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Created page with "{{Infobox officeholder​ | name=Jacob Welch "Jake" Cameron​ |nationality=American​ | office=8th Mayor of Bossier City, Louisiana, United S..."
{{Infobox officeholder​
| name=Jacob Welch "Jake" Cameron​
|nationality=[[United States|American]]​
| office=8th [[Mayor]] of [[Bossier City]], [[Louisiana]], [[United States|USA]]​
| party=[[Democratic Party|Democrat]] ​
| term_start=1957​
| term_end=1961​
| preceded=[[Burgess McCranie]] ​
| succeeded=George L. Nattin​
| birth_place=Homer, Claiborne Parish, Louisiana
| birth_date=April 17, 1913​
| death_date=September 30, 1999 (aged 86)​
| death_place=Bossier City, Louisiana​
| resting_place=Forest Park East Cemetery in [[Shreveport]]​
| alma_mater=Homer High School<br>​
[[Louisiana College]]​
| residence=Bossier City, Louisiana​
| occupation=[[Educator]]; [[Business]]man​<br>
[[United States Coast Guard]] in [[World War II]]
| spouse=Iva Lynn Eatman Cameron (married 1939-1999, his death)​
| children=No children​
| parents=Milton Perry and Lou Ada Nelson Cameron​
| religion=[[Southern Baptist]]​
}}​
'''Jacob Welch Cameron''', known as '''Jake W. Cameron''' (April 17, 1913 &ndash; September 30, 1999),<ref name=bio>{{cite web|url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/114256420|title=Jacob Welch "Jake" Cameron|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|date=October 1, 1999|accessdate=January 2, 2015}}</ref> was a [[business]]man who served as a [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] from 1957 to 1961 as the eighth [[mayor]] of [[Bossier City]], [[Louisiana]].​
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==Background==​
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Cameron was the youngest of eight children born in Homer in Claiborne Parish to Milton Perry Cameron (1867-1946) and the former Lou Ada Nelson (1875-1956), who are interred at Arlington Cemetery in Homer. After graduation from Homer High School, Cameron obtained in 1938 a bachelor's degree from [[Southern Baptist]]-affiliated [[Louisiana College]] in [[Pineville, Louisiana|Pineville]]. He taught school and coached in Claiborne and Bossier parishes prior to service in the [[United States Coast Guard]] during [[World War II]].<ref name=bio/>

In 1939, he married the former Iva Lynn Eatman (1918-2009) of Bossier City, a graduate of Centenary College in Shreveport, who was a long-term Bossier Parish educator.<ref name=mrscameron>{{cite web|url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/114256587|title=Iva Lynn Eatman Cameron|work=The Shreveport Times|date=January 29, 2009|accessdate=January 2, 2015}}</ref>​
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==Political life==​
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Cameron served as Bossier City police chief. At the time of his election as mayor on May 16, 1957, he was the chief Bossier Parish deputy tax assessor. He succeeded the one-term mayor, [[Burgess McCranie]], who was also a former police chief. Under Mayor Cameron, the city completed a master plan for orderly growth,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ftpcontent2.worldnow.com/ktbs/files/1956BossierMasterPlan.pdf|title=1956 Bossier Master Plan|publisher=ftpcontent2.worldnow.com|accessdate=January 21, 2015}}</ref> a railroad underpass on Hamilton Road, and the municipal water plant. Cameron said that he tried to meet individual constituent needs as mayor. In an interesting anecdote, Cameron recalled a woman who ran over a sewerage manhole that a city employee had accidentally left uncovered. When Cameron called the city [[insurance]] agent to request a new tire for the motorist, the agent balked at covering the expense. "At first the insurance company wasn’t going to buy a new tire, but I said, 'Well, if she doesn't get a new tire, the first thing Monday morning, we’ll have a new insurance agent.' The agent said, 'Mayor, send that lady right down.'"<ref name=sportj>{{cite web|url=http://bossier.pastperfect-online.com/36091cgi/mweb.exe?request=record&id=CCC1F9AA-FFD8-4C81-9811-643527335144&type=102|title=''Journal'' Salutes Bossier City: The men at Bossier's reins: Jake W. Cameron|work=[[Shreveport Journal]]|accessdate=January 17, 2015}}</ref>

Cameron correctly predicted that Bossier City would grow "by leaps and bounds" in population as well as attracting business and investment.<ref name=sportj/>​
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In June 1960, Cameron joined Clyde Edward Fant of Shreveport at a reception at Shreveport Regional Airport called to honor disabled veterans from World War II and to seek the reopening of the Disabled American Veterans service center at the Overton Brooks Veterans Administration Hospital in Shreveport. The event drew large media coverage.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/2390666/|title=Riser, DuFour go to DAV Meeting in Shreveport|publisher=''The Ruston Daily Leader''|date=June 2, 1960|pages=6|accessdate=January 21, 2015}}</ref>​
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Cameron was unseated as mayor on April 8, 1961, after one term, by his fellow Democrat George Leon Nattin, Sr. (1918-2002), who like McCranie and Cameron was a former municipal police chief. Nattin polled 3,204 votes to Cameron's 1,571 ballots.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/1649774/|title=City Voters Across State Name Leaders|publisher=''Lake Charles American Press''|date=April 10, 1961|page=22|accessdate=January 17, 2015}}</ref>​
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Thereafter, Cameron was a member of the elected Bossier Parish School Board. He was a [[deacon]] and [[Sunday school]] teacher at the First Baptist Church of Bossier City, pastored for three decades by [[Fred Lowery]].<ref name=bio/> He was a trustee of his alma mater, Louisiana College, having served alongside Claude Kirkpatrick and [[J. D. Grey]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/1429062/|title=State Baptists Open Convention|publisher=''Lake Charles American-Press''|date=January 18, 1962|page=39|accessdate=January 17, 2015}}</ref>​
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Cameron and his wife had no children. They are interred at Forest Park East Cemetery in Shreveport.<ref name=bio/><ref name=mrscameron/>​
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==References==​
{{reflist}}​
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, Jake W.}}​
[[Category:Louisiana People]]​
[[Category:Educators]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:Mayors]]​
[[Category:Democrats]]​
[[Category:Baptists]​
[[Category:United States Coast Guard]]​
[[Category:World War II]]​
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