Ralph Emerson Campbell (May 9, 1867 – January 9, 1921) was a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

of the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma (in case citations, E.D. Okla. or E.D. Ok.) is a federal court in the Tenth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which ...

Education and career

Born in Butler County,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, Campbell received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree from Northern Indiana Normal School (now Valparaiso University) in 1891, an

Artium Baccalaureus Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree from the same institution the following year, and a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

from the

University of Kansas School of Law The University of Kansas School of Law is the law school of the University of Kansas, a public research university in Lawrence, Kansas. The University of Kansas Law School was founded in 1893, replacing the earlier Department of Law, which had exi ...

in 1894. He was an assistant general solicitor for the

Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad The Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad (CO&G), known informally as the "Choctaw Route," was an American railroad in the states of Arkansas and Oklahoma. The company, originally known as the Choctaw Coal and Railway Company, completed its main li ...

in the

Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United St ...

and

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

from 1895 to 1901, and general attorney of Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad in the

Oklahoma Territory The Territory of Oklahoma was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 2, 1890, until November 16, 1907, when it was joined with the Indian Territory under a new constitution and admitted to the Union as th ...

from 1901 to 1903. In 1902, he was elected president of the Oklahoma Territorial Bar Association, and leader of the Oklahoma Territorial delegation to the 1904 Republican convention, which strongly supported Theodore Roosevelt's nomination for president.Logan, ed. James K. ''The Federal Courts of the Tenth Circuit: A History''. U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Government Printing Office. Denver, CO. 1992.
pp.192-3. Available on Google Books. Material is in public domain unless otherwise noted. Accessed March 25, 2020. He was in private practice in South McAlester (now McAlester), Indian Territory (State of

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

from November 16, 1907) from 1905 to 1907.

Federal judicial service

Frank Frantz, the last Republican Territorial governor was an old friend of Theodore Roosevelt from the San Juan Hill campaign in the Spanish-American War. Ralph Campbell, as chairman of the 1908 Republican convention, had been a staunch supporter of Frantz at the convention. Frantz therefore strongly recommended that Roosevelt nominate Campbell as judge for the Eastern District of Oklahoma. On November 11, 1907, Campbell received a recess appointment from President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

to a new seat on the

created by 34 Stat. 276. Formally nominated to the same position by President Roosevelt on December 3, 1907, he was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on January 13, 1908, and received his commission the same day. Campbell served in that capacity until August 31, 1918, when he resigned.

Later career and death

Following his resignation from the federal bench, Campbell resumed private practice with the

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to r ...

of Cosden and Company in

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma and List of United States cities by population, 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

, Oklahoma from 1918 to 1921. He died in Tulsa on January 9, 1921. In his book, ''The Federal Courts of the Tenth Circuit: A History'', author James K. Logan states that Judge Campbell killed himself by a gunshot in his office on a Sunday morning. Campbell left no message concerning why he took the action. He had no known enemies, was not involved in any scandal, and his excellent personal reputation is still excellent in the 21st Century.

Electoral history

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Ralph E. 1867 births 1921 deaths Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma United States district court judges appointed by Theodore Roosevelt 20th-century American judges People from Butler County, Pennsylvania University of Kansas School of Law alumni People from McAlester, Oklahoma Lawyers from Tulsa, Oklahoma American politicians who died by suicide Suicides by firearm in Oklahoma