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 The
first store in southwest Missouri was located near what is now the
southwest corner of the Landmark Office Building on the north side
of Olive Street between Jefferson and Robberson Avenues. The legal
location of the store was NW 1/4, NW 1/4, SEC 24, T29N, R22W, Springfield
Quadrant. The text of the marker reads as follows:
"SITE OF FIRST STORE IN SOUTHWEST GREENE COUNTY, A LITTLE LOG
CABIN, SUPPLIED WITH GOODS FROM BOONVILLE, MISSOURI, 1831, AND
CONDUCTED BY JUNIUS CAMPBELL, BROTHER OF JOHN POLK CAMPBELL,
FOUNDER OF SPRINGFIELD. MARKER ERECTED IN 1921 BY REPS DRY GOODS
COMPANY."
Junius T. Campbell was born in Maury County, Tennessee on June
224, 1812; he moved to what is now Springfield in 1831. In the fall
of that year, he opened his small store and continued in the mercantile
business for eight years. Business competition developed in 1832
when Major D.D. Berry opened a second store after arriving from
Tennessee with two wagon loads of goods.
In 1832, Junius Campbell married Mary R. Blackwell in one of the
first two wedding ceremonies held in the new community. Also in
1832 he was elected Justice of the Peace, the first of a series
of public offices he was to hold. The first case he tried made him
aware of the difficulties and perplexities of his new position;
just two hours after the conclusion of this trial, the 20-year-old
Justice resigned his office. He did return briefly to law enforcement
in 1855 to fill an unexpired term as County Sheriff. Between those
two positions, he served as County Treasurer and then was Postmaster
from 1836 to 1841. (Some early historians assert that Junius Campbell
was the first postmaster, not his brother John Polk Campbell.) During
the time that Junius was postmaster, mail came twice a week from
Boonville, Missouri and Fayetteville, Arkansas.
In 1876, a national centennial celebration was held in Springfield;
growing out of this fete was the formation of an Old Settlers' Association
with Junius T. Campbell as president. Mr. Campbell died on February
15, 1878.
References:
R.J. Holcombe (ed.), History
of Greene County, 1883.
Ozarks Genealogical Society, Inc., Illustrated Atlas and History
of Greene County, Missouri.
Typescripts attributed to E.M. Shepard.
--Prepared by Robert Lewis
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