Tradition has it that the family of Jacquesson came originally from Scotland. They went to France as Jacksons in the retinue of Mary, Queen of Scots in 1548. She subsequently married the Dauphin, François in 1559 and her apariage included the town of Épernay among others. The Queen used the revenues from these to finance her attempts to secure the English throne. Under the reign of Louis IV, a Jacquesson won fame reaching high office. To recognise his services, the king changed the spelling of his name from the Scottish, Jackson to the French, Jacquesson.
Adolphe Jacquesson was the grandson of the founder of Jacquesson et Fils. His grandfather, Claude, an only child, lost his father at the age of 21 and married Nicole Terrier in November 1777. They in turn had an only child, Memmie. [There is a church called St Memmie, in Châlons.] In 1794, Claude purchased a former convent [Cloisters of St Etienne] in Châlons-sur-Marne from the State for 3000 fr. The building stood in the square in the shadow of the Cathedral.
Memmie Jacquesson married Victoire Chanoine aged 18 in 1797. He devoted his life to the expansion of the champagne business and enlarging the cellars to accommodate the growth in production. He was a man who constantly worried about finances, partly because he knew that champagne, a relatively new luxury product was subject to the rise and fall of economic conditions. Moreover he continually worried about his son's generosity and his adventurous business ventures, which were more often than not, unsuccessful.
It could be said that the whole champagne industry owed much of its success to Memmie Jacquesson. At the beginning of the century the trade in sparkling wines had diminished to a point where the production of 50,000 bottles was considered a very daring commercial act. Memmie extended his cellars and developed a lucrative export trade. Despatches to the north in 1808-1809 resulted in the municipal council of Châlons awarding him and his associate, Juglar, a gold medal at a public sitting on July 30th, 1810. In the same year Napoleon visited the Jacquesson establishment and also conferred a gold medal.
Apart from Adolphe, who was born on 4 Thermidore VIII, Memmie and Victoire also had a daughter, Héloise who married medical researcher, Joseph-Gregoire Dagonet.
Memmie Jacquesson was a philanthropist. In scarce times he arranged to import flour and resell below cost to his employees and the town's poor. The 1816-1817 crop failure drove the price of wine beyond the reach of the average citizen. Memmie sought out a Flanders brewer, built a brewery and sold cheap beer.
He also sat on the municipal council from 1828 until 1834. He was captain of the National Guard in 1830 and on his own initiative created a company of lancers from the young men of Châlons. He retired with the rank of lieutenant-colonel.
Memmie was plagued by dishonest agents. The practice of the day was to sell wine in bulk to agents who would then place their own label on the product. Often payment was slow and in some cases never appeared and yet the House had to maintain a good relationship with these people to ensure their wines' names were upheld in a positive manner. This dilemma caused Memmie much anguish. In 1835 Memmie died at the age of fifty-six in his cellars at Fagnières four kilometres from the centre of Châlons. His wife lived for five more years, dying at home in June 1840.

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