I first came across the name of Allison Jackman while doing research for a 1986 book. That waslong before the Newman Numismatic Portal and I needed to find an actual physical copy of the1918 Henry Chapman sale of his collection. The catalog had a memorable description:

This week I set out to see what else I could learn about him.

Allison Jackman was born in Pennsylvania in 1849, the son of David Kilbourne Jackman andSaraphina P. Ross. For the 1850 Census, David was a merchant in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania.The 1860 Census is interesting in that it lists the father as a and his son as in an apparent misinterpretation of the handwriting. The family was still living in Loch Haven,Pennsylvania. For the 1870 Census, David was listed as a farmer living in Bath, New Hampshire.

David died before the 1880 Census. By 1910. Saraphina and Allison were in Poughkeepsie, NewYork. There was a younger son, David Kilbourne Jackman, Jr. who was married with childrenand can be traced with a respectable biography. This is not true for Allison.

I did not find Allison W. Jackman mentioned in a newspaper before the death of his mother.Saraphina Jackman died in 1914 at age 95. She left an estate with an estimated value of$100,000. There was a dispute over the estate brought by grandchildren who were left out of thewill.

Jackman suffered a brain hemorrhage in September 1917 and was hospitalized. He died atHyannis, Massachusetts, on October 23, 1917. His estate was challenged by nephews who weredescribed as having a bitter dispute over the will of Saraphina.

Jackman had been a life member of the American Numismatic Society but not a member of theANA.

Jackman's coin collection was offered by Henry Chapman in his sale of June 28, 1918. Thehighlight of the sale was his Brasher Doubloon. The coin realized $3,900, well below theprevious sale at $6,000. The sale also included a fine walnut coin cabinet and a library of thestandard references available at the time.

A newspaper account of the sale described the auctioneer, Henry Chapman, as a

The Jackman collection and auction hold a place in numismatic history. Coins with a pedigreeback to that sale have a prestige above that of an unpedigreed coin.

Otherwise, the life of Jackman carries no prestige. He did nothing in his life for good or for evilto distinguish himself.

To read the Jackman catalog on the Newman Numismatic Portal, see:
ADMINISTRATOR'S SALE. CATALOGUE OF THE COLLECTION OF MAGNIFICENT SPECIMENS OF AMERICAN COLONIAL, STATE AND UNITED STATES COINS AND MEDALS IN GOLD, SILVER AND COPPER. NEW YORK BRASHER'S DOUBLOON 1787, PAPER MONEY AND NUMISMATIC BOOKS OF THE LATE ALLISON W. JACKMAN, POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y.(https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/auctionlots?AucCoId=20&AuctionId=511112)