Los Angeles County
Biographies
NATHANIEL FREDERICK JAMIESON
JAMIESON, NATHANIEL FREDERICK, President, Hibernian Home Builders, Los Angeles, California, was born in Glasgow, Scotland, March 13, 1880, the son of William Stewart Jamieson and Isabella (MacDowell) Jamieson. He married Faye Sawin at Los Angeles, October 16, 1910, and to them there was born a daughter, Dorothy Elizabeth Jamieson. He is descended of old Scotch stock, being related, on his father’s side, to the Duke of Orange, while on the maternal side of the family he is connected with the House of Stewart.
Mr. Jamieson spent his boyhood in Scotland, and until he was 14 years of age had the advantages of private school training. Coming to the United States when he was 15 years old, he entered the State Normal School of Vermont, and after two years’ attendance there, became a student in Dartmouth University. He was a member of the class of 1899, but did not finish the course, leaving at the end of the year 1897. Before the opening of the next college year the Spanish-American war ensued, and Mr. Jamieson, although barely past his eighteenth birthday, volunteered for service.
He enlisted in the Third United States Cavalry and served with his command in the Philippine Islands for more than two years. In 1900 he was appointed Lieutenant of Artillery and saw a great deal of active service in various parts of the Islands. He was then stationed at Narragansett Bay, was transferred to San Francisco and also served some time in Alaska, resigning his commission in 1906, after about eight years’ service.
During his career in the army Mr. Jamieson passed through many active engagements. During the years 1900 and 1901 he was stationed for the greater part of the time on the Island of Panay, of which Iloilo, the second largest city in the Philippine group, is the capital. The insurrectos,(sic) headed by Aguinaldo, were then most active on Panay, and Mr. Jamieson’s company was engaged almost continually in the effort to subdue them. Skirmishes were of almost daily occurrence, and in one engagement Mr. Jamieson was severely wounded. He was confined to the hospital for a long period, but upon his recovery of health immediately returned to his command and active service.
Mr. Jamieson was engaged in the battles of Mt. Putian and Balangtaug, near the town of Jaro, on the Island of Panay, under General Edwin A. Rice. His display of courage in both these engagements caused his commanding officer to make special mention of him for gallantry in action.
When his command was brought back to the United States, Mr. Jamieson was put on special duty for some time as Adjutant of Fort Baker, California.
Following his resignation from the army, Mr. Jamieson took up mine engineering, and was engaged in this profession for several years afterwards, his work taking him into all parts of the West, but principally in Nevada, Arizona and old Mexico. He gave up mining after his marriage in 1910 and embarked in the brokerage business at Los Angeles, handling stocks, bonds and real estate. His career as a business man has been quite as successful as his military record, and he is now numbered among the progressive men of the city.
After conducting his brokerage offices for about a year Mr. Jamieson organized the Hibernian Home Builders, of which he is President, and has taken an active part in the development of Los Angeles and vicinity as a home country. The home-building business in Los Angeles within recent years has grown to such enormous proportions as to astonish the rest of the country, the city ranking today as the leader, for its size, in the number of home owners. This is due, in large measure, to the system of home-building followed by such institutions as that of which Mr. Jamieson is the head, whereby persons of moderate income are enabled to purchase homes for about the same amount of money they would pay in rent within a very short time, and on terms that work no greater hardship than the monthly installment of rent. It is also responsible for a large part of the city’s development along permanent lines.
To the system of home building and selling, is largely due the great increase in population and valuation with which Los Angeles County is credited.
The Hibernian Home Builders, under the direction of Mr. Jamieson, has made great progress, being a Los Angeles concern in personnel and capital, and it is now among the firmly established business institutions. To Mr. Jamieson is due much of the credit for this marked growth and the promising outlook of his company.
Transcribed 1-23-2011
Marilyn R. Pankey.
Source: Press
Reference Library, Western Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I, Page 578, International News Service, New York, Chicago, San
Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Atlanta.
1913.
© 2010 Marilyn R. Pankey.
GOLDEN NUGGET'S LOS ANGELES BIOGRAPIES