History of Cambria County.

GENERAL JACOB MILLER CAMPBELL, during a long and peculiarly active career, was recognized as one of the most important figures in the business, military and political life of Cambria and adjoining counties. He was prominently identified with the establishment of the mammoth Cambria Iron Works, and with various other large industrial and financial enterprises; he rendered valiant service to his country during the Civil war period, rising to high rank; and for several terms in congress acquitted himself with such distinguished ability and pure patriotism as to earn respect and admiration as a statesman.

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He was born in Allegheny township, Somerset county, Pennsylvania, November 20, 1821. His parents were John and Mary (Weyand) Campbell, the father being a native of Scotland, who emigrated to the United States in 1817, while his mother was a native of Somerset county. In 1826 the parents removed to Allegheny City, where the son reared and educated in the public schools. In 1835, at the age of sixteen young Campbell returned to the village of Somerset, where he entered the office of the Somerset Whig, and there mastered so much of "the art preservative of all arts" as was possible in a country printing office, and incidentally, by careful reading, adding largely to his fund of knowledge. In 1840 he entered the office of the Literary Examiner, a monthly magazine published in Pittsburg, as a compositor, and after a few months relinquished his position to go to New Orleans, Louisiana, where he worked for some months in leading newspaper offices. It may not be amiss here to remark (and the writer of this narrative speaks upon his own personal knowledge and experience), that in that day the young printer deemed such travel a necessary sequence, to his apprenticeship, and, to one of industrious and ambitious disposition, such proved a broad education in itself. In 1841 Mr. Campbell, then in his twentieth year, engaged in steamboating on the lower Mississippi and its most important tributaries, and during several years following filled the positions of mate, clerk and part owner of a vessel. In April, 1817, he married, and abandoned the river, locating in Brady's Bend, Pennsylvania, where he engaged in business in the Great Western Iron Works. In 1851 he went to California, but within a year returned and again entered the iron works. In 1853 he removed to Johnstown, Pennsylvania, with which city he was thereafter identified during the remainder of his life. His first engagement there was to assist in the construction of the iron works of the Cambria Iron Company, a mammoth undertaking in that day, and he acquitted himself so ereditably that he was retained in the service of the company, at all times in important and responsible positions, until the breaking out of the Civil war, when his patriotic spirit would not permit him to rest in civil pursuits, and he resigned at the first call for troops by President Lincoln. He aided in recruiting the first company from Cambria county for the three months'

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service in April, 1861, immediately after the firing upon Fort Sumter, and was elected and commissioned lieutenant. The company rendezvoused at Harrisburg early on the morning of April 18th, being the first military organization to occupy Camp Curtin. Upon the organization of regiments, it became Company G, Third Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers. Lieutenant Campbell was appointed regimental quartermaster April 20th. He served with his command as a part of the Second Brigade, Second Division, under General Patterson, in the campaign on the upper Potomac, in the vicinity of the mouth of the Shenandoah Valley, until the expiration of its term of service, when it returned to Harrisburg and was mustered out, July 28, 1861.

Lieutenant Campbell was at once commissioned colonel by Governor Curtin, and authorized to recruit a regiment for three years' service, and mainly through his effort was organized and brought into service the famous Fifty-fourth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, which as soon as prepared for the field was ordered to Washington City. It there remained until March 29, 1862, when Colonel Campbell was ordered to report with his command to General Miles, commanding at Harper's Ferry, Virginia, who directed him to occupy the line of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad from North Mountain Station to the south branch of the Potomac river, a distance of fifty-six miles, it being his mission to fortify and hold the most important points, in order to afford security to the passage of trains conveying troops and military stores. In September the forces under General Miles were driven into Harper's Ferry and captured by the Confederate forces under General "Stonewall" Jackson, with the single exception of the Fifty-fourth Pennsylvania Regiment, Colonel Campbell succeeding in holding his position, the only regiment left south of the Potomac, between Cumberland and the defenses at Washington. After the battle of Antietam, Colonel Campbell's regiment was temporaily attached to General Franklin's (Sixth) Corps.

On March 6, 1863, Colonel Campbell's regiment was ordered to Romney, and he was there assigned to the command of the Fourth Brigade, First Division, Eighth Army Corps, and with this force he proceeded to occupy the various mountain passes in that region, making his headquarters at Mechanicsburg Gap, his troops being in almost daily conflict with detachments of the Confederate army and the guerrilla forces infesting that region. June 14, Colonel Campbell with his brigade was ordered to New Creek to aid in its defense against a threatened attack. July 5th his command formed part of a column under General Kelly, which marched to Fairview, Maryland, to prevent General Lee's forces from gaining possession of the fortifications at Cherry Run and points further west on the Potomac. July 16th he crossed the Potomac at Cherry Run and marched to Hedgeville, driving the enemy from that place. August 2d Colonel Campbell, with his brigade, was ordered to return to his former stations among the Hampshire mountains. He was there actively engaged until November 6th, when he was ordered to Springfield, West Virginia, and to the command of all the troops along the railroad from Cherry Run to New Creek, a distance of ninety miles, in addition to his own brigade, equivalent to the command of a majorgeneral. On January 4, 1864, he was ordered with his brigade to Cumberland, then threatened by the forces of Rosser and Fitzhugh Lee, and here remained until General Sigel took command of the Department of West Virginia. In April, in the re-organization of troops preparatory to the contemplated movement up the valley of the Shenandoah,

Colonel Campbell was at his own request relieved from the command of his brigade and returned to his regiment. At the battle of New Market, May 15th, his regiment occupied the extreme left of the line, and suffered severely, losing two hundred and eighty-four killed and wounded. After the battle, General Sigel fell back to Cedar Creek, where he was relieved of his command by General Hunter, who resumed the march up the valley, meeting the enemy at Piedmont, June 5, 1864. In this engagement Colonel Campbell again occupied the left of the line, flanking the enemy's right, and making a rear attack, capturing a force twice the numerical strength of his own. For gallant conduct and superior skill displayed in this battle, Colonel Campbell was brevetted brigadier-general, a promotion doubly earned by his long and efficient. service as a brigade commander. Three days after the battle, when the forces under General Crook joined those of General Hunter at Staunton, Virginia, General Campbell was assigned to the command of the Third Brigade, Second Division, and as a special favor his old regiment was transferred thereto, that it might remain under its old commander. In all the engagements under General Hunter, while on the notable "Lynchburg Raid," General Campbell took a prominent part, and on the return covered the retreat. On July 24th he took part in the battle of Winchester, under General Crook, and when General Mulligan fell assumed command of the division, and participated in all the subsequent battles under General Crook while the latter was in command, and, after General Sheridan came to the command of the department, he took part in all the engagements in the Shenandoah Valley under that brilliant commander.

General Campbell was absent from his command but three weeks when, in February, 1864, he was detailed by the Secretary of War to serve upon a court of inquiry at Wheeling, West Virginia, and with that single exception was with his command in every engagement in which his regiment or brigade took part, from the beginning of his service until he was honorably mustered out, September 3, 1864, leaving upon the annals of the War Department a record of brilliant soldiership and unsullied patriotism.

Returning to civil pursuits, General Campbell entered upon a career of most useful and creditable public service. On August 17th, 1865, he was nominated by the Republican state convention of Pennsylvania for the office of surveyor-general (now secretary of interior affairs), and was elected for a three years' term, being re-elected in 1868, and serving with entire satisfaction to the people, and credit to himself. Declining a nomination for a third term, he gave his attention to mechanical and other industrial pursuits until the fall of 1876, when he was again called to public life. Nominated for congressman from the Seventeenth Congressional District, comprising the counties of Bedford, Blair, Cambria and Somerset, his popularity was attested by his election by a plurality of 520 over Hon. John Riley, Democrat, who at the previous election had carried the district by a plurality of 1,147. In 1878 he was renominated, but through defection to the Greenback party he was defeated by a plurality of 305 votes. In 1880 he was again a candidate and was elected by a plurality of 1,436 over his former competitor, Hon. A. H. Coffroth, whom he again defeated in 1882, and in 1884 was again elected by a plurality of 3,564 votes over Dr. Americus Enfield. He was recognized as one of the most industrious and capable members of the various congresses in which he sat, and was a notably useful member of the committees on education, labor, railways, canals, and others of a

special character. In the Forty-seventh Congress he served as chairman of the committee on manufactures, called to that important place by reason of his broad knowledge along industrial lines and earnest advocacy of the principles of protection to all branches of American industry, and his opposition to demoralizing competition, as witnessed by his efforts for the restriction of Chinese emigration to this country. He was uncompromising in his support of sound financial principles, earnestly advocating the resumption of specie payment and stoutly opposing the free and unlimited coinage of silver as being morally dishonest. He advocated the repeal of the bankrupt law, holding that its repeal was essential to the restoration of financial and commercial prosperity and stability. He favored all measures looking to the enlargement of our foreign commerce, the establishment of proper harbor and coast defenses, the building of an efficient navy, reform in the civil service, and kindred measures.

General Campbell was a delegate to the first Republican national convention, in 1856, and aided in the nomination of the first presidential candidate of the party, John C. Fremont, and he was ever afterward an ardent advocate of its principles and a supporter of its candidates, both local and national, and a potent factor in many conventional bodies. His last public service was as chairman of the Republican state convention in 1887, and, though visibly failing in health, he proved, as in all former similar occasions, his remarkable ability as a presiding officer. So excellent was the impression made by his able and dignified conduct that, coupled with his previous brilliant political and military record, and coming, as he did, from a section of the state whose claims had long been unrecognized, he was spoken of by many as a suitable successor to Governor James A. Beaver, and, had his physical vigor remained adequate, it is highly probable that he would have received the gubernatorial nomination.

In his own community General Campbell was no less esteemed for his activity in business affairs than he was honored for his public life, and his lofty character made his name a tower of strength in any enterprise. Prominent among the corporations with which he was connected, and in all of which he served as a director, were the First National Bank, the Savings Bank, the Electric Light Company, and the gas and water companies. He was a charter member of Alma Lodge and William F. Packer Encampment, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and for thirty years took a lively interest in those bodies, in which he was called to the principal offices. He was also a charter member of Johnstown Lodge, No. 538, Free and Accepted Masons. By his former comrades in arms, among whom he was affectionately known as "Uncle Jake," he was loved and honored for his sterling qualities both as a man and soldier. To the hour of his death he was a prominent and enthusiatic member of Emory Fisher Post, No. 36, Grand Army of the Republic, and some of his happiest hours were those which he passed at its encampments. In 1887, upon the organization of the Society of the Fifty-fourth Pennsylvania Regiment, he was enthuiastically elected to the presidency, and held the position until his death.

After retiring from public life General Campbell sought the quiet seclusion of his home and the care of his private interests. But the rest so well earned after a long and useful life he was not destined to long enjoy. He was wholly exempt from physical ailments until 1883, when, in his sixty-second year, he experienced a severe attack of pneumonia which seriously undermined his health. He was prostrated by

the same disease a second and a third time, last in May, 1888. His strong constitution and habitually temperate life enabled him to recover in each instance, although his strength was visibly impaired by each succeeding attack. When apparently recovering from his last attack he was stricken with paralysis, and, although his life was then despaired of, he conquered through his indomitable will, and recovered sufficient strength to leave his bed and go about as usual. About two months before his death he experienced symptoms of heart failure, and the sad end came September 27, 1888, being directly due to acute inflammation of the brain.

A summing up of his character reveals General Campbell as a unique figure. Under a Under a plain and unassuming exterior he concealed ability of a high order, and a rare degree of manly virtue, unselfishness and a sincere regard for the welfare of others, even before his own personal interests, being among his most striking characteristics. His traits of character were feelingly dwelt upon by his neighbors, all of whom felt in his death a keen sense of personal loss. "As a soldier,” said one who was familiar with his entire career, through close association, “he was brave and noble, and his heroism was never questioned.” As a state official he was above suspicion, and although he instituted many important reforms which met with strenuous opposition, no one, even in midst of the intensest political excitement, ever impeached his integrity. As a national legislator he was untiring in his work and a faithful agent of his constituents, never failing to discharge a duty exacted of him, not even neglecting to write a letter asking for information. His personal life in midst of his friends and in his home was beautiful. He treated the youngest of his children with the same manly and gentle consideration that he extended to the most revered of his fellows, while the strength of affection for her who so nobly shared his trials and sacrifices, who held night vigil for him during the long years when his life was in constant jeopardy during the dreary marches, the long night watches, and the field of carnage, who participated and joyed in the triumphs and honors of his later years, was one of the loveliest traits of his noble character. His was a life's work well done; his is a name historical in the annals of the state, a record of duty conscientiously discharged in every walk of life.

On April 29, 1847, General Campbell was married to Mary Rankin Campbell, who was born May 13, 1827, in Pittsburg, about on the site of the present court house, came, like himself, from a Scotch ancestry, and doubtless from the same family, one of the most distinguished in all Scotland. Her parents, James and Mary (Wylie) Campbell, came from Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland, where they were married in 1786, sailing for the United States the next day. After a short stay in the city of New York, then a village to what it is now, they drove in a "prairie schooner" over the mountains through Pennsylvania to Pittsburg and thence to Allegheny, where the young husband engaged in iron manufacturing, where he lived a successful life, and where he died. His widow died in 1869 in Johnstown, at the Campbell homestead on Walnut street. This old brick edifice is one of the historic structures of the city. The first sewing machine ever brought to Johnstown was to be seen there, a rare curiosity of its time. From its peak was unfurled in 1861 the first flag in the city to notify the people that war was on, and that the nation called its sons to its support. Perhaps no other building in Pennsylvania, the executive mansion excepted, has sheltered as many governors of the commonwealth. During the memor