Joseph Campbell fought at King's Mountain and helped blaze the Kentucky Road before spending his last years in Hamilton County.
Other Campbells here long have operated the bakery that produces the famed Moon Pie.
The pioneer Joseph Campbell was the son of another Joseph Campbell who was on Gourdvine Fork in Culpepper County, Va., in the 1740s. In 1760, he acquired 200 acres on Black Water Run at Brumfield Parish for 28 pounds current money. It was "near a large quantity of stones on the side of a small mountain on the west side of the Red Oak Mountain.''
Joseph Campbell was born about 1762 in Culpepper County. The family was later in Albemarle County, where he guarded Indians and Tory prisoners at a barracks when he was 17. He went on one excursion across the Blue Ridge Mountains to Winchester. After his father moved to Washington County, Va., Joseph helped guard Forts Black, Bryant and Edmondson. He was in a fight on the south fork of the Holston River where 22 Indians were killed and the frontiersmen just had one man wounded. Joseph Campbell went as a substitute for his father to the famous battle at King's Mountain in North Carolina. Then he was made an ensign by Governor Patrick Henry and was sent as a guard and to assist in the cutting out of the Kentucky Road.
Joseph married Christiana Anderson, daughter of William and Elizabeth Inslee Anderson. She had several brothers who fought in the Revolution, including the prominent Judge Joseph Anderson and Inslee Anderson, who died in the war. Her sister, Margaretta, married David Deaderick. The Joseph Campbells lived over 25 years in Sevier County, Tn., then they were in Rhea County before moving to Hamilton in the 1820s. Joseph Campbell was in Bradley County visiting relatives when he died Jan. 9, 1841.
His children included William S., George Washington, John and James. David Campbell, who was born about 1793, may have been another son of Joseph. He settled at Georgetown at an early date with his wife, Esther. David was in the War of 1812. He gave land near Blythe's Ferry to the trustees of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. A portion of his property became the Hiwassee Campground where many religious camp meetings were held.
David's children included Jane, Mary, Robert G., James A., Margaret, Malinda and Matilda. Robert G. Campbell was a deputy sheriff, then he rose to Hamilton County sheriff after the Civil War. He had served as a quartermaster in the Union army, though he was hospitalized at Knoxville toward the end of the war. His much-younger wife was Virginia Ann.
John, son of Joseph, was born about 1798, and his wife was Phoebe. Their family included Mary Jane, Louisa, Sarah, James, William, Margaret, Robert and Martha. Phoebe died in the 1850s. William S., son of Joseph, was in the War of 1812, then his brother, James, went in his place. William married Rebecca Shahan. They had a large family, but William died in the 1830s and Rebecca in the 1840s. The children included Joseph, William Jr., Seymour, Anderson, Elizabeth, James, John, George Washington and David. Joseph was in the Cherokee War, enlisting at Dallas and marching on to Athens, Tn. He and his wife, Altimirah, had Henry and Mary. Henry married Sallie Conner in 1867. Seymour and his wife, Barthena, had William, Thomas J., Anderson T. and David F. Anderson, who was also in the Cherokee removal, and his wife, Susanna, had Miles, Ann, Elizabeth, Nancy, James,Benjamin F. and Mary S. John and his wife, Lucinda, had William Seymour, George and David L. George W. also had a son named Seymour. He also had Thomas J. and Martha E. David and his wife, Mary C., had Tennessee, Thomas, John and the twins Idea J. and Innia.
James, who was born in 1822 near Dandridge, married Margaret Ann Davis, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Cofer Davis. Their children were Martha Jane, Mary Elizabeth, Rebecca Ann, George Washington, James William, Barthena Charlotte, Nancy Eller, Robert Anderson, John Mitchell, James Boyd and Samuel Seymour.
Another son of James was Thomas Jefferson Campbell, who was born in 1864 during the Civil War. He farmed, taught school, and was chairman of the Rhea County Board of Education. He was an editor in Meigs County, then he bought the Dayton Herald. He later was with the Knoxville Sentinel, then was editorial writer for the Chattanooga News. A historian, he wrote reminiscences about the Tennessee River and Records of Rhea. He married Harriett Gass. Their children were Walter, Myrtle, Mrs. Parrie Williams, John Edgar, Ruth Pearl and Mrs. Paul Meek.
ANOTHER CAMPBELL HERE was Richard B., who was a "railroad man'' and was a teller for the Chattanooga Bank prior to the Civil War. He later acquired the old Kennedy House at Fifth and Market and it became the Campbell House. Dick Campbell was described as "urbane, fat and jovial.'' His children included L.J., Clement, D.M., Sallie, William W., Mollie L. and Belle B. Another son, Richard B. Jr., married Texas A. Watkins and went out to James County, where he became register of deeds in 1878. However, he died on Nov. 28, 1881, and Texas died two days later. A daughter, Bethel B., died two years later when she was eight. Their son, Burch VanDyke Campbell, died in 1899 when he was 19.
ANOTHER GROUP OF Campbells has long been active in the flour mill and bakery business in Chattanooga. The family traces back to David A. Campbell, who was born about 1770 in Augusta County, Va. He married Penniah Modrall on Feb. 7, 1795 at Jefferson County, Tn. Their son, Rev. Andrew W. "Andy" Campbell, was born about 1820 in Meigs County. He married Sarah Amanda Shiflett at Rhea County in 1840. Her parents were Austin and Elizabeth Francisco Shiflett.
The Andrew Campbells were in Rhea County in 1850, but were in Meigs County near the Shifletts and Hutchesons in 1860. Austin Shiflett in his will in 1881 left his daughter, Sarah Amanda Campbell, "land where she now lives, her husband Andrew Campbell owning the other half of the quarter.'' Other children of Austin Shiflett were George W., Austin C., Benjamin F., Andrew J., Francis M., Harriet Elizabeth who married Jesse Witt, Mary Ann Cofer and Nancy Jane who married John Cofer.
As the Civil War was breaking out, Andrew Campbell was a Unionist who was one of four delegates from Meigs County to the Union Convention in Knoxville on May 30, 1861. Andrew Campbell was a minister of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, serving the congregation at Georgetown from 1870 to 1874. He was moderator of the Ocoee Presbytery at its meeting at Trenton in August 1871 and at Sale Creek in October 1873.
Children of Andrew Campbell included William Austin Campbell, Hiram who apparently died young, John Anderson, George Washington, Harriet Elizabeth who married Benjamin L. White in 1871, David Alexander who was a teacher, Robert Clinton, Benjamin and Elizabeth M. who married Benjamin L. Henninger in 1884.
William Austin Campbell was captain of a Union cavalry company in the Civil War. He was in the Third Tennessee Cavalry. He was in merchandising in Meigs County until 1871 when he moved to Charleston, Tn., and was in merchandising and the grain business. He went to Sweetwater in 1884 and organized the Bank of Sweetwater, then he moved to Chattanooga in 1886 and started a furniture plant, Campbell & Co. This burned to the ground April 29, 1891, shortly after he had opened the Mountain City Mills on King Street with the Hutchesons. His brothers, John A. and Robert Clinton, also came here in 1886. W.A. married Mary Jane Henninger in 1869. Her father, John Henninger, was a Methodist minister. William A. and John A. severely burned their hands in the furniture fire after grasping a hot wire. William A. was standing in a puddle of water and was also shocked.
John Anderson Campbell married Mary "Mollie'' Boggess, daughter of Abijah Franklin and Lavinia Sharp Boggess of Meigs County, in 1875. Abijah Boggess was killed at Bentonville, N.C., in the Civil War. John A. was a Democrat and a Mason. He operated a furniture store in Chattanooga and lived on McCallie Avenue. Later he had a farm in Marion County. His children were William A., John A. Jr., Nell "Nellie'' who married a Craig, and Lena who married Judge Alan S. Kelly of South Pittsburg.
In addition to the flour mill, William A. and John A. Campbell were involved with John L. and W.F. Hutcheson in starting the Park Woolen Mills in 1893. The original equipment at this mill for making woolen jeans consisted of two sets of cards and 30 narrow looms. The mill began making fancy striped woolen piece goods about 1900.
Robert Clinton Campbell, who was born at Georgetown in 1861, was involved with his brothers, William A. and John A., in merchandising at Charleston and Loudon and he followed them to Chattanooga. He was active at the furniture plant, and he afterwards went into retail furniture. He married Pearl Covington of Woodbury, Tn., in 1892. They had a son, Lytton. Robert C. Campbell was an officer of the First Presbyterian Church. He was living at 730 Oak St. when he died in 1926.
William Austin Campbell became ill with indigestion on Jan. 16, 1902, and he got some medicine from Dr. Abraham Boyd while on his way to the King Street plant. He felt worse at work and Dr. Boyd was summoned with more medicine. W.A. began feeling better and he invited Dr. Boyd to go upstairs to look over the plant. As the doctor was surveying the mill, W.A. began vomiting violently and suffocated from fluid in his windpipe. He was 59. Mary Jane Henninger Campbell lived until 1930. She was active at the First Presbyterian Church. Their children included Julia who married George H. White, Willie who married John R. Woodward, unmarried daughters Maude and Grace and a son, Gordon A., who moved to Tulsa, Okla.
Another son, Samuel Henninger Campbell, was born at Georgetown in 1870. He became active in the mills, which formed a bakery due to the excess flour it had on hand. Through the efforts of one of its salesmen, the Chattanooga Bakery in 1917 came up with the formula for the popular Moon Pie. The creation is said to have spawned from a Kentucky coal miner asking bakery traveling salesman Earl Mitchell for a cookie "as big as the moon." The plant, now located off Manufacturers Road, many years ago dropped its other production to concentrate solely on the popular Moon Pies. Sam H. Campbell also joined with John L. Hutcheson and several others to form the Peerless Woolen Mills at Rossville, Ga. This became the largest single unit woolen mill in the country. It was sold in 1952 to Burlington Industries.
Samuel H. Campbell married Nannie Hutcheson in 1895. They lived on Missionary Ridge. Samuel H. Campbell died in 1931 when he was 61.
Their son, John Caswell Campbell, was an official of the flour mill and bakery and was active in the family's Campbell Oil Company. A bachelor, it was said he was in love with Elizabeth Hope, but she married J.B. Frazier. John C. died in 1937 of a heart ailment at age 41.
Another son, Sam H. Jr., married Harriet Babcock of Knoxville, whose family had extensive lumber interests. Sam H. Jr. became president of Campbell Oil Company in 1929 and president of Chattanooga Bakery in 1939. During World War II, he was a lieutenant commander in the Navy. He was chairman of the board of a radio station at Sarasota, Fla., president of a radio station at Durham, N.C., and vice president of a station at Johnson City, Tn. Sam H. Campbell Jr. died in 1950 at age 44 of a heart attack while at his winter home at Sarasota. Harriet Babcock Campbell took Edward Monroe Cooper Jr. as her second husband in 1957. He was manager of the DuPont Company in Chattanooga.
Harriet Babcock "Babbie'' Campbell, daughter of Sam Jr., married Stuart Cameron. Her brother, Sam H. III, graduated from the Bright School, McCallie School, and the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School. He served for 16 months in the U.S. Army in Fort Chaffee, Ark. It is said that he assigned a young recruit named Elvis Presley to serve in Fort Hood, Texas, and the Company A Third Armored Division’s 1st Medium Tank Battalion. Sam Campbell III returned to Chattanooga to become CEO of the bakery. He married Susan Joy Harley in 1957. Their sons, Sam IV and John Caswell, are the fourth generation at the Chattanooga Bakery. Sam IV married Carol Upchurch and has Sam H. Campbell V, Elizabeth and Caroline. John C. married Marion Givhan and has John C. III "Wells'' and Mallie Lake Campbell. Sam H. Campbell III died at his Lookout Mountain home in 2020 at the age of 86.