I never heard of him until a descendent of his, Christine Leddon, brought him to my attention. Yet he played a major role in civic affairs throughout Youngstown, and especially in the development of the South Side. His obituary in the January 7, 1937 Youngstown Vindicator opens with these words, summing up his contribution to the city:
“Bales M. Campbell, banker, lawyer, politician, developer of the South Side, a man with a warm heart under a plain jacket, a blunt-spoken man who never learned diplomacy, and whose honest opinions were valued more than many persons’ tact, is dead”
What a story is wrapped up in those few words! They suggest a civic leader of Youngstown whose story ought be remembered among other leaders of the city. It should be mentioned that he is no relation to James Anson Campbell, of Youngstown Sheet & Tube, after whom Campbell, Ohio is named.
He was born April 21, 1854 in Pleasant Unity, Pennsylvania to Matthew Campbell and Caroline McColley Campbell, his full name being Matthew Bales McColly Campbell, but he was always known as “Bales.” At age 11 he move to Pittsburgh with his older brother David, working various jobs selling gas mantles, women’s dress patterns, and serving as a boot black on a train. He was proud of always having worked for himself. He attended St. Vincent’s Academy in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, and then went on to Mt. Union College. He moved to the Youngstown area in 1878, working in Berlin Center and other communities as a teacher, “boarding around.” Meanwhile, he studied law with a fellow teacher, Edward Moore, passing the bar in 1884, joining the law practice Charles Maurer in the old Howell Block, later the site of the Union Bank Building.
He quickly became active, running for mayor in 1886 on the Democratic ticket, and losing, although he was popular and garnered a significant part of the vote. Apart from voting against FDR in 1936, he was a lifelong Democrat, serving as an Internal revenue collector during the Grover Cleveland administration. He organized one of the greatest political rallies ever held in Youngstown for William Jennings Bryan, packing Central Square with people who took trains from both Cleveland and Pittsburgh. Mrs. Bryan had to be carried in on the shoulders of some “husky men.”
He was one of the first people to realize the development possibilities of the South Side when most of the city still lived north of the Mahoning River. He formed a real estate company with Warren P. Williamson, Sr., and was responsible for platting and developing many of the residential districts of the South Side, at a time when industrial growth was leading to a population explosion in the city.
He was a leader in banking affairs, starting the South Side Bank in 1914, the South Side Savings and Loan in 1921, serving as its president, as chairman of the First Federal Savings and Loan, and as a director City Trust and Savings Bank. He was also a director of the Commercial National Bank before its merger with First National Bank. In addition to his banking interests, he was involved in the lumber business as president of Jacobs Lumber Company and later organized the Union Wholesale Lumber Company
When the growth of the South Side made it evident that a school south of the Mahoning would be needed, he sold his property, an 8 acre tract at Market and Warren Avenue for $48,000 in 1909. It became the site of South High School. He also led the movement to donate South Side Park to the city. He provided storage space for the Youngstown Playground Association’s equipment and led campaigns to build the South Side Library and various hospital building projects.
He was known as a practical joker, a storyteller, and debater. It was said of him that “when he was sold on a proposition he could sell anybody else.” Even in his declining years in the mid-1930’s, he was called on to persuade a particularly tough customer of the plan to re-open City Trust and Savings.
For the last twenty years of his life, he suffered debilitating arthritis. But in his 80’s he did not let that stop him from buying his wife a new car for Christmas. Sadly, they were involved in an accident, skidding into a pole on W. Indianola. He suffered a broken knee cap. Then pneumonia set in, which he was not able to fight off, dying on January 7, 1937 at 82 years of age. He was buried in his birthplace of Pleasant Unity, Pennsylvania.
He lived long enough to see the South Side become a thriving community with schools, a library, parks, a hospital and a number of residential communities that he helped build. And through his great-granddaughter, I had the privilege to learn of his story.