JUDGE H. H. CAMPBELL
Judge Henry Harrison Campbell was the third son of Farquhard & Effie McLean Campbell, grandson of James & Winifred Turner Campbell and great-grandson of Farquhard & Elizabeth Whitfield Campbell of Cumberland County, N.C. On Nov., 1, 1871 he married Lizzie Bundy. A son, Henry H. Campbell, was born Aug., 15, 1881. Judge Campbell died May 25, 1911.
The account below is taken from an article entitled, "Cattle Industry and the Cattlemen of Texas and Adjacent Territory", which was printed in St. Louis in 1895. Unfortunately, the complete story was not found.
H. H. Campbell was born August 31, 1840 in Cumberland County, North Carolina, his parents being natives of the same county and state. The father, F. Campbell married Miss Effie McLean, who, like himself, was of Scotch extraction, and they became the parents of nine children: James, John, William, H. H., Mary, Catharine, Robert, Elliott and Augustus. During his residence in North Carolina, F. Campbell was the owner of a large plantation and many slaves, and was looked upon as one of the most prominent citizens of his county. He removed to Texas in 1854., settling in what is now Waller, but was then a portion of Austin County, where he continued for two years the business of farming; but finding his location undesirable as regards health, he then moved eastward into Grimes County, and, in 1859 to Ellis County, which was then recently organized. The neighborhood here chosen for a home could at that time boast of but few settlers, among them the families of MAJORA, FERRIS and HARRIS, the HAMILTONS, HAWKINS, HUMBLES, HOUSE and a few others, nearly all of whom established themselves permanently in the county and became active factors in its development. Farquhard Campbell was too old for military duty during the war, but remained at home quietly attending to his own interests and assisting to care for the helpless families of those who had marched under arms to the defense of their country. He was for many years Justice of the Peace and County Commissioner and died, full of years and possessed of the respect and esteem of his fellow-men in 1878
Our subject, H. H. Campbell, was of too active and restless disposition to submit kindly to the restraint of school-rooms, and in the thinly settled regions where his lot was cast there were but limited opportunities to secure an education, even if he had been so inclined. his attendance at the common schools of Grimes County covered but a few short weeks, and his books were then laid aside while he turned his attention to the prosaic task of earning a livelihood. He tried his hand at cotton-picking during his first season's residence in Texas, but found himself no great success in this line, for while the Negro hands could easily pick from 200 to 300 pounds a day each, he was usually forced to content himself with eighty pounds or less. There is a peculiar art of "sleight" in cottin-picking, which he might possibly have acquired in time, but he rightly decided that life was too short to be spent in fitting one's self for pursuits which could never return any great profit, and therefore began to look elsewhere for employment. he began, with an ox team belonging to his father, doing the hauling for the plantations, and in a short time had worked into a freighting business on a small scale, being employed by neighbors to convey their cotton to market. After the family moved to Ellis County, he hauled from the mills of East Texas some of the first pine lumber ever taken into that county; a portion of this being used in the construction of his father's house and fences. From his early childhood he had taken a great interest in cattle —his thought being turned into this direction by the gift, from his father, of a calf,to which he became very much attached. In a speech which was made by him upon resigning the management of one of the oldest and largest cattle ranches in the West, Mr. Campbell alluded to his early study of the business of stock raising in the following terms: "I will state that my first experience in the stock business was the riding of a goat in my father's lane. I never repeated the experiment, and I never want to. It didn't hurt the goat, but somehow the ground just flew up and hit my pistol pocket so hard that I have ever since been firm in the conviction that there was an earthquake on that particular day. With the assistance of two sympathetic brothers, my next venture in the stock business was the breaking of a calf. It was more successful; there was no earthquake that day. This particular calf became the object of my constant care and solicitude. It was a companion. I studied its wants and its habits and became intimate with its every instinct as it grew into mature ox-hood. This was but the beginning. From this time on my life was constantly associated with cattle, both in driving and tending herds and in the handling of oxen. Whatever measure of success had attended my management of this ranch must to a very great extent attributed to my intimate knowledge of cattle, their wants and habits, acquired by careful observation and study in early life. The lesson I wish to inculate by this recital is that, whether you continue in the cattle business or engage in some other, you must familiarize yourself with the details of your business if you would succeed."
The war coming up at about the time he had reached his maturity, Mr. Campbell entered the 20th Texas Regiment and served through Texas, Missouri, Arkansas and the Indian Territory, under Generals HINDMAN and MAXEY. He received honorable wounds at Honey Springs, Arkansas, and again in Perryville; and after being wounded twice in one engagement, picked up the flag the third time and carried it off the battlefield, winning promotion and the compliments of his commanding officer. At the end of the war he was mustered out, at Houston, Texas, and returned to his home in Ellis County. His brothers, James, William and Mac, were also in the war, and all three passed through in safety. It was subsequent to the war that H. H. Campbell first engaged in the cattle business, and his initiatory venture was taking charge of a small herd for a one-fourth share, he furnishing his own horse and saddle. The horse he captured at Elk Horn (having his own horse shot from under him), but the saddle was to be provided, and this he bought from LOLI SELLERS, for $27 on twelve month's time, paying for it at the end of that period in yearlings. It was comparatively an easy matter to care for his cattle during the war months, but carrying them throughout the winter entailed some expense, and this he met by driving cattle for BEECHAM & BORAN, R. PATERSON and others at $45 a month. In this manner he conducted his business quite successfully until 1869, when he contracted to take charge of a large herd belonging to CHARLIE FOSTER, BEN LACEY and CLABE ALLEN, receiving a salary of $75 a month. He drove this herd, numbering 1,200 head, to California, following almost the identical route afterward chosen by the engineers who located the Texas & Pacific Railroad. The cattle were held near Phoenix, in Arizona, until the following year, when a severe drought rendered the supply of water and grass so insufficient that Mr. Campbell was forced to turn northwest to Nevada, selling them in Grass Valley to GOVERNOR BRADLEY for $25 a head. In these long journeys through the wildest and most dangerous portions of the West many thrilling incidents occurred, including frequent skirmishes with the Indians, who coveted the fat beeves which were being driven through their country, and were willing to risk a great deal to secure them. Happily the party was a strong one and well armed, and was able to resist the Indians without sustaining any loss. The hardships and dangers told upon the men however, and to make matters worse, difficulties arose among themselves, and when harmony was at an end they commenced to rapidly abandon their trust. When the cattle had been sold and Mr. Campbell prepared to return to Texas, there was not a man of his original party to attempt the trip with him. At this juncture a Negro, HENRY BLEDSOW, who had been raised in Texas and wished to return, asked Mr. Campbell to take him back with him, and the two started on the journey, unaccompanied by others and dependent upon themselves for protection. For a portion of the route they were compelled, for safety, to travel .......
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