Campbell, Thompson

Born: 1811-XX-XX Ireland

Died: 1868-12-06 San Francisco, California

Thompson Campbell moved with his family to Chester County, Pennsylvania, when he was very young. He studied law and earned admittance to the bar in Pittsburgh. Campbell then moved to Galena, Illinois, where he became involved in mining and eventually earned appointment as Illinois secretary of state in 1843. He resigned the position in 1846 and served as a delegate to the 1847 state constitutional convention. He won election to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat in 1850 and served for one term, from 1851 to 1853. Campbell attended the 1852 Democratic National Convention and was appointed land commissioner for California by President Franklin Pierce the following year. He returned to Illinois in 1855. In 1860, Campbell was living in Chicago's First Ward and owned $35,000 in real property, with a personal estate of $500. Campbell attended the 1860 Democratic National Convention and served as an elector for John C. Breckinridge. After the election, he became a unionist, returned to California, and served in the California House of Representatives as a member of the Union Party. Campbell served as a California delegate to the 1864 Republican National Convention.

Biographical Directory of the American Congress 1774-1996 (Alexandria, VA: CQ Staff Directories, 1997), 775; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Ward 1, Chicago, Cook County, IL, 58.