James Valentine Campbell was born at Buffalo, New York, February
25, 1823, son of Henry Munroe and Iois (Bushnell) Campbell. Both his
parents were of New England ancestry. In 1826 the family removed
to Detroit, Michigan. The elder Campbell had been a man of some
prominence in Buffalo, and soon became such in Detroit. He was a
member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in whose tenets he
instructed his son, whom he sent to an Episcopal preparatory school
at Flushing, Long Island. Afterwards the son entered St. Paul's
College at the same place, and was graduated in I841.

After graduation he returned to Detroit, and began the study of law
in the office of Douglass and Walker. He was admitted to practice in
October 1844, and immediately entered into partnership with his
preceptors. After thirteen years of practice at the Bar, he was elected
to the Bench of the Supreme Court of Michigan and was continued in
the office by successive re-elections until his death. During the year
1845-1846 he served as secretary to the Board of Regents of the State
University.

In 1859, when the Regents of the University established the
Department of Law, he was invited to become a member of the first
Faculty. On his acceptance of the Marshall professorship of Law, the
Faculty made him their Dean. His subjects in the Law School were as
follows: Criminal Law, Jurisprudence of the United States, Equity
Jurisprudence, and International Law.

His resignation of his professorship in 1885 was a matter of deep
regret to the Regents, Faculty, and students; but it became a necessity
on account of the growth of his judicial duties. He was not only well
versed well the law; he was also an accomplished scholar in history
and in literature.

In 1876 he published "Outlines of the Political History of Michigan," a
valuable contribution to the history of the pioneer period of the State.
He received the degree of Doctor of Laws from the University of
Michigan in 1866.

On November 18, 1849, he was married to Cornelia Hotchkiss, and
they had six children, of whom five survive: Cornelia Lois, of Detroit;
Henry Munroe (Ph.B. 1876, LL.B. I878) and Charles Hotchkiss (Ph.B.
I880), both of the Detroit Bar; Douglass Houghton (Ph.M. 1882, Ph.D.
1886), professor in Leland Stanford Junior University; and Edward
De Mill (B.S. [Chem.] 1886), professor in the University of Michigan.
James Valentine, the second son, died in 1894. The father died in
Detroit, March 26, 1890.