winchester, Virginia. Before recovering sufficiently to re- turn to the army Colonel Campbell was elected Judge of the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit of Virginia, and at the request of his constituents re- signed his commission in the army. The Campbell family of the com- mon ancestry of Governor Campbell has been numerously and dis- tinguishedly represented in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and other States.
THOMAS WALKER GILMER.
The ancestry of Thomas Walker Gilmer was highly worthy. His paternal great-grandfather, Dr. George Gilmer, a native of Scotland,* and a graduate of the University of Edinburgh, migrated to Virginia early in the eighteenth century, and settled in Williamsburg, where he
* He was of the same lineage, it is said, as the Gilmours of Craig-Millar Castle, seated two and a half miles south of Edinburgh. The arms of the Gilmer family of Virginia are: Az, a chevron between two fleurs-de-lis in chief d'or; and in base, a writing pen, full feathered ar. Crest-A garlan . of laurel proper. Motto: Preseveranti dabiter.
Exterior View, before alteration, of ST. JOHN'S CHURCH, RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, Built in 1740.
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Interior View, before alteration, of ST. JOHN'S CHURCH, RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, Built in 1540.
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successfully combined the vocations of physician, surgeon, and drug- gist for quite fifty years, dying January 15, 1757, widely loved and esteemed in the colony. He was three times married: first, to a daughter of Dr. Ridgway (a medical partner in early life), by whom he had no issue; secondly, May 13, 1732, to Mary Peachy (died Octo- ber 1, 1745), daughter of Thomas and Susan (Peachy) Walker, of King and Queen County, Virginia, and sister of Dr. Thomas Walker, the patriot and early explorer of Kentucky; thirdly, December 11, 1745, to Harrison (died November 1, 1755), daughter of Dr. Archibald Blair, of Williamsburg, Virginia, a sister of Hon. John Blair, Presi- dent of Virginia Council and Acting Governor of Virginia, and a niece of Commissary James Blair, President of William and Mary College. By his second marriage, Dr. George Gilmer had issue four sons: i. Peachy Ridgway, born March 6, 1737-8, married Mary Meriwether, settled at "Lethe," Rockingham County (and had issue: i. Thomas Meri- wether, married Elizabeth Lewis, and removed to Georgia, settling on Broad River. He was the father of a large family, among them Hon. George Rockingham Gilmer, member of Congress, Governor of Geor- gia, and author of "The Georgians;" ii. George; iii. Mary Peachy; iv. Elizabeth Thornton, married Major Robert Grattan; v. Lucy; vi. Frances Walker, married Richard Taliaferro); ii. George, born January 19, 1742-3, studied medicine with his uncle, Dr. Thomas Walker, and graduated at Edinburgh, Scotland. The issue of Dr. George Gilmer by his third marriage was : iii. John, born April 26, 1748; an officer under Lafayette in the Revolution ; married Mildred Meriwether, and died, in 1790, at his seat on Broad River, in the State of Georgia ; iv. William, born May 22, 1753, died May 30, 1753.
Dr. George Gilmer, the second of the name, returning to Virginia after graduating, succeeded to the practice of his father in Williams- burg, but after a time removed to Albemarle County, where he mar- ried hisfirst consin Lucy (born May 5. 1751), daughter of Dr. Thomas Walker by his first marriage with Mildred (nee Thornton), widow of Nicholas Meriwether. He settled at " Pen Park," and soon attained a lucrative practice in his profession. The friend and intimate associ- ate of Thomas Jefferson, he was an ardent patriot from the beginning to the end of the struggle for Independence. He served Albemarle in the House of Burgesses, and, as early as 1774, offered a resolution in that body on the subject of the Crown Lands, which was seconded by William Henry. He was gifted as an orator, and, when Lord Din- more seized the powder of the colony, Dr. Gilmer harangued the citizens of Albemarle with such eloquence, that a company was im- mediately formed to march to Williamsburg to demand redress. Of this company Charles Lewis was chosen captain, and Dr. George Gilmer lieutenant. The company marched to Williamsburg, but their patriotie mission was anticipated by Patrick Henry. In the Conven- tion of 1775, which met at Williamsburg, Dr. Gilmer was returned
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by Albemarle County as the alternate of Thomas Jefferson. His wife was a worthy mate to such a patriot. During the early days of the struggle for Independence, the patriots in different sections of the country found great difficulty in corresponding with each other, and it became necessary to establish a secret means of intercommunication by private letter-carriers. Mr. Jefferson, during a visit to his friend Dr. Gilmer at this period, in conversation with him, deplored the want of funds to defray the expense of such correspondence. Mrs. Gilmer, who was present, immediately left the room, and speedily returning with her personal jewels, of much value, handed them to Mr. Jeffer- son, and, with tearful eyes, asked him to use them in the cause of her country. Nor was she less a heroine than a patriot. When the British troops, under the command of Tarleton, entered Charlottesville in pur- suit of the Assembly, as has been detailed in a preceding sketch, Mr. A., a friend of Dr. Gilmer, was a guest of Mrs. Gilmer, her husband being absent professionally. Mr. A., mounting his horse, attempted to escape, but was shot down, and carried off by the enemy. Mrs. Gilmer, learning that he was still alive, determined to succor him; and, accom- panied by a maiden sister only, made her way perilously through the village, filled with drunken and disorderly troopers, to the presence of Tarleton himself, on her errand of mercy. He was so filled with admi- ration at the courage displayed by Mrs. Gilmer, that he not only de- livered to her the helpless and insensible form of her friend, but sent his own surgeon to attend him until Dr. Gilmer returned. Mr. A. happily recovered, to gallantly serve his country, and to bequeath to his descendants a debt of gratitude to the worthy couple of " Pen Park."
The issue of Dr. George and Lucy (Walker) Gilmer was: i. Francis Walker, an accomplished scholar and writer, the first professor of law of the University of Virginia, and who selected in Europe the remaining six professors with which that institution* was organized in 1825; ii. Peachy R .; iii. Mildred, the first wife of the eminent William Wirt; iv. George, married Eliza, daughter of Captain Christopher Hud- son, a gallant patriot of the Revolution. Of their issue, Thomas Walker, the subject of this sketch, was born at "Gilmerton," his father's seat, in Albemarle County, April 6, 1802. He early exhibited studious habits, and, at the age of fourteen, was sent to live with his unele, Mr. Peter Minor, at "Ridgway," for private tuition in his family. The tutor, a meek and quiet young man, was but a few years older than young Walker Gilmer, and occupied the same room with him and a cousin of the same age, William Gilmer. The mischievous boys often made the mild teacher the victim of their pranks, one of which was to
* Sketches, Essays, and Translations by Francis W. Gilmer. Published, Baltimore. 1828, 12mo. He also reported " Cases decided in the Court of Ap- peals of Virginia, 1820 to 1821." Richmond, 1821, 8vo.
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crawl under his bed after he was asleep and to slowly raise themselves under him until he would roll out upon the floor. Before he would recover from his surprise, they would be snoring in their pallet.
The beset pedagogue was at a loss to what to ascribe his nocturnal visitations, and quite believed himself haunted by evil spirits. He re- ported his troubles to Mr. Minor, who immediately suspected the true offenders, and soon detected them. The following morning the lads were aroused from their slumbers by an unusual tread upon the stair- way, and soon had reason to tremble at the stern presence of their uncle Peter, accompanied by a negro man, "Pudding," bearing a plen- tiful supply of birchen rods. The order was given to "horse Walker," and, in a twinkle, he was hoisted upon "Pudding's" back, and the birch uplifted over him. Walker begged a parley, and forthwith commenced an extemporaneous plea of apologies, eutreaties, and promises of amend- ment, which arrested the impending rod, and finally prevailed upon his uncle to pardon him. To William, too, who stood by in quaking sus- pense, mercy was also extended; and long after, in mature years, when the reputation of his fellow delinquent was established as an orator, he would often jocularly recall this carly occasion of peril, and say to Gov. Gilmer that he had heard all his great speeches, but never one so power- ful and impressive as the pathetic effort from the back of "Pudding."
From " Ridgway," young Walker Gilmer was sent to school to Dr. Frank Carr, an excellent classical scholar, and a gentleman of extensive learning and much literary taste. The friend and companion of Will- iam Wirt, he is reported to have assisted him in the preparation of "The Old Bachelor." Here young Gilmer's talents were fitly nurtured. He was thoroughly grounded in classic lore, and acquired a thirst for letters which was invaluable to him in his subsequent career. He remained two years under the care of Dr. Carr, and then continued his scholastic course under Mr. John Robertson, a Scotchman, of whom it is said that he " taught more clever men than any other single teacher ever did in Virginia, and whose classical knowledge was such that he would often hear a recitation in Homer without reference to the book." From the school of Mr. Robertson, young Gilmer was sent to that of a Mr. Stack, in Charlottesville. Whilst here, as a member of a Thes- pian Society, he exhibited fine histrionic talents. Young Gilmer com- pleted his studies in Staunton, the pecuniary embarrassment of his father bringing them to an abrupt termination. He now entered the office of his uncle, Peachy R. Gilmer, at Liberty, Bedford County, Virginia, as a student of law. This gentleman was an eminent lawyer, a fine clas- sical scholar, and possessed extraordinary conversational powers. Some of his letters were pronounced, by his friend and brother-in-law, Will- iam Wirt, as "inimitable specimens of epistolary style." Whilst at Liberty, and, indeed, for some years previously, young Walker Gilmer
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