[1] Born in Augusta County, Virginia, in 1750, Campbell rose to the rank of major while serving in the Continental Army during the American Revolution.
[1] In about 1783, sometime after the war had ended, he moved to Greene County, Tennessee, where he began practicing law.
In 1785 he was elected Judge of the Superior Court of the State of Franklin.
[1] In 1787 he was elected to the North Carolina General Assembly and shortly thereafter was elected judge of the Superior Court of North Carolina, Washington District, a post he served in until 1790, when he was appointed to be a territorial judge in the Southwest Territory by President George Washington.
From 1797 until 1809 he served as a justice of the Superior Court of Tennessee, where he was twice impeached.