All pastors have both a life and a ministry. Here are mine.
A LITTLE ABOUT MYSELF...
My full name is Cleo Eugene (Jack) Jackson, III; but mostly I go by "Pastor Jack". I retired after 41 years in Pastoral ministry, and now reside in the foothills of eastern Tennessee, where, together with my wife, I get to enjoy the beauty of God's creation and the love of family and friends.
I was born at what was then Crawford Long Hospital (now Emory University Midtown Hospital) in Atlanta, Georgia on October 26, 1961, and grew up on a farm in what was then rural Fayette County, Georgia. I attended the public school system where I met my future wife, Vickie Brackin, in the tenth grade. The two of us graduated high school together in 1979. Apart from my relationship with Almighty God through His son, Jesus Christ, I value my relationship with my beautiful wife above all other things in this world.
After high school, I attended Mercer University where I pursued and received my Bachelor of Arts degree, with a double major in Philosophy and Religion. During my sophomore year of college, I was licensed to the profession of Christian ministry. I later graduated, one week before my marriage to Vickie in June of 1983. Thereafter, the two of us moved to Princeton, New Jersey, where I pursued a Master of Divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary. I was ordained as a Baptist Minister in 1985. Following graduation in June of 1986, I began my professional ministry career back in my home state of Georgia.
About this time, my wife, Vickie, and I were blessed with three wonderful children, each about two years apart: daughter Andrea (better known as Andie), son Caleb, and son Micah. Over the next seven years, I worked on staff at two different churches - one as a Student Pastor for two years, and another as an Administrative and Educational Pastor for five years. During this time, I also pursued my Doctor of Ministry degree, graduating from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in June of 1993. Later, I undertook additional studies at Oxford University in England in 1999 and then again at Cambridge University in England in 2009.
My first senior pastorate was in south Georgia for three years; and my second was in north Georgia for five years. In 2001, my family and I moved to Lenoir City, Tennessee, where I became the Senior Pastor of the First Baptist Church. In the spring of 2020, upon my retirement, my wife, Vickie, and I relocated to the little community of Greenback, Tennessee. I have a strong sense that the Lord has called me to write; and now plan to devote my attention to this more and more in the coming days.
Our daughter, Andrea, is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro. She now lives in east Tennessee with her husband, Billy, who is also a graduate of the Aerospace program at Middle Tennessee State University, and who is employed as an Air Traffic Controller for the Federal Aviation Administration. Together, they are the proud parents of three little boys. She sometimes affectionately refer to them as "My Three Sons"! "Andie", as she is affectionately known, has always been very athletic, and was a multi-sport athlete in high school. She played second base on her high school softball team, which won a TSSAA State Championship in her sophomore year.
Caleb, our oldest son, likewise graduated from Middle Tennessee State University. He studied in the Aerospace Program. Currently, he lives in east Tennessee where he works in the aviation industry as a pilot. He likes hunting, fishing, scuba diving, motorcycling, and weightlifting. His wife, Whitney, is a graduate of the University of Tennessee and Lincoln Memorial University, and now teaches school here in East Tennessee. The two of them now have two young sons together.
Micah, our youngest son, also graduated from Middle Tennessee State University. His degree is from the College of Business Administration in the area of Finance. A licensed C.P.A., he works in the fields of accounting and finance. His wife, Jordan, who earned her Bachelor of Science degree from Middle Tennessee State University as well, is a registered nurse. The two of them live nearby and also have two sons together. Micah enjoys golfing, hunting, fishing, reading, and fitness, and has competed successfully in amateur bodybuilding.
I have always believed strongly in involvement in the local community. To this end, I have served in leadership roles in several civic clubs, including terms as President of the Lenoir City Rotary Club and as President of the Lenoir City Civitan Club. I have also served on the Boards of numerous community service organizations. Among them are: the Good Samaritan Center of Loudon County, the Boys and Girls Club of Loudon County, Hope Resource (Crisis Pregnancy) Center of greater Knoxville, and the Loudon County Literacy Council, the latter of which I served as President. I am also a graduate of Leadership Loudon County - class of 2012, and have participated as a Facilitator for succeeding classes in this same program.
Before moving to Loudon County, I previously served in Board positions and/or Chaired the following organizations in other communities: the local Ministerial Association, the local Salvation Army Advisory Council, the local Family Connection Council, the local Habitat for Humanity Board, the local American Cancer Society Board, the local American Heart Association Board, and the local Chamber of Commerce.
I have further served the various communities where I have lived through involvement as a Reader in the public school system for such programs as the “Dr. Seuss’ Read Across America Program”, the “Accelerated Reader” Reading Program, and the “C.A.R.E.” Reading Program for elementary school students. Additionally, I have served as a volunteer coach for Pop Warner League Football, Little League Boys Baseball, Little League Girls Softball, and both Girls and Boys Recreation Department Basketball teams.
In addition to community service, I have also been involved in denominational activities in the Southern Baptist Convention, which is the denomination I serve. I have held several leadership roles at local Associational level, State level, and national Convention level entities and organizations within the Southern Baptist Convention, including that of Committee member, Commission member, Executive Board member, Moderator, and both Hospital and Seminary Trustee.
I believe very strongly in the cause of higher education and have served in a number of capacities to advance this cause. For over a dozen years, I served as the Director and as an Adjunct Professor for the East Tennessee Extension Center of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, a program of study offering Master of Divinity and Master of Arts Degrees to qualified ministers who, already holding a Bachelor's Degree, are presently serving in local churches and thus unable to move to the Seminary's home campus in Louisville, Kentucky in order to pursue higher theological education. (This program of study was and is fully accredited by the Association of Theological Schools, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, and the State of Tennessee Higher Education Commission.)
I have also been involved in various extended ministries in the past, including broadcasting (for three separate radio devotional programs), chaplaincy (for both hospital and local government entities), and conference and retreat speaking in various venues. I have always had aspirations to write, and am currently pursuing this interest professionally as a component of my ministry.
Throughout my career, I have been a member of several professional organizations, including the “American Association of Christian Counselors” and the “National Association of Church Business Administration”. Academic organizations with which I have been affiliated include the “Biblical Archaeology Society”, the “Society of Biblical Literature”, the “Evangelical Philosophical Society”, the “Evangelical Theological Society”, the “American Academy of Religion”, the “American Schools of Oriental Research”, the “Palestine Exploration Fund”, the “Israel Exploration Society”, the “Near Eastern Archaeological Society”, and the “Intercollegiate Studies Institute”. I have also been a member of both the “William Tennent Society” of Princeton Theological Society and the “Century Society” of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
My hobbies include learning about history, especially the study of archaeology and antiquity. (In fact, while I cannot be sure; I am inclined to think that the History Channel was originally conceived of with me in mind!) My wife, Vickie, and I have travelled extensively throughout most of the continental U.S.A., including Alaska. We have also been abroad to Canada (for three trips), the Bahamas, several Caribbean Islands, the Netherlands Antilles, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Overseas travel has included three trips to Egypt, three to Israel, two trips each to England, Holland, India, and Italy, and one trip each to France, Germany, Greece, Jordan, and Turkey. During my pastorates, the churches I have served have undertaken mission trips to Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, France, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Moldova, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Romania, Russia, Senegal, Thailand, and Venezuela.
In addition to travel, I also enjoy the outdoors. My sons and I are avid fishermen, at varying times of both fresh and salt water species. (Micah outdid us all when he caught and released a ten foot hammerhead shark a few years back.) We also enjoy both bird hunting (dove and pheasant) and big game hunting (whitetail and mule deer and pronghorn antelope), and have undertaken several trips out west for this purpose. Among my prized trophies is also a sizeable black bear which I harvested in Canada. Other leisure activities I enjoy include weightlifting, motorcycling, drawing, and reading.
Honors I have received include being selected for inclusion in American MENSA, as well as the following recognitions: “Outstanding Young Men of America”; “Marquis’ Who’s Who in Religion”; “Paul Harris Fellow” from Rotary International Foundation; “William David Ghormley Rotarian of the Year” award for 2005 from the Lenoir City Rotary Club; and membership in the following: the “President’s Council” of Civitan International Foundation; the “Legacy Society” of Civitan International Foundation; the “Alexander Graham Bell Legacy Society” of the National Geographic Society; and the “Legion of Honor” of the National Rifle Association. I have also been a member of both the Tennessee Sheriff’s Association and the Tennessee Police Federation, as well as the Fraternal Order of Police, Ft. Loudoun Area Lodge Number 21.
I was honored to serve as Chaplain for the Georgia State Senate during the 1997 Session. In 2012, I was equally honored to serve as "Minister of the Day" for the Tennessee State House of Representatives. I was made a "Lieutenant Colonel, Aide De Camp, Governor’s Staff" by the State of Georgia in 1991. In 2007, I received the official designation of "Honorary Tennessean" from the Governor’s Office of the State of Tennessee. I greatly value these last two recognitions, one each from both my home and my adoptive states.
A LITTLE OF MY FAMILY'S HISTORY...
Name: Cleo Eugene “Jack” Jackson, III (Me)
Born: 10/26/1961, Atlanta, Georgia
Profession: Protestant Christian Minister (Southern Baptist Convention)
Wife: Vickie Denisha Brackin (Personal Genealogy listed at:
http://www.smokykin.com/ged/f006/f06/a0060614.htm)
Children: Daughter: Andrea Danile Jackson Whisman
(Husband: William David Whisman)
Son: John Caleb Jackson
(Wife: Whitney Bilek Jackson)
Son: Micah Paul Jackson
(Wife: Jordan Kimsey Campbell Jackson)
Interesting Fact: I am the first Jackson male heir to: (1) graduate high school, and (2) leave Fayette County, Georgia and reside elsewhere, since the Jacksons first arrived there in the early 1820s.
Name: Cleo Eugene “Gene” Jackson (Jr.) (My Father)
Born: 03/10/1938, Fayette County, Georgia
Death: 01/23/2000, Fayette County, Georgia
Burial: New Hope Baptist Church Cemetery, Fayette County, Georgia
Profession: Funeral Director
Wife: Margie Nell Burdette (My Mother)
Children: Daughter: Barbara Jean Jackson (Brand)
Son: Cleo Eugene “Jack” Jackson, III (Me)
Daughter: Erica Jill Jackson (Phillips)
Interesting Fact: My father quit school after the tenth grade, hoping to be able to stay home and make a living on the farm just as his own father had done. However, the changing demographics of Fayette County, Georgia at the time thwarted his being able to farm successfully for a living. He entered the work force and eventually became a licensed Funeral Director, a profession which he pursued for over 25 years, until his death. He lived on a 40-acre farm named “Old Hickory Farm” due to a large hickory tree at its corner that had been used as a marker in the original surveying of the land by the first settlers of Fayette County back in the 1820s. (Sources: Census records, court records, land and tax records, military records, church records, his will, and family and personal records.)
Name: Cleo Jackson (My Grandfather)
Born: 09/21/1909, Fayette County, Georgia
Death: 04/22/1975
Burial: New Hope Baptist Church Cemetery, Fayette County, Georgia
Profession: Farmer
Wife: Junie Mae Turner (My Grandmother)
Children: Daughter: Jimmie Lee Jackson (Hammond)
Son: Cleo Eugene “Gene” Jackson (My Father)
Son: Roy Larry Jackson
Interesting Fact: My grandfather was the last of my ancestors in Fayette County, Georgia actually to make a full-time living by farming. He quit school at the end of the third grade due to his own father’s illness and bankruptcy. Barely able to read and write, he nevertheless worked his way into a prosperous position in the community, owning two “one horse” farms and managing a third one at the time of his death. (My father once told me that a “one horse” farm was c. 40 acres, as that was the amount of land one man and one horse or mule could reasonably be expected to work in a given year.) Along the way, Cleo gravitated from crop farming to hog and, eventually, cattle farming. He was 20 years old when the Stock Market crashed in 1929, ushering in the Great Depression. Like most people in the rural south of his day, he learned to be self-sufficient and raised most of his own food, only buying what he could not raise himself on the farm. He worked few public jobs. Nonetheless, it was rumored that, like so many other destitute young men during the 1930s, he made a little extra money on Saturday nights by running moonshine up to the speak-easies in Atlanta. Official records, however, indicate that he actually worked at the Atlanta Journal newspaper on Saturday nights as a way to supplement his income while raising a family. I remember him as he was later in life (when he was a grandfather), and I have to say this of him: he was quite possibly the most joyous person I have ever known. (Sources: Census records, land and tax records, military records, church records, his will, and family and personal records.)
Name: John Bunyon Jackson (My Great-Grandfather)
Born: 09/22/1886, Haralson County, Georgia
Death: 10/26/1972, Fayette County, Georgia
Burial: New Hope Baptist Church Cemetery, Fayette County, Georgia
Profession: Farmer
Wife: Jessie Georgia Burdette (My Great-Grandmother)
Children: Son: Cleo Jackson (My Grandfather)
Daughter: Edna Matilda Jackson (McGourik)
Son: Andrew Cloud “Clyde” Jackson
Interesting Fact: My great grandfather, Bunyon Jackson, was the earliest of my ancestors whom I actually knew personally. Some of my favorite pictures are of him, my grandfather Cleo, my father Eugene, and myself in a four generation photograph taken when I was a child. Obviously named for the famed Puritan Pastor and author, John Bunyan, Bunyon’s name was nonetheless spelled with an "o" rather than an "a'. In all likelihood, neither of his parents were very well educated. Still, they were steeped in their faith and had probably once even read Pilgrim’s Progress, perhaps in school. The unique spelling of his name is likely the result. (Bunyon's wife - my great grandmother, Jessie - had parents who were similarly minded, and who named one of her brothers after the famed Protestant Reformer, John Calvin.) In any event, at the age of 13, Bunyon finished school, and then walked c. 50 miles from Haralson County, Georgia to Fayette County, Georgia to move in with his uncle, Henry Jackson, as his own father, minus a leg from the civil war, could no longer afford to feed him. He told his uncle that he was starving and that he would gladly work for room and board! Later on, in 1922, Bunyon himself declared bankruptcy due to illness. He contracted a disease known as pellagra, due primarily to a diet consisting almost entirely of corn, the only cash crop grown locally at the time. In 1908, he, his wife, and his in-laws were all “churched” at a business meeting for having missed a worship service at the Hopeful Primitive Baptist Church (where his forefathers had gone for 75 years) without offering a reason for being absent. The four of them promptly went down the road a few miles and joined a Southern Baptist church (New Hope Baptist Church – where I would one day grow up and eventually be called to preach). I remember being told a story about him that illustrates his knowledge of the Bible. Somehow, a discussion had arisen over the results of the fall of mankind in the Book of Genesis. In those days, the King James was essentially the only translation used in the rural south; and the person in question misquoted Genesis 3:19 as: "In the sweat of thy brow shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." Bunyon corrected them, pointing out that it actually said "in the sweat of thy face." An investigation soon ensued and Bunyon was vindicated in his knowledge of scripture. The last direct ancestor I knew personally, this meek and unassuming man had a great grandfather (Lewis) who served in the Revolutionary War, a father (Marion) who fought in the Civil War, a brother (Walt) who was gassed in the trenches of World War One, and a son (Clyde) who fought in the Battle of the Bulge in World War Two.
Additional Interesting Fact: When Bunyon Jackson’s father in law, Irving Waters “Waley” Burdette (the father of Jessie Georgia Burdette Jackson and thus, my great, great grandfather), was young, he lived with his family in Gwinnett County, Georgia, just northeast of Atlanta. On March 17, 1862, his father, Stephen L. Burdette (and my great, great, great grandfather), enlisted in Company A of the 42nd Georgia Infantry Regiment and marched off to war. Sadly, Stephen got terribly sick and then died and was buried on August 2, 1862 in Bean Station, TN as a result of his illness. Two years later, Water’s mother, Lavinia, took her children and fled south as the forces under Union General William T. Sherman approached Atlanta. Family tradition holds that she was passing through the city of Atlanta even as Sherman was shelling it. (One thinks of the classic scene in the movie, Gone with the Wind, when Atlanta is being shelled and there is literal pandemonium in the streets.) In any event, she travelled on further south into Fayette County and took up residence there. Shortly after the war and during reconstruction, she and her then 13 year old son, Waters, were in a barn receiving food rations for what would today be termed displaced persons, when a Yankee officer (some accounts say a Colonel and some say a General) pulled his handkerchief from his pocket to avert a sneeze. As he did, a gold piece fell from his pocket into the sawdust floor. The denomination is today unknown, but both $10 (eagle) and $20 (double eagle) United States gold pieces were minted in 1860. It was most likely the latter of the two, as these were produced in far greater quantities. In any event, hungry and destitute, the barefoot teenage Waters ambled over and surreptitiously crimped the coin up under his toes before quietly departing the scene, exhibiting as little a limp as possible in the process. The value was apparently such that he used the money to purchase a wagon and a team of either horses or mules (depending on which account one hears). He was soon earning money hauling people back and forth to and from town and, thereafter, hauling crops and/or grain back and forth to and from stores and mills. Thus, though he appears never to have farmed on a large scale himself, he went on to own significant acreage, to marry and have a very large family, and eventually to die a prosperous and satisfied man. One can see here that as hard as post-war reconstruction was on southern citizens, if one was enterprising enough and could somehow acquire the means to get into some sort of business, there was money to be made. Once again, one sees this principle illustrated in Margaret Mitchell's masterpiece, Gone with the Wind, when the destitute war widow, Scarlett, marries Frank Kennedy and soon takes over his sawmill and lumber business, eventually becoming a business tycoon in the end. (Sources: Census records, land and tax records, military records, church records, his will, and family and personal records.)
Name: Marion Jackson (My Great-Great-Grandfather)
Born: 01/22/1842, Fayette County, Georgia
Death: 02/14/1921, Haralson County, Georgia
Burial: Cross Roads Baptist Church Cemetery, Haralson County, Georgia
Profession: Farmer
Wife: Emma (Emily) Eason (My Great-Great-Grandmother)
Children: Son: Jordan Jackson
Daughter: Noley Leach Jackson
Daughter: Mary Leetha Jackson
Daughter: Ida Jackson
Son: John Bunyon Jackson (My Great-Grandfather)
Son: Charlie Andrew Jackson
Son: James Walter Jackson
Son: Robert Lee Jackson
Interesting Fact: Nicknamed “Peg Leg”, Marion Jackson was a Civil War veteran who lost his leg in the Peninsula Campaign in the Battle of Beaver Dam Creek outside Mechanicsville, Virginia (part of the “Seven Days Battles”) in 1862. After the June 26, 1862 battle, he hid from Union soldiers for three days under a school house with a .50 caliber bullet wound to his right shin. Gangrene set in and his leg eventually had to be amputated on July 13, 1862. Ironically, the loss of his leg likely saved his life, for the 44th Georgia Infantry Regiment suffered greater casualties in killed and wounded in proportion to the number carried into action than any other regiment in the Confederate Army (see, John Rigdon's book below). Though they fought throughout the entire war, by Appomattox, only 52 out of the 1115 men originally mustered remained. What is more, twenty percent of these casualties occurred in July of 1863 at a hitherto unknown little town in Pennsylvania named Gettysburg. After the war, Marion lived as a pauper on his Confederate pension because, with only one leg, he could not farm for a living. (He did try to farm, but repeatedly lost heavily mortgaged farms in annual “sheriff’s sales” on the steps of the Fayette County courthouse in order to settle his debts.) The tax list for 1866 shows him being taxed $6.25 for income earned that year as a "distiller". So, apparently, he found another way to make a living in a community that farmed a lot of corn! He eventually relocated and settled in Haralson County, Georgia, where he died a pauper. His wife applied for and received a pauper's pension after his death. (Sources: Census records, land and tax records, military records, church records, and his will. Also, an excellent description of the Battle of Beaver Dam Creek, also known as the Battle of Ellerson's Mill, complete with an excellent map, can be found here: https://civilwartalk.com/threads/the-44th-ga-volunteer-infantry-regiment-at-ellersons-mill-june-26-1862.115096/page-2. Marion appears to have been in Maj. Gen. D.H. Hill’s division, which was called up late in the day on June 26, 1862 from Mechanicsville and thrown at the Union Army's Fifth Corps under Maj. Gen. Fitz John Porter in their well fortified positions north of the river behind Beaver Dam Creek. This was the first of some 23 pitched battles eventually to be fought by the 44th in the civil war. A concise history of the unit can be found here: http://www.44thgeorgiacompanyc.com/History.htm. Lastly, John C. Rigdon’s excellent book, Historical Sketch and Roster of the Georgia 44th Infantry Regiment (Cartersville, Georgia: Eastern digital Resources, 2004), contains a summary of all 23 battles as well as a complete roster.)
Name: Jordan Jackson (My Great-Great-Great-Grandfather)
Born: 1789, Sampson County, North Carolina
Death: 1862, Fayette County, Georgia
Burial: Jackson Homeplace Cemetery, Fayette County, Georgia, on farm at edge
of woods and pasture off of Kenwood Road in northern Fayette County,
Georgia at Latitude 33°30'45.88"N, 84°27'52.23"W Longitude
Profession: Farmer
Wife: Leetha (Lettie) Smith (My Great-Great-Great-Grandmother)
Children: Son: James S. Jackson
Daughter: Penny Jackson
Son: Needham Jackson
Daughter: Elizabeth Jackson
Daughter: Mary Jackson
Daughter: Phoebe Jackson
Son: Bennett Jackson
Daughter: Esther Jackson
Son: Marion Jackson (My Great-Great-Grandfather)
Daughter: Caroline Jackson
Son: Jerusha Jackson
Interesting Fact: Jordan Jackson served in the United States Army from 1813 to 1814 during the War of 1812. Thereafter, he migrated from Johnston County, North Carolina (where he had first moved with his parents as a youngster) to the newly formed Fayette County, Georgia in the early 1820s. He did this to take advantage of land grants made available (specifically Land Lot 252 of Cession 116) by cession to the United States from the Creek Indian Nation in the treaty of 1821. Shortly thereafter, he appears in the records of Hopeful Primitive Baptist Church (located in northern Fayette County) as a Deacon for the year 1825. Records indicate he was very active in his church. At the time of this death, in 1862, he was a relatively prosperous landowner and farmer, having been blessed with five sons and six sons-in-law as built in farmhands. Neither he, nor any member of his immediate family, ever owned slaves. (In fact, it appears that the only Jackson ancestor of mine ever to have owned slaves was Thomas Jackson Sr. [listed below], who lived and died 110 years before the civil war [1704-1751], and who was, ironically, a resident of the northern city of Boston for most of his life. Records indicate he had three slaves in 1743. At the time of hid death eight years later, he no longer owned slaves. It is possible that he granted them their freedom prior to his death.) With regard to Jordan himself, irrespective of his fairly large land-holdings at the time of his death, and even though he himself did not live to see it, both the life he had built and the world he had known were soon to be turned upside down as the Confederacy suffered the twin humiliations of defeat and reconstruction. (Sources: Census records, land and tax records, military records, church records, and his will.)
Name: Lewis Jackson (My Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandfather)
Born: 1763, Sampson County, North Carolina
Death: 1823, Johnston County, North Carolina
Burial: As yet undetermined
Wife: Martha Vateau Knowles (My Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandmother)
Children: Son: James Jackson
Son: Jordan Jackson (My Great-Great-Great-Grandfather)
Interesting Fact: Lewis served as a private in the North Carolina Militia in the Revolutionary War. Afterward, he migrated with his wife and sons from Sampson County, North Carolina to Johnston County, North Carolina where he established himself as a farmer. He also lived through the war of 1812, but was likely too old at the time to serve. It is known that in 1811, his oldest son, James, married a Native American Cherokee woman named Nancy Barefoot and continued farming alongside him. His youngest son, Jordan, however, soon left for the promise of greener pastures over the mountains in the state of Georgia. (Sources: Census records, land and tax records, and his will.)
Name: John Jackson (Sr.) (My Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandfather)
Born: 1738, either in Maryland or more likely, Bertie County, North Carolina
Death: 1801, Sampson County, North Carolina
Burial: As yet undetermined
Wife: Sallie Jane Bass (My Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandmother)
Children: Son: John Jackson Jr. 1759-1831
Son: Archibald Jackson 1761-1796
Son: Lewis Jackson 1763-1823 (My Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandfather)
Son: Richard Jackson 1764-1822, who married a woman named Mary
Daughter: Nanny Jackson 1765-18??, who married Enoch Hall of
Robeson County
Son: Frederick Jackson 1767-1805
Son: Allen Jackson 1768-18??
(Possible Child of unknown gender born about 1775)
Interesting Fact: John Jackson was a Private in the North Carolina Militia, as listed in Pierce's Register for Onslow County, North Carolina. He is listed as a Private, but the unit and dates of his service are unknown. He could have been one of the two other John Jacksons listed in Revolutionary War Records from North Carolina: a Private listed in the 10th NC Regiment on 05/18/1777 under a Captain Abraham Sheppard, Jr., or a Private listed first in the 6th NC Regiment on 06/01/1778 under Capt. George Dougherty and then listed in the 1st NC Regiment under a Captain Griffith John McRee. The latter was listed as having deserted on 07/12/1779. Given that numerous public records exist for the latter years of his life, including multiple land transactions and a probated will, it is highly unlikely that he was guilty of desertion. He is known to have patented land in Duplin, later Sampson County, in 1761, 1767, 1768, 1769, and 1784. His 600 acres of land was mostly near the Little Coharie Creek. Also, according to Revolutionary War Military Service records for North Carolina, three of John Jackson Sr.'s sons, Archibald, Richard, and Lewis (My Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandfather) also appear to have served in the North Carolina State Militia during the colonists' war for independence. (Sources: Census records, land and tax records, military records, and his will. See also: Jerome Tew, "Jackson: The Colonial Years in Sampson", April 13, 2016, in Family Records as found online on the Sampson County, North Carolina Historical Society website located at: http://www.sampsonhistory.org/2016/04/13/jackson-the-colonial-years-in-sampson/.)
Name: Thomas Jackson (Sr.) (My Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-
Great Grandfather)
Born: 1704 in Plymouth, Massachusetts
Death: 1751, Bertie County, North Carolina
Burial: As yet undetermined
Wife: Wife Hester Hammond Jackson 1710-1760 (My Great-Great-Great-Great-
Great-Great Grandmother)
Children: Son: Thomas Jackson, Jr. 1736-????
Son: John Jackson 1738-1801 (My Great-Great-Great-Great-Great
Grandfather)
Son: William Jackson 1740-????
Son: James Jackson 1742-????
Son: Jeremiah Jackson 1747-????
Step-Daughter: Elizabeth Hammond, who married a James Griffin.
Interesting Fact: Thomas Jackson (Sr.) was most likely born in Plymouth, Massachusetts. While his siblings remained in Boston, Thomas moved down to southern Maryland, and eventually on to Bertie County, North Carolina around 1730. He is also known to have had a sister named Hannah Jackson, who later became a Nixon. Her eventual whereabouts are unknown (at least to me at present). Thomas Jackson was married in 1735 to a Mrs. Hester Hammond, the widow of a certain Clement Hammond, who had died about 1734. Thomas Jackson “Proved his Rights” in 1743. He is known to have owned and operated a ferry in addition to farming. His sons, John Jackson, Thomas Jackson Jr., and William Jackson, all moved to Duplin County, North Carolina around 1761. These were later to be the same John Jackson (Sr.) and William Jackson (Sr.) of Sampson County. His other son, Thomas Jackson Jr., first moved to Craven, Duplin County (now Sampson County), North Carolina, near Wallace, and then later moved to Bladen County (later Robeson County), North Carolina. As stated above, he is the only Jackson ancestor to have apparently ever owned slaves. (Sources: Census records, land and tax records, military records, and his will as well as: Jerome Tew, "Jackson: The Colonial Years in Sampson", April 13, 2016, in Family Records as found online on the Sampson County, North Carolina Historical Society website located at: http://www.sampsonhistory.org/2016/04/13/jackson-the-colonial-years-in-sampson/.)
Name: Jeremiah Jackson (Jr.) (My Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great- Great Grandfather)
Born: June 1677 in Plymouth, Massachusetts
Death: 1763 in Bertie County, North Carolina (????)
Burial: As yet undetermined
Wife: Hannah Rider 06/01/1680-06/29/1763 (My Great-Great-Great-Great-
Great-Great-Great Grandmother)
Children: Son: Thomas Jackson (Sr.) (My Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-
Great Grandfather) 03/01/1704-1751
Son: Jeremiah Jackson
Daughter: Hannah Jackson (Nixon)
Interesting Fact: It is known that the Thomas listed above (and the son of this Jeremiah [Jr.] had a brother named Jeremiah (thus, Jeremiah Jackson III), who was a “cooper” by trade. This means that he most likely made barrels for ships, especially those employed in the whaling industry so prevalent in Massachusetts at the time. One might therefore logically assume that his father, Jeremiah (Jr.) who bore the same name and lived in the same location at roughly the same time, might also have made his living in some such similar manner related to whaling, and/or shipping. However, the exact profession of Jeremiah Jackson (Jr.) is unknown. Toward the end of his life, he may have moved south with his oldest son, Thomas, to North Carolina. If so, he likely took up farming as a livelihood, as unlike Boston and Suffolk County, in Massachusetts, Bertie County, North Carolina was more inland from the sea. (SOURCES: Two online articles are especially helpful here:
http://www.sampsonhistory.org/2016/04/13/jackson-the-colonial-years-in-sampson/
as well as THE JACKSON SURNAME PROJECT PAGE online at:
https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/jackson/about/results.)
Name: Jeremiah Jackson (Sr.) (My Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great- Great-Great Grandfather)
Born: July 1645
Death: 1681
Burial: As yet undetermined
Wife: Faith Peck 12/08/1658-10/23/1732 (My Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-
Great-Great-Great Grandmother)
Children: Son: Jeremiah Jackson (Jr.) 1677-1763 (My Great-Great-Great-Great-
Great-Great-Great Grandfather)
Interesting Fact: Jeremiah Jackson (Sr.) is the one ancestor of mine about whom I know the very least. The disposition of his father Edmund's will indicates that his older brother, Samuel, followed in Edmund's footsteps as a cordwainer, while Jeremiah became a mariner. This might be logical given that there were already several other cordwaining families in Boston (or at least enough to have formed a guild). Also, at the time, Boston was situated on a peninsula and surrounded by wharfs on three sides. Seafaring was thus a significant business. Later records, however, indicate that he may have moved back to Boston and became a clothier. While little is known of him personally, it is certainly known that he lived during eventful times. In his lifetime, the infamous "King Phillip's War" (1675-1678) between the Massachusetts Bay Colonists and the Native American Tribes unfolded, involving bloody fighting all along the northeast coast from modern day Rhode Island all the way up to Maine. This was also the time leading up to the equally vicious "French and Indian Wars" (1688-1763), during which the English and French struggled for supremacy on the North American Continent. For an idea of life during this often overlooked, yet difficult time, see: Francis Russell's French and Indian Wars (Rockville, MD: American Heritage Publishing, 2016) as well as Scott Weidensaul's The First Frontier: The Forgotten History of Struggle, Savagery, and Endurance in Early America (New York: Houghton Mifflin Publishers, 2012). (SOURCES: https://www.family
treedna.com/groups/jackson/about/results.)
Name: Edmund Jackson (Jr.) (My Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great- Great-Great-Great Grandfather)
Born: 1614 in Lincolnshire, England
Death: July 14, 1675 in Boston, Massachusetts
Wife #1: Anne Crary, married 1635 in Panton, Lincolnshire, England
Children: Daughter: Hannah Jackson March 1636
Son: John Jackson October 1638
Son: Thomas Jackson March 1640
Son: Samuel Jackson June 1643
Son: Jeremiah Jackson (Sr.) July 1645-1681
(My Great-Great-Great-Great-Great- Great-Great-Great Grandfather)
Daughter: Mary Jackson February 1647
Son: Isaac Jackson February 1649
Wife #2: Mary Cole, married 1653 in Boston, Massachusetts
Children: Son: Edmund Jackson October 1654
Daughter: Elizabeth Jackson February 1656
Son: Elisha Jackson February 1658
Wife #3: Elizabeth Pilkenton, married 1660 in Boston, Massachusetts
Children: Daughter: Sarah Jackson September 1660
Daughter: Martha Jackson February 1661
Daughter: Susanna Jackson December 1663
Son: Edmund Jackson October 1668
Interesting Fact: Edmund Jackson [Jr.] emigrated from Panton, Lincolnshire, England to America sometime before 1635. Panton is a small borough outside Boston in Lincolnshire. After landing at Plymouth in Massachusetts Bay, North America, he seems to have made his way to the newly founded city of Boston some thirty miles away. (This was only 15 years after the pilgrims had landed at Plymouth Rock and founded the first permanent English settlement in North America there in 1620.) Edmund officially became a "freeman" in 1636, earning the right to vote. This most likely indicates that he first came to America as an indentured servant. If so, this was invariably to pay for his passage over on ship. Indentured servants were committed to serve for as much as seven years before becoming "freemen". Given that Boston was the seat of culture, extensive records were kept. Therefore, much more is known about Edmund (Jr.) after he arrived in Boston. Such records indicate that he became a "cordwainer" (from the Italian word cordovan, for leather), or a maker of shoes. Cordwainers were distinguishable from cobblers, who were only licensed to repair shoes. Along with three other such men, he was eventually granted a license for the first ever trade guild (trade union) in North America. He had purchased property by 1635, as the official map of Boston shows exactly where his property was. Along with his wife, he joined the First Church of Boston (Congregationalist) in November of 1635. Each of his children were baptized there as well. After his first wife, Anne, passed away, he married Mary Cole in 1653. Her father, Samuel Cole, was one of the early benefactors of Harvard College, and also gave Edmund and his wife Mary a house (later known as the historic Flower De Luce - from French "Fleu-de-lis" house) for a wedding present. All in all, he came to America full of dreams for a better life. Even though he lost two wives to early deaths, by all accounts, through hard work and with the help of others, he seems to have found exactly what he was looking for. For a sense of what life was like in this time, see Nathaniel Philbrick's Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War (New York: Viking Penguin Publishing, 2006). Do not let the title confuse you. This book deals with much more than the initial landing of Pilgrim colonists at Plymouth and gives an excellent sense of the life in the newly founded colonies of the Massachusetts Bay. See also Robert Allison's A Short History of Boston (Boston: Commonwealth Editions, 2004). (SOURCES: https://gedbas.genealogy.net/person/show/1192563998.)
Name: Edmund Jackson (Sr.) (My Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-
Great-Great-Great-Great Grandfather)
Born: 1580 in Lincolnshire, England
Death: 1641 in Lincolnshire, England
Wife: Martha Story, married 1608
Children: Son: Nathaniel Jackson 1610
Son: Samuel Jackson 1613
Son: Edmund Jackson (Jr.) 1645-1681 (My Great-Great-Great-Great-
Great-Great-Great-Great-Great Grandfather)
Son: Edmund Jackson 1614
Daughter: Mary Jackson November 1618
Son: Elisha Jackson 1623
Daughter: Sarah Jackson 1624
Interesting Fact: Edmund Jackson [Sr.] was the last of my ancestors to live and die in England. He dwelt along the English Channel in the port city of Boston (the city for which Boston, Massachusetts was named) in Lincolnshire, England. His lifespan occurred during an exciting time in history, as he lived through the reigns of Queen Elizabeth I, King James I, and King Charles I. It was during the reign of the latter, King Charles I, in the year 1629, that Edmund served as the 87th mayor of Boston in Lincolnshire. As an youngster, he would doubtless have heard about the travels of both John Cabot and Henry Hudson, two intrepid English explorers who disappeared while mapping out the coast of the newly discovered continent of North America. When he was 27 years old (in 1607), the English planted their first colony there at Jamestown in what was to become Virginia. Thirteen years later, in 1620 (and when Edmund was 40 years old), another group of English pilgrims would land a few hundred miles north of there at Plymouth Rock, where they would found the Massachusetts Bay Colony. This latter event would have tremendous ramifications for Edmund's son, Edmund (Jr.), who in 1635 would say goodbye to his father and mother and siblings as well as his ancestral home, England, and board a ship bound for this newly founded British colony in North America. (SOURCES: https://gedbas.genealogy.net/person/show/1192564002.)
Name: Robert Jackson (Jr.) (My Great-Great-Great-Great-Great- Great-Great-
Great-Great-Great Grandfather)
Born: 1560 in Lincolnshire, England
Death: 1605 in Lincolnshire, England
Wife Elizabeth ????, c. 1653-????
Children: Son: Edmund Jackson (Sr.) 1580-1641 (My Great-Great-Great-Great-
Great-Great-Great-Great-Great Grandfather)
Interesting Fact: At present, very little is known about Robert Jackson (Jr.) and his forebears. The biggest single event in his time was undoubtedly the attempted invasion of England by the Spanish through the famed 130 ship strong Spanish Armada of 1588. (The actual naval battle took place in the southern portion of the English Channel over a two month period covering July to August, 1588.) In what can only be described as a miracle, the English, under Sir Frances Drake, though woefully outgunned and undermanned in both ships and sailors, nonetheless managed to defeat the invading Armada. Utterly demoralized, the remnants of the once invincible Spanish Armada then sailed north and east up the channel in an attempt to circumnavigate the Protestant English Isles in a counter-clockwise direction, stopping over in Catholic Ireland, before limping home to Catholic Spain. The reason this matters for Robert is that he lived in Boston, in Lincolnshire, which is a major port city situated where the Humber River flows into the English Channel halfway up the eastern side of England. Obviously, I have no way of knowing if he was a farmer, or a fisherman, or a seafaring man. (Lincolnshire sits on a flat floodplain containing rich farmland that adjoins the sea. Farming, fishing, and trade have all abounded there for millennia.) If he was the latter, I have yet to determine if he was ever in the Royal Navy. For all I know, he, himself, could very well have fought against the Spanish Armada. But at the very least, he would have most likely been among the throngs of people who watched with their own eyes as the remnants of the Spanish fleet sailed ignominiously up the English Channel (and right by Lincolnshire), undoubtedly still being harried by English ships at every turn. He lived to see the death of Queen Elizabeth I in 1603, and later that year, the coronation of King James I, who would go on to authorize the first ever official English translation of the Bible (the famed King James Version of 1611), just a few years after Robert's own death occurred in 1605. (SOURCES: https://gedbas.genealogy.net/person/show/1192564021.)
Name: Robert Jackson (Sr.) (My Great-Great-Great-Great-Great- Great-Great-
Great-Great-Great-Great Grandfather)
Born: 1540 in Boston, Lincolnshire, England
Death: ???? in Boston, Lincolnshire, England
Wife Jenet Whitwham????, 1550 - ????
Children: Son: Robert (Jr.) 1560-1605 (My Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-
Great- Great-Great-Great Grandfather)
Son: George Jackson May 11, 1563
Son: Michael Jackson 1566
Interesting Fact: As of now, Robert Jackson (Sr.) represents the last of my patrilineal ancestors about whose life I know any reasonable detail. Before him, records include little more than names and birth, marriage, and/or death dates. And even then, information about Robert is quite scant, at least for now. However, it is known that he was born during the reign of the infamous King Henry VIII (the one with all the wives). He was 18 years old when Queen Elizabeth I was coronated; and he may or may not have been alive during the attempted invasion of England by the Spanish armada as described above. SOURCES: https://gedbas.genealogy.net/person/show/1192564034.)
FURTHER ANCESTORS...
At present, through the wonders of the internet, I believe I have successfully traced my patrilineal ancestry back another 454 years from my 12th great-grandfather, the above mentioned Robert Jackson, Sr., to my 26th great-grandfather: another man named Roger (only with the middle name of DeLascelles) Jackson, Sr., who was born in approximately 1086 AD. It is interesting that this man, born in the first generation after William the Conqueror's Norman invasion of 1066 AD, bears both English and French names! As such, he may well reflect a union of French and English ancestry. Hopefully, the Lord will allow me some time at the end of the proverbial trail to further pursue my family's history. In the meantime, as I am able, I hope to keep updating my webpage to reflect as much new information as I can with regard to my family's heritage.