Josiah A. P. Campbell | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Deputy fromMississippi to theProvisional Congress of the Confederate States | |
| In office February 4, 1861 – February 17, 1862 | |
| Preceded by | New constituency |
| Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
| Chief Justice of theMississippi Supreme Court | |
| In office 1891–1894 | |
| Succeeded by | Albert H. Whitfield |
| Associate Justice of theMississippi Supreme Court | |
| In office 1876–1891 | |
| Preceded by | Jonathan Tarbell |
| Speaker of theMississippi House of Representatives | |
| In office 1859–1860 | |
| President pro tempore of theProvisional Congress of the Confederate States | |
| In office 1861–1861 | |
| In office 1862–1862 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1830-03-02)March 2, 1830 |
| Died | January 10, 1917(1917-01-10) (aged 86) |
| Resting place | Greenwood Cemetery, Jackson, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Spouse | Eugenia Nash |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Confederate States |
| Branch/service |  Confederate States Army |
| Years of service | 1861–1865 |
| Rank |  Colonel |
| Unit |
|
| Battles/wars | American Civil War |
Josiah Abigail Patterson Campbell (March 2, 1830 – January 10, 1917)[1] was an American politician and lawyer who served as the Chief Justice of theSupreme Court of Mississippi, and was previously a Speaker of theMississippi House of Representatives and Deputy fromMississippi to theProvisional Congress of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1862.
Josiah Abigail Patterson Campbell was born inLancaster District, South Carolina, the son of a Presbyterian minister and the daughter of a wealthy plantation owner.[2] His family was of Scottish descent.[1]
He learned to read at four years old.[3] He was educated atDavidson College inNorth Carolina, thereafter moving toMadison County, Mississippi at the age of fifteen.[3][4]
He was admitted to the bar atKosciusko, Mississippi on June 12, 1847, at the age of seventeen, making him the youngest lawyer in Mississippi,[5] where he opened a law office and "conducted a large and profitable practice".[4] He was elected to the state legislature in 1851 and 1859. He was the Speaker of theMississippi House of Representatives from 1859 to 1860.[6]
He was a Presidentpro tempore of theProvisional Congress of the Confederate States for two days in 1861 and again for one day in 1862[citation needed], becoming one of the original signers of theConfederate Constitution,[3][7] and attained the rank of Lieutenant colonel in theConfederate States Army during theAmerican Civil War, serving in the Mississippi 40th Infantry Regiment, where he was slightly wounded at theSecond Battle of Corinth.[4]
After the war, he was elected circuit judge for the Fifth Circuit and served until 1868, when he was forced out of office for not swearing allegiance to the United States.[2][5] In 1870, he was one of the commissioners who framed the code of 1871, and in 1879, he similarly worked on the code of 1880. In 1876, he became one of the chief organizers of theMississippi Plan, which ended the era ofRepublican rule in Mississippi. He was appointed to a seat on theSupreme Court of Mississippi vacated by the resignation ofJonathan Tarbell in 1876, and served asChief Justice from 1891 to 1894. He became one of the drafters of the 1890 Mississippi Constitution, which enforced legal white supremacy.[5] In 1895, he declined re-appointment, and returned to private practice.[4] He was succeeded on the court byAlbert H. Whitfield.[8]
Campbell was active in Confederate veterans' organizations before official formation of the United Confederate Veterans club. In 1892, for example, about eighteen months after the Mississippi Constitution of 1890 went into effect, he gave a lengthy speech at the state capitol to a group of Confederate veterans. A copy of that nearly 8,000-word speech appeared in a number of newspapers, including theJackson Clarion, dated July 14, 1892. As Chief Justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court, he made blatantly racist statements to Confederate veterans assembled in Jackson for a reunion. He informed his audience that African Americans would forever remain as an "inferior race" and would forever be dominated by whites since it was God's plan to establish white supremacy. He characterized federal power as "coercive" and trampling upon the rights of white citizens by granting citizenship to African Americans. He also considered the federal government as interference with local control and the rights of states to freely discriminate against people.[9]
James Meredith, the first Black student at theUniversity of Mississippi[10] maintained that Campbell was his great-grandfather,[11][2][12] and Campbell was also the "father of White supremacy in Mississippi".[5] Campbell was a supporter of legal equality of court testimony between races, but insisted throughout his career that obstacles for voting be carefully guarded so that "radical misrule" did not overtake the state's system of government.[13]
Campbell died on January 10, 1917, aged 86, inCanton, Mississippi, andlay in state at the Mississippi Capitol Rotunda as per GovernorBilbo's request. At the time of his death, he was the last living member of the first Confederate Congress and last living signer of the Confederate Constitution.[14] He was buried at Greenwood Cemetery.[15]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by New constituency | Deputy fromMississippi to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States 1861–1862 | Succeeded by Constituency abolished |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
