David H. Cambell Bio

Submitted by: Robert Lecil Cheatwood

Private David Henry Campbell was born in Georgia. He was the son of Robert H. Campbell and Leah Lutes. He was wounded and captured at Missionary Ridge, Tn. and sent to Rock Island. He died January 11, 1864 of pneumonia at Rock Island Prison in Illinois. His wife was Elizabeth Black. They were married May 22, 1856 in Dekalb County, Alabama. She was born in Newton County, Georgia on September 17, 1837 and died July 9, 1914 in Kilpatrick, Dekalb County, Alabama. She was the daughter of Parnell Truitt Foster Black and Jane Jones. David and Elizabeth had four children. They were Martha, George P. H., John Wesley and Sophronia Adaline. Elizabeth hid the letter from David under some rocks so the damn yankees would not find them when they came into her neighborhood. She also kept a letter she wrote from Centre, Mississippi to her parents when she went to see David. After the war her mother dies and when her lived with her when he was old. He got a letter from his brother James Wesley Black Senior from Newton County, Georgia. It was written by Thomas Shelly Black the son of James Wesley Black Senior for his father to his uncle Parnell. She saved these two letters and upon her death she was living with her son George and later they were passed on down to Mary Campbell the daughter of George Campbell. She let a relative copy the letters and copies were passed to me and others over the years. I sent copies of the letters to Dr. Ken Jones at the Dick Smith Library at Tarleton State University in Stephensville, Texas. I also sent them to the US GENWEB SUMTER COUNTY, ALABAMA website. Since Co. D, 40th Alabama was raised in Sumter County I thought it was onlu fitting that anyone researching the unit should have copies of the letters to read. There is not much on the unit as one would hope but it does show a lot of the kind of things that shows what kind of men made up the unit. The devotion to God and family is quiet amazing to read about. I am also attaching a photo of Elizabeth Black Campbell and her son George and his family.** George's wife Martha Graves is in the first picture and she had dies a few years later after they moved from Kilpatrick, DeKalb County, Alabama to Uvalde County, Texas. They returned after her death to Kilpatrick and the second picture was taken. If you would like further information you can contact me at any time.

Robert Lecil Cheatwood
120 Fernbank Dr.
Alpharetta, Georgia, 30004
1-77-475-3519

**=Coordinator's note: The two pictures can be found at picture 1 and picture 2.

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