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Below is a family biography included in The History of Sumner County, Tennessee published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1887.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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James Campbell, a well known merchant, was born in Sumner County in 1816. He was one of fourteen children of Colin and Martha (Parish) Campbell. The father was of Scotch descent, born in 1792 in Virginia. He came to Sumner County when a small child with his parents, and located seven miles north of Gallatin. He enlisted in the war of 1812 in Capt. Wallace’s company. After a year’s service he returned home and married in 1814. His death occurred in 1860. He was a prosperous farmer. His wife was born in Virginia in 1794 and died in 1855. The subject of this sketch was educated in the common schools of his native county. He remained with his parents until his twenty-fifth year, when he began farming for himself, and continued until 1855, when he opened a grocery store at Castalian Springs. At the outbreak of the war he enlisted in Company E, Twenty-fourth Tennessee Regiment. On account of feeble health he served about one year. In 1869 he again embarked in the mercantile business. He has met with great success, receiving a liberal patronage. In 1872 he purchased a farm of 175 acres near the homestead. He was a Whig previous to the war, casting his first presidential vote for Harrison in 1840. He is now a Democrat and a Mason, belonging to King Solomon Lodge, No. 94, at Gallatin.

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This family biography is one of 115 biographies included in The History of Sumner County, Tennessee published in 1887.  The History of Sumner County was included within The History of Sumner, Smith, Macon & Trousdale Counties of Tennessee. View the complete description here: History of Sumner, Smith, Macon and Trousdale Counties of Tennessee

View additional Sumner County, Tennessee family biographies here: Sumner County, Tennessee

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