ROBERT B. JAMISON, a native of the county of Delaware, Ohio, was born Sept. 22, 1858, his parents being James M. and Elizabeth (High) Jamison.  The father was a native of Virginia and the mother of Pennsylvania, and they were among the early settlers of Delaware county, Ohio.  Robert Jamison, the grandfather, was also a native of the Keystone state, but removed to Delaware county, Ohio, at an early day, spending his remaining days within its borders.  He married a Miss Baird, who with her husband came to the Buckeye state in 1812, when its lands were wild, its forests uncut and when there was little to indicate that civilization was soon to work a marvelous (change in this section of the country.
     Robert B. Jamison spent his youth upon the farm, attending the district schools and lie made rapid progress in his studies, manifesting special aptitude in mastering the branches therein taught.  A love of knowledge incited him to secure a college education and he entered the Wesleyan University, at Delaware, Ohio, in which institution he was graduated with the class of 1879.  He afterward engaged in teaching, following that profession in the county of his nativity until 1882.  In that year he came to Greenville, Ohio, and entered into partnership with John H. Martz, under the firm name of Jamison & Martz. They purchased the hardware stock belonging to R. A. Shuffleton and continued in that business un­til 1887, when they sold this store to the firm of Foster & Son.  They then turned their attention to the real estate and insurance business.  They buy and sell real estate on commission, loan money and are agents for the Union Central Life Insurance Company, of Cincinnati.  Mr. Jamison also carries on five farms in connection with his real estate and insurance business, the places comprising several hundred acres of land, much of which is under a high state of cul­tivation and well stocked with horses, sheep, cattle and hogs. He is thus a representative of the agricultural as well as the commercial interests of the county.
     On the 18th of May, 1882, Mr. Jamison was united in marriage to Miss Mary L. Huddle, of Darke county, in which place she was born and reared. She is a daughter of the late Levi Huddle and Lucinda (Hetzler) Huddle. Mr. and Mrs. Jamison have two sons, Roy H. and Walter I., who are with their parents.  Their home is a large and substantial brick residence on Washington avenue and the household, is noted for its hospitality.  Socially Mr. Jamison is a member of Greenville Lodge, No. 143, F. & A. M., and is a valued representative of that beneficent fraternity.
Source: A Biographical History of Darke County, Ohio, Compendium of National Biography - Illustrated - Publ. Evansville, Ind. - 1900 - Page 582

JOSEPH JEFFERSON, a name as dear as it is familiar to the theater-going world in America, suggests first of all a fun-loving, drink-leaving, mellow voiced, good-natured Dutchman, and the name of "Rip Van Winkle" suggests the pleasant features of Joe Jefferson, so intimately are play and player associated in the minds of those who have had the good fortune to shed tears of laughter and sympathy as a tribute to the greatness of his art.  Joseph Jefferson was born in Philadelphia, Feb. 20, 1829.  His genius was an inheritance, if there be such, as his great-grandfather, Thomas Jefferson, was a manager and actor in England.  His grandfather, Joseph Jefferson, was the most popular comedian of the New York state of his time, and his father, Joseph Jefferson, the second, was a good actor also, but the third Joseph Jefferson outshone them all.
     At the age of three years Joseph Jefferson came on the state as the child in "Pizarro," and his training was upon the stage from childhood.  Later on he lived and acted in Chicago, Mobile, and Taxes.  After repeated misfortunes he returned to New Orleans from Texas, and his brother-in-law, Charles Burke, gave him money to reach Philadelphia, where he joined the Burton Theater company.  Here his genius soon asserted itself, and his future became promising and brilliant.  His engagements throughout the United States and Australia were generally successful, and when he went to England in 1865 Mr. Boucicault consented to make some important changes in his dramatization of Irving's story of Rip Van Winkle, and Mr. Jefferson at once placed it in the front rank as a comedy.  He made a fortune out of it, and played nothing else for many years.  In later years, however, Mr. Jefferson acquitted himself of the charge of being a one-art actor, and the parts of "Bob Acres," "Caleb Plummer" and Golightly" all testify to the versatility of his genius.
Source:  A Biographical History of Darke County, Ohio, Compendium of National Biography - Part I - Illustrated - Publ. Evansville, Ind. - 1900 - Page 47

THOMAS JEFFERSON, the third president of the United States, was born near Charlottesville, Albermarle county, Virginia, Apr. 13, 1743, and was the son of Peter and Jane (Randolph) Jefferson.  He received the elements of a good education, and in 1760 entered William and Mary College.  After remaining in that institution for two years he took up the study of law with George Wythe, of Williamsburg, Virginia, one of the foremost lawyers of his day, and was admitted to practice in 1767.  He obtained a large and profitable practice, which he held for eight years.  The conflict between Great Britain and the Colonies then drew him into public life, he having for some time given his attention to the study of the sources of law, the origin of liberty and equal rights.
     Mr. Jefferson was elected to the Virginia house of burgesses in 1769, and served in that body several years, a firm supporter of liberal measures, and, although a slave-holder himself, an opponent of slavery.  With others, he was a leader among the opposition to the king.  He took his place as a member of the Continental congress June 21, 1775, and after serving on several committees was appointed to draught a Declaration of Independence, which he did, some corrections being suggested by Dr. Franklin and John Adams.  This document was presented to congress June 28, 1776, and after six days' debate was passed and was signed.  In the following September Mr. Jefferson, and gave much time to the adapting of laws of that state to the new condition of things.  He drew up the law, the first ever passed by a legislature or adopted by a government, which secured perfect religious freedom.  June 1, 1779, he succeeded Patrick Henry as governor of Virginia, an office which, after co-operating with Washington in defending the country, he resigned two years later.  One of his own estates was ravaged by the British, and his house at Monticello was held by Tarleton for several days, and Jefferson narrowly escaped capture.  After the death of his wife, in 1782, he accepted the position of plenipotentiary to France, which he had declined in1776.  Before leaving he served a short time in congress at Annapolis, and succeeded in carrying a bill for establishing our present decimal system of currency, one of his most useful public services.  He remained in an official capacity until October, 1789, and was a most active and vigilant minister.  Besides the onerous duties of his office, during this time, he published "Notes on Virginia," sent to the United States seeds, shrubs and plants, forwarded literary and scientific news and gave useful advice to some of the leaders of the French Revolution. 
     Mr. Jefferson landed in Virginia Nov. 18, 1789, having obtained a leave of absence from his ost, and shortly after accepted Washington's offer of the portfolio of the department of state in his cabinet.  He entered upon the duties of his office in March, 1791, and held it until Jan. 1, 1794, when he tendered his resignation.  About this time he and Alexander Hamilton became decided and aggressive political opponents, Jefferson being in warm sympathy with the people in the French revelation and strongly democratic in his feelings, while Hamilton took the opposite side.  In 1796 Jefferson was elected vice-president of the United States.  In 1800 he was elected to the presidency and was inaugurated Mar. 4, 1801.  During his administration, which lasted for eight years, he having been re-elected in1804, he waged a successful war against the Tripolitan pirates; purchase Louisiana of Napoleon; reduced the public debt, and was the originator of many wise measures.  Declining a nomination for a third term he returned to Monticello, where he died July 4, 1826, but a few hours before the death of his friend, John Adams.
     Mr. Jefferson was married Jan. 1, 1772, to Mrs. Martha Skelton, a young, beautiful, and wealthy widow, who died Sept. 6, 1782, leaving three children, three more having died previous to her demise.
Source:  A Biographical History of Darke County, Ohio, Compendium of National Biography - Part I - Illustrated - Publ. Evansville, Ind. - 1900 - Page 34

WILLIAM E. G. JEFFERIS.     William E. G. Jefferis is well known as a prominent farmer of German township, living on section 11.  He was born on the farm where he now resides Mar. 24, 1868., and is the eldest child of Joshua and Sarah J. Jefferis.  His great-grandfather, Job J. Jefferis, was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, June 9, 1776, and married Barbara Long.  Their only child was Darlington Jefferis, the grandfather of our subject.  He was a native of Virginia and when two years old was brought by his parents to Ohio, the family locating in Clinton county, where he was reared.  He afterward came to Darke county and entered a farm on section 11, German township, where Joshua Jefferis now resides.  He there secured one hundred and sixty acres at a dollar and a quarter per acre, and throughout his remaining days carried on agricultural pursuits there, his death occurring in 1880, in his eighty-fifth year.  He was a member of the Universalist church, of Palestine.  He married Mary Potter, who belonged to an old family of New Jersey, and they became the parents of ten children, all of whom were born on the old homestead in German township, namely: Rebecca, Julia Ann and Job D., deceased; Squire, of German township; John, deceased; Milton, of German township; Mary Ann, who has also passed away; Josua; William H. H., who died at the age of twenty-two at Nashville, Tennessee, while in the service for his country; and Elizabeth, the wife of William H. Mills.
     Joshua Jefferis was the eighth child and fifth son in the family and was born Oct. 15, 1837.  He was reared on the farm where he now resides, pursued his education in a log school house and remained at home until 1864, when he enlisted in Company H, One Hundred and Fifty-second Ohio Infantry, with which he served as sergeant.  He was at the front for over four months, located at Cumberland, Maryland.  He participated in the Shenandoah valley raid and the battle of Greenbrier, in which a man was killed by his side.  He received an honorable discharge at Camp Dennison, Ohio, in 1864, and then returned to his home.  The following year he went to Iowa and other western points on a visit.
     On the 10th of January, 1867, Joshua Jefferis married Sarah J. Ware, who was born in Darke county, Ohio, June 20, 1849, the youngest daughter of J. F. and Mary (Ritenour) Ware.  They began their domestic life upon the farm where they now reside.  Four children have been born to them:  William E. G.; Marvin R., who was born Nov. 5, 1877; Alma, born May 13, 1879; and Hallie V., who was born Feb. 17, 1884, and died Aug. 22, 1885.  Marvin attended school in Ada, Ohio, and was engaged in teaching.  He is now assisting his father in the work of the farm.  Alma is engaged in teaching piano and organ music.
     Joshua Jefferis is the owner of two hundred and fifty acres of land, the greater part of which is under cultivation.  He is now practically living retired, his son operating the farm.  In politics he is a stalwart Republican and has served as trustee of his township, as a member of the school board for twenty years and has been a director of the Darke County Mutual Fire Insurance Company.  He is also a member of the German Grange, which he joined on its organization, and in its work he has taken an active part since 1874.  He also holds membership in Reed's Post, G. A. R., of Palestine, and the Universalist church at that place, of which his family are also members.  He is to-day as true and loyal to his duties of citizenship as when he followed the starry banner upon the battle-fields of the south.
     William E. G. Jefferis, whose name begins this record, assisted his father in farming until he was twenty-one years of age, attending school during the winter months and received a good common-school education.  After becoming of age he was hired by his father for nine months' labor on the farm.  He was united in marriage on Dec. 24, 1889, with Miss Harriet V. Harding, also a resident of German township.  She was born July 10, 1867, and is a daughter of Samuel and Martha (Clay) Harding.  Two children have been born to this union, both now living, namely:  Mae, born Nov. 5, 1890, and Grace, born Apr. 25, 1894.
     After his marriage Mr. Jefferis began farming on the shares on his father's farm, and has since been engaged principally in farming and stock-raising.  He is also a carpenter by trade and when not otherwise engaged in farming has devoted his time to that trade.  He began keeping books of his business affairs when he became of age and has since kept a careful and correct account with day and date of all business transactions and receipts and expenses with yearly statements.  He has been an active member of the order of Patrons of Husbandry for twelve years, serving for two years as representative from Darke county to the annual state meeting of Ohio.  By the great interest taken in the work of this organization he has become a member of national and state orders of Patrons of Husbandry.  Politically he is identified with the Republican party and is now serving as a justice of the peace of German township.  Both Mr. and Mrs. Jefferis were reared in the Christian faith taught by the Universalist church.
Source:  A Biographical History of Darke County, Ohio, Compendium of National Biography - Part II - Illustrated - Publ. Evansville, Ind. - 1900 - Page 617

D. H. R. JOBES.   D. H. R. JOBES, lawyer, judge of probate and teacher, was born in Montgomery county, Ohio, Sept. 14, 1829, and died in Greenville, Ohio, Jan. 13, 1877.  He was a man of noble traits of character.  His parents being poor he was early thrown upon his own resources, but by a faithful improvement of limited privileges obtained a good English education, and for a number of years followed the occupation of a teacher.  In October, 1857, he was elected probate judge of Darke county and served nine years, during which time he devoted his spare time to reading law under the direction of D. L. Meeker, of Greenville, Ohio, and was admitted to practice in January, 1867.  He formed a partnership with his preceptor and so continued until 1872.  On Jan. 1, 1875, he formed a law partnership with C. M. Anderson, of Greenville, which was dissolved by the death of Mr. Jobes.  He was cut down in the meridian of life, and in the height of the practice of his profession.  His death was the occasion of unusually cordial action on the part of the members of the Greenville bar, in resolutions and speeches expressive of deep regret at his demise, tender sympathy for his bereaved family, and exalted appreciation of his moral worth.  On this occasion, among other remarks, J. R. Knox, Esquire, said: "During the nine years of service as probate judge, I had frequent occasion to appear before him and observe his conduct in that capacity, and I take pleasure in this solemn hour, as I have always done, to say that as by law recognized next friend of the widow and guardian of the orphan - the highest and most sacred trust which the law imposes upon that officer - and in the various duties of his position, he was a careful, impartial and vigilant accountant, and deserving the honored name of a just and upright judge.  As a practitioner at the bar, none stood fairer than he.  We had not among us a more diligent office lawyer, nor any safer or more thoughtful counselor or adviser than Judge Jobes; and when he addressed himself to the court and jury the weight of his character for integrity and fairness made his appeals forcible and influential, carrying conviction."  C. M. Anderson, Esquire, a law partner of the deceased, as well as formerly his pupil, said: "His was a mind that did not require the light of precedents.  He was a chancellor by nature, and only needed the advantages of an early education in the law to have marked him as one of the foremost and most powerful jurists of his time."  Judge William Allen reverted to the fact that the integrity, the honor, the moral worth and nobility of heart which made him pre-eminent as a officer and private citizen during his maturer years were the graces that adorned his life in his earlier years.  During the three consecutive terms he held the office of probate judge of this county no lawyer nor litigant ever called in question his integrity as an officer or doubted the honesty of his motives.  David Beers, Esquire, said: "In boyhood and manhood, he ever pursued a moral, upright, honorable course which gave him a deserved and enviable position in society. C. G. Matchett said:  "His many virtues and great worth are best expressed by the couplet.
     'None knew him but to love him,
      None named him but to praise.'"
     He left a wife and two sons.  Mrs. Jobes is a lady of talent, a leader in Christian church of Greenville, and an active worker in moral and religious enterprises.  She is a daughter of Isaac and Sarah Reed, of Darke county, Ohio, and was married to Mr. Jobes May 6, 1858.  Her father died Jan. 18, 1871, aged sixty-two.  He was one of the pioneers of Darke county, kind and obliging in disposition, a good neighbor and a Christian gentleman.  He was respected by all who knew him.
Source:  A Biographical History of Darke County, Ohio, Compendium of National Biography - Part II - Illustrated - Publ. Evansville, Ind. - 1900 - Page 239

ALONZO L. JONES.     An enterprising and representative business man of Greenville, Mr. Jones, is dealing in leaf tobacco, and is not only connected with the commercial interests of the city, but also represents its official corps, for he is the postmaster of the city, prompt, energetic and notably reliable.  He was born in Monroe county, Ohio, in the vicinity of West Milton, on the 21st of April, 1845, his parents being John J. and Catherine D. (Campbell) Jones.  The Jones family is of Welsh lineage and was founded in the Buckeye state at an early period in its pioneer development by John Jones, the grandfather of our  subject.  On the maternal side our subject is descended from good old Revolutionary stock.  The grandfather, William D. Campbell, served under General Wayne in the struggle for independence, and in 1792 he emigrated westward to Cincinnati, making the trip on a flatboat.  He married a Miss Thomas, and for some years they remained residents of Cincinnati, when the city was a pioneer western village.
     John L. Jones, the father of our subject was born in South Carolina, and in 1816 accompanied his parents to Ohio, the family locating about sixteen miles north of Dayton.  He was therefore reared amid the wild scenes of the frontier and after arriving at years of maturity he married one of Ohio's native daughters - Miss Catharine Campbell.  In 1848 they removed with their family to Darke county, locating in Neave township, where the father resided until 1860, when he formed a partnership and embarked in merchandising in Arcanum, where he remained until a short time prior to his death, which occurred in 1884.  His wife, who still survives him, yet makes her home in Arcanum.
     Alonzo L. Jones spent the first five years of his life near Dayton, and then came with the family to Darke county, where he pursued his preliminary education in the district schools, later attending the high school of Greenville, where he prosecuted his studies under the superintendence of Professor J. T. Martz, a very thorough and noted educator of that day.  After leaving school Mr. Jones returned to Dayton and accepted a clerkship in the store of Smith Brothers, manufacturers of school supplies and furniture.  In 1872 he became interested in the tobacco business, in company with J. P. Wolf, of Dayton, handling leaf tobacco.  The partnership continued for several years, after which Mr. Jones continued in the same line of business alone, in Greenville.  He built a fine brick warehouse for handling and storing tobacco, and his business has steadily increased in volume and importance, Darke county being one of the leading tobacco-producing counties in the state, as the quality of this product is so superior that tobacco shipped from this locality always commands the highest market prices.  The warehouse owned by Mr. Jones is constructed of stone and brick and was built especially for the purpose for which it is used.  It is a two-story structure, conveniently arranged, and is situated in close proximity to the two railroad depots in Greenville, thus having excellent shipping facilities.
     During the civil war Mr. Jones was a stanch advocate of the Union cause, and in 1864 he responded to the call for one-hundred-day men, enlisting in the One Hundree and Fifty-sixth Ohio Infantry, under the command of Colonel Dean Putnam.  The regiment was sent to Lynchburg, Virginia, and did garrison duty, guarding the railroad and captured places.  In the early part of the year 1865 Mr. Jones, with his regiment, was honorably discharged, at Camp Dennison, Ohio.
     In 1866 was celebrated his marriage to Miss Martha Baker, a daughter of C. S. Baker, who was born in Warren county, Ohio, and is a representative of one of the old families of the state.  Mrs. Jones was born in this county, and by her marriage has become the mother of three children: Iona, the wife of A. J. Slackhouse, of Fostoria, Ohio; Charles R., who is serving as private secretary for Hon. Robert B. Gordon, the member of congress from the fourth congressional district of Ohio; and Carl D., at home.  He married Miss Mabel Turner, of Greenville, a daughter of Joseph Turner.
     In his political views Mr. Jones is an earnest Republican, well informed on the issues of the day, and is a recognized leader in the local ranks of his party.  He has held a number of minor offices and in 1898 was appointed by President McKinley to the position of postmaster of Greenville, in which position he has discharged his duties with marked promptness and fidelity.  He is a member of the Knights of Pythias fraternity and is a man whose sterling qualities, whose faithfulness to every trust and whose straightforward dealing in business have won for him the public confidence and good will of all with whom he has come in contact.
Source:  A Biographical History of Darke County, Ohio, Compendium of National Biography - Part II - Illustrated - Publ. Evansville, Ind. - 1900 - Page 698

JAMES K. JONES, a noted senator and political leader, attained national fame while chairman of the national executive committee of the Democratic party in the presidential campaign of 1896.  He was a native of Marshall county, Mississippi, and was born Sept. 29, 1839.  His father, a well-to-do planter, settled in Dallas county, Arkansas, in 1848, and there the subject of this sketch received a careful education.  During the Civil war he served as a private soldier in the Confederate army.  From 1866 to 1873 he passed a quiet life as a planter, but in the latter year was admitted to the bar and began the practice of law.  About the same time he was elected to the Arkansas senate and re-elected in 1874.  In 1877 he was made president of the senate and the following year was unsuccessful in obtaining a nomination as member of congress.  In 1880 he was elected representative and his ability at once place him in a foremost position.  He was re-elected to congress in 1882 and in 1884, and served as an influential member on the committee of ways and means.  Mar. 4, 1885, Mr. Jones took his seat in the United States senate to succeed James D. Walker, and was afterward re-elected to the same office.  In this branch of the national legislature his capabilities had a wider scope, and he was recognized as one of the ablest leaders of his party.
     On the nomination of William J. Bryan as its candidate for the presidency by the national convention of the Democratic party, held in Chicago in 1896, Mr. Jones wa made chairman of the national committee.
Source:  A Biographical History of Darke County, Ohio, Compendium of National Biography - Part I - Illustrated - Publ. Evansville, Ind. - 1900 - Page 171

JOHN PAUL JONES, though a native of Scotland, was one of America's most noted fighters during the Revolutionary war.  He was born July 6, 1747.  His father was a gardener, but the young man soon became interested in a seafaring life and at the age of twelve he was apprenticed to a sea captain engaged in the American trade.  His first voyage landed him in Virginia, where he had a brother who had settled there several years prior.  The failure of the captain released young Jones from his apprenticeship bonds, and he was engaged as third mate of a vessel engaged in the slave trade.  He abandoned this trade after a few years, from his own sense of disgrace.  He took passage from Jamaica for Scotland in 1768, and on the voyage both the captain and the mate died and he was compelled to take command of the vessel for the remainder of the voyage.  He soon after became master of the vessel.  He returned to Virginia about 1773 to settle up the state of his brother, and at this time added the name "Jones," having previously been known as John Paul.  He settled down in Virginia, but when the war broke out in 1775 he offered his services to congress and was appointed senior lieutenant of the flagship "Alfred," on which he hoisted the American flag with his own hands, the first vessel that had ever carried a flag of the new nation.  He was afterward appointed to the command of the "Alfred," and later of the "Providence," in each of which vessels he did good service, as also in the "Ranger," to the command of which he was later appointed.  The fight that made him famous, however, was that in which he captured the "Serapis," off the coast of Scotland.  He was then in command of the Bon Homme Richard," which had been fitted out for him by the French government and named by Jones in honor of Benjamin Franklin, or "Good Man Richard," Franklin being author of the publication known as "Poor Richard's Almanac."  The fight between the "Richard" and teh "Serapis" lasted three hours, all of which time the vessels were at close range, and most of the time in actual contact.  Jones' vessel was on fire several times, and early in the engagement two of his guns bursted, rendering the battery useless.  Also an envious officer of the alliance, one of Jones' own fleet, opened fire upon the "Richard" at a critical time, completely disabling the vessel.  Jones continued the fight, in spite of counsels to surrender, and after dark the "Serapis" struck her colors, and was hastily boarded by Jones and his crew, while the "Richard" sank, bows first, after the wounded had been taken on board the "Serapis."  Most of the other vessels of the fleet of which the "Serapis" was convoy, surrendered, and were taken with the "Serapis" to France, where Jones was received with greatest honors, and the king presented him with an elegant sword and the cross of the Order of Military Merit.  Congress gave him a vote of thanks and made him commander of a new ship, the "America," but the vessel was afterward given to France and Jones never saw active sea service again.  He came to America again, in 1787, after the close of the war, and was voted a gold medal by congress.  He went to Russia and was appointed rear-admiral and rendered service of value against the Turks, but on account of personal enmity of the favorites of the emperor he was retired on a pension.  Failing to collect this, he returned to France, where he died, July 18, 1792.
Source:  A Biographical History of Darke County, Ohio, Compendium of National Biography - Part I - Illustrated - Publ. Evansville, Ind. - 1900 - Page 97