Republican • Washington, D.C.
Territorial Governor 1869-1875
John A. Campbell was born in Salem, Ohio on October 8, 1835. During the Civil War, Campbell served as a publicity writer and later as adjutant general on Major General John M. Schofield's staff during the war and reconstruction. President Grant appointed him Governor of the Wyoming Territory on April 3, 1869. In 1871, Governor Campbell vetoed a bill from the Territorial Assembly that would have ended women's suffrage in the territory and gave a speech in which he declared his support for universal suffrage. He ended his status as a bachelor governor on February 1, 1872, when he married Isabella (Belle) Wunderly in Washington, D.C. Their only daughter, Isabella, was born in Cheyenne.
He resigned as governor on March 1, 1875 to served as Assistant U.S. Secretary of State until he was appointed American Consul at Basel, Switzerland on December 3, 1877. John A. Campbell resigned on February 4, 1880 due to health concerns and died in Washington, D.C. on July 14, 1880.
The Governor John A. Campbell Collection
Governor John A. Campbell's gubernatorial records as maintained by the Wyoming State Archives consist of about one cubic foot of incoming and outgoing correspondence. Many interesting topics are discussed in these letters, such as the organization of Wyoming Territory, Indian affairs, women’s suffrage, personnel, and the routine matters of running a territorial government. The correspondence also addresses matters considered by the territorial legislature, such as appointments, arms for citizens, control of the penitentiary, and support of Campbell.
A sampling of other official records generated by the governor’s office have survived. These include a few proclamations and appointment records. Also of note is the fact that the territorial governor served as the ex-officio Superintendent of Indian Affairs. Therefore, in addition to the above mentioned correspondence concerning Native Americans, records on personnel and a return of property record are available.
Issues facing the first territorial government are outlined in Governor Campbell’s message to the First Legislative Assembly. The Governor’s 1871 address on the topic of women’s suffrage is also available.
The records from Governor Campbell's term in office include:
- General Records
- Administrative Records
- General Correspondence
- Financial Records
- Expense Account Ledgers
- Miscellaneous Financial Records
- Design for Territorial Seal
- Appointment Records
- Proclamations
- Petitions for Pardons
- Requisitions and Extraditions
- Indian and Military Affairs
- Personnel - Indian Affairs
- Return of Property Record - Indian Services
- Legislative Affairs
Messages to Legislatures
Message to the 1st Territorial Assembly, November 20, 1869
Women's Suffrage message to the 2nd Territorial Assembly, December 4, 1871
Message to the 3rd Territorial Assembly, November 6, 1873
Certificates of Election
Quotations
At present an abundance of game is roaming over our plains, and the finest and most delicate fish abound in our waters, which will, so long as they can be saved from wanton destruction, prove a constant source of pleasure to sportsmen and of revenue to the hunter. I would earnestly recommend the passage of laws for the protection of game and fish during the breeding season, in order that the constantly recurring supply may be had for our use. -- Message to the Legislature, 1969
One of the greatest inconveniences under which we labor, is the scarcity of timber for use and trees for fruit, shade and adornment. It is known that trees will grow in almost all portions of the Territory, and I would recommend that you devise such constitutional means as are in your power to encourage their culture. -- Message to the Legislature, 1869
In laying the foundation of a new State, [education] should be the corner stone, for without it no durable political fabric can be erected... It is a duty we owe not only to ourselves and our posterity, but to mankind. In the diffusion of knowledge among the people rests our only hope for the preservation of our free institutions... Now in the infancy of our Territory, let the fostering aid and encouragement of the government be given to every scheme for the advancement of education, and to establish as a corner stone of our embryo State, the principle of universal free common school education. -- Message to the Legislature, 1869
Let each day bear the day's burdens, and all will be well for ourselves and for our posterity. -- Message to the Legislature, 1869. in reference to incurring Territorial debt
Concord and good feeling are taking the place of discord and animosities engendered by the war. In the wake of peace will follow all National blessings... We rejoice that we are citizens of an undivided country almost boundless in extent and inexhaustible in resources. -- Message to the Legislature, 1869
The future of Wyoming is assured. We who have made our homes in this youngest of the Territories, know that we are living in a region of boundless wealth and inexhaustible resources, where labor and true endeavor are certainly and bountifully rewarded. -- Message to the Legislature, 1873
But private capital cannot construct the canals and ditches and bore the wells necessary to render available this great water supply, and with-out water much of our land is valueless—with water it will yield abundantly of the kindly fruits of the earth. In order that these arid plains may be reclaimed and rendered fertile, I recommend the adoption of a memorial to Congress setting forth our wants and necessities in regard to this matter, and praying for governmental aid and assistance in some national plan of irrigation. -- Message to the Legislature, 1873
We cannot, in this age of the world, hope to gain as permanent residents of our Territory that class of population who have "given hostages to fortune", and have the greatest interest in the preservation of our institutions, unless our educational advantages are equal to those of the State and other Territories. No man with a family will make a permanent home where he cannot give his children all the advantages that can be assured to them in the most favored State. It is doubtful whether these advantages can be secured under any system of education that is not uniform throughout the Territory. -- Message to the Legislature, 1873
The experiment of granting to woman a voice in the government, which was inaugurated, for the first time in the history of our country, by the first Legislative Assembly of Wyoming, has now been tried for four years. I have heretofore taken occasion to express my views in regard to the wisdom and justice of this measure and my conviction that its adoption had been attended only by good results. Two years more of observation of the practical working of the system have only served to deepen my conviction that what we, in this Territory, have done has been well done, and that our system of impartial suffrage is an unqualified success. -- Message to the Legislature, 1873
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