Andrew Jackson
The Hon. Andrew Jackson, former representative from this district in the General Assembly of the state of Ohio and for years one of the forceful figures in the life of Greene county, was born in this county and has resided here most of his life, the exception being a period of about ten years during which he was engaged in railroad service following his completion of nearly three years of service as a soldier of the Union during the Civil War. He was born on the old Jackson homestead place of Clarks run, west of Cedarville, December 25, 1843, a son of Gen. Robert and Minerva (Eddy) Jackson, prominent residents of that community, whose last days were spent in this county.
Gen. Robert Jackson was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, March 3, 1798, and was sixteen years of age when he came to this county in 1814 with his parents, Robert and Elizabeth (McCorkle) Jackson, the family settling on a farm along Clarks run, west of the village of Cedarville. The elder Robert Jackson was born in 1758 at Newtown, Limavady, County Derry, Ireland, son of David and Elizabeth (Reed) Jackson, of Scottish descent, who were the parents of four children, three sons and one daughter, and was but four years of age when his parents came with their family to the American colonies in 1762 and settled in Pennsylvania, as is set out at informative length elsewhere in this volume, together with a comprehensive history of the beginnings of the Jackson family in Greene county. David Jackson also was born at Newtown, about the year 1730, the third son by the second wife of Dr. Joseph Jackson, a physician of that place. By a previous marriage Dr. Joseph Jackson had a son, Andrew, who on account of his participation in a revolutionary movement in his own country was compelled to flee to the American colonies, he and his wife and two small sons settling in 1765 in the Waxhaw settlement in South Carolina. There Andrew Jackson died in the spring of 1767, a few days before the birth of his third son, who in honor of the deceased father was named Andrew and who in the proper fullness of time became the seventh President of the United States, it thus being seen that Robert Jackson, the Greene county pioneer, and Andrew Jackson, the hero of the battle of New Orleans and one of the most conspicuous figures in American history were cousins. When the War of the Revolution came on David Jackson took an active part in the struggle of the colonists and lost a hand at the battle of Trenton. His wife died at Oxford, in Chester county, Pennsylvania, October 7, 1767, she then being thirty-four years of age. He survived her many years, his death occurring in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, in August, 1811, and he was buried beside the body of his wife in the Oxford burying ground. They were members of the Associate Presbyterian church and in 1782, at the union of the Reformed and Associate Presbyterian churches, he became a member of the Associate Reformed church.
Robert Jackson, third in order of birth of the four children born to David and Elizabeth (Reed) Jackson, grew to manhood in Pennsylvania and during the Revolutionary War served as a soldier of the patriot army. In the spring of 1786 he married Elizabeth McCorkle, who was born in Scotland and who was but a child when she came to this side with her parents. Her father was killed in battle while serving in behalf of the patriot cause during the Revolutionary War and her mother died not long afterward, she thereafter making her home with a Quaker family in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, where she was living when married to Robert Jackson. She has been described as a large woman, five feet ten inches in height and of a weight of one hundred and ninety pounds; blonde, with blue eyes, auburn hair nearly five feet Jong, portly, with commanding, queenly appearance and straight as an Indian, her commanding appearance always insuring to her the respect due as a lady of the first rank. Robert Jackson has been described as a man six feet in height, of slender form and of a weight of one hundred and seventy-five pounds, of dark complexion, black, curly hair and long lean face, there being a tradition in the family that he bore a striking resemblance to his illustrious cousin, Andrew Jackson, President of the United States. This description, written by the Rev. Hugh Parks Jackson, of Cedarville, dean of the Jackson family in this county, further sets out that Robert Jackson "was of a sedate disposition; did not engage in foolish fun, but was fond of company of his own kind: a man of pleasant and agreeable manners, but, like 'Old Hickory' Jackson, was full of mettle of the right ring. He was like a bell—touch him and he would sound. He was a wheelwright by trade, but worked on the farm as well, a man of industrious and abstemious habits and a great reaper in the harvest field with the old-fashioned sickle. It was the custom then to have whisky in the harvest field to drink, but it was his habit to sit on the fence, with his hat off, resting, while others were drinking. He was not a man of many words, but good company on subjects that were profitable to be discussed. He would, in holy indignation, resent and resist the oppression of the weak who were making strenuous and honest efforts to do right. At one time in a harvest field, when sixty years old, he threw his sickle down and cracked his fists together, saying: 'I can whip any man that will impose on a boy!' A dozen harvesters reaping in the field were making sport of a boy who was trying to make a hand in the same field with them."
In 1789, about three years after his marriage, Robert Jackson moved over the mountains from Lancaster county to Westmoreland county, in Pennsylvania, and settled on a farm in the forks of the Yough, and was living there when what historically is known as the "Whisky Rebellion" broke out in western Pennsylvania in the summer of 1794. He indirectly aided and abetted this rebellion by loaning his gun to one of his neighbors, who was engaged in the rebellion, and was for months thereafter compelled to seek hiding in the bush while the soldiers were scouring the country in search of insurrectionists. But presently the President pardoned and released all engaged in the insurrection and the soldiers were withdrawn. In 1799 Robert Jackson sold his hill fann and moved over into the then Territory of Ohio, buying a farm two miles southeast of Mt. Pleasant, in Jefferson county, where he remained until 1814, when he disposed of his interests there and with his family came to Greene county and settled on Clarks run, west of Cedarville. In this county he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives, her death occurring on September 28, 1822, and his, September 26, 1822, and both were laid to rest in the Massiescreek burying ground. Robert Jackson was for years a ruling elder in the Associate Reformed church, having thus served his church both in Pennsylvania and after his coming to Greene county, and his children were reared in that faith. There were ten of these children, of whom Robert, father of the subject of this sketch, was the seventh in order of birth, and of these ten all save two grew to maturity, married and had families of their own, their children, in turn, numbering eighty-four, the descendants of these, in the present generation, comprising a well-nigh innumerable host and forming connections with most of what are regarded as the "old families" of Greene county.
Partaking the physical characteristics of both of his parents, Gen. Robert Jackson has been described as a man of six feet two inches in height, of a weight of one hundred and ninety pounds, straight as an Indian, of fine physique, dark complexion, dark eyes, black curly hair, "and when dressed in full military costume and mounted on his spirited white charger made a handsome appearance and was indeed a brilliant and popular military officer." From boyhood he was fond of military tactics and parades and when he came to this county with his parents in 1814 at once became a participant in the activities of muster days and the like, going on up in rank in the local militia until on August 22, 1831, he was commissioned by Governor McArthur as brigadier general of the First Brigade, Fifth Division, Ohio State Militia, a commission he held until his resignation on August 6, 1836. The General also took an active part in the general public affairs of the community and was elected to represent this district in the thirty-third General Assembly of the state of Ohio. From 1857 to 1862 he represented his district as a member of the board of county commissioners and in 1862 went with the "squirrel hunters" to Cincinnati to help repel the threatened rebel invasion of Ohio. In early life the General was a Democrat, but in 1852 became a Free Soiler and upon the organization of the Republican party threw in his influence with the latter party and remained a firm adherent of the same until his death. It has been written of him that in disposition he was free and jovial, fond of society and of his friends, with whom he was always popular and a welcome guest. On December 25, 1821, Gen. Robert Jackson married Minerva Eddy, of Lebanon, in the neighboring county of Warren, and after his marriage continued to make his home on the old home place on Clarks run until 1856, when he sold that farm, which meantime had been bequeathed to him, and moved to Xenia, where he became engaged in the milling business, several years later moving to a small fruit farm two miles east of Xenia, where he spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring there on April 10, 1877. His widow returned to Xenia, but later moved to Yellow Springs, where she died on January 16, 1882. Both were reared in the Associate Reformed church and after the union in 1858 became connected with the United Presbyterian church.
To Gen. Robert and Minerva (Eddy) Jackson were born twelve children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the eleventh in order of birth, the others being the following: Phoebe Ann, born on November 24, 1822, who was thrice married, her first husband having been Matthew Corry Jacoby, her second John Thomas Dawson, and her third Jefferson Joseph Reed, and who by her first husband was the mother of three children, Robert Scott, Henry Martin and Rebecca Jane, the latter of whom married the Rev. George G. Mitchell, and by her second husband, three children, Minerva Alice, Elizabeth Ann and Kate Josephine; Joseph Addison, January 6, 1825, who died on October 1, 1834; Elizabeth, September 8, 1827, who married John Corry and had four children, William Henry, Minerva Emazetta, Anna Maud and Lizzie Alta; Joshua M., November 17, 1829, a veteran of the Civil War, who married Mary Matilda Gowdy and had five children, Robert A., Charles Conditt, Joshua C, Joseph E. and Mary; Mary, January 28, 1832, who married John R. Nash and had two sons, Robert Hervey and Hugh Lee; Nancy Jane, June 3, 1834, who married Prof. Robert Hood; Dona Martha, May 3, 1836, who married George Royse; twins, who died at birth in 1838; Robert Eddy, December 23, 1840, who died on August 24, 1843, and James Harvey, July 27, 1847, who died on June 10, 1849.
Andrew Jackson was eleven years of age when his parents moved from the farm to Xenia and his schooling was completed in the schools of that city. Upon leaving school he entered the employ of Merrick & Company, dry-goods merchants at Xenia, remaining there until the fall of 1861, when he went to Michigan with his brother-in-law. Professor Hood, a civil engineer, and under the direction of the latter took a course in surveying, geometry, trigonometry and bookkeeping. In the following spring he returned to Xenia and resumed his place in the Merrick store, being given charge of that concern's books, and continued thus engaged until August 8, 1862, when he enlisted as a member of Company H, Ninety-fourth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and went to the front with that command, his first skirmish with the enemy coming on the 31st of that same month at Tate's Ferry, Kentucky. In the battle of Perrysville in October following Mr. Jackson received a wound in the left shoulder, but was not seriously incapacitated, for he was able to participate in the bloody battle of Stone's River a couple of months later. With his command he then took part in the Tullahoma campaign and then on through the South, taking part in such battles as those at Dug Gap, Chickamauga. Lookout Mountain, Mission Ridge, Resaca. Dallas, Kenesaw Mountain, Smyrna Camp Grounds, Chattahoochee River, Peach Tree Creek, the siege of Atlanta, Jonesboro, Bentonville, and was present when Johnson surrendered on April 26, 1865. He was mustered out of service on June 5, 1865, after a service of two years and ten months, the war then being at an end. During a part of the last year of this service he was detailed as chief clerk to the inspector-general of the First Brigade, First Division of the Fourteenth Army Corps.
Upon the completion of his military service Mr. Jackson returned home and was almost immediately thereafter appointed to a position as assistant engineer in the maintenance-of-way department of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad, a position which he occupied for a year, at the end of which time he resigned to accept the position of engineer and amanuensis to the president in the office of the Cincinnati & Zanesville Railroad, at Cincinnati, presently being promoted to the position of general ticket agent and paymaster of that road, and remained thus connected for six years or until his resignation and return to Cedarville. In the meantime he had married a daughter of James Dunlap, the lumberman, and upon his return to Cedarville took charge of the latter's extensive lumber interests, not only at that place but at Cincinnati and in the Michigan lumber camps, at the same time giving direction to the operations on his farm in the Cedarville neighborhood, and presently began to give particular attention to the breeding of fine horses on the farm, with particular reference to animals for the speed-ring. For years Mr. Jackson continued this active interest in horses. The famous Wilkes strain was his favorite and the "Onward" branch of this strain gained for him many good marks. He maintained a track on his farm and trained both trotting and pacing stock, among the notables there trained for racing having been "General Jackson" and "Miss Jackson." For six successive years Mr. Jackson held the position of starter judge of the horse races at the Ohio state fair. Mr. Jackson is a Republican and was elected to represent this district in the sixty-eighth General Assembly and was re-elected for the succeeding term. During his service in the Legislature Mr. Jackson gained so many friends that during the succeeding session of the General Assembly he was chosen sergeant-at-arms of the House and so satisfactorily did he perform the duties of that office that he was re-elected for six succeeding sessions and thus served until the seventy-sixth session, at the last session receiving the vote also of the Democrats, a compliment said to be unparalleled in the annals of the Legislature. In 1891 Mr. Jackson was appointed a member of the state commission to locate markers or regimental monuments to the memory of the fifty-five Ohio regiments that were represented on the field during the battle of Chickamauga. This commission was the first of the similar state commissions on the field and four years was occupied in its labors, the Ohio monuments being dedicated on September 19, 1895. For twenty-two years (1890-1912) Mr. Jackson was a member of the Cedarville school board. Then the Cedarville board and the township board were consolidated and Mr. Jackson has since continued to render service as the clerk of the united board, in that capacity rendering service at the time of the erection of the new school building at Cedarville in 1916, a building that is regarded as a model of its type in the state of Ohio. In 1912 Mr. Jackson was elected clerk of Cedanille township and in 1917 was re-elected to that otfice for the fourth time. Since 1899 he also has been continued in office as justice of the peace in and for his home township, his neighbors long ago apparently having come to the conclusion that they want no other "squire" to sit in local judgment. When the Cedarville Building and Loan Association was organized in 1896 Mr. Jackson was elected secretary of that concern and has ever since been retained in that position. Mr. Jackson's home is surrounded by forty acres of well-kept land just out of the southeastern limits of the city of Cedarville.
On December 17, 1868, Andrew Jackson was united in marriage to Mary J. Dunlap, who was born at Cincinnati on March 1, 1845, daughter of James Dunlap, mentioned above as having been extensively engaged in the lumber business at Cincinnati and at Cedarville and who died at his home in the latter place on January 25, 1890, he then being seventy-six years of age. To this union four children were bom, namely: Pearl J., born on May 13, 1871, wife of Ralph G. George, of Jamestown, this county; Frank A., July 10, 1876, now serving as sheriff of Greene county and a biographical sketch of whom is presented elsewhere in this volume; Clara G., November 9, 1878, wife of H. H. Cherry, a farmer living in Xenia township and further reference to whom is made elsewhere, and Fannie D., December 30, 1880, wife of R. L. Baldwin, of Chicago.
From History of Greene County Ohio, Its People, Industries and Institutions, vol. 2. M.A.Broadstone, editor. B.F.Bowen & Co., Indianapolis. 1918
The list of the leading citizens of Greene county contains the name of the Hon. Andrew Jackson, one of the representative and honored citizens of Cedarville. His record as a soldier, as an official and a business man has been so honorable that he has gained the confidence and good will of all with whom he has been brought in contact. His unbending integrity of character, his fearlessness in the discharge of his duties and his appreciation of the responsibilities that have rested upon him have been such as to make him a most acceptable incumbent in the office of assemblyman and in that of sergeant-at-arms in the house. He is filling the latter position at the present time and is one of the most popular men ever called to the office.
Mr. Jackson has back of him an ancestry honorable and distinguished. Many representatives of the family have attained state and some national importance in business affairs. in military life and in statesmanship. His great-grandfather was a brother of Andrew Jackson, the hero of the battle of New Orleans and later the president of the United States. Robert Jackson, the father of our subject, became prominent in public affairs of Greene county. He was commander of the militia forces of this county and in 1834 he represented this district in the state legislature. It was in the year 1805 that General Robert Jackson removed from Pennsylvania to Ohio, settling on Clark's Run, near a good spring, for in those days it was a valuable addition to a farm if there was a spring upon it. His place was three.miles west of Cedarville on the Jackson pike and is now known as the Stevenson farm. He was a man of soldierly bearing and commanding appearance. His commission as genera! bears date 1831. He filled local offices, including that of county commissioner of Greene cotmty, and was long a recognized leader in public thought and action. His death occurred when he was eighty years of age near Xenia. He was married, in December, 1819, to Miss Minerva J., a daughter of Philip Eddy, of Warren county and on horseback the bridal pair made their way to their new home in Greene county. An old bureau of cherry wood, which was a bridal present from her parents, is still in possession of our subject. Seven of the twelve children born of this marriage are still living.
Upon the home farm Andrew Jackson, of this review, spent his early boyhood days. He was born on Christmas day of 1845 and received his education in the common schools. At the age of thirteen years he went to Xenia and accepted a position in the dry-goods store of Merrick & Company and while living in Xenia he attended school. For two years he held a position as bookkeeper and served in that capacity until the fall of 1864, when he enlisted in the Union army, amused by a patriotic desire to aid in the preservation of the Union. He was then a boy not yet sixteen years of age and the only son at home. Because of this his mother would not consent to his departure and got a writ restraining him from going to the front. He then went with his brother-in-law to Michigan and entering his school there took up the study of civil engineering, in which his brother-in-law was very proficient. While carrying on his studies Mr. Jackson formed a company from his class, composed of boys all larger than himself, and drilled them in Hardie's tactics. From that company several commissioned officers were drawn later in the war.
Returning to his home the following spring Mr. Jackson again became connected with commercial circles of Xenia, but the fires of patriotism burned strongly within him and once more he offered his services to the government, becoming a member of Company H. Ninety-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, August 8, 1862, the regiment being organized at Piqua. He took part in a number of engagements, among them being that of Tate's Ferry, in which the regiment lost over three hundred men. He was struck by a bullet in the left arm at the battle of Ferryville but he never left his company and afterward participated in the engagements at Stone River, Buzzard's Roost and those of the Atlanta campaign, including Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, Mission Ridge, Resaca, Dallas, New Hope Church, Marietta. Peach Tree Creek and the siege at Atlanta. While at Murfreesboro, in 1863, Mr. Jackson was detailed as chief clerk in the office of the brigade inspector, acting in that capacity until he was granted a furlough in 1864. He was at home but fifteen days when he endeavored to rejoin his regiment but could get no farther than Nashville, Tennessee. There he reported for duty and was made chief clerk in the inspector's office there. He handled and issued all the ammunition to the troops, placed the pickets at their stations and performed other very important duties. When the war closed he was mustered out June 5, 1865, and returned to Xenia.
Not long after this Mr. Jackson accepted the position of assistant engineer with the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad, with headquarters at Dayton, and among other work which he did for that road was the supervision of the building of the bridge at Lima, Ohio, of which he had full charge, and which is a piece of splendid mechanical engineering. Soon after he was made general ticket agent of the Cincinnati & Zanesville Railroad, with offices in Cincinnati, and for six years held that responsible position, also acting as paymaster and engineer. In the meantime he had married and his wife's people desired that they should return and make their home in Cedarville, for the lady's parents were reaching an advanced age and wished to have their daughter near them, and desired Mr. Jackson to assist her father in the care of his property interests. Accordingly thev became residents of this town. Mr. Jackson spent three years in Mr. Dunlap's lumber camp in Micliigan. where he had charge of the entire force of one hundred men and at the same time superintended the operation of his farm in this county. The lumber firm of which Mr. Dunlap was the senior member did the largest business in that line in Cincinnati and continued in existence for more than half a century. For some time the charge of the company's business in Cincinnati devolved upon our subject and he had full supervision of its immense trade in all its departments. Mr. Jackson is now interested in the breeding of stock, an industry which has claimed his attention for many years and is secretary of the building and loan association of Cedarville, which he organized six years ago.
On the 17th of March, 1868, Mr. Jackson was married in Cedarville to Miss Mary J. Dunlap. a daughter of James Dunlap, who came from Cincinnati to this county at an early day, settling in Cedarville township. He was in the lumber business in the former city, but lived retired here. He died at Cedarville, January 25, 1890, at the age of seventy-six years, while his wife passed away shortly after the marriage of our subject. Mrs. Jackson is a member of the United Presbyterian church and a most estimable lady. Unto our subject and his wife have been born four children: Pearl, who is the wife of R. G. George, the cashier and paymaster of the Chicago Belt Railroad, by whom she has one child, Marion; Frank, who is township clerk of Cedarville township and manager of the opera house in Cedarville; Clara, a teacher in the public schools of Cedarville; and Fanny, at home. All were born on the home place in Cedarville township.
Mr. Jackson is a recognized leader of the Republican partv in this county and his opinions carry weight in the councils of the organization. He was elected to represent his district in the sixty-eighth general assembly and filled the position so creditably that he was re-elected. He was chosen sergeant-at-arms in the seventieth, seventy-first, seventy-second, seventy-fourth and seventy-fifth assembllies. At the last election in 1902 he was the Republican caucus nominee by acclamation and received the entire vote of the assembly, both Democrats and Republicans,—a case unparalleled in the history of the stale legislature. He is holding some local offices, has been a member of the school board for twenty-one years, is now serving as its clerk, and is also filling the position of justice of the peace of Cedarville. He was a member of the Ohio Chickamauga commission that erected monuments on the battlefield. This appointment was made under the act of May 4, 1891, by the Ohio assembly, whereby eight commissioners were appointed by Governor J. E. Campbell, these being: Generals John Beatty, Ferdinand Vanderveer, C. H. Grosvenor and Aquilla Wiley, Hon. J. S. Gill, Hon. Andrew Jackson, Private Frederick Wendall and Captain J. C. McElroy. This commission was the first in the field and erected fifty-two monuments which were dedicated September 19. 1895, at the time of the national dedication on the anniversary of the battle. The commission spent four years in its labors. Mr. Jackson has a wide acquaintance among the public men of the state, as well as in Greene county and enjoys in high measure the warm regard of all and the friendship of many of the distinguished citizens of Ohio.
From History of Greene County, Ohio, by George F. Robinson (S. J. Clarke Publishing Co, 1902)
This gentleman is a worthy scion of a family which has given to the world statesmen, soldiers, and business men in various lines of work, and has not been without its share of scholars, some members of the family becoming known over a wide extent of territory through the works that they accomplished. Personally, he possesses a fine character, a high degree of intelligence and the quick wit derived from his Irish origin, together with the manners which favorably impress those with whom he comes in contact and pave the way for their better acquaintance and higher regard.
The paternal grandfather of our subject was a first cousin to Gen. Andrew Jackson, ex-President of the United States, while his father, Robert Jackson, was commander of the Greene County State Militia and represented the county in the Legislature in 1834. Gen. Robert Jackson had come from Jefferson County, Pa., to this section in 1805, locating by a large spring on Clark’s Run. The farm he occupied is three miles west of Cedarville on the Jackson pike and is now known as the Stevenson Farm. He was a man of fine physique, being six feet one inch in height, and weighing two hundred and forty pounds, with a decidedly military bearing, quite in keeping with his position. His commission as General bears the date of 1831. He not only belonged to the Legislature but also served as Commissioner of Greene County, in which he attained to considerable note, retaining his prominence up to the time of his death, which took place at the age of eighty years. In Lebanon, Warren County, in December, 1819, he was married to Miss Minerva J., daughter of Phillip Eddy, of that county, their wedding trip being from that place to Greene County on horseback. A bureau made of cherry wood, which was a bridal gift from her parents is still in the possession of our subject. The union was blessed by the birth of twelve children, seven of whom are living at this writing.
The gentleman whose name introduces this sketch was reared on his father’s farm until thirteen years of age, when he took a position with the firm of Merrick & Co., dealers in dry-goods at Xenia. During this time he also attended school, and after two years became a book-keeper for the firm, holding that position until the fall of 1861, when the spirit of patriotism so thoroughly filled his bosom that he enlisted in the Union Army. Being but a boy under sixteen years of age, and the only son at home, his mother would not consent to his departure for fields of battle, and getting out a writ, had him brought home. He then went with his brother-in-law to Michigan, and entering his school took up the study of civil engineering, in which his brother-in-law was proficient and practical. While carrying on his studies young Jackson formed a company from the class, which was composed of boys larger than himself, and drilled them in Hardee’s tactics. From that company several commissioned officers were made later in the war.
Returning to his home the following spring Mr. Jackson took his old position in a store at Xenia, but in August, of that year, carried out his desire to assist in preserving the Union, becoming a member of the Ninety-fourth Ohio Infantry, organized at Piqua, and being enrolled in Company H. He took part in a number of engagements, among them being Tate’s Ferry, in which the regiment lost over three hundred men, and at Perryville, where he was wounded in the left shoulder, receiving a bullet in the fleshy part of his arm but never leaving his company. He afterward participated in the contests at Stone River, Buzzard’s Roost, and the other engagements on the road to Atlanta, numbering among them some of the most famous and bloody contests of the war, the list including Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, Mission Ridge, Resaca, Dallas, New Hope Church, Marietta, Peach Tree Creek and the siege of Atlanta.
While at Murfreesboro, in 1863, Mr. Jackson was detailed as Chief Clerk of the Brigade Inspector, which position he held until he received a furlough in 1864. He was at home but fifteen days when he endeavored to join his regiment, but could get no further than Nashville, Tenn. There he reported for duty and was assigned to the post of Chief Clerk of the Inspector’s office of that post, a very responsible and dangerous position. All the ammunition was handled and issued to the troops through him, and it was his duty to place the pickets at their appointed stations. He was mustered out of the service June 5, 1865, and returned to Xenia, conscious that he had discharged his duties to the best of his ability, and rejoicing in the success of the cause to which he had devoted himself.
Immediately after returning to his native State Mr. Jackson went to Dayton as Assistant Engineer of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad. Among other work which he did for that road, was engineering the building of the bridge at Lima, Ohio, of which he had full charge, and which is one of the finest pieces of work on the road, consisting of three spans of thirty-six feet arches, all of stone work. Soon after he became the General Ticket Agent of the Cincinnati & Zanesville Railroad, with his office at the former place. He held the position for six years, most of the time also acting as paymaster and engineer. During this time he was married, and began house-keeping, but his wife’s parents becoming feeble they wished him to come and live with them at their home in Cedarville. He therefore moved to Cedarville where his family has since resided and where he has had his vote. He spent three years in the lumber camps in Michigan, where he had charge of the entire force of one hundred men, and during the time also carried on a farm in Greene County. The lumber company, of which Mr. James Dunlap (Mrs. Jackson’S father) was the senior member, did the largest lumber business in Cincinnati, and was in existence over fifty years. The business of this company was settled up in that city in 1886, but is still continued in Cedarville by the same firm. For some time the charge of the company’s business in Cincinnati devolved upon Mr. Jackson, and he has had full charge of its immense trade in all departments since 1878.
Miss Mary J. Dunlap, a true-hearted and cultured woman, became the wife of our subject December 17, 1868, and has borne him four children. The first-born is Pearl, a young lady who will graduate in the class of 1890 in Cedarville, and who is receiving other advantages. The other members of the family circle are Frank, Clara, and Fannie, who will also be the recipients of excellent educational advantages and careful home training.
Mr. Jackson is a stalwart Republican. He has served his village as a member of the School Board, of which he is now President, and worked for a larger constituency in the State legislature, to which he was first elected in the fall of 1887, and re-elected two years later. He has served on the Game, Agriculture, Pikes and other committees, being at present one of the committee of Investigation of the State Board of Pardons. He was the author of the present game law, which is considered one of the best on the statute book. He is now Colonel of the Greene County Battalion, Grand Army of the Republic. The family attend and support the United Presbyterian Church, although Mr. Jackson does not hold membership.
From Portrait and Biographical Album of Clark and Greene Counties, Chapman Bros., Chicago, published 1890