Josiah Abigail Patterson Campbell
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Josiah Abigail Patterson Campbell (March 2, 1830 – January 10, 1917) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court of Mississippi The Supreme Court of Mississippi is the Supreme court, highest court in the state of Mississippi. It was established in 1818 per the terms of the first constitution of the state and was known as the High Court of Errors and Appeals from 1832 to 1 ...
, and was previously a Speaker of the
Mississippi House of Representatives The Mississippi House of Representatives is the lower house of the Mississippi Legislature, the lawmaking body of the U.S. state of Mississippi. According to the state constitution of 1890, it is to comprise no more than 122 members elected for ...
and Deputy from
Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...
to the
Provisional Congress of the Confederate States The Provisional Congress of the Confederate States, fully the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States of America, was a unicameral congress of deputies and delegates called together from the Southern States which became the governing ...
from 1861 to 1862.


Biography

Josiah Abigail Patterson Campbell was born in Lancaster District, South Carolina, the son of a Presbyterian minister and the daughter of a wealthy plantation owner. His family was of Scottish descent. He learned to read at four years old. He was educated at
Davidson College Davidson College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Davidson, North Carolina, United States. It was established in 1837 by the Concord Presbytery and named after American Revolutiona ...
in
North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
, thereafter moving to
Madison County, Mississippi Madison County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 109,145. The county seat is Canton. The county is named for Founding Father and U.S. President James Madison. Madison County is pa ...
at the age of fifteen.Thomas H. Somerville, "A Sketch of the Supreme Court of Mississippi", in Horace W. Fuller, ed.,'' The Green Bag'', Vol. XI (1899), p. 513. He was admitted to the bar at
Kosciusko, Mississippi Kosciusko ( ) is a city in Attala County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 7,402 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Attala County. History Shortly before the War of 1812, David Choate, a French trader along with his wi ...
on June 12, 1847, at the age of seventeen, making him the youngest lawyer in Mississippi, where he opened a law office and "conducted a large and profitable practice". He was elected to the state legislature in 1851 and 1859. He was the Speaker of the
Mississippi House of Representatives The Mississippi House of Representatives is the lower house of the Mississippi Legislature, the lawmaking body of the U.S. state of Mississippi. According to the state constitution of 1890, it is to comprise no more than 122 members elected for ...
from 1859 to 1860. He was a President ''pro tempore'' of the
Provisional Congress of the Confederate States The Provisional Congress of the Confederate States, fully the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States of America, was a unicameral congress of deputies and delegates called together from the Southern States which became the governing ...
for two days in 1861 and again for one day in 1862, becoming one of the original signers of the
Confederate Constitution The Constitution of the Confederate States was the supreme law of the Confederate States of America. It superseded the Provisional Constitution of the Confederate States, the Confederate State's first constitution, in 1862.. Retrieved July 10, ...
, and attained the rank of Lieutenant colonel in the
Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...
during the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
, serving in the Mississippi 40th Infantry Regiment, where he was slightly wounded at the
Second Battle of Corinth The Second Battle of Corinth (which, in the context of the American Civil War, is usually referred to as the Battle of Corinth, to differentiate it from the siege of Corinth earlier the same year) was fought October 3–4, 1862, in Corinth, M ...
. After the war, he was elected circuit judge for the Fifth Circuit and served until 1868, when he was forced out of office for not swearing allegiance to the United States. In 1870, he was one of the commissioners who framed the code of 1871, and in 1879, he similarly worked on the code of 1880. In 1876, he became one of the chief organizers of the
Mississippi Plan The Mississippi Plan of 1874–1875 was developed by white Southern Democrats as part of the white insurgency during the Reconstruction era in the Southern United States. It was devised by the Democratic Party in that state to overthrow the Repub ...
, which ended the era of Republican rule in Mississippi. He was appointed to a seat on the
Supreme Court of Mississippi The Supreme Court of Mississippi is the Supreme court, highest court in the state of Mississippi. It was established in 1818 per the terms of the first constitution of the state and was known as the High Court of Errors and Appeals from 1832 to 1 ...
vacated by the resignation of Jonathan Tarbell in 1876, and served as Chief Justice from 1891 to 1894. He became one of the drafters of the 1890 Mississippi Constitution, which enforced legal white supremacy. In 1895, he declined re-appointment, and returned to private practice. He was succeeded on the court by Albert H. Whitfield. Leslie Southwick
Mississippi Supreme Court Elections: A Historical Perspective 1916-1996
18 Miss. C. L. Rev. 115 (1997-1998).
Campbell was active in Confederate veterans' organizations before official formation of the United Confederate Veterans club. In 1892, for example, about eighteen months after the Mississippi Constitution of 1890 went into effect, he gave a lengthy speech at the state capitol to a group of Confederate veterans. A copy of that nearly 8,000-word speech appeared in a number of newspapers, including the ''Jackson Clarion'', dated July 14, 1892. As Chief Justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court, he made blatantly racist statements to Confederate veterans assembled in Jackson for a reunion. He informed his audience that African Americans would forever remain as an "inferior race" and would forever be dominated by whites since it was God's plan to establish white supremacy. He characterized federal power as "coercive" and trampling upon the rights of white citizens by granting citizenship to African Americans. He also considered the federal government as interference with local control and the rights of states to freely discriminate against people.
James Meredith James Howard Meredith (born June 25, 1933) is an American civil rights activist, writer, political adviser, and United States Air Force veteran who became, in 1962, the first African-American student admitted to the racially segregated Univers ...
, the first Black student at the
University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (Epithet, byname Ole Miss) is a Public university, public research university in University, near Oxford, Mississippi, United States, with a University of Mississippi Medical Center, medical center in Jackson, Miss ...
maintained that Campbell was his great-grandfather, and Campbell was also the "father of White supremacy in Mississippi". Campbell was a supporter of legal equality of court testimony between races, but insisted throughout his career that obstacles for voting be carefully guarded so that "radical misrule" did not overtake the state's system of government. Campbell died on January 10, 1917, aged 86, in
Canton, Mississippi The city of Canton is the county seat of Madison County, Mississippi, United States, and is situated in the northern part of the Jackson, Mississippi metropolitan area, metropolitan area surrounding the state capital, Jackson, Mississippi, Jackso ...
, and
lay in state Lying in state is the tradition in which the body of a deceased official, such as a head of state, is placed in a state building, either outside or inside a coffin, to allow the public to pay their respects. It traditionally takes place in a m ...
at the Mississippi Capitol Rotunda as per Governor Bilbo's request. At the time of his death, he was the last living member of the first Confederate Congress and last living signer of the Confederate Constitution. He was buried at Greenwood Cemetery.


References


External links


Josiah Abigail Patterson Campbell
at ''
The Political Graveyard The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 Politics of the United States, American political figures and List of United States political families, political families, along with other informa ...
'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Josiah A.P. 1830 births 1917 deaths 19th-century American jurists Chief justices of the Supreme Court of Mississippi Confederate States Army officers Deputies and delegates to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States People from Camden, South Carolina People from Attala County, Mississippi People from Madison County, Mississippi People of Mississippi in the American Civil War Signers of the Confederate States Constitution Signers of the Provisional Constitution of the Confederate States 19th-century American state court judges Speakers of the Mississippi House of Representatives Members of the United Confederate Veterans