A minister of the Methodist Church, and now
stationed at Goderich, is the eldest son of the late John and Margaret
Campbell, of Dundas. He was born November 9th, 1839, in the township of
Hawksbury, on the west side of the Ottawa river, midway between Ottawa and
Montreal, and brought up in the town of Dundas, which was the home of his
family for eighteen years. He belongs to a branch of the house of Argyll,
which have with care and pride preserved their record of descent from the
first duke of that name, who took a prominent part in the rebellion which
placed William of Orange and Mary on the throne. Rev. Mr. Campbell
received his early education in the town where he was brought up, and also
took a thorough course of training in the Mercantile College of Buffalo,
intending to follow a commercial life. But his course was ordered
otherwise. At about twenty years of age, in connection with the death of
his father, a conviction of duty which had followed him from childhood
became deeply intensified, and he promptly sacrificed excellent business
engagements and prospects, and entered upon a course of study for the
ministry, at Victoria College. He was received as a probationer in 1866,
and duly ordained to the ministry in June, 1870, by the late Dr. Punshon,
in the old Adelaide street Methodist church, Toronto. His appointments
since his ordination have been Dunnville, Ridgeway, Merritton, Windsor,
Sarnia and Goderich, in all of which places he had left substantial
results of his energy and ability, in largely increased congregations and
membership, and improved church property. As a preacher, Rev. Mr. Campbell
is clear, logical and fluent, with a strong, commanding voice, and a
manner graceful, yet impassioned. His sermons abound in illustrations
drawn from observation, history and science, and to these things, as well
as to an intense earnestness, the popularity and results of his preaching
may be traced. His written and published lectures are prepared with great
care, and have been received with much favour, especially before the
Guelph conference, held in Owen Sound in June, 1885. Rev. Mr. Campbell is
a strong temperance advocate of total abstinence and prohibition. During
the last few years he has also taken an active part in the councils of the
church to which he belongs. He was a member of the General Conference of
the Methodist Church of Canada in 1882, and also a member of the delegated
body which framed the discipline of the now united Methodist Church. At
the conference of 1885, he was elected to the office of district
superintendent, a position for which his administrative ability and
inspiring energy eminently fit him. He was married, on June 22nd, 1870, to
Martha, youngest daughter of Thomas Williams, Esq., St. Thomas, a graceful
and gifted lady whose eminent piety and abundant labour in the church have
borne much fruit for Christ. Six children, three boys and three girls,
bless their parsonage home. |