James Hepburn Campbell

James Hepburn Campbell

James Hepburn Campbell (born February 8, 1820 in Williamsport , Pennsylvania , †  April 12, 1895 in Wayne , Pennsylvania) was an American politician . Between 1855 and 1863 he twice represented the state of Pennsylvania in the US House of Representatives .

Career

James Campbell attended public schools in his home country. After a subsequent law degree at Dickinson College in Carlisle and his admission to the bar in 1841, he began to work in this profession in Pottsville . At the same time he embarked on a political career as a member of the Whig Party . In May 1844 he took part as a delegate at the Whigs federal party conference in Baltimore . After its dissolution in the 1850s, he moved to the short-lived Opposition Party before joining the Republican Party .

In the congressional elections of 1854 Campbell was elected for the opposition party in the eleventh constituency of Pennsylvania in the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC , where he succeeded the Democrat Christian Markle Straub on March 4, 1855 . Since he was not confirmed in 1856, he was only able to complete one legislative period in Congress until March 3, 1857 . This was shaped by the events leading up to the civil war . In the elections of 1858 Campbell was re-elected as a Republican in the eleventh district of his state in Congress. There he replaced William Lewis Dewart on March 4, 1859 , who had been his successor two years earlier. After re-election in 1860, he could remain in Congress until March 3, 1863. This time was determined by the events immediately before the civil war and from 1861 by the war itself. During the early months of the war, Campbell served as a major in a Pennsylvania infantry unit. In 1862 he renounced another candidacy.

In 1864 Campbell was appointed American envoy to Sweden by President Abraham Lincoln . He held this office between May 1864 and March 1867. He then turned down a diplomatic mission to Colombia . He moved to Philadelphia , where he practiced as a lawyer for the following years. James Campbell died on April 12, 1895 on his Aeola estate near Wayne, Delaware County . He was buried in Philadelphia.

Web links

• James Hepburn Campbell in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• James Hepburn Campbell in the database of Find a Grave (English)

predecessor	Office	successor
Christian Markle Straub	United States House Representative for Pennsylvania (11th constituency) March 4, 1855 - March 3, 1857	William Lewis Dewart
William Lewis Dewart	United States House Representative for Pennsylvania (11th constituency) March 4, 1859 - March 3, 1863	Philip Johnson
Jacob S. Haldeman	United States Envoy to Sweden September 24, 1864 - March 29, 1867	John McGinnis