Background
Andrew Campbell was born on June 14, 1821 near Trenton, New Jersey, United States; the son of a farmer of very moderate means.
Andrew Campbell was born on June 14, 1821 near Trenton, New Jersey, United States; the son of a farmer of very moderate means.
As soon as Andrew was physically able Andrew helped with the farm work and attended the country schools both at his birthplace and at Matawan, Monmouth County, New Jersey, whither his parents moved when he was eight years old.
When Campbell was thirteen, his father died, leaving a large family unprovided for, and Andrew immediately sought employment. He disliked farming and apprenticed himself to a carriage-maker, but before completing his apprenticeship he left home and went to Trenton to work for three months in a brush-maker's shop. Here he perfected his first invention, namely, a special vise for holding brushes. At the age of fifteen he left Trenton and headed westward, working his way gradually, and arriving eventually in Alton, Illinois. Here he worked for a carriage-builder until he was twenty-one, during which time he devised and constructed a number of labor-saving machines as well as carriages and omnibuses. From Alton, Campbell went to St. Louis where he engaged in his two old trades, brush-making and carriage-building, and had his first experience with printing presses when engaged periodically to make repairs on the presses of the St. Louis Republican. During the following ten years he was variously engaged as a machine-merchant, bridgebuilder, and farmer in Columbia, Missouri, Paducah, Kentucky, and other towns of the Middle West. The announcement of a prize of $1, 000, offered by George Bruce of New York City for a printing press to print 500 copies an hour, caused Campbell to turn his attention to the problem, and in 1853 he proceeded to New York with his design, only to find that the time limit for submitting plans had expired. He obtained employment almost immediately, however, with A. B. Taylor & Company, large manufacturers of printing presses, and as foreman, devised many novel improvements including paper-feed mechanisms, special presses with table distribution for illustrated magazines such as Harper's and Frank Leslie's, as well as automatic presses. At this time, too, Campbell conceived the idea of a special press for country newspapers, and, when convinced that a market was available, he left Taylor & Company in 1858, spent three years in experimental work, and with his new patented machine began business for himself. The Campbell Country Press proved very popular, and in 1866 Campbell erected a plant in Brooklyn where he not only constructed the Country Press but devised many others. Thus in 1867 the two-revolution picture press was developed, and in 1868 a large press for fine illustrations. A special press designed by Campbell in his factory permitted the printing of 120 almanacs a minute. On it 7, 000, 000 impressions were taken from one form without perceptible damage.
He retired from active business in 1880 and died of heart disease ten years later, leaving his widow and four children.