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1813 First Edition: “A History of Virginia from Its Discovery Till the Year 1781” by John Wilson Campbell, published in Petersburg, Virginia by William Fry, Printer
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1813-Dated, First Edition by John Wilson Campbell (1807-1876) titled, “A History of Virginia from Its Discovery Till the Year 1781”, 310 pages, published in Petersburg, Virginia by William Fry, Printer, 1813. Worn, torn title page, toned throughout, Good.
Note: The owner of this book, Peter Sperry, was a Revolutionary War Veteran, his Handwritten Inscription by the owner, "Peter Sperry Winchester December 4, 1817” in ink, in its foreleaf. This Book, “A History of Virginia From its Discovery till the year 1781” contains early biographical sketches of all the most distinguished characters of the Colonial & Revolutionary period of our history. First edition, 212 pages followed by 24 Appendices and “a sketch of the history of the Church in Virginia.”, therefore, comprising all 310 pages, all of which are readable. It is notable for its extensive recounting of the final stages of the Revolutionary War, leading up to the British surrender at Yorktown. Biographical sketches of numerous famous Patriots are provided, with special attention given to their role in the Southern military campaign. Apparently a scarce original copy. Campbell, John Wilson. A history of Virginia from its discovery till the year 1781 with biographical sketches of all the most distinguished characters that occur in the colonial, revolutionary, or subsequent period of our history. Philadelphia: W. Fry, 1813.
The owner of this book, Peter Sperry, was a Revolutionary War Veteran. His Revolutionary War Record is listed in his Revolutionary War Pension Application File, as follows:
SPERRY, Peter - born 1/1760 in Frederick County, Virginia; father died when soldier was quite young; entered service 1778 in Rockingham County, Virginia in Virginia company; entered service 1781 in Virginia Regiment; left Virginia in 1814 & moved to Ross County, Ohio, where he was granted pension in 1832 when residing in Concord Township; had uncle Nicholas Sperry, dec'd in 1832; George Spickard made affidavit 1833 in Highland County, Ohio, that he entered service with soldier in 1781 when resided in Frederick County, Virginia; query letter in file states soldier died in 1838 & was son of Thomas [Sperry]; query letter in file says soldier was buried in Shenandoah County, Virginia & died 11/24/1836 [s/b 1838] in Ross County, Ohio & is buried there. He was also involved in the establishment of the Baptist Church in Frederick County, Virginia.
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Charles Campbell (1807-1876) was born on 1 May 1807, in Petersburg, Virginia, the firstborn child of parents John Wilson Campbell (1779-1842), and Mildred Walker Moore Campbell.
John Wilson Campbell, a bookstore owner, was also a historian. In 1831 he published the History of Virginia to 1781. Later, he held the position of Federal Collector of Customs in Petersburg, Virginia. Mildred taught at the Petersburg Classical Academy in the 1840's. In addition to Charles, the couple also had two younger children, Alexander (Aleck) S. Campbell, and Elizabeth (Betty) Campbell Maben (d.1871).
Charles' mother, Mildred Walker Moore Campbell, was the granddaughter of Virginia Lieutenant Governor Alexander Spotswood (1676-1740). Mildred Walker Moore Campbell and her siblings Mary Fairfax Moore Keller, Dr. Alexander Spotswood Moore, Ann Evelina Moore Henley, William Agustin Moore, Eliza Moore McDonald, and Lavinia Moore McPheeters wrote and received numerous pieces of personal correspondence that are available in the SCRC collection.
Charles Campbell attended the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University) from 1823-1825. Upon graduation he enrolled in Henry St. George Tucker's School of Law in Winchester, Virginia. However, he suffered from chronic headaches which caused him severe physical and mental exhaustion. By 1829, these health issues would force him to leave the law profession. Following his departure from law, Campbell worked as an engineer of the Petersburg Railroad. Later he ran a private school for boys in Glencoe, Alabama.
On 13 September 1836, Charles Campbell married Elvira N. Callaway (1819-1837) of Monroe County, Tennessee. In 1837, Elvira died shortly after the birth of a son, Callaway Campbell (b.1837). In his distress, Campbell left his son with Elivira's siblings, Thomas and Lucinda Callaway. Later, this would result in a court case to regain custody of his child.
Following the death of his wife, Campbell worked as a clerk in the office of the Collector of Custom in Petersburg, Virginia (a position he obtained from his father John Campbell). From 1840-1843, Campbell also owned, published, and edited a Petersburg newspaper, The American Statesman. He returned to teaching in 1842 by opening a classical school in Petersburg, becoming both teacher and administrator in the Anderson Seminary. He would hold these positions until the formation of free public schools in 1870.
Campbell remarried in 1850 to Miss Anna Birdsall of Rahway, New Jersey. They had four children, Mary Spotswood Campbell Robinson (b.1852), Nanny Campbell (b.1854), Charles Campbell (b.1856), and Fanny Campbell (1858-1860's). Charles Campbell was committed to Western Lunatic Asylum at Staunton, Virginia, in 1873 where he remained until his death on July 11, 1876. He was buried at Blandford Church Cemetery, Petersburg. Like his father, Campbell was a historian. He began contributing to journals in 1834. Some of the journals to which he frequently contributed included; The Southern Literary Messenger or The Southern and Western Literary Messenger and Review, The Farmer's Register, The New Yorker, and the Petersburg Intelligencer. His most important work, however, was the History of the Colony and Ancient Dominion of Virginia. This work built upon his father's book and concerned Virginia history from the colony's founding to the Revolutionary War.