Lewis D. Campbell
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Lewis Davis Campbell (August 9, 1811 – November 26, 1882) was an American politician as a
U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...
for
Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
. Over his political career he was elected as a Whig, Republican,
Know Nothing The American Party, known as the Native American Party before 1855 and colloquially referred to as the Know Nothings, or the Know Nothing Party, was an Old Stock Americans, Old Stock Nativism in United States politics, nativist political movem ...
, and
Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...
.


Early life

Campbell was born in
Franklin Franklin may refer to: People and characters * Franklin (given name), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (surname), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (class), a member of a historic ...
,
Warren County, Ohio Warren County is a County (United States), county located in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 242,337. Its county seat is Lebanon, Ohio, Lebanon and largest c ...
. His education was in the local public schools. He was apprenticed to learn the art of printing from 1828 to 1831, and he was afterward assistant editor of the ''Cincinnati Gazette''. He published a
Henry Clay Henry Clay (April 12, 1777June 29, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented Kentucky in both the United States Senate, U.S. Senate and United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives. He was the seventh Spea ...
Whig newspaper in
Hamilton, Ohio Hamilton is a city in Butler County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Located north of Cincinnati along the Great Miami River, Hamilton is the second-most populous city in the Cincinnati metropolitan area and the List of municipaliti ...
, from 1831 to 1835 (''The Hamilton Intelligencer''). Meanwhile, he read the law and was admitted to the bar in 1835. He practiced law in Hamilton until 1850, while he engaged in agricultural pursuits. He married Jane Reily on January 5, 1836, in
Butler County, Ohio Butler County is a County (United States), county located in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 390,357. Its county seat and largest city is Hamilton, Ohio, Ham ...
.


Business

He was a director and secretary of the Hamilton and Rossville Hydraulic Company, formed in 1841 for the purpose of building a canal through Hamilton to provide water power to local companies. He was an incorporator and president of the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railroad Company. The railroad was constructed between 1846 and 1852.


Prewar politics

He ran unsuccessfully as a Whig candidate for election in 1840, 1842, and 1844 to the 27th, 28th, and 29th Congresses. He was elected as a Whig in 1848 from Ohio's 2nd District to the 31st Congress and was re-elected in 1850. Following redistricting after the
1850 census The 1850 United States census was the seventh decennial United States Census Conducted by the Census Office, it determined the resident population of the United States to be 23,191,876—an increase of 35.9 percent over the 17,069,453 persons ...
, he found himself in Ohio's 3rd District but was successful in being again elected as a Whig in 1852. With the collapse of the Whigs, he ran as an
Opposition Party In politics, the opposition comprises one or more political parties or other organized groups that are opposed to the government (or, in American English, the administration), party or group in political control of a city, region, state, coun ...
candidate in 1854 and was elected to the 34th Congress. He became chairman of the powerful
House Committee on Ways and Means The Committee on Ways and Means is the chief tax-writing committee of the United States House of Representatives. The committee has jurisdiction over all taxation, tariffs, and other revenue-raising measures, as well as a number of other program ...
. During the debates on the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854, Campbell, a free-soiler, conducted a filibuster, provoking the ire of Henry A. Edmundson, a pro-slavery Virginia Democrat. On May 12, 1854, the tension boiled over. Historian Michael Morrison of Purdue University describes: "A
filibuster A filibuster is a political procedure in which one or more members of a legislative body prolong debate on proposed legislation so as to delay or entirely prevent a decision. It is sometimes referred to as "talking a bill to death" or "talking ...
led by Lewis D. Campbell, an Ohio free-soiler, nearly provoked the House into a war of more than words. Campbell, joined by other antislavery northerners, exchanged insults and invectives with southerners, neither side giving quarter. Weapons were brandished on the floor of the House. Finally, bumptiousness gave way to violence. Henry A. Edmundson, a Virginia Democrat, well oiled and well armed, had to be restrained from making a violent attack on Campbell. Only after the sergeant at arms arrested him, debate was cut off, and the House adjourned did the melee subside."Morrison, Michael A. ''Slavery and the American West''.
/ref> In 1856, he claimed re-election by a 19-vote margin and presented credentials as a Republican member-elect and served from March 4, 1857, to May 25, 1858, when, by a vote of 107–100, the Democrats controlled the House, which decided that Campbell was not entitled to his seat. His election had successfully been contested by Clement L. Vallandigham, who took his seat on May 26, 1858. Campbell ran against Vallandigham in the election of 1858; Vallandigham won 50.5% of the votes, Campbell 49.5%.


Civil War

Campbell served in the Union Army as colonel of the 69th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in 1861 and 1862, when he resigned for his failing health.


Postwar career

President
Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. The 16th vice president, he assumed the presidency following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a South ...
appointed Campbell as
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary An envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, usually known as a minister, was a diplomatic head of mission who was ranked below ambassador. A diplomatic mission headed by an envoy was known as a legation rather than an embassy. Under the ...
to Mexico on May 4, 1866. He was accompanied by General
William Tecumseh Sherman William Tecumseh Sherman ( ; February 8, 1820February 14, 1891) was an American soldier, businessman, educator, and author. He served as a General officer, general in the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861–1865), earning recognit ...
. Campbell was instructed to tender to President
Benito Juárez Benito Pablo Juárez García (; 21 March 1806 – 18 July 1872) was a Mexican politician, military commander, and lawyer who served as the 26th president of Mexico from 1858 until his death in office in 1872. A Zapotec peoples, Zapotec, he w ...
the moral support of the United States and to offer the use of American military force to aid in the restoration of law. The occupying French forces of
Maximilian Maximilian or Maximillian (Maximiliaan in Dutch and Maximilien in French) is a male name. The name "Max" is considered a shortening of "Maximilian" as well as of several other names. List of people Monarchs *Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (1 ...
had Juarez's government on the run, and Campbell failed to reach them. Campbell served until June 16, 1867, when he resigned and returned to resume his elective political career. Campbell was elected to the
Ohio Senate The Ohio Senate is the upper house of the Ohio General Assembly. The State Senate, which meets in the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, first convened in 1803. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered every two years such that half of t ...
in 1869 and resigned in 1870 to take his seat in Congress, after being elected as a Democrat to the 42nd Congress. He declined to run for re-election in 1872. He was a delegate to the third Ohio State constitutional convention in 1873, and he resumed his agricultural pursuits.


Death

Campbell died in Hamilton, Ohio, on November 26, 1882, at 71. He is interred in Greenwood Cemetery.


Family

His nephew,
James E. Campbell James Edwin Campbell (July 7, 1843 – December 18, 1924) was an American attorney and Democratic politician from Ohio. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1884 to 1889 and as the 38th governor of Ohio from 1890 to 189 ...
, later held the seat from the 3rd District for one term (1885-1887).


References

* A History and Biographical Encyclopaedia of Butler County Ohio. Cincinnati, Ohio: Western Biographical Publishing Company, 1882. {{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Lewis Davis 1811 births 1882 deaths People from Franklin, Ohio Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio Opposition Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio Ohio state senators Ohio Constitutional Convention (1873) Ohio lawyers Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio Union army officers People of Ohio in the American Civil War 19th-century American diplomats Ambassadors of the United States to Mexico Burials at Greenwood Cemetery (Hamilton, Ohio) 19th-century American lawyers Members of the United States House of Representatives removed by contest 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century members of the Ohio General Assembly