The Valley of Heart's Delight

JAMES H. CAMPBELL
PROMINENT LAWYER AND DISTRICT ATTORNEY

 Bio- Pen Pictures

SURNAMES:  Faulkner,

a prominent lawyer and former district attorney of Santa Clara County, was born in Andover, Massachusetts, in 1850.  He came to Nevada County, California, in 1859, where he remained until 1867, since which time he has resided in San Francisco and in Santa Clara County.  In 1871 he graduated from the famous Santa Clara College, and in 1872 commenced the study of law, and was admitted to the Bar in 1874.  In the same year he was appointed to the office of assistant district attorney of Santa Clara County, in which position he continued until 1876.  In 1879 he was elected district attorney, and remained in office until 1885.  He was twice elected to that office, and, owing to the effect of the new constitution, then recently adopted, remained in office, by virtue of his first election, for nearly three years.  Since 1885 he has been engaged in the general practice of his profession in San Jose, and occupies a prominent position among the members of the Bar of Santa Clara County.

            In 1878 Mr. Campbell was married to Miss Mary Faulkner, a native of Massachusetts, her parents, John F. and Ann Faulkner, having come to California in the early days.  Of this union there are three children: Argyll, Maud, and Irene.

            During Mr. Campbell’s incumbency of the office of district attorney, he conducted many important murder trials, including those of Majors, Jewell, and Showers, for the murder of William Renowden and Archibald McIntyre, near Los Gatos.  These prisoners were all convicted, Majors and Jewell being hanged, and Showers sentenced to imprisonment for life.  A peculiarity of Majors’ trial was that he was that he was first convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for life for the murder of Renowden, and, while serving this sentence, a second prosecution was instituted for the murder of McIntyre, for which crime he was convicted and hanged.  As a matter of courtesy, Mr. Campbell followed the case, which was transferred to Alameda County, on a change of venue, and prosecuted there.  He was also instrumental in the conviction of Wasilewsky, in Santa Clara County, for the murder of his former wife in Los Gatos, the prisoner being hanged.  This case was remarkable for the discovery of the criminal and his conviction when every clue seemed to have vanished.  In political principles Mr. Campbell is a Democrat.

Pen Pictures From The Garden of the World or Santa Clara County, California, Illustrated. - Edited by H. S. Foote.- Chicago:  The Lewis Publishing Company, 1888. p.  96-97

Transcribed by Kathy Sedler

SANTA CLARA COUNTY BIOGRAPHY PROJECT

SANTA CLARA COUNTY HISTORY