Jacob
D. Clemmer
JD
Clemmer, teacher and historian, has left his mark on Polk County. He was
a school teacher for four years and county Superintendent of Schools for ten
more.
During his years in education the last log schoolhouse in Polk County was replaced by a modern frame building and a system of libraries was instituted in the public schools.
In 1907 he became cashier of the Benton Banking Company and served for 16 years and then a year as vice president. Coming back into education in 1923 he served four more years as Superintendent of Schools.
In 1928 he was appointed Assistant State Archeologist and did much work as reporter and columnist on early Polk and Indian history.
The Clemmer scrapbooks assembled and preserved by JD Clemmer are one of the greatest single sources of information on the history of Polk County. He made an invaluable contribution by recording much information that is to be found in no other source.
Clemmer was vitally interested in conservation and outdoor life. He developed the Bridal Veil Falls and blazed the "Clemmer Trail". He was a lifelong farmer and a lifelong worker in the church, being Sunday School teacher for 26 years at the Benton Methodist Church
In other community activities, he was postmaster for four years and insurance agent 25 years. He donated much of the land for Polk County High School.
(Written by) Isham P. Lyle, 1964
Published in the Polk County Scrapbook, July 19, 1989, Page 33