Hollister Jackson was the 54th Lieutenant Governor of Vermont; he was killed in the Great Flood of 1927.
Education
Born Samuel Hollister Jackson in Toronto, Canada on December 7, 1875, he received bachelor"s degrees from the University of Toronto (1896) and the University of Vermont (1898), studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1900 and practiced in Barre.
Career
In 1901 he was elected Barre"s Grand Juror and he served as Washington County State"s Attorney from 1904 to 1906. He was also a Major in the Army Reserve Judge Advocate General Corps. In 1926 he was the successful Republican nominee for Lieutenant Governor and served from January, 1927 until his death.
During a flood on November 2, 1927 Jackson"s car stalled after he hit a deep hole while attempting to drive through the rising Potash Brook near his home at Nelson and Tremont Streets in Barre.
According to a witness, Jackson"s hat and glasses were knocked off, and he appeared dazed. He began walking towards his house, and water rushing fast enough to cut a channel across Nelson Street (then a dirt road) carried him away.
Those nearby attempted unsuccessfully to save him, as did a Vermont National Guard detachment. He drowned, and the next day his body was recovered from the Potash approximately a mile from where he was last seen.
Jackson was buried in the family plot of William Wells at Burlington"s Lakeview Cemetery.
Hollister Jackson was the brother of H. Nelson Jackson, who was married to Wells"s daughter Bertha.
Membership
He served in the Vermont House of Representatives from 1906 to 1907, and as a member of the state Railroad Commission from 1906 to 1909, continuing to serve until 1913 after it became the Public Service Commission. Jackson was an owner of the East.L. Smith & Company granite manufacturing business, President of the Vermont Bar Association and the National Granite Producers" Association, and a member of the Masons, Shriners and Knights of Pythias.