John Holmes Jackson
24th and 26th Mayor of Burlington, Vermont
In office April 1, 1929 – April 3, 1933
Preceded by	Clarence H. Beecher
Succeeded by	James Edmund Burke
In office April 2, 1917 – April 6, 1925
Preceded by	Albert S. Drew
Succeeded by	Clarence H. Beecher
Member of the Vermont House of Representatives from Burlington
In office January 5, 1921 – January 2, 1923
Preceded by	Theodore E. Hopkins
Succeeded by	Levi P. Smith
Personal details
Born	(1871-03-21)March 21, 1871 Montreal, Canada
Died	December 15, 1944(1944-12-15) (aged 73) Burlington, Vermont, U.S.
Resting place	Lakeview Cemetery, Burlington, Vermont
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Caroline Deming Smalley
Children	1
Relatives	David Allen Smalley (Grandfather-in-law) Hollister Jackson (brother) Horatio Nelson Jackson (brother)
Education	Philadelphia Dental College

John Holmes Jackson (March 21, 1871 – December 15, 1944) was an American politician who served as the 24th and 26th Mayor of Burlington, Vermont. His initial narrow ten vote victory in 1917 against incumbent Albert S. Drew is the closest mayoral election in Burlington's history, although Clarence H. Beecher's 1927 victory was decreased from 89 votes to 8 votes by a Supreme Court ruling in 1929, and wasn't matched until Bernie Sanders won the 1981 mayoral election by ten votes after a recount.

John Holmes Jackson was born in Montreal, Canada, on March 21, 1871, to Samuel Nelson Jackson and Mary Ann Parkyn. His brother Hollister Jackson became the lieutentant governor of Vermont and died during the Great Vermont Flood of 1927 while his other brother Horatio Nelson Jackson unsuccessfully sought the Republican gubernatorial nomination. He was educated in Kingston, Ontario, and graduated from the Collegiate Institute in Kingston.^[1]

In 1890, Jackson graduated with a dental degree from the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery in the United States, and performed dentistry in Barre before moving to Burlington, Vermont, in 1896. He became president of the Vermont State Dental Society in 1903, and was appointed to Vermont's board of dental examiners by Governor Charles J. Bell.^[1] Jackson was put on trial in 1894 for interfering with an officer while he was beating a criminal and was found not guilty.^[2][3]

Jackson was the chair of Vermont's delegation to the 1920 Democratic National Convention and a delegate to the 1924^[1] and 1936 conventions.^[4] He received one vote for the presidential nomination at the 1924 convention on the 39th ballot; John W. Davis won the nomination.^[5]

Jackson was appointed director of the Federal Housing Administration in Vermont in 1934, and served until his death.^[1] During World War II, Jackson, James J. Carney, and Phillips M. Bell were appointed by Governor William Wills to serve as Burlington's rationing board.^[6][7]

In 1917, Jackson defeated the incumbent Republican Albert S. Drew in the Burlington mayoral election by ten votes with 1,416 votes to 1,406 votes.^[8][9] In 1919 Jackson won reelection against Harris R. Watkins with 2,149 votes to 1,930 votes.^[10] During his tenure in 1918 he handled the Spanish flu outbreak in the city and motorized the fire department and in 1919 he became one of the first Vermonters and politicians to ride in a seaplane.^[11][12] In 1920, Jackson was elected to represent Burlington in the Vermont House of Representatives and he served one term, 1921 to 1923.^[1] In 1921 he was elected to a third term after defeating William B. McKillip with 1,941 votes to 1,476 votes.^[13] In 1922 he was the Democratic nominee for governor, but was defeated in a landslide by Redfield Proctor Jr. with 51,104 votes to 17,059 votes. In 1923 he faced no opposition for reelection as mayor, with both the Democratic and Republican city committees choosing to endorse him.^[14]

On April 1, 1929, Jackson returned to the mayoralty. Shortly after taking office he shut down the city Convention Bureau, which was unable to account for all of the $5,000 of city funds it spent to host the 1928 New England Firemen's Convention.^[15] After winning reelection he was nominated for lieutenant governor in 1930; he lost, as did all statewide Democratic candidates during this era, but received two percent more of the vote than Park Pollard, his party's nominee for governor.^[16] In the 1930 House election he endorsed former Burlington municipal court judge Joseph A. McNamara in his unsuccessful run.^[17] Jackson declined to run for reelection and endorsed former mayor James Edmund Burke. Burke won, and on April 3, 1933 he succeeded Jackson as mayor.^[18][19]

Jackson married Caroline Deming Smalley, with whom he had one child, on June 4, 1901.^[1] During his career as mayor he appointed Caroline to the library board of commissioners.^[20] On December 15, 1944, Jackson died at the Bishop DeGoesbriand Hospital and was buried at the Lakeview Cemetery.^[1]

• "Dr. J. Holmes Jackson, 73, Dies; Was Mayor of This City 12 Years". Burlington Free Press. December 16, 1944. p. 9. Archived from the original on May 12, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
• "John Holmes Jackson Acquittal". Argus and Patriot. November 21, 1894. p. 3. Archived from the original on May 12, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
• "John Holmes Jackson Trial". Argus and Patriot. November 21, 1894. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
• "Mayor Appoints Commissioners". Burlington Free Press. April 2, 1929. p. 8. Archived from the original on May 14, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
• "Rationing Board Now Has Say On Typewriters". Burlington Free Press. April 22, 1942. p. 6. Archived from the original on May 16, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
• "State Democrats Ready For Parley". Rutland Herald. June 18, 1936. p. 7. Archived from the original on May 16, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
• "Tire Rationing Board Issues Four Permits; To Meet Twice a Week". Burlington Free Press. January 12, 1942. p. 12. Archived from the original on May 16, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
• Ostermeier, Eric (April 30, 2015). "Bernie Sanders Becomes 5th Presidential Candidate in Vermont History". Smart Politics. Archived from the original on January 30, 2019.