The Campbell family were early settlers to Augusta Township, Washtenaw County, Michigan. William Campbell, born December 1821 in Ayrshire, Scotland, had accompanied his parents to Michigan in 1841 where they settled on a farm. He graduated from the state normal school in Ypsilanti (now Eastern Michigan University) and became a school teacher and later a school principal. William Campbell was also instrumental in the founding of the Farmers and Mechanics Trade Association and its store. William Campbell would later purchase land on the then outskirts of Ann Arbor and return to farming as a livelihood. His son, Robert Clair Campbell, was born on August 25, 1870 in Ypsilanti, Michigan. He attended public schools in Ypsilanti but following the move of the family to Ann Arbor, he would graduate from Ann Arbor High School. Robert C. Campbell graduated from the University of Michigan in 1894 with a bachelor of science degree. He then went into the hardwood lumbering business in Wayne County but then returned to the family farm in 1901. In 1902, he married Carrie Read, of Pittsfield Township, a school teacher. She also had attended the University of Michigan. Robert C. Campbell died April 18, 1945.
From the guide to the Campbell family papers, 1860-1865 and 1879-1949, (Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan)
