Mary Ann Stump Campbell

Sarah Knox (left), Frank Knox (top), Mary Stump Campbell (right), and David Campbell (bottom), 1899.

Mary Ann Stump was born in Monmouth, Oregon on March 12, 1851, to Catherine Elizabeth and David Stump. David was one of the original land donors and founders of Monmouth University.

When she was 16, Mary Ann Stump attended Willamette University, and later transferred to Christian College where she received her Bachelor of Science degree in 1871. During her last year at the college, Stump held the office of president of the Philosophian Society and editor of the Philosophian Review. After graduating, she helped her sister Cassie form the Vespertine Society after the college trustees voted that men and women were no longer permitted to participate in the same on-campus literary societies.  

Stump went on to work as the secretary and assistant for the Pacific Christian Messenger, a local newspaper, where T.F. Campbell, was the editor. After T.F. Campbell (the second university president) began working to increase student enrollment, Stump Campbell was hired as the editor of the Pacific Christian Messenger.  In 1885, she married T.F. Campbell and became his second wife. The couple had three children: Catherine, Agnes, and David.

Described in her obituary as being a, “beloved pioneer woman of Polk County,” Mary Ann Stump Campbell died in Monmouth, Oregon on August 19, 1927 leaving a legacy of literary contributions to the university and the community.