Kansas Adjutants General - COL Alexander B. Campbell

No complete biography of COL Alexander B. Campbell has been found as of this date. The information about him is from the article below, printed in an unnamed Chicago newspaper. It was contained in a Department of Kansas Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) book for Lincoln Post No. 1, located at the Kansas State Historical Society. COL Campbell was born in Rushville, Ind., in 1841, and committed suicide on December 20, 1897 in Chicago, Ill.

Chicago, Dec. 21 -- General A.B. Campbell, ex-adjutant general and ex-chaplain of the state’s prison of Kansas, for years one of the most noted Republican orators and lawyers of that state, committed suicide in a Clark street hotel last night by taking morphine. He wrote a letter fully explaining his act, bathed and dressed himself carefully, and took a draught of morphine. The deed was committed at Kuhn’s hotel, No. 163 South Clark street.

The suicide left the following touching letter:

I, Alexander B. Campbell, make this statement of the cause of my death to relieve the coroner of the necessity of an inquest, and also let my friends know the motive that led me to take my own life. My death will be caused by morphine, which I have deliberately taken with suicidal intent. The purpose was fully formed when I left Rushville, Ind., and came to this city. I have not drank to great excess since I left home, and now write without being at all under the influence of whisky.

The reason why I take my life is because I want to go to my wife and boy. My usefulness in this world is at an end. I can not be satisfied in any business and can not be without their companionship. I have never been able to devote myself to business since my wife died, and after Bliss [his son] was killed I lost all interest in life, but lived for the sake of living. When she died I wanted to die also. In Los Angeles, Cal., I tried to commit suicide but did not take enough of the drug. I then concluded I would go home to Rushville and try to rebuild my life. But I found no comfort there. My friends all regarded me as a man of unsound mind because I held the view that my wife was with me in spirit always. I have lived with her spirit guiding me every day and she is with me now as I write this letter, and helps me to do as I am now doing.

I will be with her before another day goes by, and I died with pleasure. I am glad to go with my wife and baby boy.

I have not one single doubt or fear about my future life with them. I believe in God and immortality. My trust and faith are perfect. I do not regard it as wrong to take my life, because I simply change my place of residence and go where my wife and baby are. I will be reunited with them, and we will all be made happy by the change. Besides, my usefulness here is destroyed because all of my friends think me a man of unsound mind. If I go among strangers the story of my insanity soon follows, and I do not care to live such a life when I can in a few hours go to my wife and boy.

In the other life I will be better able to establish my sanity, and hope to meet all my friends when they come. What few things I have left in my room may be sent by express to my brother, George W. Campbell, Rushville, Ind., and he is the proper person to notify of my death. I do not want any funeral services over my body, and where I buried is of no concern to me whatever. I am through with this body, and what becomes of it will make no difference with me in the future. I have no ill will in my heart against anybody in this world. I am sorry to cause my close friends the pain they will feel in their hearts when they read of my death; but in the aftertime it will be clear to them how much they have wronged me by refusing to recognize my sanity and not giving me a fair chance in the race of life, after I have been declared sane by the authorities. But I do not desire to complain about this treatment now, as I much prefer to die than to live, no matter what my condition might have been under different treatment. I go gladly to my wife and boy, and I leave this world at peace with every one in it and at peace with God.

I hope and trust the infinite, the eternal, and merciful and loving God. I worship Him and feel no guilt in my heart before him for what I am going to do. Next to God I worship my wife and boy and will soon be with them and with my father and mother, who are there waiting my coming.

I bid all my friends a tender and loving good-by.

God be with you all until we meet again.

A. B. Campbell

P. S. Since writing the above I have bathed and dressed myself and am in a perfect condition for burial. I want to be buried just as I am and as soon as possible.

The Will

The little watch and chain which will be found in my small valise I give to Bruce. The watch was the first and only one Bliss had. I gave it to him and he wore it until he was killed. The Lizzie [his wife] put aside her gold watch and wore this one until she died, and after I took it and have worn it ever since. I want Bruce to wear it in memory of Bliss and his mother and me. The amethyst ring, which was originally given to my wife by me as a birthday present, I want to Celia to wear and hold her uncle tenderly in that dear heart, and to Mary I send my sweetest and tenderest love, and to all the rest of the relatives, both the Campbell and Bliss families, I send my best love, especially to my sister Mary.

Campbell had been at the hotel since December 14, having registered from Santa Monica, California. His conduct had not attracted any particular attention. He was of prosperous appearance and excellent address.

At 6:45 o’clock last night Maggie Evans, a chambermaid, was passing his room and heard groans. She summoned help from the office, and Mr. Campbell was found to be still alive. Dr. Campbell of No. 138 South Clark street was called in and the patient was given restoratives, but he died at 7:10 o’clock.

His Career in Kansas

General Campbell was the son of a minister of the Christian Church, which was founded by his uncle, Alexander Campbell. He was born near Rushville, Ind., 56 years ago, and on attaining his majority he became a minister of the Christian Church. In 1866 he became an attorney, and in 1870 was elected county attorney of Rush County, Ind. This led to conviviality, and for a time he seemed lost to good. Then he met Luther Benson, the temperance apostle, and was reformed by him. In 1874 he went to Bloomington, Ill., and for six years was the leading lawyer there. Several times he fell for temperance grace, but reformed each time and finally returned to the Christian ministry. In 1880 he went to Kansas, settling at Manhattan as pastor of the Christian church there. Tiring of the ministry, he was admitted to the bar of Riley County, Kansas, as a practicing attorney.

In 1881, General Campbell was appointed chaplain of the state penitentiary by Gov. St. John and served until 1883, when Governor Glick was inauguriated.

From 1885 until 1889 he was adjutant general by appointment of Governor Martin. This office was given to him on account of his work for the Republican party in 1884 as president of the State Temperance union. In 1893 and 1894 he was adjutant general of the Kansas Department of the G.A.R. The killing of his son, aged nine, by a street car in Topeka caused him intense grief, and soon after his retirement from the position of G.A.R. adjutant general he went to Los Angeles, Cal., where he undertook to practice law. His wife died there of a lingering illness early in 1896. He took her body to Indiana for burial, and on his way back to California stopped at Topeka, apparently in good health.

On his return to California General Campbell was deeply affected by his wife’s death, and soon brain fever developed. He broke down completely during a public speech, and soon afterward was found ragged and disheveled in a suburb of Los Angeles. He was examined, declared a maniac and confined for a time in an asylum. On his release as cured, he went to his old home at Rushville, Ind., and resumed the practice of law. Last fall he made many speeches in Indiana for McKinley. He then became an ardent Spiritualist and had lately neglected his business to devote himself to that belief.

Campbell was in the habit of drinking in private places nearly all the time he was in Kansas, and after his retirement from office he was frequently drunk in public. Notwithstanding his faults, he was a man of good impulses, and on that account his sins were overlooked by his friends, who frequently helped him to places of profit.

Wood Campbell, manager of the Star theater, Cleveland, Ohio; the Rev. W. S. Campbell and George W. Campbell were his brothers.

His Life at Rushville

General Alexander B. Campbell was the son of a Christian minister and was born 56 years ago. Ten years ago A. B. Campbell was one of the leading Republicans of Kansas and adjutant general of the state. He was the first prison chaplain at Leavenworth, Kansas, and afterwards adjutant general under the Governor. He was a fine speaker and lecturer and was the possessor of a modest fortune, when a accident occurred that ruined his life. It was the sad death of his nine-year-old son, who was killed by street cars in Topeka. Campbell tried to bury his sorrow in drink and in a few months was penniless. With his wife he went to Los Angeles, Cal., where she became ill and died two years ago. This last bereavement preyed so heavily on Campbell’s mind that for a time he that he was thought to be insane and was confined in an asylum but subsequently released. Coming back to Indiana, he began the practice of law in Rushville, and stumped Rush and surrounding counties last fall for McKinley. He prepared a new lecture entitled, "The Essential Elements of a Good Character," which he was preparing to give in the principal cities between here and California. Two weeks ago on the evening of his departure for the west he got on another "tear" and was thrown into jail. His release was secured by influential friends and a ticket given him for Chicago.

The Campbell family are descendants of Alexander Campbell, the founder of the Disciples church.






			COL ALEXANDER B. CAMPBELL Kansas' 14th Adjutant General January 23, 1885 - March 31, 1889
	No complete biography of COL Alexander B. Campbell has been found as of this date. The information about him is from the article below, printed in an unnamed Chicago newspaper. It was contained in a Department of Kansas Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) book for Lincoln Post No. 1, located at the Kansas State Historical Society. COL Campbell was born in Rushville, Ind., in 1841, and committed suicide on December 20, 1897 in Chicago, Ill. Chicago, Dec. 21 -- General A.B. Campbell, ex-adjutant general and ex-chaplain of the state’s prison of Kansas, for years one of the most noted Republican orators and lawyers of that state, committed suicide in a Clark street hotel last night by taking morphine. He wrote a letter fully explaining his act, bathed and dressed himself carefully, and took a draught of morphine. The deed was committed at Kuhn’s hotel, No. 163 South Clark street. The suicide left the following touching letter: I, Alexander B. Campbell, make this statement of the cause of my death to relieve the coroner of the necessity of an inquest, and also let my friends know the motive that led me to take my own life. My death will be caused by morphine, which I have deliberately taken with suicidal intent. The purpose was fully formed when I left Rushville, Ind., and came to this city. I have not drank to great excess since I left home, and now write without being at all under the influence of whisky. The reason why I take my life is because I want to go to my wife and boy. My usefulness in this world is at an end. I can not be satisfied in any business and can not be without their companionship. I have never been able to devote myself to business since my wife died, and after Bliss [his son] was killed I lost all interest in life, but lived for the sake of living. When she died I wanted to die also. In Los Angeles, Cal., I tried to commit suicide but did not take enough of the drug. I then concluded I would go home to Rushville and try to rebuild my life. But I found no comfort there. My friends all regarded me as a man of unsound mind because I held the view that my wife was with me in spirit always. I have lived with her spirit guiding me every day and she is with me now as I write this letter, and helps me to do as I am now doing. I will be with her before another day goes by, and I died with pleasure. I am glad to go with my wife and baby boy. I have not one single doubt or fear about my future life with them. I believe in God and immortality. My trust and faith are perfect. I do not regard it as wrong to take my life, because I simply change my place of residence and go where my wife and baby are. I will be reunited with them, and we will all be made happy by the change. Besides, my usefulness here is destroyed because all of my friends think me a man of unsound mind. If I go among strangers the story of my insanity soon follows, and I do not care to live such a life when I can in a few hours go to my wife and boy. In the other life I will be better able to establish my sanity, and hope to meet all my friends when they come. What few things I have left in my room may be sent by express to my brother, George W. Campbell, Rushville, Ind., and he is the proper person to notify of my death. I do not want any funeral services over my body, and where I buried is of no concern to me whatever. I am through with this body, and what becomes of it will make no difference with me in the future. I have no ill will in my heart against anybody in this world. I am sorry to cause my close friends the pain they will feel in their hearts when they read of my death; but in the aftertime it will be clear to them how much they have wronged me by refusing to recognize my sanity and not giving me a fair chance in the race of life, after I have been declared sane by the authorities. But I do not desire to complain about this treatment now, as I much prefer to die than to live, no matter what my condition might have been under different treatment. I go gladly to my wife and boy, and I leave this world at peace with every one in it and at peace with God. I hope and trust the infinite, the eternal, and merciful and loving God. I worship Him and feel no guilt in my heart before him for what I am going to do. Next to God I worship my wife and boy and will soon be with them and with my father and mother, who are there waiting my coming. I bid all my friends a tender and loving good-by. God be with you all until we meet again. A. B. Campbell P. S. Since writing the above I have bathed and dressed myself and am in a perfect condition for burial. I want to be buried just as I am and as soon as possible. The Will The little watch and chain which will be found in my small valise I give to Bruce. The watch was the first and only one Bliss had. I gave it to him and he wore it until he was killed. The Lizzie [his wife] put aside her gold watch and wore this one until she died, and after I took it and have worn it ever since. I want Bruce to wear it in memory of Bliss and his mother and me. The amethyst ring, which was originally given to my wife by me as a birthday present, I want to Celia to wear and hold her uncle tenderly in that dear heart, and to Mary I send my sweetest and tenderest love, and to all the rest of the relatives, both the Campbell and Bliss families, I send my best love, especially to my sister Mary. Campbell had been at the hotel since December 14, having registered from Santa Monica, California. His conduct had not attracted any particular attention. He was of prosperous appearance and excellent address. At 6:45 o’clock last night Maggie Evans, a chambermaid, was passing his room and heard groans. She summoned help from the office, and Mr. Campbell was found to be still alive. Dr. Campbell of No. 138 South Clark street was called in and the patient was given restoratives, but he died at 7:10 o’clock. His Career in Kansas General Campbell was the son of a minister of the Christian Church, which was founded by his uncle, Alexander Campbell. He was born near Rushville, Ind., 56 years ago, and on attaining his majority he became a minister of the Christian Church. In 1866 he became an attorney, and in 1870 was elected county attorney of Rush County, Ind. This led to conviviality, and for a time he seemed lost to good. Then he met Luther Benson, the temperance apostle, and was reformed by him. In 1874 he went to Bloomington, Ill., and for six years was the leading lawyer there. Several times he fell for temperance grace, but reformed each time and finally returned to the Christian ministry. In 1880 he went to Kansas, settling at Manhattan as pastor of the Christian church there. Tiring of the ministry, he was admitted to the bar of Riley County, Kansas, as a practicing attorney. In 1881, General Campbell was appointed chaplain of the state penitentiary by Gov. St. John and served until 1883, when Governor Glick was inauguriated. From 1885 until 1889 he was adjutant general by appointment of Governor Martin. This office was given to him on account of his work for the Republican party in 1884 as president of the State Temperance union. In 1893 and 1894 he was adjutant general of the Kansas Department of the G.A.R. The killing of his son, aged nine, by a street car in Topeka caused him intense grief, and soon after his retirement from the position of G.A.R. adjutant general he went to Los Angeles, Cal., where he undertook to practice law. His wife died there of a lingering illness early in 1896. He took her body to Indiana for burial, and on his way back to California stopped at Topeka, apparently in good health. On his return to California General Campbell was deeply affected by his wife’s death, and soon brain fever developed. He broke down completely during a public speech, and soon afterward was found ragged and disheveled in a suburb of Los Angeles. He was examined, declared a maniac and confined for a time in an asylum. On his release as cured, he went to his old home at Rushville, Ind., and resumed the practice of law. Last fall he made many speeches in Indiana for McKinley. He then became an ardent Spiritualist and had lately neglected his business to devote himself to that belief. Campbell was in the habit of drinking in private places nearly all the time he was in Kansas, and after his retirement from office he was frequently drunk in public. Notwithstanding his faults, he was a man of good impulses, and on that account his sins were overlooked by his friends, who frequently helped him to places of profit. Wood Campbell, manager of the Star theater, Cleveland, Ohio; the Rev. W. S. Campbell and George W. Campbell were his brothers. His Life at Rushville General Alexander B. Campbell was the son of a Christian minister and was born 56 years ago. Ten years ago A. B. Campbell was one of the leading Republicans of Kansas and adjutant general of the state. He was the first prison chaplain at Leavenworth, Kansas, and afterwards adjutant general under the Governor. He was a fine speaker and lecturer and was the possessor of a modest fortune, when a accident occurred that ruined his life. It was the sad death of his nine-year-old son, who was killed by street cars in Topeka. Campbell tried to bury his sorrow in drink and in a few months was penniless. With his wife he went to Los Angeles, Cal., where she became ill and died two years ago. This last bereavement preyed so heavily on Campbell’s mind that for a time he that he was thought to be insane and was confined in an asylum but subsequently released. Coming back to Indiana, he began the practice of law in Rushville, and stumped Rush and surrounding counties last fall for McKinley. He prepared a new lecture entitled, "The Essential Elements of a Good Character," which he was preparing to give in the principal cities between here and California. Two weeks ago on the evening of his departure for the west he got on another "tear" and was thrown into jail. His release was secured by influential friends and a ticket given him for Chicago. The Campbell family are descendants of Alexander Campbell, the founder of the Disciples church.