Peter Jackson, the oldest son of William Jackson, was born around 1790 soon after William settled in East Tennessee. He grew up as his father successfully established himself as a slaveholding farmer with large land holdings. However, as was previously described, upon William’s death in 1837, Peter did not inherit any of his land or slaves. By then Peter was 47 years old and had his own family and farm.

As a young man, it seems that Peter may have gone to Kentucky to volunteer to fight the British and Indians during the War of 1812. There is very scant information, but he appears to have fought with the 10th Reg’t (Boswell’s) Kentucky Militia. Fortunately, he returned to Washington County unharmed.

At age 30 Peter married Ann Murray in 1820 and it is believed they had a couple of early children who did not survive childhood. Then finally their son born in 1829 survived. This was very fortunate for us since that baby named John William was our ancestor! Then Peter and Ann had two more sons and two daughters. Ann died about the time of their last child’s birth, so perhaps she died in childbirth which was not uncommon in those days.

Peter spent his entire life in Washington County, TN, during a time when America was rapidly changing. In Peter’s lifetime, Andrew Jackson (no relation) from Tennessee became the seventh President of the United States serving two terms between 1829 and 1837. He championed the “common man”. During Jackson’s presidency, the United States evolved from a republic, in which only landowners could vote, to a mass democracy, in which white men of all classes could vote. However, Jackson had two stains against his presidency. In 1830 he signed the Indian Removal Act, which forced the migration of most members of the Native American tribes in the South to Indian territory in the West. The relocation process which became known as the “Trail of Tears” dispossessed the Indians and resulted in widespread death and disease. Also, Andrew Jackson was a staunch defender of domestic slavery, widespread throughout the South.

Then there was the establishment of the new state of Texas which resulted in bloody battles with the Mexicans including the Battle of the Alamo in 1836. That famous battle cost many lives including the famous Davy Crockett who was born in Washington County just 10 miles from Jonesborough and the Jacksons.

Peter Jackson was seemingly untouched by all that happened during this time frame. He had no further military activities, and generally seems to have had a very ordinary life as a farmer.  So, this presents an opportunity to examine his life as a typical farmer in the East Tennessee frontier days. In 1850, Peter lived as a widower with 5 children between the ages of 7 to 19 on his farm. The farm was 150 acres in size with about half the land improved and half unimproved. It was worth about $1000 which is actually only about $33,000 in today’s money (Rural farmland was historically cheap). The size of his farm was about average compared to his neighbors. He had $75 worth of farm implements and machinery. He owned 5 horses and 3 mules, and his livestock which included 5 cows, 4 sheep and 8 pigs was worth about $300. He and his family worked the farm without any slaves, and that year they produced 100 bushels of wheat, 200 bushels of corn and 80 bushels of oats. In addition, they no doubt raised vegetables and fruits, and slaughtered animals for meats. It was typical subsistence farming with only enough for the family to survive on their own with some extra crops to trade for outside necessities. A teenage son named Jobe died shortly after that, cause unknown.

Peter later died in September 1852 at age 62, younger than his father had lived.  He left his farm to be equally divided between his two remaining sons, John W. Jackson, and George W. Jackson. He also requested they maintain his two daughters, Sarah and Icy until they are married. John the oldest was named as the Executor.