JOHN H. JAMISON, a prominent citizen of Osceola, and a
representative of one of the pioneer families of Clarke County, is a native of
Washington County, Indiana, born near Salem, September 8, 1846. He is the
eldest son of Robert and Christina (Kyte) Jamison, his father being a native of
Kentucky and his mother of Indiana. In 1848 his parents moved to the State of
Iowa, and lived two years in Monroe county. In the spring of 1850 they moved to
Clarke County, where they still live. John H. was reared in Clarke County,
attending in his youth the schools at Garden Grove, Decatur County. When seventeen years old he enlisted in the
war of the Rebellion and was assigned to the Sixth Iowa Infantry, serving
eighteen months. He participated in the battle at Dallas, Georgia, where he was
wounded. He was mustered out in July, 1865, and returned to Clarke County,
Iowa. He attended school at Garden Grove
three years, and then went to Ann Arbor, Michigan, and took a commercial
course. After leaving school he began teaching, his first school being in his
home district, and the following spring was appointed superintendent of the
Clarke County school, and served until the next autumn. He again taught in his
own district during the winter, and then gave his attention to agriculture
until the fall of 1872, when he was nominated and elected clerk of the District
and Circuit Courts of Clarke County, assuming the duties of his office in
January, 1873. This position he held by reelection eight years. From 1881 till
1884 he was cashier of the Clarke County bank, and the next year engaged in the
boot and shoe business. In June, 1885, he was appointed agent of the American
Express Company at Osceola, a position he still holds. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity,
Knights of Pythias and the Grand Army of the Republic. He was married in
December, 1877, to Miss Laura Davis of Washington, Iowa, daughter of J. D.
Davis, now of Des Moines. They have one daughter – Helen E.
SOURCE: Biographical and Historical Record of Clarke
County, Iowa, Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois, 1886 p. 371-2
