Miss Campbell was born April 21, 1815 in Genesee County, New York,
at the home of her grandparents Thomas and Elizabeth Campbell. Valeria
was one of the daughters of Henry Monroe Campbell and Lois Bushnell
Campbell. She came to Detroit with her family in 1826. The family
home was at the corner of Beaubein and Jefferson.
Valeria and her sisters were given a better than usual education
for girls of that day. They attended the Young Ladies Seminary in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Valeria had an eager and inquiring mind.
Among her many accomplishments was the ability to teach others.
She taught at the University of Michigan Female Seminary in Detroit
in 1841.
In 1844 Miss Campbell opened a private school in the family home.
The school continued for more than twenty years. The records of
this school can be found among the Henry Monroe Campbell papers
in the Burton Collection of the Detroit Public Library. Her brother,
James V. Campbell, was a one of the first Justices of the Michigan
Supreme Court and Professor of Law at the University of Michigan.
During the Civil War Miss Campbell was the Secretary of the Ladies’
Soldiers Aid Society. This was the equivalent to being the Executive
Director. Starting at that time, Valeria and her mother lived in
her brother’s home, where miss Campbell resided until 1890.
Valeria Campbell died December 10, 1895 in Ann Arbor, Michigan at
the age of 80 years.
Born: April
21, 1815
Died: December 10, 1895
Buried; Section A, Lot 1
