Biography - Bruce A. Campbell
BRUCE ALEXANDER CAMPBELL. Biographical sketches of those who have
attained merited distinction in American law have a charm and force in them
that commend them to every sound thinker. We naturally feel an interest in
tracing the footsteps of those who have reached elevated positions in public
confidence and have wielded their influence for public good; who, loving
truth and integrity for their own sakes, have undeviatingly followed their
dictates, no matter what the personal consequences might be. Records of this
kind are calculated to raise the ministrations of law in public estimation,
and are guides for the junior members of the profession in their pursuit of
reputation, distinction and position.
Bruce Alexander Campbell, one of the leading members of the Southern
Illinois bar, is now engaged in a large practice at East St. Louis, whence
he came from Albion in 1905, and has been prominently identified with public
matters for a number of years. He was born in Albion, October 28, 1879, a
son of Judge Joseph M. and Amabel (Thompson) Campbell, and a grandson of an
emigrant who came to Illinois from Kentucky in 1815, on the paternal side,
while on his mother's side the family, of English extraction, located in
this state in 1820. Mr. Campbell's great-grandfather was a member of the
state legislature during the 'twenties, and his grandfather during the early
'fifties, while his father was defeated for the state senate in 1888. Judge
Joseph M. Campbell was one of the leading attorneys and judge of the county
court from 1873 until 1886, and since the latter year has been master in
chancery.
Bruce Alexander Campbell received a high school education in Albion,
graduated from the Southern Collegiate Institute at Albion, Illinois, in
1897, and in 1900 received the degree of A. B. from the University of
Illinois. In 1901 he was admitted to the bar and began the practice of his
profession at Albion, and in 1905 came to East St. Louis, where he has
continued in practice ever since. In 1904 he had been elected to the state
legislature from the Forty-eighth district, serving one term with much
ability. In 1902 he was a candidate for the same position in the same
district, but was defeated for the Democratic nomination. In 1910 he was the
Democratic candidate for congress in the Twenty-second district, and ran
ahead of his ticket by two thousand five hundred votes, but met with defeat
at the hands of Congressman Rodenburg. During 1903 and 1904 he served as
city attorney of Albion, and is now, by appointment from the governor, a
member of the commission to revise the law relative to Practice and
Procedure. He is a member of the County and State Bar Associations and was
president of the East St. Louis Bar Association in 1912, and in May, 1911,
was elected president of the Illinois Elks Association, belonging also to
the Masons, the Knights of Pythias, the Modern Woodmen of America and the
Country Club.
Mr. Campbell was married to Miss Beulah W. Campbell, of Marissa, Illinois,
in June, 1906, she being the daughter of Dr. J. M. Campbell, a well-known
physician, and one son has blessed this union: Joseph Bruce, who was born
March 8, 1907. As a lawyer Mr. Campbell has been very successful, and has
earned the highest esteem both as a member of the bar and as a public
official, while his warm personal friends, drawn to him by his many sterling
qualities of character, are legion.
Extracted 16 Jan 2018 by Norma Hass from 1912 A History of Southern Illinois, volume 2, page 958 .
