Born in Campbell’s Station, Tennessee, the brothers Robert Kimbrough Campbell (1829-1853) and John Eaton Campbell (1827-1909), were two of eleven children to John Campbell (1780-1850) and Sarah Kimbrough (1794-1862). In 1851, the Campbell brothers embarked from Nashville by way of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to Houston and then traveled overland to Austin. With $500 from their father, they hoped to start a new life in Texas as teachers. Pupils were few, however, and so Robert returned to Tennessee in 1853, dying of typhoid fever shortly thereafter. Remaining in Texas, John married Lavinia Davidson (b.ca. 1834-1857) in 1853. He purchased land in Oak Hill, Texas, in 1902 and worked as a surveyor in Travis County.
From the guide to the Campbell, R. K. and J. E. Diary 64-64., 1849-1859, (Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin)
