Archibald B. Campbell went through a long and thorough apprenticeship in business affairs, at first as a railway employee, afterwards as a newspaper editor and publisher, later as postmaster, and for a number of years before his death as a banker at Tolono, where he was one of the effective leaders in business and civic affairs.
Mr. Campbell was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, August 4, 1870, a son of Archibald B. and Christina (Stewart) Campbell. His parents were both natives of the bonny land of Scotland. The father followed the business of contracting for the laying out of estates. He died in the old country in 1872. The year following his death the widowed mother brought her family to America and joined her sister at Tolono, Illinois. She died there October 19, 1916. She was the mother of seven children: Alexander A., who died April 26, 1888, was cashier of the Bank of Tolono; Jennie, wife of G. L. Baker, of Champaign; Mary, widow of Robert Leslie, living at Pittsfield, Illinois; John, who died at the age of three years; William S., who died in Tolono in 1896; Peter S., of Urbana; and Archibald B.
Archibald B. Campbell had no recollections of his native land, having been brought to America in early infancy. He grew up at Tolono, attended the grammar and high schools, and in 1887, at the age of seventeen, began earning his own way as a worker for the railroad company. He spent four years in the railroad office, and then in 1891, at the age of twenty-one, took charge of the Tolono Herald, which he leased for three years and then bought the plant. He conducted this weekly journal on a flourishing scale for several years.
July 13, 1897, Mr. Campbell was inducted into the office of postmaster at Tolono and served for over six years, finally retiring in December, 1903. On February 4, 1904, Mr. Campbell had the responsibility and distinction of opening the doors of the Citizens Bank of Tolono. The principal stock; holder of the bank was Mr. Isaac Raymond, who became the first president. Mr. Campbell from the first served as cashier, and the majority of the patrons of the institution associated him almost synonymously with the, bank itself.
September 21, 1893, Mr. Campbell married Bertha F. Skinner, daughter of A. D. and Sarah (Rich) Skinner. Her parents were both born in, Ohio and moved to Champaign County immediately after the war, locating on a farm in Tolono Township. Her father is now living retired at Tolono, his wife having passed away in 1893. There were six children in the Skinner family: Harriet, wife of C. H. Shaffer, of Freeport, Illinois; Alice B., wife of J. B. Behymer, of St. Louis, Missouri; Maude O., wife of E. B. Rogers, of Champaign; Mrs. Campbell; Harry M. and William S., both at Indiana Harbor, Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Campbell had one daughter, Florence M., who in 1917 graduated from the University of Illinois and is now one of the teachers in the Tolono High School.
Mr. Campbell was an active Republican, was chairman of the township committee and the precinct committee and was formerly town and village clerk, and it was largely through his efforts that a model system of waterworks was established at Tolono in 1895. Tolono now has a water system second in efficiency to no other town of Champaign County. Mr. Campbell was chairman of the Champaign County Bankers Association, served as master of the Tolono Masonic Lodge five terms, was past chancellor of the local lodge of Knights of Pythias, was a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and attained the Royal Arch Chapter degree in Masonry.
Mr. Campbell passed away August 21, 1917, and he was a citizen who is sadly missed by all who knew him. He was interred in Mount Hope Cemetery. There are left to mourn his death his wife and daughter of Tolono, Illinois.