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Surnames: Lamont, Gibson, Patterson & McClelland
Classification: Biography
Message Board URL:
http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/gh.2ADI/5369
Message Board Post:
"History of Huntington County, Indiana"1914 By Frank S. Bash pg. 527-28
Hon. Jacob G. Lamont. By the election of Mr. Lamont to the State Senate from the district
of Huntington and Whitley counties, in 1910, the honors of public position and politics
fell upon an exceptionally worthy citizen and efficient business man. Mr. Lamont whose
home has been in Huntington county for more than forty years, has long been identified
with the building and contracting business and also with the lumber trade in this and
other sections of Eastern Indiana. His business record has been without a blemish, his
dealings have always been straightforward and marked by scrupulous integrity, and he is
one of the best known men of this county.
Jacob G. Lamont is a native of Canada, born at Welland, Ontario, April 30, 1857. His
father, John Lamont was a native of Ireland, and his mother, Elizabeth (Gibson) Lamont,
was born at Washington, Pennsylvania. The father combined the occupations of farming,
contracting and building for many years, and in 1870 brought his family to Huntington
county, Indiana, locating on a farm in Warren township, where he was known as a general
farmer and stock raiser until his death in 1881. His widow still survives, and lives in
Huntington.
The early education of Jacob G. Lamont, was obtained in the public schools of Welland,
Ontario, and was continued after the family came to Huntington county, by attendance at
the high school in Huntington. On leaving school his experience was on the farm, assisting
his father in caring for the stock and cultivating the fields, until he was twenty-one. In
the meantime he had learned the carpenter’s trade, worked as a journeyman for some years,
and finally located in Huntington as a contractor and builder. In the course of his long
experience his services have been employed in the erection of many of the fine residences
and in the construction of schools, churches, and other buildings, and he was one of the
builders of St. Mary’s school at Huntington. In 1897 began his active interests in the
lumber trade. In partnership with C. P. Kentz, the firm of Kentz & Lamont was
established and for three years was conducted under the name of The Cash Lumber Company.
Duri!
ng the next three years Mr. Lamont was associated with Mr. N. P. Salling of Muncie, in
the same line, after which Abner Griffith of Muncie became his partner. In 1905, Mr.
Lamont organized the Huntington Lumber Company, and was one of its active principals until
1911.
In 1910, as a Democrat, Mr. Lamont was elected State Senator from the district composed
of Huntington and Whitley counties. His service has been through the sessions of 1911 and
1913, and his term expires in November, 1914. As a legislator he has shown a broad
knowledge of the requirements of both his district and the state at large, and has done
good work on several important committees. He has long been a factor in Democratic
politics in Huntington county, and fraternally his associations are with the Knights of
Pythias, the Modern Woodmen of America, and the Knights of the Maccabees. About two miles
from Huntington Mr. Lamont owns a little farm of twenty acres, excellently improved and
much of it in fruit, this affording a comfortable home, and also a means of diversion. In
the city of Huntington he also owns considerable real estate.
In 1882 Senator Lamont married Miss Jennie McClelland a daughter of Samuel and Elzie
(Patterson) McClelland. Their union has been blessed with five children: Margaret,
Gertrude, Mayme, Edith, and Herbert Donald.