Campbell, David B.

Born: 1814-XX-XX New Jersey

Died: 1855-04-01 Springfield, Illinois

David B. Campbell, attorney, graduated from Union College in Schenectady, New York in 1831. He came to Springfield with his brother, Antrim Campbell, in 1838 and began the practice of law. In 1839, Campbell, a Democrat, was elected by the Illinois General Assembly to the office of state’s attorney over his Whig opponent, David Davis. In April 1842, Campbell was elected mayor of Springfield. He served as state’s attorney from 1848 until his death. Campbell and Abraham Lincoln encountered each other frequently in court and in 1853 Lincoln represented him in a slander suit.

John Carroll Power and S. A. Power, History of the Early Settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois (Springfield, IL: Edwin A. Wilson, 1876), 170; History of Sangamon County, Illinois (Chicago: Inter-State, 1881), 92; John M. Palmer, ed., The Bench and Bar of Illinois: Historical and Reminiscent (Chicago: Lewis, 1899), 1:174; A General Catalogue of the Officers, Graduates and Students of Union College (Schenectady, NY: S. S. Riggs, 1854), 47; Illinois House Journal. 1838. 11th G. A., 1st sess., 502; Sangamo Journal (Springfield, IL), 9 March 1839, 2:2; 22 April 1842, 2:7; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Springfield, Sangamon County, IL, 125; For Lincoln’s cases involving Campbell, search Participant, “Campbell, David B.,” Martha L. Benner and Cullom Davis, et al., eds., The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln: Complete Documentary Edition, 2d edition (Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, 2009), http://www.lawpracticeofabrahamlincoln.org; Obituary, Daily Illinois State Register (Springfield), 3 April 1855, 2:1; Gravestone, Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, IL.