James M. Campbell was born in Maryland in circa 1832. He worked as a bricklayer and stone mason in Lexington/Rockbridge Co.
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James M. Campbell Diary and Account Book (WLU Coll. 0568), Special Collections and Archives, James G. Leyburn Library, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Va.
Purchased at auction from the estate of Alan R. Shirkey in August 2021.
The collection contains a diary and account book kept by James M. Campbell. The diary runs the 1860 calendar year and has an entry for almost every day. Pages in the back of the volume served to document accounts payable and accounts receivable for money he spent and money he made as a bricklayer. The content of the diary primarily focuses on daily weather, attending a variety of different churches in Lexington, and the individuals he engaged with, including Martha Shields. According to the 1860 census, Campbell boarded at a hotel operated by the Lindsay family.