John Quinton Jamieson
John Quinton Jamieson, one of the popular and public-spirited citizens of Spencerville, who is largely interested in oil production and is identified with numerous other enterprises, was born December 27, 1865, in McKean County, Pennsylvania, and is a son of Quinton and Amanda (Snyder) Jamieson.
The parents of Mr. Jamieson still reside at Bradford, Pennsylvania, where they have reared 11 children, all of the eight survivors residing in that State, with the exception of our subject and a younger brother.
From the age of 15 years Mr. Jamieson has made his own way in the world. He has worked in every capacity in the oil business, beginning at the bottom of the ladder and successfully climbing until now he ranks with the capitalists of Ohio. As a driller he gained a wide acquaintance and reputation for efficiency, in connection with his uncle, R. S. Jamieson, with whom he took up the first leases in and around Spencerville. For two and a half years prior to 1892, when he came to Allen County, Mr. Jamieson was engaged in drilling salt-wells in England. The first work undertaken by him in Allen County was drilling of the farm of J. B. Sunderland, in Amanda township. Then with his uncle he entered into contract drilling for the Standard Oil Company, but from 1895 until 1900 they produced for themselves. At the latter date R. S. Jamieson sold his interest to Harry D. Weill, and the firm then became Jamieson & Weill, which continued until 1903, when our subject bought Mr. Weill's interest and since then has been alone. In connection with caring for his own interets, he looks after those of Henry Weill, of Buffalo, New York, the father of his former partner. He has an interest in 16 different wells, he and his uncle having drilled some 300 wells in Allen and adjacent counties. Aside from his large oil interests, Mr. Jamieson is interested in a commission business, which ships from the neighborhood of Spencerville from 1,000 to 2,000 pounds of dressed poultry a week and from one to two car-loads of hogs. He is a man of recognized business which attends persistent endeavor, even in the face of most discouraging conditions.
In 1890, in England, Mr. Jamieson was married to Mary Heslop, who was born in Port Clarence, near Middlesborough, Yorkshire, England, one of a family of 11 children, she being the only one whose home is in America. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Jamieson in Spencerville is one of beauty and luxury; it stands on South Elizabeth street in the center of a park of two acres in extent, one of the most attractive of the modern residences of Spencerville. The one daughter of this marriage, Maud A., born in England in Deecember, 1891, died before her childhood was over, being aged but a few months beyond 13 years.
Although a very public-spirited citizen, Mr. Jamieson has never consented to accept any political favors, refusing on many occasions nominations to county offices. He is a member of the Blue Lodge F. & A. M., and the Chapter, R. A. M., at Spencerville, and belongs also to the Kinghts of the Maccabees.