James Henry Camp

Regions: Vernon, Oneida Co., NY; Walworth Co., WI

From History of Walworth County Wisconsin by Albert Clayton Beckwith, Vol. II, Publ. 1912 - Page 791-793 JAMES HENRY CAMP, retired druggist of Delavan, and a well known citizen of Walworth county, belongs to that class of substantial men whose lives do not show any meteoric effects, but who, by their support of moral, political and social status for the general good, promote the real welfare of their respective communities, and are therefore deserving of honorable mention on the pages of a county history. He is now advanced in years, having come down to us from the pioneer epoch. He has, however had the advantages of a good home education, and industrious habits have brought him a fair success in life. Mr. CAMP was born in the village of Vernon, Oneida county, New York, November 28, 1828. He is the son of James and Laura (ANDREWS) CAMP, and the grandson of John and Roxy (STODDARD) CAMP. Roxy STODDARD was the daughter of Eli STODDARD, who was the son of Thomas STODDARD, son of Nathaniel and Eunis (STANDISH) STODDARD. Eunis STANDISH was the daughter of Capt. Miles STANDISH, of Plymouth, Massachusetts, one of the Pilgrims and first settlers of the old Bay state. James CAMP, father of James H. CAMP, was born January 1, 1798. Laura (ANDREWS) CAMP, mother of J. H. CAMP, was the daughter of Mr. ADNREWS, who was a soldier in the war of 1812. James CAMP, father of the subject, was originally a cabinet-maker, later becoming an organ builder. When his son, James H., was six years old, the family moved to Perry, Wyoming county, New York, and there the father began the manufacture of organs, removing, a few years later, to Nunda, Livingston county, that state, continuing the manufacturing of organs for a number of years. When eleven years old the subject returned to Vernon as clerk in a drug store owned by his cousin, James TURNER, remaining there about a year, and even at that early age he became interested in political affairs, his sympathies being with the Whigs, and as his employer, Mr. TURNER, was an ardent Democrat, they frequently had some hot arguments. The only disagreement which the subject later regretted was when he wished to go and hear Daniel Webster speak at Utica in the political campaign of 1844 and Mr. TURNER refused his permission, thus the boy lost his opportunity to hear the Great Expounder of the Constitution. In a year he returned to Nunda, where he remained fifteen years, clerking a number of years for the Remington drug store, eventually buying out his employer. In 1856 he sold out his drug business and moved to Milwaukee where he remained about two years in a wholesale drug store, moving in October 1875, to Elkhorn, Wisconsin, where he started the first exclusively drug store in that city, and where later his brother-in-law, C. H. BRITTON, joined. After remaining there several years he sold to BRITTON and went to Janesville, where he bought the drug store of TALLMAN & COLLINS in partnership with Orange WILLIAMS, purchasing his partner's interest four months later, and continued to run the store about two years, selling out soon after Lee's surrender, in the spring of 1865, and came to Delavan, where he has since resided. Here he bought the drug store of Cyrenius McKEE and remained in business here about thirty-eight years, building up a good trade with the surrounding country and becoming one of the oldest druggists in this part of the state, and thus completing sixty-two years in the drug business. In his youth he read medicine but never practiced. It is worthy of note that it was in CAMP & BRITTON's drug store in Elkhorn, Wisconsin, that Joseph H. WEBSTER began writing the music of his famous song, "Sweet Bye and Bye," Doctor BENNETT assisting with the words. Mr. CAMP was married, first, to Lucy (ANGIER) BRITTON, in Nunda, New York, December 17, 1851. She was the daughter of Surranus and Priscilla (RUSSELL) BRITTON. Six children were born of this marriage, namely: Frank Britton CAMP, who died when nineteen years old; Laura Priscilla, who married Harrison KAY, lives in Chicago and has one son, Leonard James; Anna Maria married Frederick LINDEMAN, lives in Delavan and has one daughter, Ruth Camp; John William, who is engaged in the drug business at Council Bluffs, Iowa, married Flora ELLIS, and has one son, George Britton; George Frederick, also engaged in the drug business in Council Bluffs, married Flora JEFFERS; James Lincoln,who died when one year old, and Lucy Adelle, who married James S. PARSON and lies in Delavan. The mother of the above named children passed to her rest on March 27, 1884, and on October 8, 1885, James H. CAMP was united in marriage with Mrs. Susan (MARSH) KELLOG, widow of Edson KELLOG, of Whitewater. She had been a widow twenty years when she and Mr. CAMP were married; they had been schoolmates at Nunda. She was a daughter of Daniel MARSH, of Cananda, New York. Her death occurred on March 15, 1901. Although past eighty-three years of age, Mr. CAMP is remarkably well preserved and he takes a delight in hunting trips in the northern part of the state and the Dakotas. He reads without glasses and his other faculties are good. He is a writer of some ability, and many of his stories of the early days, published under the title, "Some Recollections of an Octogenarian," possess a certain interest having been culled from a long life of experience, and retentive memory especially of War of the Rebellion incidents as occurring at home. He recalls the fact that on his first Sunday in Elkhorn he and his wife attended church and were surprised to find the congregation all young people, no gray head among them. But few of that congregation remain this side of the Great Beyond. Submitted by Carol