Jarvis was born in
North Oxford, Ontario, Canada in 1847 to Jonathan and Eliza (Allan) Jarvis. At the age of 13, he left school and began work as an errand boy for a grocery store, and quickly worked his way up to manager. In 1869, he left the store and joined his father in the dairy and cheese-making business. He married Matilda A. Dundas that same year. John and Matilda moved to Riverside, California in 1881. Once there, he joined his brother, Dr. Joseph Jarvis, in a fruit drying business. He became a partner in the fruit-packing firm of
Griffin & Skelley, serving as the buyer for the firm. Jarvis quickly became a prominent figure in the fruit growing and packing industry in and around Riverside. He managed many of his own orchards, operated a citrus nursery, and bought and shipped honey. Jarvis was also involved in a number of other early Riverside business ventures. He organized the
Royal Steam Laundry and served as president for 10 years, he helped organize the
Citizens Bank, and he ran a dry goods store named
J. T. Jarvis & Company, which later became ''Rouse's Department Store
after he sold his interest to Gaylor Rouse. The Rouse's Department Store Building'' is now Riverside City Landmark Number 50. In 1887, changing careers again, Jarvis went into real estate. In 1892 he founded
J. T. Jarvis and B. B. Bush, which became a prominent real estate firm. In 1895, he initiated the People's Abstract Company, served for 12 years as president, and later sold the company to the Riverside Title Company. The Jarvis house in downtown Riverside, on Twelfth Street, was originally built in 1887 in the
Victorian gothic style, but Jarvis and his wife had the house remodeled in 1914 to reflect the more fashionable
bungalow style. The
Jarvis House has been designated Riverside City Landmark Number 78. On January 3, 1932, John T. Jarvis died of a stroke and was buried at Riverside's
Evergreen Cemetery. His wife had died a year earlier. ==Political career==