John Snow Jemison, Jr., who founded Jemison Investment Co., Inc., in 1949, was known in Birmingham business circles as a “deal maker”- in the best sense of the term. He was admired by associates for getting to the essence of a question or problem quickly. He had the unique ability to develop a high trust and confidence level with all parties in a transaction, and no one’s trust or confidence was ever misplaced.
He was also known as a compassionate, loving, and caring person who expended much of his time and resources in improving the quality of life in the Birmingham area.
John Snow Jemison, Jr., was born in Birmingham on March 5, 1908. As the son of John and Margaret (Pockman) Jemison, he grew up in a family that had long been active in the business and civic life of the city and state.
After completing his primary and secondary education in the Birmingham public schools and the Webb School in Bell Buckle, Tennessee, he earned a degree in business administration from the University of North Carolina. After his graduation in 1931, he obtained a position with the Bank of Manhattan (now Chase Manhattan Bank) in New York. At night he continued his education by taking courses in advanced accounting, securities analysis, and economics at the New York University Graduate School of Business Administration.
In 1940, he left the Bank of Manhattan (where he had become Assistant Cashier in charge of the bank’s Southeastern business) to join Goldman, Sachs & Co., New York, one of the nation’s largest underwriters of industrial securities. During World War II, he served with the Navy in the South Pacific for three years. After his discharge with the rank of Commander in 1945, he resumed his association with Goldman, Sachs & Co., New York.
John Jemison returned to his hometown in 1947 as a resident partner of Marx & Co. (investment bankers) of Birmingham and New York City. The partner ship was dissolved in 1955 when his partner was invited to become president of Paribas Corporation in New York. At that time, John Jemison activated Jemison Investment Co., Inc., which he had organized as a small side investment firm in 1949.
John Jemison could be described as Birmingham’s first venture capitalist. He has been called a financial wizard because he knew how to handle money, how to handle debt, and how to handle investments.
Jemison Investment Co., Inc., became a diversified holding company with interests in nested steel drums, lumber products, building material, slurry and dredge pump manufacturing, magazine publishing, and real estate. John Jemison described this privately owned firm as a “small conglomerate.” Jemison Investment Co., Inc. acquired a number of subsidiaries and became affiliated with several other companies. John Jemison became chairman of the board of each of the acquired companies, but all day-to day operations were handled by the management of the companies.
John Jemison served as President and Treasurer of Jemison Investment Co., Inc. from 1955 to 1983 when he became Chairman, Treasurer, and Director – positions he held until his death.
“Work hard and have fun doing it,” seems to have been his motto. He served as an officer and/or director of numerous public and private companies throughout the United States. These included: General Housewares Corp. of Stam ford, CT; P. M. Holding Corp. of San Diego, CA; L. Farber Company of Worcester, Mass.; American Heritage Life Insurance of Jacksonville, FL; Kershaw Manufacturing of Montgomery, AL; Birmingham Cable Communications, Inc., EBSCO Industries, Inc., Golden Enterprises, Inc., and Allied Products Company of Birmingham, to name a few.
He was also a Director of the Bank for Savings and Trusts from 1956 until its merger with the predecessor of SouthTrust Corporation in 1963. He served on the Board of Directors of SouthTrust until 1980 when he was elected a Director Emeritus.
While working as a financial executive, John Jemison was also working for the community. He was deeply involved in community affairs. He was a member of the Rotary Club and served as its president for one term. He served as a director of the Birmingham Area Chamber of Commerce and the Metropolitan Development Board. He served as chairman of the Trade Mart Committee.
He was a Trustee of the Birmingham Symphony Association and the Eye Foundation Hospital. He was on the Board of Directors of the Birmingham Museum of Art and the Birmingham Opera Association.
Always a supporter of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, he was an honorary member of the President’s Council. He was one of the major donors of the first UAB Capital Campaign, and in 1986 he endowed a Visiting Professorship of Humanities chair through his $500,000 contribution. He was also a board member of the Medical and Education Foundation and of the Health Services Foundation at UAB.
A founding member of both the advisory board and the foundation board of St. Vincent’s Hospital, he was a major contributor to the hospital’s Main and West Wings.
John Jemison’s many-faceted contributions to community life were recognized when he was awarded honorary Doctor of Laws degrees by the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 1981 and by Birmingham-Southern College in 1987. On May 16, 1988, eighty-year-old John S.
Jemison, Jr. was killed when his car struck a bridge abutment in Birmingham.
As stated in the May 18, 1988, Birmingham News, “John S. Jemison, Jr., was a builder and benefactor of Birmingham. His tragic death… leaves us a little poorer… In so many ways, Mr. Jemison was a leading citizen. He will be mourned and missed throughout the community.”
Biographical information provided by Jemison Investment Co., Inc.
