Summary Information
Samuel W. Campbell Papers
1881-1931
- Campbell, Samuel W. (Samuel Webb), 1843-1931
River Falls Mss BQ
1.6 cubic feet (4 archives boxes)
UW-River Falls, Chalmer Davee Library / River Falls Area Research Ctr. (Map)
Papers of Campbell, a general store operator in Minnesota, minor Republican politician, and Indian Agent at the La Pointe Reservation, Ashland, Wisconsin. Included is correspondence, financial and legal papers, and other records primarily concerning his work as Indian Agent, 1898-1912. Campbell was forced to resign this post as a result of controversy surrounding his handling of Indian monies from timber sales. The collection documents this controversy as well as such subjects as the regulation of liquor, the education of Indian children, appointments, and Campbell's Civil War service in the 135th and 109th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-rf00bq ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
Samuel W. Campbell, small businessman, minor Republican politician, and Indian Agent at the La Pointe Reservation in northern Wisconsin and Minnesota, was born 3 June 1843 in Heshbon, Pennsylvania. He spent his early years on a Pennsylvania farm.
At the outbreak of the Civil War, Campbell enlisted in the Union Army. For six months in 1862, he served on guard duty in Washington, D.C. He then was assigned as a first sergeant of Company I, 135th Pennsylvania Volunteers at Chancellorsville, and later helped raise a company of volunteers in Pennsylvania which became part of the Second Battalion, Pennsylvania Volunteers. Participating in guerrilla activities in Pennsylvania and in the Cumberland region, Campbell served as a first lieutenant in this company until the group was disbanded. In 1863, following training at the military training school in Philadelphia, Campbell served in Company I, 109th Infantry, a regiment composed of black troops and white officers. Later as a member of Grant's Army of the James, he saw action during the Petersburg campaign and at Fredericksburg.
When the war ended, Campbell was among some 20,000 troops sent to Texas by Secretary of State Seward because of the possibility that trouble might develop with Mexico. In March, 1866, the then Major Campbell was discharged from the service in Louisville, Kentucky, and his regiment disbanded.
The following year, Campbell moved to the St. Croix Valley region first settling at Marine, Minnesota where two of his brothers were living. Next he bought a farm near Farmington Prairie, Wisconsin. A year later Campbell sold the farm and purchased a grist mill in Huntington. He spent several years in the Huntington-Osceola region before moving to Hudson, Wisconsin in the early 1880's.
Campbell was active in state and county politics in Wisconsin. In 1884 he was elected to a two-year term as sheriff of St. Croix County. Later he served a term as under-sheriff. In 1889, President Harrison appointed Campbell to a four-year term as an inspector in the Bureau of Animal Industry of the Department of Agriculture.
During this time deposits of iron ore in the Mesaba Range of northern Minnesota were being discovered and developed. Taking advantage of the region's rapid growth, Campbell and his son, Webb, opened a general store in a mining camp at Eveleth, Minnesota in 1889. They operated Campbell & Son jointly until the senior Campbell returned to Hudson and again became involved in politics. His return was marked by his appointment to the Wisconsin State Board of Control.
With the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, Indian Agents, who were army officers, were called into active service. Their vacated positions were filled by civilians. It was in this way that Campbell came to be the Indian Agent at the La Pointe Reservation whose headquarters was at Ashland, Wisconsin. John C. Spooner, Senator from Wisconsin, was instrumental in helping him obtain this appointment from President McKinley in 1898. Campbell held this post for fourteen years until his retirement in 1912. However, the end of his career at the reservation was marked by his forced resignation as a result of a controversy surrounding his handling of Indian monies that had resulted from timber sales. Campbell returned to private life although he remained active in Republican Party circles.
In 1868 Campbell married Phoebe Hanscom. They had three sons, Clyde, Webb, and Frank, and one daughter, Daisy (Mrs. Charles Jensch). They maintained their permanent home in Hudson, Wisconsin until Campbell's death on 25 June 1931.
Scope and Content Note
The Samuel W. Campbell papers contain correspondence, financial records, legal records, and a variety of other papers concerning both his public and private life. The majority of the collection relates to his activities as Indian Agent at the La Pointe Reservation. The papers are organized into five categories: general correspondence, financial records, legal records, a miscellaneous file, and a subject file.
The GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE, 1889, 1891, 1896-1931, comprises the bulk of the collection. Including incoming and outgoing letters, it covers both Campbell's public and private affairs. With regard to his public activities it reflects policy on the Reservation on such subjects as the cutting and sale of timber, the regulation of liquor, and the education of Indian children. In addition to documenting general policy about such specific problems, the correspondence also reveals attitudes toward the Indians. Also documented are the controversies surrounding Campbell's handling of Indian monies, which resulted in his forced resignation; and daily operating procedures, e.g., requests for supplies, and suggestions on the appointment of personnel. Included in this correspondence are incoming letters from Senators Quarles, Clapp, and Spooner. A smaller portion of the correspondence deals with Campbell's private affairs and includes letters of friends and family about his general store, private property holdings, and personal matters. The arrangement of this series is chronological.
The FINANCIAL RECORDS, ca. 1897-1915, are also mixed. With reference
to Campbell's public activities, a variety of bills, invoices, receipts, and statements document the flow of funds on the Reservation for such things as the order of supplies and the payment and transfer of Indian monies. Similar records reveal information about the financial status of his store and properties. The arrangement of these records is chronological. An account book completes this segment of the Papers.
LEGAL RECORDS, 1900-1913, the second largest series in the collection, are arranged chronologically. Included are leases, contracts, bills of sale, mortgages, depositions, affidavits, and warrants. The majority pertain to Campbell's affairs as Indian Agent and reveal some of the problems on the reservation such as liquor and timber sales. A few of the documents also refer to Campbell's business partnership. The court records are case briefs and court decisions dealing exclusively with Indian-related problems. A legal dispute between Campbell and some Indians is traced through the judicial system until its final settlement in the U.S. Supreme Court.
The MISCELLANEOUS FILE contains a variety of materials such as a one-page genealogy of the Campbell family, a rough blueprint of a lag screw machine, and a list of Indians who were found to be drunk on the Reservation.
The SUBJECT FILE is a catch-all category for the remaining material that deals only with Campbell's public activities. Much of it relates to the operation and policy of the reservation. It includes clippings, legislative bills, lot and lumber plats, miscellaneous minutes and resolutions, notices, petitions, reports, and rules and regulations. The arrangement is alphabetical by subject.
Campbell's Civil War DIARY was added to the collection in 1986.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by Willis Miller, Hudson, Wisconsin, 1971-1972, 1986. Accession Number: M71-201; M71-252; M71-347; M71-367; M72-273; M72-251; M72-289; M72-454; M83-178; M86-308
Processed by Chris Rongone (FGH Intern) and Joanne Hohler, November 25, 1974.
Contents List
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Series: General Correspondence
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Box
1
Folder
1
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1889, 1891, 1896-1901
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Box
1
Folder
2
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1902
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Box
1
Folder
3
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1903
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Box
1
Folder
4
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1904
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Box
1
Folder
5
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1905
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Box
1
Folder
6
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1906 January-June
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Box
1
Folder
7
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1906 July-December
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Box
1
Folder
8
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1907 January-July
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Box
1
Folder
9
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1907 August-December
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Box
2
Folder
1
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1908 January-July
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Box
2
Folder
2
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1908 August-December
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Box
2
Folder
3
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1909
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Box
2
Folder
4
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1910
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Box
2
Folder
5
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1911 January-July
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Box
2
Folder
6
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1911 August-December
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Box
2
Folder
7
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1912 January-July
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Box
3
Folder
1
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1912 August
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Box
3
Folder
2
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1912 September-December
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Box
3
Folder
3
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1913
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Box
3
Folder
4
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1914
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Box
3
Folder
5
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1915-1931
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Box
3
Folder
6
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undated
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Series: Financial Records
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Invoices, receipts, and statements
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Box
3
Folder
7
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1890, 1895, 1897-1909
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Box
3
Folder
8
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1910-1915, 1929, 1931
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Box
3
Folder
9
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Account book, circa 1894-1898
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Series: Legal Records
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Legal documents
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Box
4
Folder
1
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1881-1899, 1900-1905
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Box
4
Folder
2
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1906
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Box
4
Folder
3
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1907-1908
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Box
4
Folder
4
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1909-1913, 1927
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Box
4
Folder
5
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Court records, 1906-1907
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Series: Miscellaneous File
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Box
4
Folder
6
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Miscellaneous papers, 1910-1912
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Box
4
Folder
7
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Notebook, 1907
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Series: Subject File
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Box
4
Folder
8
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Clippings, circa 1911
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Box
4
Folder
9
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Legislative bills, 1888, 1906-1909
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Box
4
Folder
10
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Lot and lumber plats
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Box
4
Folder
11
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Miscellaneous minutes, proceedings,
and resolutions, 1902, 1908-1912
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Box
4
Folder
12
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Notices, 1910-1912
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Box
4
Folder
13
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Petitions, circa 1908-1909
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Box
4
Folder
14
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Reports, 1903, 1907
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Box
4
Folder
15
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Rules and regulations, circa 1902-1908
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Series: Diary (Civil War)
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Box
4
Folder
16
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1862 September 4-1865 February 21
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