C. G. CAMPBELL, Sanders Volume III, Jefferson Co., MT USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. Files may be printed or copied for personal use only. "List transcribed and organized by Ellen Rae Thiel, thieljl@aol.com All rights reserved." Copyright, 1998 by Ellen Rae Thiel. This file may be freely copied for non-profit purposes. All other rights reserved. C. G. CAMPBELL: - pg 1821 From Volume III Sanders History of Montana published 1913 SURNAMES FOUND IN THIS BIOGRAPHY: ENGLISH It is almost trite to state that the press is the most potent Influence in modern civilization. In fact it is one of the chief forces in our present day existence, and we are so used to it that we accept its benefits with no thought of what their lack would mean to us. "Gutenburg's gun has the longest range," wrote Lowell in the latter half of the last century, and he was thinking rather of the influence of literature than of journalism. It is a question if even he had a vision of the people of the remotest settlements of our country reading the happenings of Europe, Asia, Africa, and the islands of the sea at practically the same time as the dwellers in the great centers of population. But this miracle the increased efficiency of the newspapers and the extension of the postal service have brought to pass. To run a good newspaper is almost as important a service to the community as to conduct a good school and incidentally it requires a decidedly broader training. Whitehall is fortunate in having such an editor as Mr. Curtis Garfield Campbell, who owns and publishes the Jefferson Valley News. The eleventh of twelve children, Mr. Campbell was naturally endowed with resourcefulness as the children of large families are likely to be, so the sociologists tell us. Hoytville, Pennsylvania, has been the home of the family for generations and is now the residence of all the household except Curtis Garfield. He was born on August 18, 1882, and received his first instruction in the country schools, after which he graduated form the grammar school in Hoytville. He supplemented this by a normal course at Mansfield, Pennsylvania, after which he taught for two years. Having a decided talent for journalism, Mr. Campbell gave up his work as a teacher and went into newspaper work. From the first he was in the editorial department, and so did not get the training of the compositor nor of the printer. He was connected with different papers in the east and at the age of twenty five went to Chicago, where he remained but one year. From Chicago Mr. Campbell made another long journey toward the west this time to Pocatello, Idaho, where for one year he was on the staff of the Tribune. Mr. Campbell desired to go into the newspaper business on his own account, and so he went to Driggs, Idaho, and purchased the Teton Valley News. For two years he edited and published this sheet and then came to Whitehall and since July 1911, has been at the head of the Jefferson Valley News. Mr. Campbell's idea is to publish a paper which shall represent the general sentiment of the community, and on that account he takes no part in politics. As he is not pledged to the support of any party, he is free to advocate the measures which seem best for the general welfare. His notion of a paper is that it should aim to give its subscribers the news of the day and that it should be a promoter of every movement which makes for the prosperity and the enlightenment of the district. Until he bought a journal of his own, Mr. Campbell knew nothing of the mechanical part of the business, as his work had always been confined to the editorial end, but he went into the work with the confidence born of the knowledge that all things are to be accomplished with brains and application, and now he is familiar with every process in the preparation of a newspaper and can fill any place which happens to be vacant, from devil to editor in chief. He has definite ideas as to what he wants his paper to be, and he has also a sufficient stock of other ideas and an aptitude for receiving and originating new trains of thought. This, combined with an experience in discrimination what is news and skill in presenting it, enables Mr. Campbell to publish an excellent paper and the success of his venture attests the excellence of his methods. Mr. Campbell's father, Michael C. Campbell, is a farmer, who left his farm to fight under General Grant in the Civil war. At the close of the struggle he returned to the pursuit of agriculture, and it was ingrowing beans that the present editor earned his first money. His next gainful occupation was in the business which engaged his mother's people - that of lumbering in the Pennsylvania woods. Her maiden name was Catherine English, and her father, William English, was a lumberman at Lloyd, Pennsylvania. Mr. Campbell is unmarried and is deeply interested in his lodge affiliation with the Odd Fellows. He is an interested attendant of the Baptist church of which he is a communicant. Lake most good newspaper men, he is an omnivorous reader and spends a great deal of time at this pursuit, which is at once a recreation and a study with him. All sorts of open air pleasures appeal to him and he does not let his studious tastes prevent his indulging in them. He is an editor by his own choice and also by his own training, and it is evident to all that he has chosen a vocation for which he is eminently adapted. Too much cannot be said of the high character of his journalism and of its splendid influence in Whitehall and the surrounding country.