The Campbell Family
A hundred years ago, Dr. John Campbell, a long-time Powell physician, was laid to rest in the Powell Cemetery. Dr. Campbell and his wife Alice are pictured here on the lawn of their property on W. Olentangy Street. Dr. Campbell was born in Ontario, Canada in 1854, graduated from the University of Michigan, earned a diploma from the Rush Medical College in Chicago in 1892, and located to Powell shortly afterwards.
Besides his medical practice, Dr. Campbell was a member of the district school board and was instrumental in establishing the first high school level classes in Powell in 1897. He also leased 12 acres of his land west of the railroad tracks to the Delaware County Agricultural Society and was responsible for the Delaware County Fair being held in Powell from 1909 until 1939.
John and Alice Campbell had six children. Their oldest daughter Ethel (1885-1963) was a 5th and 6th grade teacher at the Powell School for many years and was elected to Powell’s first Village Council in 1947, when Powell’s population was over 350 and could be incorporated. The Campbell home was divided into two houses when Ethel married Minor Crist in 1910, providing the Crist family with a separate residence. The two houses remain today. The main house, presently painted yellow, is surrounded by the Powell Crossing development and housed the Whitaker Tea Room in the late 1990’s. The other house which was separated and moved west of the original house, is currently occupied by Milano Florist.
