Biography of George Campbell, pages 415/416/417/418. History of DeKalb County, Indiana; B. F. Bowen & Company, Inc., Indianapolis, 1914. George Campbell The best history of a community or state is the one that deals most with the lives and activities of its people, especially of those who, by their own endeavors and indomitable energy, have forged to the front and placed themselves where they deserve the title of progressive men. In this brief review will be found the record of one who has out striped the less active plodders on the highway of life and among his contemporaries has achieved marked success in the business world, the name of George Campbell being honored by all owing to his upright life and habits of thrift and industry. George Campbell, a well known citizen of Auburn and one of the most active members of the well known carriage manufacturing firm of Campbell & Sons, was born in Auburn, Indiana, on September 3, 1873, the son of Samuel L. and Mary (Palmer) Campbell. George Campbell was reared in Auburn, securing his education in the public schools and then at the age of seventeen years he commenced working in a trim shop. Not satisfied with this line of work, a few months later he began to learn the carpenter trade, at which he remained about eight months and then turned his attention to blacksmithing. Here he found employment to his liking and energetically applied himself to learning this trade. In 1892 he opened a blacksmith shop of his own in Auburn, where besides the regular custom work he also did the blacksmithing for his father’s carriage shop. Soon afterwards he acquired an interest in his father’s business and has continued with him ever since, being now the active manager of the business, which is one of the important industrial concerns of Auburn. In the management of this enterprise he has shown a business ability and a soundness of judgment that has not only gained for him financial success, but has also commended him to the confidence and good will of all who had dealings with him. On April 26, 1894, George Campbell married Ada Miers, the daughter of Eli and Julia (Daley) Miers, her birth having occurred in Fairfield township, this county. When eight or nine years of age her parents moved two miles west of Auburn, where she lived until her marriage. Her father was one of the early settlers of DeKalb county, having come here with his mother when only eight years old, their former home having been in Stark county, Ohio. Eli Miers was thrown on his own resources at an early age, which fact developed his latent talents and he formed habits of self reliance and, going out into the world on his own account, by strict integrity and industrious habits and rigid economy he was enabled to accumulate a competence, having eventually owned a fine farm west of Auburn. He died in September , 1909, at the age of seventy-nine yeas, the last two or three of his life having been spent at the home of his daughter, Mrs. George Campbell, in Auburn. To Mr. and Mrs. Campbell have been born two children, Esther and Wilbert. Mr. Campbell is a member of the Maccabees and the Tribe of Ben-Hur. Genial in disposition and courteous in manner, he has won a large and warm following among this acquaintances in Auburn. Samuel L. Campbell, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Champaign county, Ohio on May 2, 1841, and is the son of Joseph and Susanna (Kessler) Campbell. When Samuel L. Campbell was four years old his father died of typhoid fever and the mother and six children continued for a while on the farm, one child having died in infancy before the father’s death. In the fall of 1868 the mother an her sons, Samuel L., Isaiah and George W., came to Wabash county, Indiana, and bought a farm. When Samuel L. Campbell had reached his majority he went to the city of Wabash and learned the wagonmaker’s trade, at which he was employed about six years, then he was employed in a like capacity at Ligonier two years, after which he came to Waterloo in 1869 and was employed as a wagonmaker for two years. In 1871 he came to Auburn, since which time he has been closely identified with the business interests of the city. In the latter eighties Mr. Campbell started a wagon shop, where he made and repaired wagons, and such was the quality of his work that he soon gained and enviable reputation throughout the county, and many of the splendid wagons he turned out at that time are still in active service. About two years after he engaged in business on his own account his son, George, came in as a partner and this firm has continued to the present time, enjoying and enviable reputation throughout this section of the state. About twenty years ago the firm began the manufacture of delivery wagons and carriages on a rather extensive scale, their first location being at the northeast corner of Fifth and Jackson streets, but so rapidly did the business increase that they were compelled to seek larger quarters, and in 1898 they came to their present location, where they are well situated and splendidly equipped for all classes of work in their line. They have a substantial building, fifty-two by eighty feet in dimensions, two stores and basement. In addition to the manufacture of light wagons and carriages they also deal in automobiles, handling the Studebaker and R. C. H. machines, and also sell Milwaukee binders and mowers and Alamo gas engines. Mr. Campbell has for many years enjoyed a splendid standing among the business men of Auburn, who regard him as a man of exceptional business ability and good judgment. In 1870 Samuel L. Campbell married Mary Palmer, the daughter of George and Catherine (Hoover) Palmer, her birth having occurred in Stark county, Ohio. At the age of about two years she accompanied her parents on their removal to DeKalb county, Indiana, locating on a farm three and one-half miles west of Auburn. Later they located in the city of Auburn, where she has resided ever since. To Mr. and Mrs. Campbell have been born four children, three sons and one daughter, the latter dying at the age of fourteen months of scarlet fever. The sons are Frank S., George and William E. Fraternally, Mr. Campbell is a member of the Knights of the Maccabees and the Tribe of Ben-Hur. Frank S. Campbell was born in Pleasant Lake, Steuben county, Indiana, on November 28, 1871, being the first child born to his parents, Samuel L. and Mary (Palmer) Campbell. When he was a baby of but three or four months the family moved to Auburn and here he was reared to manhood, receiving a good practical education in the public schools. In his youth he accepted employment with the Kibblinger Company, now known as the McIntire Company, where, under his father’s tutelage, he learned carriage body building and designing. He was with that company twenty-five years, and for a number of years was foreman of the wood shop there with six to twenty-five men in his department. He made and built all kinds of bodies from buggy bodies to automobile bodies, ambulance and casket wagons. About 1900 his health failed and he and his wife went to New Mexico. While there he taught orchestra, band and piano music, also organized and directed a band. He remained there for two years, then returned to Auburn and returned to the Kibblinger Company. On January 2, 1913, he resigned and came in with his father and brothers in the firm of Campbell & Sons, in which place he is now engaged. He is a man of good business ability and has contributed to the splendid success which the firm is now enjoying On September 11, 1894, Mr. Campbell married Jennie Husselman, daughter of Henry and Ellen Husselman, she having been born and reared north of Auburn, and being the representative of one of the old pioneer families of this county. To this union has been born a son, Charles J., who first saw the light of day on November 11, 1895. Religiously, Mr. and Mrs. Campbell belong to the Lutheran church, in which he has been an active member and where he conducts an orchestra in the Sunday school. During the past twelve years Mr. Campbell and his orchestra have missed but one Sunday in each year and their music is appreciated highly by the attendants of the school. He gives instructions to the orchestra members free, having a rehearsal every Wednesday night and the organization is one of which he is deservedly proud. William E. Campbell, son of Samuel L. and Mary (Palmer) Campbell, was born on April 3, 1875, and was reared in the city, receiving his education in the public schools here. In his early youth he entered the employ of Kibblinger & Company, where he learned carriage trimming and was afterward employed in several other cities, including about three and one-half years at Butler, two years at Ligonier, two years at Albion, two years at Logansport and two years at Linden, Michigan. Later he was employed for two years by the Modern Buggy Company at Auburn. That he was a competent workman is evidenced by the fact that in every shop in which he was employed he was foreman. In January, 1911, Mr. Campbell started the Auburn Auto Top Company and did a thriving business for two years. He is now connected with the Campbell & Sons Company, referred to elsewhere in this sketch. In 1890, at Fostoria, Ohio, Mr. Campbell marries Rosa Spruck and they have three children, Ruth, Eugene and Mary Louise. Fraternally, he is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks and Fraternal Order of Eagles. He is a man of fine qualities of character and enjoys a marked popularity in the circles in which he mingles. Submitted by: Arlene Goodwin Auburn, Indiana Agoodwin@ctlnet.com