Myrtle JACKSON was Helen Derrie’s mother. So, the JACKSON branch of our tree follows her line of male Ancestors. JACKSON is a famous English surname, and throughout history has had various spellings such as Jacson, Jagson and Jaxon.  It is a patronymic surname formed from the personal names Jaques or John, both originating from the ancient Hebrew “Yochanan”. The name was first introduced by returning Crusaders from the Holy Land in the 12th century, and quickly gained  popularity in England.

Now, JACKSON is also a very common surname in the United States. As of the 2010 census there were slightly over 700,000 people with the name ranking it 19th of all surnames in the US.  The name is most common in the Southeastern states, as well as being especially popular in the District of Columbia. It is least common in the midwestern states. There are actually more African-Americans named Jackson than Caucasians in the US.

Amongst the many interesting name bearers was Andrew Jackson (1767 – 1845). He was the seventh president of the United States of America, from 1828 – 1836, but earlier he became a national hero when he successfully defended New Orleans against the British in 1815. Even though he lived in Tennessee, our family has no relationship to Andrew Jackson.  However, we do have a very distant relationship to another famous Jackson, entertainer Michael Jackson.

Our branch of Jacksons in America is an interesting story which begins with the arrival of our immigrant Jackson ancestor from England as an indentured servant in the late 1600s. Over the next two hundred years his descendants became prosperous land and slave owners in the South before losing all their prosperity again by the time of the Civil War. Read on to discover how their story unfolded.