Robert B. Campbell Explained

Robert Blair Campbell
Birth Date: 1791
Birth Place:Marlboro County, South Carolina, U.S.
Death Place:Ealing, England, U.K.
Resting Place:Kensington, London, United Kingdom
Office1:Member of the Alabama House of Representatives from Lowndes County
Term1:August 3, 1840  - August 2, 1841
State2:South Carolina
District2:3rd
Term Start2:February 27, 1834
Term End2:March 3, 1837
Predecessor2:Thomas Singleton
Successor2:John Campbell
Term Start3:March 4, 1823
Term End3:March 3, 1825
Predecessor3:Thomas R. Mitchell
Successor3:Thomas R. Mitchell
Office4:Member of the South Carolina Senate from Marlboro District
Term Start4:November 22, 1830
Term End4:December 19, 1833
Predecessor4:James Ervin
Successor4:Barnabas Kelet Henagan
Term Start5:November 25, 1822
Term End5:March 4, 1823
Predecessor5:Robertson Carloss
Successor5:Charles Irby
Party:Democratic-Republican
Otherparty:Nullifier
Profession:lawyer, politician, diplomat
Alma Mater:South Carolina College
Allegiance: United States of America
South Carolina
Branch:South Carolina Militia
Serviceyears:1814; 1830
Rank:General
Battles:Nullification Crisis

Robert Blair Campbell (1791July 12, 1862) was a U.S. Representative from South Carolina, brother of John Campbell, also of South Carolina.

Early life

Born in 1791[1] [2] in Marlboro County, South Carolina, Campbell was educated by a private tutor. He attended school in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and was graduated from South Carolina College (now the University of South Carolina) at Columbia in 1809. He engaged in agricultural pursuits. He was commissioned captain in the South Carolina Militia in 1814.

Career and death

He was an unsuccessful candidate in 1820 for election to the Seventeenth Congress. He served in the South Carolina Senate from 1821 to 1823, and again from 1830 to 1833.

Campbell was elected as a Jackson Republican to the Eighteenth Congress (March 4, 1823 – March 3, 1825). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1824 to the Nineteenth Congress and for election in 1826 to the Twentieth Congress and in 1830 to the Twenty-second Congress. Campbell was elected as a Nullifier to the Twenty-third Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of United States Representative Thomas B. Singleton.He was reelected as Nullifier to the Twenty-fourth Congress and served from February 27, 1834, to March 3, 1837. During the nullification movement he was commissioned general of South Carolina troops in 1833.

He moved to Lowndes County, Alabama, about 1840. He served as member of the State house of representatives in 1840. He was appointed on September 28, 1842, consul at Habana, Cuba, and served until July 22, 1850. From there, he moved to San Antonio, Texas. He was appointed on March 16, 1853, a commissioner for the United States to aid in settlement of the disputed boundary line between Texas and Mexico.

He was appointed consul at London, England, and served from August 3, 1854, to March 1861, when he was recalled. He moved to Ealing, where he died July 12, 1862. He was interred in the crypt of Kensington Church.

Notes and References

  1. https://books.google.com/books?id=M0gTAAAAYAAJ&q=robert+blair+campbell+1791+1862+south+carolina Witness to Sorrow: The Antebellum Autobiography of William J. Grayson
  2. https://books.google.com/books?id=gCQaAQAAMAAJ&q=robert+blair+campbell+1791+1862+south+carolina Biographical Directory of the South Carolina Senate, 1776-1985