Jackman - Willis
Source: H. W. Beckwith History (Chicago: HH Hill, 1881
Willis Jackman, farmer and stock raiser, Crawfordsville, was born in Union township February 12, 1836. His father, James A. Jackman, settled in this County about 1830. He was a millwright, and built about all the wooden mills on Sugar Creek. He learned his trade in Pennsylvania and then immigrated to Indianapolis, Indiana, where he traded for four acres of land, which is now the central portion of the city. It was afterward sold for taxes, together with two or three dwellings that had been erected upon it. He was born September l, 1794, and departed this life February 21, 1878. He was a gallant soldier in the War of 1812, and a man of firmness and positive convictions. He was a staunch member of the Christian church and a member of the whig party until its death, in 1852, at which time he united with that conscientious set of men who afterward joined together and formed the Republican party, and was one of the strongest supporters of this organization until his decease. His mother, Hannah (Reed) Jackman, was born in Gerard County, Kentucky, and is still living at the advanced age of seventy-four years. She is also a member of the Christian church. Mr. Jackman's entire life has been spent upon a farm. His educational advantages were meager enough.
Only the roughest days of winter was he permitted to sit upon the old slab benches in the pioneer log cabin schoolroom. He commenced farming for himself at twenty-two, and was married in 1858 to Miss Susan Flanigan, who was born February 26, 1838, and is now a member of the Christian church. By this union they have become the parents of eight children, three of whom are dead: James A., Lillie I., Harrison M., Charles, John M., Frank, Carrie and Archibald. Mr. Jackman began life with nothing, but now owns 156 acres of land six miles from Crawfordsville and three from Darlington. He is a Good Templar and a member of the Detective Association. Mr. Jackman claims never to have entered a saloon in his life. He is a member of the Christian church and a member of the national party, formerly a Republican. He is a well posted, thinking man, quite a reader, and one alive to all questions of public concerns. -- typed by kbz