A Brief History of James Campbell and of Early Jamestown
Material from the book "Through the Arch"
By Norma Ehrhart Leary
Jamestown is located in Greene Township in the northwestern part of Mercer County, Pennsylvania. It ranks among the first boroughs of the county in its settlement. James Campbell I was a native of County Antrim, Ireland, and came to Mercer County in 1798. He secured a tract of land containing 400 acres, paying $1.25 per acre, comprising part of the territory included in Jamestown and extending eastward over a portion of Greene Twp., Crawford, Mercer and Allegheny counties forming a part of the "Indiana Purchase" of 1784.
Tradition tells us that Mr. Campbell located on what is now known as Seminary Hill, and his dwelling place was a cave in which he lived for one year. Subsequently he built a log cabin on his eastern 100 acres on land now owned by a great-grandson, W.H. Campbell. Between the years of 1815 and 1817 he purchased 40 additional acres from Robert Carr, which included the present Mill site and attendant privileges on the Shenango. His improvements were on the eastern part of the tract.
He had four sons, to each of whom he gave 100 acres of land.
A little above the present mill site John and James Campbell II built the first grist mill out of hewn logs and a small shanty of the same material to accommodate the mill hands. This was the first house in Jamestown and subsequently used by James Campbell II as a dwelling house.
The mill, like similar enterprises elsewhere, formed the nucleus of the future town and was hailed as a public benefactor by the settlers for miles around as several families had located in the vicinity and had been compelled to either grind the grain in hand mills or pack it on horseback long distances to other mills, which being diminutive affairs, required time which the settlers did not have to spare. The mill stood until 1856 when a new one was built.
The mill property has changed owners several times since and is now owned and operated by the McQuiston Company.
The second dwelling within the borough limits was erected by James Campbell II. It was a frame building situated east of the E. and P. Railroad on Liberty Street and is the present building preserved and remodeled, now occupied by Dr. Bailey's office. Could it speak, we would hear of wonderful changes which it has witnessed since its first erection when it formed a part of the wilderness. Forests have vanished away and cities taken their place, railroads have succeeded Indian trails and cow paths, the labor of days and weeks has become the pastime of a moment. Generations have come and gone the way of all the living and still it stands - a silent relic of the past.
Little progress was made from 1802 until 1830 when John Williamson, an uncle of the present James Campbell III, settled here and built the second frame structure which was located on Liberty and Water Streets and afterwards owned by Jacob Moats. Though the accounts are conflicting, it seems to have been a store, dwelling house and bar all under one roof.
The village was laid out in 1832 by John Keck, who requested Mr. Williamson to name it - which he did by calling it Jamestown in honor of James Campbell, its first settler. Purchasers began to flock in and from that year Jamestown's prosperity began to date.
The first tailor was William Rodgers, Mrs. William Laughlin's father, who put up a building which was later used as a storeroom by Dr. Gibson.
Matthew Hunter built the first blacksmith shop in 1834. The first tannery was built in 1832 by Henry Irons and stood where W.A. McMaster's barn now stands. (It is thought the McMaster farm was located where once was the McMunigle farm. That land is now owned by Paul and Esther McClimans.)
John Williamson built the first saw mill for Richard Carr on the Shenango River in 1835. It supplied a long-felt want, lumber being a great necessity in the growth of the town. John Williamson was elected the first Justice of the Peace in 1832 resigning the next year to become the first Postmaster and on his recommendation, J.B. Herrick was appointed to fill the vacancy. Previous to this, the nearest Post Office was in Greenville, PA, from which the mail was carried on horseback. At that time the village was only partially cleared. In 1835 Samuel Madge and Frank McGarvey erected dwelling houses.
In 1832 John Carr began to work in John Williamson's store. Later he married Rebecca Andrews, purchased a lot, and built. He then engaged in business for himself becoming the founder of the present mercantile establishment known as Carr Company.
The first physician who located in Jamestown was Dr. James Dowling. (The present Greene Twp. Supervisors building, the Carr House, was formerly Dowling School.) He arrived in the spring of 1832 living in a part of Williamson's house and soon after bought property and built a dwelling house for himself.
He was a genial man and successful physician and remained in the village until 1836 when he moved to Brookville, PA where he died in the seventies.
In 1836 a second grist mill was built on the west side of the dam by John Williamson who seems to have figured in almost every enterprise undertaken in the village during the first four or five years of its existence. Thomas Sherbondy was a partner and the mill was in operation for several years.
The County appropriated money and built the first wooden bridge across the Shenango River in 1837 and the same year the oldest son of James Campbell II was killed in his father's mill by being caught in the belt of a large grindstone which wheeled him rapidly around a shaft killing him before assistance could be rendered. He was the second white child born in the place, the first being a sister who died in infancy. Many sad deaths seem to have attended the Campbell family besides the one related. The oldest son of James Campbell, Sr. was riding through the woods near his home with a scythe on his shoulder when it caught in a twig turning him and the scythe point toward his leg and severing an artery from which he bled to death in a short time. John, another son, was found dead in the woods from cold and exposure, and the youngest son of James Campbell II was crushed under a cart.
Dr. Gibson succeeded Dr. Dowling settling in Jamestown in 1836. He was born in Oswego County, New York in 1813. He married Susan Beatty of near Meadville, the youngest daughter of James Beatty. He had an extensive practice and continued to make his home here until his death which occurred in 1887. We have been unable to secure the exact date when Dr. Samuel Clark, a half-brother of Dr. Gibson, located in Jamestown, but he was for many years a successful practitioner here building the original house which John Carr afterwards purchased and remodeled, also a building which stood on the present site of Dr. Mitchell's home. He moved to Cleveland, Ohio in the early sixties.
The village was highly favored with faithful physicians: Drs. Weidman, Gamble, Clark, the Moreland brothers (James and Andrew), Mitchell brothers, Gibson and the present physicians - Drs. M.A., Carl and Nelson Bailey and Harper. (To update - R.A. and B.B. Snodgrass, Drs. Blair, Carrier, Riffer, McLaughlin, Paul Marley, Gilchrest and J.J. McParland.)