Biography of Norman Teal Jackman, pages 528/529/530/531. History of 
DeKalb County, Indiana; B. F. Bowen Company, Inc., Indianapolis, 1914. 



Norman Teal Jackman

The history of a county or state, as well as that of a nation, is 
chiefly the chronicle of the lives of those who have conferred and 
dignity upon society. The world judges the character of a community by 
those of its representative citizens and yields its tribute of 
admiration and respect to those whose works and actions of constitute 
the record of the  state’s prosperity and pride. Among the prominent 
citizens of DeKalb county, who are will known because of their success 
in private business affairs and the part they have taken in public 
life, is he whose name appears at the head of the is article, the 
present postmaster of Waterloo.  Norman T. Jackman was born in Franklin 
township, DeKalb county, Indiana, on the 9th day of April, 1855, and is 
a son of Isaac and Maria  (Stoner) Jackman. Isaac Jackman was born in 
Carroll county, Ohio, on October 20, 1817, and was the son of Edward 
and Elizabeth (Miller) Jackman. Edward Jackman had came to DeKalb 
county in 1834, entering a tract of land , and then returned to Ohio.  
In 1840 he moved his family to their new home, arriving here on the 
28th of May.  The long and tiresome journey was made in the prevalent 
manner of those days, by wagon, over the prairies, through the roadless 
forests and across unbridged streams, their stopping place at night 
being by the wayside wherever they happened to be. Their first work was 
to clear a small area and erect a log cabin. Here Edward and Elizabeth 
Jackman spent the rest of their days, having given the best of their 
years to the creating of a home and the rearing of their children to 
honorable manhood and womanhood. At their deaths their remains were 
buried on the home farm, but eventually were removed to the cemetery at 
Hamilton. They were the parents of ten children, of whom the eldest 
married in Ohio and later in the fall came here. Isaac was the next 
oldest and was about twenty-three years old when the  family located 
here. His father was about sixty years old, also Isaac was virtually 
responsible for the welfare and comfort of the family.  For eight years 
he remained at home, or until the other children were old enough to 
take his place. In September, 1848, he married Maria Stoner, who was 
born in Wayne county, Ohio, the daughter of John  and Agnes (Crites) 
Stoner, who had removed from Pennsylvania to the Buckeye state. She 
came to DeKalb county, Indiana, in June, 1846, with her parents, who 
located temporarily on a farm north of Waterloo.  A year later they 
bought a farm about five miles south of Auburn, near St. Johns, where 
she lived until her marriage.  After their marriage, Isaac Jackman and 
wife took up their abode on a farm in Franklin township which had been 
entered from the government by his farther. Here they engaged in 
farming and reared their family, consisting of three children, namely: 
Olive, the wife of Frank Williams of Congress, Arizona, and they have a 
son, Isaac J., John S. Jackman, who was reared at home, married Olive 
C. Waterman,, after which he farmed for a while, also  buying and 
selling live stock. He engaged in the furniture business in Waterloo 
and later was in the boot and shoe business until the fire of 1897, 
which destroyed his store, after which he retired from active business. 
He died in 1907, leaving two daughters, Blanche M. and Madge S.  
Blanche married John F. Shuman and resides in Florida, while Madge is a 
teacher, having taught in the schools of St. Paul until the winter of 
1912-13. She and her mother now reside in California. The third child 
of Isaac and Maria Jackman was Norman Teal, the immediate subject this 
review. Isaac Jackman died in 1872 and his wife in 1894. She was an 
earnest member of the Methodist Episcopal church.  Isaac Jackman was a 
Democrat in politics and took an active part in local public affairs, 
especially during and immediately after the Civil war. In 1860 he voted 
for Abraham Lincoln and the Union and thereafter remained aligned with 
the Republican party. He was intensely public spirited, but never 
aspired to public office. Norman T. Jackman spent his boyhood days on 
the home farm in Franklin township, and secured a practical education 
in the common schools, supplementing this by attendance for a short 
time at Valparaiso Normal University. He the returned to the home farm 
and remained with his mother until his marriage, in 1882, though he 
sill continued the operation of the home farm for a number of years, or 
until 1890, when he bought a farm in Smithfield township, where he 
lived until 1902. In the latter year he moved to Auburn, where he had 
an interest in the excelsior factory. In the fall of 1906 he disposed 
of that interest and bought property in Waterloo, where he has since 
resides. He is the owner of one hundred and forty acres of good land, 
lying in two tracts in Smithfield township, one bordering on the old 
home farm and the other, an eighty-acre tract, lying a short distance 
north of Waterloo. For about five years, while still engaged in 
farming, Mr. Jackman dealt in agricultural implements at Waterloo. On 
February  19, 1911, Mr. Jackman was appointed postmaster of Waterloo 
and is still the incumbent of that position. He has given to the 
discharge of his official duties the same careful attention to details 
that he gave to his own business affairs and has therefore earned the 
commendation and approval of both the department and the patrons of the 
office. He has all through his mature life taken a deep interest in all 
local affairs and has held the confidence of the people to a notable 
degree, While he was a resident of Auburn he was appointed receiver to 
wind up the affairs of the Farmers Bank, which had failed, and he 
settled the affairs in such a manner as to satisfy all concerned, as 
far as was possible for any one the have done. He has also served in 
other positions of public trust, always with ability and faithful ness. 
Politically, Mr. Jackman is an earnest Republican and has long been an 
active worker in the interests of that organization. For five years, 
from 1895 to 1900, he served as trustee of Smithfield township. In 1898 
he was elected chairman of the Republican county committee, serving 
with ability and success for six years. In the campaign of 1910 he 
served on the state central committee as a member of  the advisory 
board. Fraternally, he is a member of the  Waterloo Lodge No. 301, Free 
and Accepted Masons, and Waterloo Lodge No. 221, Independent Order of 
Odd Fellows. He has been active in these bodies, having passed all the 
chairs in both lodges, and being twice a representative to the Masonic 
grand lodge. He and his wife also belong to the Order of the Eastern 
Star.  Mr. Jackman’s domestic life began in 1882, when he married to 
Laura A. Kennedy, who was born in Smithfield township, this county, the 
daughter of William and Olive (Holmes) Kennedy. Her father was a native 
of Wayne county, Ohio, and came to this county in an early day, while 
her mother came here in 1842 with her parents, Benjamin and Nancy 
(Knapp) Holmes, who became early settlers in Smithfield township. Here 
William Kennedy and Olive Holmes were married in 1856 and made their 
home there until late in life. Mrs. Kennedy died in 1898 and he now 
lives in Michigan. Mrs. Jackman attended the schools of her home 
community and was also a student in the normal school at Valparaiso, 
this state. From 1875 to the time of her marriage she was a successful 
and popular teacher in schools of DeKalb county. She is a member of the 
Order of Easter Star and while a resident of Auburn belonged to the 
Ladies Literary Society. She is especially active in the cause of 
temperance and is president of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union 
at Waterloo. She has represented this body, as well as the Taine Club 
of Waterloo, at district and state meeting, at Indianapolis, Elkhart, 
Terre Haute, Muncie and Ft. Wayne. She has also been a representative 
to the grand chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star. Mr. and Mrs. 
Jackman move in the best social circles at Waterloo and, because of 
their genuine worth and splendid personal qualities, they are 
universally held in high esteem. Mrs. Jackman has a brother, W.  A. 
Kennedy, who is telegraph operator and station agent at Corunna for the 
Lake Shore railroad. He married Philena Kratzer, a native of Steuben 
county, this state, and they have three daughters, Oliva, Bessie and 
Lulu. Oliva became the wife of Sherman Kimmel, foreman of the Dispatch 
printing office in Auburn. Bessie is the wife of Roy Stephenson 
operator for the Lake Shore Railroad at Wauseon, Ohio. Lulu lives at 
home with her parents.

Submitted by:

Arlene Goodwin

Auburn, Indiana

Agoodwin@ctlnet.com