Category: JACKSON

Myrtle Jackson, The Grandmother We Barely Knew

April 25, 2018 Dennis Ayers

The oldest daughter of James and Sarah Jackson was Myrtle Louise, born March 1, 1889 in Greene County, Tennessee. From the very beginning, Myrtle knew only a hard life. Born into a large family with meager resources, she was raised under far different circumstances than her Great-Great-Grandfather, William Jackson, who just four generations earlier was a wealthy land holder and slaver owner.

By age 12, Myrtle was turned out to work as a live-in servant to a local merchant in the Greeneville area. If there was any compensation at all, no doubt it was passed on to her father and mother. The family she lived with was John and Elizabeth Burkey who had two very young children. Myrtle years later recounted that the family treated her poorly and didn’t feed her very much. She had dark hair and light blue eyes and must have been very attractive as a teenager. She certainly caught the attention of a local young farmer named Tom Derrie. She and Tom were married in August of 1904 when she was just 15 years old and he was 6 years older. Ten months later they had their first child whom they named Lillian Mae.

Then shortly thereafter, as mentioned previously, Myrtle’s brothers moved to Campbell County to work as coal miners. Her father and mother joined them as did Myrtle and Tom, who also found work as a coal miner. They moved to a home in Jacksboro and their second child, Alma Bernice, was born in November 1909. Their third child, Melda, born in January 1912 only lived for five weeks before dying of Whooping Cough. They continued to have another 8 children, but only son Alvin (called Bud), and daughters, Helen and Veatta lived to adulthood. The others were tragically lost at young ages. Also, tragically, Tom Derrie lost his lower left leg in a coal crusher machine accident around 1915. These unfortunate events had a terrible and lasting effect on the family. Myrtle and Tom’s difficult life in the years following the accident can be reviewed in the story about Thomas Derrie which can be found in the Derrie chapter of this family history. Myrtle died on February 9,1956 from a heart attack at age 66 and is buried with Tom in the Jacksboro Cemetery.

**Grandma Myrtle, Daughter Veatta Derrie, Granddaughter Carol Ayers – 1955**

My mother, Helen Derrie Ayers, loved her mother very much, and often told me sad stories of her hard life. One story was that Myrtle had to feed her family only biscuits and gravy nearly every meal when there was no money for other food. Living 500 miles away, we didn’t get to see her very often. The times we did see her was on summer vacations when our family jumped in our old car and trekked to Tennessee to visit all the relatives. Then we’d only see her a few days. I believe there was just a single occasion when Myrtle visited Maryland, and that was when she came along with her daughter Lillian’s family in June of 1955. Unfortunately, there just wasn’t enough contact with her for me to have many memories. The few that I have are of a small sweet woman with gray hair who seemed to me to be very caring. I also remember some unpleasant habits like her using snuff, now called smokeless tobacco, and drinking a little to much. Once at her house I woke up one morning and couldn’t find my shoes. It turned out that Grandma had gotten a little tipsy and stolen them from me to wear while cooking breakfast. She thought it was funny, but I didn’t at the time.

I was only 13 when Grandma died. The strongest memory that I have is of my mother crying during the entire long drive to Tennessee for the funeral. I wish there were more memories of Grandma Myrtle, but we barely knew her.

The Fraterville Mine Disaster Created Need for More Miners

April 21, 2018 Dennis Ayers

On the morning of May 19, 1902, the community of Fraterville lost all but three of its adult males. A devastating explosion in the Fraterville Mine killed 216 miners of which only 184 were ever identified. The cause of the explosion was never identified, but it

was most likely due to a build up of methane gas resulting from poor ventilation. At the time, the miners were working about 3 miles under Cross Mountain. Most were killed instantly, and 26 later died of suffocation before rescuers could reach them. Some entire families were lost. It was the worst mining disaster in Tennessee’s history and among the top five in the nation.

The miners were a mix of itinerant workers, expert miners and local men and boys. Most of the itinerant miners were never claimed and were buried alongside the nearby railroad tracks. The others were buried in local cemeteries with 89 being interred in Leach Cemetery in a spot called Miners Circle.

Due to this tragic loss of so many lives, the disaster created the need for replacement miners in the following months. This need is strongly believed to have been the reason for the entire Jackson family to relocate to Campbell County around 1905. Fraterville was located near the town of Coal Creek (now named Rocky Top) bordering Campbell and Anderson Counties. The distance to Jacksboro where many of the Jacksons moved is about 7 miles.

The James Jackson Family Migrates to Campbell County Tennessee

April 19, 2018 Dennis Ayers

James Henry Jackson was born in 1862, in the middle of the Civil war, as the third son of John and Peggy Jackson. He was raised working on the farm next door to Peggy’s parents. James left home early though and, as mentioned in the last post, was married in 1879 to Sarah Malinda Chandler. He was 17 and Sarah was just 15 years old, but they soon established their own household and James became a farm worker. Neither James nor Sarah could read or write and they rented their home as they would continue to do for the rest of their lives.

James was tall with red hair, while Sarah was of medium size with dark hair and blue eyes. As typical of families in earlier times, they proceeded to have 12 children over the next 18 years. As chance would have it, 6 of the children had red hair and 6 had dark hair. By 1900 the family had moved a little south to Greene County, TN. The reason is unknown, but perhaps it was to find better work since James had become a day laborer. They already had their first 10 children, and it seems the family had fallen on hard times. The three oldest teenage sons were also working as day laborers, and they were forced to let their oldest daughter, Myrtle, work as a hired servant at only 12 years of age.

Then around 1905 the whole family, including the 5 adult children and spouses, all moved 50 miles west to Campbell County. What was the reason for such a major event? Well, evidently, it was to obtain employment in the coal mining industry in that general area. With the single exception of James himself, all the men became coal miners. The first to move seems to have been the oldest son, John, who married Melda Roberts in Campbell County in June 1904. Others soon followed and by 1910 all were living in the Jacksboro area.

My mother, Helen Derrie, remembers her grandfather being known as Jim rather than James. It is not clear why Jim didn’t become a coal miner also, but it may have been because he was already in his 40s by the time of the big move. He became a farmer worker again and settled down in Caryville. He lived another 30 years until he died at age 75 in January 1936 from a cerebral hemorrhage. Sarah lived even longer and died in February 1944 from complications resulting from a fractured left hip received in a fall. She was I month short of her 80th birthday. Jim and Sarah are buried together in the Harness Cemetery in Caryville on a hilltop overlooking Cove Lake.

John William Jackson Serves in the Union Cavalry

April 15, 2018 Dennis Ayers

When Peter Jackson died he left the family farm to his two sons, John age 23 and George age 16. The farm was worth about $1200, and was located in the Haws Crossroads community about 4 miles west of Jonesborough, and 1 mile east of present day Interstate 81. The arrangements for dividing the farm are not known, but George did not stay around long. By 1856 he moved to Monroe County, Kentucky, where he married Rebecca Ford and settled down in that area. So, John became the sole owner of the family property. He had been romancing a young woman who lived not far away. John and Margaret “Peggy” Hale were married in 1853. They proceeded to have a total of 9 children by 1871.

As previously mentioned on several occasions, when the Civil War broke out in 1861, East Tennessee was severely conflicted with a mixture of Union and Confederate sympathizers. In September 1863, John William Jackson chose to join the Union side at age 38 leaving a young family behind. He joined the 8th Reg’t Tennessee Cavalry, Company H, as a Private, enlisting at Mossy Creek. Recall, that was the same Union Regiment in which some of our Derrie ancestors also served. The 8th Cavalry participated in battles and skirmishes throughout East Tennessee until the wars end. It also participated in the Battle of Chickamauga just across the Georgia line near Chattanooga, TN. Thankfully, John Jackson returned home safely, unlike another John Jackson from Washington County who is sometimes confused with our ancestor, but who died from dissentery in a hospital in Gallatin, TN.

Although the initial circumstances are unknown, the John Jackson family became very close to the Zachariah Chandler family which lived in the Buffalo Ridge community north of Jonesborough. This is evidenced by multiple marriages between the families. First as mentioned above George Jackson married Rebecca Ford. Well, Rebecca’s mother was Elizabeth Chandler, Zachariah’s sister. Then three John Jackson siblings married three Zachariah Chandler siblings as follows:

James Jackson married Sarah Chandler in 1879. — Our direct ancestors

Sarah Jackson married James Chandler in 1881.

Martha Jackson married John Chandler in 1886.

Most of his life John Jackson was a farmer. However, records show that he was no more successful than his father, Peter. Although the devastation of the Civil War no doubt had a large impact, by 1870 John’s wealth had dwindled to only 1 horse and livestock worth just $200. So, it is understandable that he turned to work in his later years as a carpenter. It is believed that John died sometime in the 1890s, but no records have been found providing exact date and place. Based on John’s war service, Margaret later applied for a widow’s pension in 1898, but she too died soon after.

Peter Jackson, Farmer

February 1, 2018 Dennis Ayers

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.

William Jackson Becomes An Early Tennessee Settler

January 25, 2018 Dennis Ayers

After the United States won the war of independence from England, there was a dramatic increase in internal migration, with as much as 10% of the population moving each year and about half of that moving across state lines. Young white men were the most mobile of the population leading the way westward. Although there were a few permanent white settlements as early as 1771 on the western side of the mountains in North Carolina, it was not until after the war ended, and defeat of the Cherokee and Shawnee Indians that significant numbers of settlers moved into that area now known as Northeastern Tennessee. Actually, many thought the area was a part of Virginia.

The specific region was centered geographically around the valleys created by the Holston and Clinch Rivers in the Cumberland and Appalachian Mountains. It was rugged territory which became a refuge for the frontier type even before the war. During the late 1700s, the new settlement territory came under several forms of government and ownership. First there was the Watauga Association, a semi-autonomous government created in 1772 by frontier settlers living along the Watauga River. Then in 1777, the area was admitted to the state of North Carolina as the District of Washington which consisted of Washington and Sullivan counties, only to be turned over to the Federal government in 1784 as cession for war debts. Then the unhappy citizens formed what they thought was the 14th state called Franklin with its capital of Jonesborough. However, when Franklin was never admitted to the Union, the territory was again taken over by North Carolina in 1790. Finally in 1796 the area became part of the new state of Tennessee.

Jonesborough Monument – Click to Enlarge

With that historical landscape, William Jackson was one of those very early settlers who migrated to the area from Virginia in the late 1780s when he was in his twenties. His actual reason for relocating from eastern Virginia is not known. Perhaps he was looking for new fertile lands as tobacco planting was known to greatly deplete land where it was grown, and he evidently migrated with other Jackson relatives. William may also have brought some slaves with him from Virginia. It was not uncommon that white slaveholding migrants were younger sons of eastern slaveholders, whose inheritance included only a portions of the family’s slaves, or small farmers who owned just one or two blacks.

William apparently settled first in Sullivan County and in 1790 was appointed as a Constable. He married Hannah Jobe in 1789. They had their first child, Peter, in 1790 when the population of Tennessee had reached about 36,000. They would go on to have a total of 9 children. Eventually his family settled in Washington County near Jonesborough where they became successful farmers acquiring considerable land holdings. Records show that William obtained 300 acres in land grants on the Doe River in July 1794.

Hannah died sometime before William who later died in August 1837. In his will he bequeathed tracks of land of 120 acres, 82 acres, 146 acres to his three youngest children. The remainder of his estate was essentially divided among all his children. One very interesting bequeath was for his 5 slaves (Cap, Marshall, Dick, Alice and Elbert) to be hired out with the proceeds shared among all children. Then the slaves were to be set free when they reached 30 years of age. He requested that they be treated Kindly and always be provided with warm and comfortable clothes. His two oldest sons, Peter and George, whom he deemed trustworthy, were named as executors of the will.

Jacksons Participate in the Growth and Independence of the Colonies

January 23, 2018 Dennis Ayers

During the 1700s the American colonies grew from a population of about 250 thousand to 2.5 million. Much of that growth in the Mid-Atlantic and southern colonies came from successful farming of cash crops with the attendant need to import more and more labor. The most favorable crop quickly became tobacco. The Tidewater region of eastern Virginia, part of the Atlantic coastal plain, is comprised of low and flat land which was ideal for growing tobacco. The area also allowed easy access to ports along the major rivers to ship large barrels of tobacco.

As mentioned previously, William Jackson became a successful planter near the James River. His descendants followed after him as planters in Sussex county. With good management, a planter could use his profits to continue to grow his land holdings, acquire more workers, and accumulate considerable wealth. It appears that William’s oldest son, John Ellis Jackson born 1680, was able to do just that. He obtained a number of land patents during his lifetime, including one in 1736 for 1,704 acres located in Prince George and Amelia counties. This land was later divided and gifted to his sons in 1746.

John Ellis Jackson married Mary Ward around 1704, but she died in 1746 after bearing at least 9 children. John died in 1770 and in his will he bequeathed 6 slaves by name to various sons and daughters. Slaves were valued much more than land. Strangely, two sons James and Robert Jackson received only a 1 shilling each (perhaps about $5.00 in current money).

Not much is known about Robert Jackson, our direct ancestor, as his records are scarce. However, one might consider Robert a valuable resource in American history as he fathered 4 sons who played roles in the Revolutionary War with England. Two sons from his first wife, Amy Wyche, were Rueben and Ephraim, who married sisters, Hannah and Lucretia Tucker. Reuben enlisted for 3 years and served as a private first with the 6th Virginia Regiment, and then with the 2nd Virginia Regiment. He fought with George Washington’s army in New Jersey, and later fought in the Battle of Cowpens in the Carolinas. Rueben received a pension in 1818 of $8 per month. The older brother, Ephraim, was a planter in Brunswick County, Virginia who was a certified supplier providing material aid to the forces of the Revolution.

Two other sons from Robert’s second marriage to Jane Gilliam were Francis and William. Francis served as a private for several 3 month tours with the Virginia line that totaled more than 18 months, and thus received a pension of $5 per month. He fought in the famous Guilford Courthouse Battle in North Carolina. William, our direct ancestor, served as a Sargent with the 2nd Virginia Regiment, but unfortunately, there was apparently no pension application to describe his activities in the war.

Our JACKSON Lineage

January 14, 2018 Dennis Ayers

As with earlier depictions of ancestor lineages, I have used a timeline chart below, to show the life spans of each Jackson ancestor over the last three centuries. In the chart you can see Mathew Jackson, the last of the line who lived in England. He is followed in sequence by his son, William Jackson Sr, who was our immigrant ancestor to America arriving in the Virginia colony around 1679, and then by his son, John Ellis Jackson, and so forth.

As with previous lineages, to give a better perspective of when our Jackson ancestors lived across more than three centuries, I’ve added major wars to the timeline. As I continue to describe family stories of this Jackson lineage, you might find it useful to refer back to this chart to get a feel for the time period in which they lived.

Click for a Larger View

William JACKSON, the Immigrant for the JACKSON Line

January 13, 2018 Dennis Ayers

Before there was slavery in America, there was indentured servitude. The rapid growth of the colonies before 1700 created a tremendous need for labor. Without the aid of modern machinery, human sweat and blood was necessary for the planting, cultivation, and harvesting of tobacco and other cash crops. It is estimated that up to two-thirds of the European immigrants during this time were indentured servants. Gradually, however, by the late 1600s, slavery became the preferred method of obtaining cheap labor.

Against this backdrop, William JACKSON, arrived in Surry County, of the Virginia colony in 1679 as a 25 yr old indentured servant. Whether he came willingly or unwillingly to escape poverty or some other condition is unknown, but evidently he could not afford to pay his own passage. Instead he agreed to a 7 year contract to bind his labor in America in exchange for his passage as was customary in such cases. From lists of Tithables (taxable persons), he is listed in three different households between 1679 and 1686, so his contract was apparently sold or traded around. He was a husbandman, someone who cares after livestock. Beginning in 1687 he is listed as head of his own household, no doubt, after fulfilling his servitude contract. He is also on the roster of Surry County Militia of 1687.

Subsequently, William became a successful planter in Surry County, which is on the south side of the James River about halfway between the mouth of the river on the lower Chesapeake Bay, and the town that would later become Richmond, VA. It is believed his wife was Elizabeth O’hara.

William Jackson was born around 1654 in Hertfordshire, England, and was christened in the Anglican Church of England. This Church of England also became the religion of the Virginia colony. All colonists were to go to church twice every Sunday. William died in Jan 1710 in Surry County, VA. His will proven in Feb 1710 divides his estate between his wife and his children.