Angus Graham Campbell

JURIST FALLS OF STROKE ON SCHOOL STAGE

Cerebral Apoplexy Takes Veteran of Tribunal In West Florida

HAD SERVED 24 YEARS

Was Dean of Circuit Courts And Leader in Work Of Presbyterians

Circuit Judge Angus Graham Campbell, 64, of De Funiak Springs, collapsed on the stage of Pensacola high school auditorium last night [June 16, 1939] as he neared the climax of his commencement address to the graduating class. He was pronounced dead a few minutes later at Pensacola hospital. Death was attributed to cerebral apoplexy.

The auditorium, packed with relatives and friends of the 252 graduates, was stunned to inaction for a minute as Judge Campbell, standing before the class which was seated on the stage, suddenly sank: to his knees and fell forward on the stage floor.

Carried From Stage

Superintendent J. H. Varnum and others then rushed forward and carried the judge to the rear of the-stage, Dr. L. C. Nobles came forward to assist and an ambulance was summoned. Artificial respiration was administered to no effect. Dr. Nobles and Miss Kathleen Monroe, member of the high school faculty and a relative of Judge Campbell, accompanied him to the hospital.

Meanwhile, the graduates and their guests remained seated in the auditorium and commencement exercises proceeded without confusion.

On Bench 24 Years

Judge Campbell, the eldest circuit Judge in Florida in point of service, was appointed to the first Judicial circuit bench in April, 1915, succeeding Judge Wolf and has served continuously since. He was frequently asked to sit on the supreme court bench and his legal opinion was highly regarded throughout the state.

His death brought expressions of sorrow and praise from other members of the bar, including Judge L. L. Fabisinski, who sat with him on the bench in this circuit and who took part in the exercises last night.

Judge Campbell had warned the graduating class against the modern trend of less work and shorter hours and had urged them to assume the great responsibilities of life, to keep up their studies and to do the right thing without being told.

Then his collapse came. Flsher-Pou ambulance attendants expressed the belief that the judge died as he fell to the stage. He received received a gash in the forehead from the fall.

The body was removed last night to his home in De Funiak Springs, where funeral arrangements will be announced later. It was thought

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the funeral probably would be held Sunday.

Judge Campbell was born in Eucheeanna, Walton county, on November 19, 1874, the son of Daniel and Emma (Bowers) Campbell, both of his birthplace. The Campbell family for generations were leaders in Walton county, his father having practiced law there for 50 years and having served in the constitutional convention of 1885, in the state legislature and as a judge. His ancestors came over from Scotland, originally settled to North Carolina and later came to Florida with a Scotch colony which settled in the Euchee valley.

Judge Campbell attended the public schools of Walton county and was graduated in 1891 from the Florida State Normal school at De Funiak Springs. He then taught school, studying law in his spare time in his father’s office, and five years later was admitted to the state bar. He moved to Milton where he began practice in January, 1898, continuing there until August, 1904, when he returned to De Funiak Springs and entered his father’s firm.

Became Mayor in 1908

In 1908 he was elected mayor of De Funiak Springs and from 1909 to 1913 he served as county solicitor for Walton county. He returned to general practice of law in 1914, but in 1915 was appointed to the circuit bench to succeed Judge Wolf, who had resigned. The circuit comprises Walton, Escambia, Santa Rosa and Okaloosa counties. In 1916 he was elected for the six-year term and had been re-elected every time thereafter, his last public endorsement having been in 1934.

Judge Campbell often sat to cases in this county and was known for his Integrity and Impartiality.

The jurist also was active in civic and church affairs. He was a ruling elder in the Presbyterian church, superintendent of his Sunday school, active in the Kiwanls club and a former member of the De Funiak Chamber of Commerce. He was a member of the De Funiak Springs Blue Lodge No. 170, of the Free and Accepted Masons, in which he had been a past master, Royal Arch Mason and Knight Templar.

His leadership in the Presbyterian church brought him the honor of being chosen moderator of the Florida synod and membership on the board of trustees of Thornwell orphanage in Clinton, S. C.

In December, 1899, Judge Campbell married Miss Catherine McKinnon, a native of Freeport, who survives him. She was in New York attending the World’s fair when her husband’s death occurred.

Other survivors are two daughters, Mrs. Leo Andrews and Miss Carrimae Campbell; one son, Angus G. Campbell, Jr., a lawyer; two brothers, G. Bowers Campbell, president of the First National bank in DeFuniak Springs, and William O. Campbell, in the hardware business there; a sister Mrs. C. B. McKinnon, widow of the late Dr. C. B. McKinnon; three grandsons, Leo Andrews, Jr., Angus Graham Andrews, and Douglas Andrews, all of DeFuniak Springs.

[Source: The Pensacola Journal, 17 June 1939, Pages 1 and 8]

[Burial: Magnolia Cemetery, DeFuniak Springs]

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