Biography of Jefferson William Jackman, pages 768/769/770. History of DeKalb County, Indiana; B. F. Bowen Company, Inc., Indianapolis, 1914. Jefferson William Jackman Biographies should not be published unless there is something in the life and character of the individual worthy of emulation or imitation by others under like circumstances---certainly not for self- aggrandizement; but sufficient has been drawn for the life history of the gentlemen whose name appears above to show that there is something in the inner life of this man worthy of more than incidental mention. He began life practically at the bottom of the ladder, which he has climbed to the top with no help but a brave heart, industrious hands and an intelligent brain, and is a living example of what may be accomplished in this country by thrift and perseverance, even under discouraging circumstances. Jefferson W. Jackman was born in section 6, Wilmington township. DeKalb county, Indiana, on January 31, 1852, and is a son of Isaac M. and Jane (Whitla) Jackman, who are mentioned specifically on another page of this work. When the subject was about three years old the family moved to the eastern part of Grant township, where the father bought the farm on which the subject of this sketch now lives, and here Mr. Jackman grew to manhood. Their home was a log house, and about eight acres of land had at that time been cleared. To the further clearing of this land and its improvement and cultivation the lad gave of his time and strength and was a valuable assistant in this work to his father. His education was received in a typical log school house of that day, in which the advantages were much inferior to those of the present day, but, being ambitious an a good student, Mr. Jackman became qualified to teach school when twenty-one years of age and followed that pursuit for several years. His summers were spent in farming, and in 1876 he made farming this chief employment, renting a farm on the west of his present home. In the fall of 1878, he moved on to his father-in-law’s farm, which he occupied fourteen years as a renter, and after Mr. McClure’s death he bought the interests of the other heirs and later bought also the widow’s interest, thus becoming sole owner of the farm in 1901. This place, which comprises one hundred and thirty-five acres, is one of the choice farms of the locality and is well improved. Mr. Jackman remained there until 1910 with the exception of one year, and then moved onto the old home farm owned by his father. He had seen many discouraging conditions in his farming experience up to that time, but by energetic work and rigid economy he had weathered several panics and had even gotten ahead in his financial affairs, having bought the farm and paid for it by his own efforts during this period. He now resides on his father’s old farm and is numbered among the successful and energetic agriculturist of DeKalb county. In 1883 Mr. Jackman began breeding an shipping thoroughbred Berkshire hogs, in which he was engaged for the following twenty years and was numbered among the leading men in that line in the United States. He carried at all times from one hundred to one hundred and fifty head of fine stock, shipping from the Atlantic coast to Salt Lake City, and from the Gulf to Montreal Canada. He advertised extensively, at times in as many as two hundred and fifty papers over the country and carried on his correspondence and book-keeping at night, this extra work entailing so severe strain on his eyesight that in 1901 he was compelled to give up his hog business and give his attention to the lighter labors of the farm. During all his business experience of twenty years Mr. Jackman never had but one complaint from a customer and that was settled quickly and to the entire satisfaction of the complainant. This is certainly a remarkable record and speaks well for his sound business methods and integrity of character. On May 28, 1876, Mr. Jackman married Mary McClure, the daughter of Timothy McClure, who is mention elsewhere in this work, and to them were born two children. Sadie Olive, born February 18, 1878, is the wife of Walter Cherry, and lives in Franklin township, this county; they have a daughter, Eldora Cherry. The subject’s youngest child, Ward, who was born on February 4, 1887, married Edna Goodwin, and lived on his father’s farm that was formerly known as the McClure place. He attended high school at Waterloo and a commercial college at Fort Wayne, Indiana. He is now devoting his attention to farming and the raising of fine horses, in which he is attaining a distinctive success. Olive received three years’ education in high school, studied pedagogy and received a teacher’s review course at Butler College and also attended the Normal College at Angola. She taught school about eight years, from 1895 to 1903, the time of her marriage. Politically, Mr. Jackman is an earnest Democrat, an in 1900 was elected a member of the state Legislature, served in the sessions of 1901. In 1903 he was unanimously renominated for the same office, but owing to peculiar local conditions he was defeated by a narrow majority. Fraternally, he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, taking a deep in interest in the workings of that order. In all the relations of life Mr. Jackman has been found faithful to every trust confided in him and because of his genuine worth, courteous manner and genial disposition he has won and retains the warm regard of all with whom he has associated, the latter including the best people of the county. Submitted by: Arlene Goodwin Auburn, Indiana Agoodwin@ctlnet.com