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THOMAS JONATHAN JACKSON
THE FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE
OF
STONEWALL JACKSON
BY
ROY BIRD COOK
Author of
“Lewis County (W. Va.) in the Civil War,”
and the Historical Serials:
“Collins Settlement of Old,” “One Hun-
dred Years of Schools in Weston,” etc.
1925
OLD DOMINION PRESS, INC., PUBLISHERS
109 GOVERNOR STREET
RICHMOND, VA.
7 Copyright 1925
Old Dominion Press, Inc.
Richmond, Virginia
Second Edition ;
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
MUI CUA Ore ee ear Fons tr ee nsec elie st eke 7
RMT EO Poteet ee FINE ey Nee ta ol ones cideatiga a3 9
I. BE PEOTLO LOS Vo gt eee eh ce ea ee al ee 13
if Ancestry and Descendants........................-- ns 16
Ill. The Jackson Homestead—Jackson’s Mills...... 28
UNE ACLELO OC eae ens se snd ca slave ge 38
- 3 fmeine Boy at-Jackson's: Mills.-..............-....ccece0- 40
a RRS CGO IISLE LC one yeca concn Saeco cee eencnengencencenenes 53
S VII. Diary of a Journey to Parkersburg...................... 58
“ VIII. The Appointment at West Point...............0.02.000..... 66
> MEA ESHELOMore oe ce Aor et aS a ey ee a 74
X. Mexico and the Virginia Military Institute...... af
Semecpening ot the Civil War.!._.--02.........----2.3.-2-s000.- 92
oy VETTEL UTA Tha Pty 0) cai 0 Ua aa, ee per Seay eC 105
ILLUSTRATIONS
Berard ON ALN AT JACKSON 2 6c.- 2c 022 ced eek lecece te frontispiece
UME eR Td ACK SOM 2.0. ocean aces snsce-tececacese-ns facing page 25
House in which Jackson was born.......................- page 26
Colonel Edward Jackson’s Home.........................- page 29
Semmes Milis about 1848......2.0000.0.. ce. page 31
en BEG ILE ES Pe es page 42
Meeteue Ven: DY JACKSON. 2.2..022.52..-2--2clcec eect cece page 54
Pepesraepaliey Building -o..--.. a... eonse-enneeeeenceeeecnnee page 68
aa IES See SP Se ee page 77
FURS OE es SR es page 81
SUT AC A ACISOM Scent clon sees su ban ntl otwe lovecess sede page 86
The Cummins Jackson Home: The House in
which Jackson died and Monument marking
spot where he fell
pipe SR AR ee le eR I i ed Sip 5 page 102
natin.
‘
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EDITOR’S PREFACE
Stonewall Jackson, like many other great men, has
been to a considerable extent the subject of legend. Thus,
for instance, the impression has been left that he was
reared in a wild and godless community and only became
serious-minded and religious in later life. As a matter of
fact, from early boyhood he was deeply interested in re-
ligion. Again, the fable has been spread broadcast that
he walked from his home in western Virginia to Washington
in order to secure means to reach West Point, to which he
had been appointed. Jackson was poor, but not so poor
as this.
It is the merit of Mr. Cook’s little book that all the
evidence bearing on the early life of Stonewall Jackson
has been carefully sifted, so that the reader may be sure
that what he finds bears the stamp of authentic history.
Much new matter, garnered here and there, has been added:
the result is that by far the most complete account of the
youth of the great general is to be found in these pages.
The notes on the Jackson family are also new and a most
important contribution to the genealogy of famous Ameri-
cans: they will be of interest to the many branches of the
Scotch-Irish clan from which Stonewall Jackson derived
his source.
H. J. ECKENRODE.
FOREWORD
“The most striking figure of the Civil War on the
Southern side, Stonewall Jackson,” writes James Ford
Rhodes in his History of the United States, “‘has the fasci-
nation of a character of romance. No characterization of
him has fully satisfied his admirers. To some he seemed
made up of contradictions, to others a rare consistency
appears to run through his mature life.” The cause for
which he fought and died has long ago been overthrown,
but the intervening years have but accentuated interest
in the life of one who fought for the right, as he saw it,
not only in the Confederacy but in the War with Mexico.
; Since the appearance of a little volume by “A Vir-
ginian,” in 1863, some eighteen or twenty biographies have
issued from the press. That written by R. L. Dabney, some
time major and Jackson’s chief of staff, deserves special
notice among the earlier works, the writer having had ac-
cess to personal papers and manuscripts, and is very com-
plete. Next in order comes the military biography by John
Esten Cooke, a brilliant and prolific writer, which is still
deservedly popular. Life and Letters of Stonewall Jackson,
written by his widow, admirably covers his private life
from boyhood onward. The Life of General Thomas J.
Jackson, by Sarah Nicholas Randolph; With Stonewall
Jackson, by James Power Smith (the latest surviving mem-
ber of his staff); Jackson’s Valley Campaign, by William
Allan, deserve passing mention: but of all the works con-
fined solely to the subject, two demand especial attention,
each being the best in its class. ,
In 1898 appeared the first issue of Stonewall Jackson
and the American Civil War, by the distinguished Brit-
ish military critic and strategist, Lieutenant-Colonel G.
F. R. Henderson. This work, in two volumes, is based
upon years of research and study of official records. It
portrays faithfully and accurately the military career of
the great warrior whom fratricidal strife brought forth,
10 FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON
and of whom the late Field Marshal, Viscount Wolseley,
in the introduction wrote:
That the true cause of the conflict was the antagonism between
the spirit of Federalism and the theory of States rights, and that
had he been a New Englander, he would have fought to the death
to preserve the Union, while had he been born in Virginia he would
have done as much for the defense of a right the South believed
inalienable. The war thus brought about, dragged its weary way
from the spring of 1861 until the same season of 1865. During its
progress, reputations were made that will live forever in American
history, and many remarkable men have come to the front. Among
these, not the least prominent was ‘Stonewall’ Jackson, who to the
renown of a great soldier and unselfish patriot was added the
brighter fame of a Christian hero.
In all of the first works on Jackson there is a noticeable
lack of knowledge concerning his early life; such as is
included is often inaccurate. This situation continued until
1916, in which year appeared Early Life and Letters of
Thomas J. Jackson, by his nephew, Thomas J. Arnold. As
the name implies, it covers the period of life mentioned,
which the author was well equipped to treat. It is concise,
authentic, contains much original material, and has taken
its place along with the book of Henderson as the best
contribution to the literature on Jackson.
Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Famous Men
and Women, America in Romance, and a multitude of such
books contain special articles. In the field of reference
works the sketch in the Encyclopedia Americana takes first
place; in many others the articles are badly prepared in
so far as Jackson’s early life is concerned. Several concur
in the rather impossible statements that “Jackson served as
sheriff of the county of Lewis,” and “walked barefooted to
Washington in search of an appointment to West Point.”
The errors are not confined to these sources, the public
press often carrying similar misinformation. Conspicuous
among such erroneous statements is the attributing by
newspapers of a poem to Jackson that bears on the subject
of “Mother.” Perhaps no one living can say just who
wrote it, yet the evidence indicates that it should probably
FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON 11
be credited to Mrs. Margaret Junkin Preston, his sister-
in-law. In the Clarksburg Telegram, in 1894, the following
notation appeared, since reproduced in many sources:
“Lieutenant Tom Jackson was presented with a sword of
honor in the town of Weston, Lewis county, on his return
from the Mexican War. It was to him and his numerous
kinsmen present a proud and memorable occasion.”
As a matter of historical fact, no such presentation
took place. During the Mexican War Jackson carried an
artillery saber, which is now in the possession of his
nephew, Thomas J. Arnold. A dress sword used while at
the Virginia Military Institute is in the Confederate
Museum, at Richmond, presented by his grandchildren. It
is a well-known fact that the sword he wore during the
Civil War was lost when he was shot at Chancellorsville and
was never found.
It would seem, perhaps, that nothing of importance
remained to be said about this distinguished son of the
Monongahela Valley. Yet the author has collected a few
notes concerning the subject covering points of the life of
Jackson yet untreated: the family and homestead as con-
nected with the region from which he came; and anecdotes
that search has largely verified and that are worthy of
preservation. There is still material to be obtained along
this line in the interior of West Virginia, to be moulded
into final shape by hands more capable than the writer;
if this little volume brings forth more matter of the sort
its mission will have been fulfilled.
It would indeed be strange if, in spite of meticulous
care, some error has not crept into these notes. Every
effort has been put forth to secure authentic information.
Thanks are due to many who loaned letters and papers as
well as photographs for illustrations. Each one has con-
tributed to a common undertaking—a little tribute to the
memory of the “right arm” of such a great American as
Robert E. Lee, to a man whose life and activities are a
source of pride to all Americans, regardless of origin or
of sympathies.
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The Family and Early Life
of Stonewall Jackson
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CHRONOLOGY
1824—January 21, born in Clarksburg, (West) Virginia,
third child of Jonathan and Julia Beckwith Neale
Jackson.
1826—March 26, Jonathan Jackson dies.
1830—The mother, Julia Neale Jackson, marries (2) Blake
B. Woodson, of Cumberland county, Va., and re-
moves to present Fayette county, W. Va.
Thomas (as named) Jackson finds a home with his
step-grandmother, Mrs. Edward Jackson and fam-
ily at Jackson’s Mills, near Weston, (W.) Va.
1831—September 4, Julia Neale Jackson Woodson dies at
present Ansted, W. Va.
1841—June 11, Thomas Jackson appointed a constable of
Lewis county, (W.) Va.
1842—June 18, conditionally appointed to West Point Mili-
tary Academy from Weston, Lewis county, (W.)
Va. Admitted July 1.
1846—June 30, graduated from West Point with brevet
rank of second lieutenant of artillery.
1847—March 3, advanced to rank of second lieutenant, and
on March 9 lands with Scott’s army in Mexico. Ad-
vanced to first lieutenant for gallant conduct in siege
of Vera Cruz in March; to brevet rank of captain for
conduct in battle of Contreras in August; and to
brevet rank of major for heroic conduct at Chapul-
tepec in September.
14 FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON
1848—June, returns to United States from Mexico City
with Scott’s army and is stationed at Fort Hamilton,
Long Island, N. Y.
1850—Transferred with a command to Fort Meade, near
Tampa, Fla., during Seminole troubles.
1851—March, resigns from United States Army, to take
effect in 1852 (U. S. Army Register); and is ap-
pointed Professor of Artillery Tactics and Natural
Philosophy at Virginia Military Institute, Lexing-
ton, Va.
1853—August 4, marries Eleanor Junkin, daughter of Rev.
Dr. George Junkin, then president of Washington
College at Lexington. In fall of 1854 his wife and
infant child die.
1856—Tours Europe.
1857—July 16, marries (2) Mary Anna Morrison, daughter
of Dr. Robert H. Morrison, of Lincoln county, N. C.
1859—Takes company of cadets from V. M. I. to Harper’s
Ferry and to the execution of John Brown at Charles-
town, (W.) Va.
1861—April 21, leaves Lexington with cadets in opening
of the Civil War. On April 27, appointed colonel
of Virginia volunteers; assumes command at Har-
per’s Ferry, April 29; assigned to command of First
Brigade in June; engages in skirmish at Falling
Waters, July 2; commissioned brigadier-general,
July 3, and leads First Brigade in first battle of
Manassas, July 21; advanced to rank of major-gen-
eral, October 7, and assigned to command of Shen-
andoah Valley, November 4.
1862—January 1, leaving Winchester, drives Federals from
Romney across Potomac; does not believe himself
properly supported and sends in resignation, January
31. Recalls resignation and engages in battle of
Kernstown, March 23; battle of McDowell, May 8;
captures Front Royal, May 238; battle of Winchester,
May 25; battle of Cross Keys, June 8; battle of Fort
FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON 15
Republic, June 9. Marching toward Richmond, en-
gages in battle of Gaines’ Mill, June 27; battle of
White Oak Swamp, June 30, and Malvern Hill,
Jay 1:
1862—Battle of Cedar Run, August 9; captures Manassas
Junction, August 26; repulses Pope’s army, August
29-30, at battle of Chantilly and Second Manassas;
September 1, enters Maryland; marches from Fred-
erick, capturing Harper’s Ferry, September 15; bat-
tle of Sharpsburg, September 17; repulses enemy at
Boteler’s Ford, September 20; encamps in Valley
near Winchester, September 20-November 22; ad-
vanced to lieutenant-general, October 11, and placed
in command of Second Corps; November 22, marches
toward Fredericksburg; battle of Fredericksburg,
December 18; enters winter quarters at Moss Neck
on Rappahannock, December 16..
18638—May 1, leads Second Corps around Hooker’s flank at
battle of Chancellorsville, routing right wing of Fed-
eral Army; is wounded and dies at Chandler’s, near
Guinea Station, on May 10; buried at Lexington, Va.
16 FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON
CHAPTER II
ANCESTRY AND DESCENDANTS
Among the people who have contributed markedly to
the making of American character are those designated as
the Scotch-Irish, generally regarded as the most aggressive
strain that came to America in colonial times. The English
were the first and main contributors to the population,
however ; those who could trace their lineage back to Scotia,
with a residence in the north of Ireland, were largely forced
to locate in the interior, to become frontiermen, to derive
their living directly from the soil, leaving to their English
brethren the more prominent occupations of law and poli-
tics. Among the immigrants of the Scotch-Irish race, few,
if any, were more prominent than the Jacksons. A strange
analogy runs through their history to that in the times
before they came to America, particularly evident in a
strong inclination to participate in public life. They have
produced few writers and artists, but many generals, poli-
ticians and captains of industry.
The beginning of the story of the Jackson family, so
far as written records go, leads back into the province of
Ulster, in the north of Ireland, and is closely allied with
the history of the counties of Tyrone, Donegal, Antrim
and Londonderry. The last named was originally Derry,
but the title was changed by a charter granted by Charles
II in 1662. At this time the Irish Society, of London,
controlled Londonderry, Coleraine, with the fisheries, woods,
ferriage and lands lying between the Lough Foyle and the
rivers Royle and Bann. This society in turn sublet rights
in this region to local officials, and this system may be said
to have really established Protestant power in Ulster. In
such manner the territory around Coleraine came into the
hands of the Jacksons, and of them Robert Slade, Secretary
FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON 17
of the “Society,” 1802, writes (see Scotch-Irish Pioneers,
by Bolton) :
Ambitious to acquire both property and power, they were
often at odds with the authorities in London and were driven by
these conditions to hold their territory at excessive rates imposed
by the none too friendly London directors. In the year 1713, com-
plaint was made that William Jackson had three uncles, who, with
himself and tenants, were aldermen, so that six of the twelve
aldermen of Coleraine obeyed his orders. Five of the twenty-four
burgesses were his tenants, and Mr. Jackson desired to fill a vacancy
with another tenant of his living twelve miles distant at Kilrea.
This tenant was a brother of a burgess, and both were sons of an
alderman. Thirteen members of the council (which included alder-
men and burgesses) called upon the mayor for a judicial investiga-
tion of the matter, but the mayor, who was a relative of Jackson’s,
refused their request, although it was claimed to be made according
to law. This was but the beginning of discord in the Bann Valley.
In 1728 the Society expressed dissatisfaction with the Jackson
family, which had opposed the political interests of the Society
and had, through the control of the corporation of Coleraine, usurped
the power to grant lands. The long arm which reached out from
London had no sooner quieted Coleraine than Londonderry was in
trouble for disregarding its by-laws. These controversies had prob-
ably little influence upon the lot of the humble tenant, except along
the Bann, where the Jackson sway was felt. It was ‘commonly
reported’ that the Hon. Richard Jackson was forced to raise the
rents of his tenants in order to meet his obligations, and that these
tenants, near Coleraine, began agitation for the first great Scotch-
Irish emigration to America.
something of the magnitude of this emigration may
be understood when it is noted that 4,200 people left in
1718; and after the famine of 1740, 12,000 left annually.
The residence of Hon. Richard Jackson stood just west
of the bridge over the river bank at Coleraine, on the road
to Derry. Other roads radiated to Borough Castle of the
Earl of Tyrone, about eight miles away; to Kilrea, twelve
miles up the Bann river; to Antrim and Belfast to the
south; and to Port Rush on the north. One standing on
the bridge at Coleraine, at this day, will see in the beautiful
view before him, on the left bank of the Bann, a very pretty
mansion and grounds, still designated as “‘Jackson’s Hall.”
18 FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON
In the neighborhood of Coleraine was born in 1719
John Jackson, the first of the family of Lieutenant-General
Thomas J. Jackson of whom we have any definite record.
At the age of ten, his parents and two brothers joined
one of the migrations from Port Rush, removing to London.
From this point, in 1748, at the age of twenty-nine, he set
out to seek his fortune in America. Others in the same
family, settling in New Jersey, found their way into western
Virginia in later years; still another line in the South
produced Andrew Jackson of Tennessee.
Arriving in the colony of Maryland, John Jackson
located in Cecil county and here, in 1755, married Eliza-
beth Cummins, born in 1729, who had been a fellow passen-
ger on the trip from London. Three years later, in the
spring of 1758, they removed to the south branch of the
Potomac, settling in Pendleton, near the present Moorefield,
in Hardy county, (W.) Va.
“In the fall of the ensuing year (1768),” relates Alex-
ander Scott Withers in Chronicles of Border Warfare,
“John Jackson (who was accompanied by his sons, George
and Edward) settled at the mouth of Turkey Run, where
his daughter, Mrs. [Josiah] Davis, now lives.” This is the
site long known as Jackson’s Fort and present Buckhannon,
W. Va. Large holdings of state lands were acquired in this
region, and among them is a patent for 3,000 acres issued
to Elizabeth Cummins Jackson, the fees being paid with
English gold, a few guineas of which are still in the hands
of descendants.
The first county court of Randolph was held on May
28, 1787. The records show that John Jackson was ap-
pointed commissioner of revenue in 1787, and had been
ordered into service as an Indian spy by Governor Henry
Lee in 1786. He was made a justice of the peace, lieu-
tenant of militia in 1787, and captain of militia in 1789.
Later in life John Jackson and his wife removed to
Clarksburg to live with their children; here he died, Sep-
FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON 19
tember 25, 1804.* His wife survived until 1825. To John
and Elizabeth Jackson were born eight children:
1. GEORGE. Born in Cecil county, Maryland, Janu-
ary 9, 1757, and died at Zanesville, Ohio, May 17, 1831.
Married (1) Elizabeth Brake at Moorefield, November 13,
1776, who was born February 22, 1757, and died March 22,
1812; (2) Mrs. Nancy Richardson Adams, on November
6, 1814.
In 1779 he organized a band of Indian spies that did
excellent service. Appointed a captain in 1781, he recruited
a company of 104 men to participate in the expedition of
George Rogers Clark against Detroit, making a sensational
journey with two guides into the wilderness of present
Indiana.
The first county court of Harrison county was held in
his house on the Buckhannon River, June 29, 1784. George
Jackson was recommended and appointed a justice of the
*T, John Jackson, of Harrison county and State of Virginia,
do hereby make my last will and testament in manner and form fol-
lowing, that is to say, I desire that a deed shall be made to my
daughter, Sophia, for two hundred acres of land lying in Randolph
county, on Brushy Run, joining Joseph Hall’s land on the west side,
including Frank’s lick. Secondly, I give to my granddaughter,
Elizabeth Reager, two hundred acres of land lying in Randolph
county, on the west side of Buckhannon River, and on the south
side of a line running between the waters of Turkey Run, and two
small runs, one known by the name of Long Bridge Run, and the
other by the Rich Knob Lick Run, including the mouths of both.
It is also my desire that the above described tract of land shall
remain in the hands of her father until she becomes of age or mar-
ries. It is to be understood that in case she should die previous to
either these events, the land to fall to her father. Thirdly, I give
to my wife, Elizabeth, all the residue of my estate, real and per-
sonal, of whatsoever nature it may be, to be disposed of as she
may think proper. And lastly, I do hereby constitute my son, George,
executor of this my last will and testament. In witness whereof, I
have hereunto set my hand, affixed my seal, this twenty-second day
of September in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred
and one. John Jackson (
Signed, sealed, published and declared as and for the last will
and testament of the above named John Jackson in presence of
John G. Jackson
William Williams.
Recorded in Will Book No. 1, page 138.
20 FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON
peace, and as such a member of the county court; he was a
member of the Virginia assembly, 1786-1790; a member
of the Virginia convention that adopted the Constitution
of the United States, 1788; and a member of the Fourth,
Sixth and Seventh Congresses; founder of ‘‘Collins Settle-
ment” in present Lewis county, and a member of the Ohio
legislature. Altogether, he was a man of great activity
and prominence—a soldier and politician.
Early in March, 1782, Indians appeared in the Buck-
hannon valley and some of the people were murdered with-
out warning. Captain White, “the lion in the defense of
the settlement in the absence of George Jackson,” was
killed in plain view of the fort. Soon after, George Jackson
is said to have run all the way from present Buckhannon
to Clarksburg in the night for help and arrived in time to
repel an invasion. These are merely high marks in the
efforts of this man to take care of the people of that day.
George Jackson fostered efforts to start schools and was a
trustee of Randolph Academy in 1795.
Ability was not limited to the second generation, how-
ever, and of George Jackson’s fourteen children by his two
marriages several became distinguished. Edward Brake
(1793-1826) served in the Virginia assembly, War of 1812,
the Seventeenth Congress, was elected to the Eighteenth
and resigned. John George (1774-1825) served in the Vir-
ginia house of burgesses, the Eighth Congress and five
succeeding Congresses; was brigadier general of militia and
judge of the United States District Court. He married
(1) Mary Payne, sister of Dolly Payne Todd Madison, and
(2) Mary Meigs, daughter of Return Jonathan Meigs.
George Washington served in the army and will be noted
later. Prudence (1789-1855) married Elijah Arnold,
founder of the Arnold line in Lewis county.
Other members of this line were scarcely less distin-
guished. William L. (Jr.) served as leutenant-governor
of Virginia, 1856-8; was a member of Stonewall Jackson’s
staff, commander of a cavalry brigade and judge of the
FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON 21
superior court in Virginia and Kentucky. John J., Jr.,
served as a United States district judge. James Monroe
was a member of the Fifty-first Congress, and Jacob Beeson
was governor of West Virginia. Many others were
prominent.
2. EDWARD. (See further.)
3. JOHN, JR. Born 1760, died 1821; married (1)
Rebecca Hadden, April 10, 1786, and (2) Elizabeth Cozad
in 1799 in Harrison county. His will probated on May 24,
1821, is of record in Lewis county, and mentions children:
Edward, Jacob, Samuel, George, William W., Sarah, Mary,
Elizabeth and Rebecca. Personal property was owned to
the value of $1,811.24, including six slaves.
4. SAMUEL. Married Barbara Reger (sister of
Philip) and removed to near Terra Haute, Ind. A daughter
“Polly” married Leonard Brake, September 3, 1828.
5. HENRY. Married (1) Mary Hyer (issue Hyer
Jackson, eminent jurist of Texas), and (2) Elizabeth
Shreve. He became county surveyor, Randolph county,
1793, and had charge of the Banks Survey.
6. ELIZABETH. Married Abraham Brake.
7. MARY SARAH. Married in 1788 Philip Reger,
who served as ensign in the Virginia militia in the York-
town campaign, and subsequently became first sheriff of
Lewis county.
8. SOPHIA. Married Josiah Davis.
EDWARD JACKSON, second son of John and Eliza-
beth Cummins Jackson, was born March 1, 1759, and died
at Jackson’s Mills, December 25, 1828. The minutes of the
first county court of Randolph county, May 28, 1787, contain
the following entry: ‘That Edward Jackson be recom-
mended to the governor as a proper person to fill the office
of surveyor, he being of probity and good character.” He
was appointed a justice of Randolph, May 29, 1787, and as
such a member of the county court; captain and colonel of
militia, 1787; commissioner of the revenue, 1791; high
22 FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON
sheriff, 1792; and also served as a justice in Harrison
county.
About 1801, Edward Jackson removed his family from
present Buckhannon to the homestead located below Wes-
ton, where he resided until his death. He acquired some
knowledge of medicine, was an expert millwright, and a
farmer of more than usual ability. He did much of the
local surveying work; laid out the site of the town of
Weston, and was appointed a commissioner to construct a
court house for Lewis county, November 4, 1819. In 1820
he was appointed a justice of the peace and represented
Lewis county in the Virginia assembly in 1822-23.
On October 13, 1783, he married Mary Hadden, born
May 15, 1764 and died April 17, 1796, a daughter of David
Hadden, who had removed from New Jersey to Randolph
county in 1772. To this union were born:
1. George E., born December 23, 1786, died March
26, 1881; removed to St. Genevieve county, Mo., in
IRAE
2. David E., born October 30, 1788; married
Juliet Norris in 1812. Issue: Mary (1813-1900), who
married John H. Hays; Edward J. (1810-1896) ; Nancy
and William Pitt. Served as ensign in the Nineteenth
Infantry, U. 8S. A., 1813-14.
3. Jonathan, born September 25, 1790; died
March 25, 1826.
4. Rachel, born July 8, 1792; married Jacob
Brake, Sept. 10, 1815, who was born August 1, 1785.
Issue: Edward H.; George W.; Rachel; Leonard J.;
Mary; Jacob L.; Catherine; Rebecca; David J., and
Eliza.
5. Mary (Polly) Hadden, born February 19,
1794; died August 30, 1840; married November 30,
1820, Isaac Brake, who was born November 16, 1797;
died January 17, 1885, near Buckhannon, W. Va.
Issue: Rachel Elizabeth, born January 4, 1822, died
November 28, 1883; Edward Stalnaker, born February |
FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON 23
20, 1823, died in infancy; Jacob, Jr., born October 10,
1824, died in infancy; Melville Shook, born August 6,
1826, died October 14, 1898; Diademma, born July 20,
1828, died September 12, 1904; Oliva, born September
7, 1880, died February 19, 1914; Mary Virginia, born
October 5, 1837, died March 9, 1862; and Isaac New-
ton, born August 30, 1840.
6. Rebecca, born September 15, 1795; died July
18, 1889. Married George White in 1811 and removed
to Pond Creek (Belleville), Wood county. To this
union were born eleven children, among whom were
Benton and Jackson, who settled near Columbus, O.
On October 13, 1799, Edward Jackson married (2)
Elizabeth, daughter of John (1754-1838) and Elizabeth
Wetherholt Brake, who was born January 11, 1772, and
died August 19, 1835.
Issue:
1. Katherine (“Caty’”), born July 25, 1800, and died
December 8, 1876. On January 25, 1824, she married
John White, son of Alexander White, a soldier of the
Revolution from New Jersey.
Issue:
Fortunas, born November 2, 1824; died July
31, 1901; married Lucy Gibson, December 9, 1847.
Sylvanus, born January 15, 1827; died November
29, 1911; married Malinda Henderson, April 21,
1853. Marcellus, born March 17, 1829; died June
2, 1897; married Flora Gibson, December 25,
1856. George Edward, born August 17, 1831; died
June 9, 1902; married Alice Fetty. Marellah, born
February 2, 1834; died July, 1874; married Jacob
Rohrbough, July 15, 1865. William Pitt, born
August 15, 1836; removed to California, March,
1857; married Prudence Strader, December 31,
1854. Alexander Perry, born October 138, 1838;
married (1) Mary Fetty, (2) Lovie Ireland,
March, 1899. John McDowell, born February 18,
24 FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON
1841; died June 16, 1882 (killed by a falling tree) ;
married Sarah Woofter, 1865.
2. Cummins E., born July 25, 1802; died in Shasta
county, California, December 4, 1849.
3. James Madison, born April 3, 1805; died October
27, 1872; married (1) Eleanor Law, December 4, 1836,
who died December 27, 1850.
Issue:
Margaret, who married Gaston Greathouse;
Mary E., who married John Cunningham; Stokley
R., born 1839, died 1906, married Mrs. Eliza Curry
Armstrong; Nancy Elizabeth, born 1843, died
1922, married David J., son of John H. and Mary
Jackson Hays, who was born 1835, died 1898;
Edward T., born August 4, 1848, married Julia
A. Brake, February 19, 1874.
Married December 30, 1851, (2) Susan Ann Bailey,
who died 1879.
4. Elizabeth (Eliza), born April 6, 1807; died Feb-
ruary 22, 1849; married Nicholas Carpenter, July 3,
1830, and removed to near Mt. Vernon, Indiana.
5. John E., born January 22, 1810; died July 18,
1875; married Sarah Byrne and removed to Missouri.
6. Margaret (Peggy), born February 2, 1812; mar-
ried Jonathan Thompson Hall, March 7, 1833.
7. Return Meigs, born March 15, 1814; died July 6,
1835, at St. Genevieve, Mo. It is related that he died
from the result of a standing jump to his own height,
six feet.
8. Edward J., born October 29, 1817; died October
21, 1848.
9. Andrew, born March 16, 1821; died October 31,
1867; married Mary Dean and removed to Indiana.
Later returned to Lewis county and died on Hughes
River.
(2) JONATHAN JACKSON, the third son of Edward
and Mary Hadden Jackson, was born in Randolph county
JONATHAN JACKSON,
father of General Jackson.
FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON 25
—
(now Upshur), September 25, 1790. He was educated at
the Randolph Academy in Clarksburg and the old Male
Academy at Parkersburg, later taking up the study of law
under his cousin, Judge John G. Jackson, of Clarksburg.
He was admitted to the bar in Harrison county in De-
cember, 1810; Randolph county in 18138, and Lewis county
at the first county court held at Westfield, just below Jack-
son’s Mills, in 1817. Jonathan served as collector of internal
revenue and by 1813 was recognized as one of the most
promising and successful lawyers in Clarksburg.
In 1818 he married Julia Beckwith Neale,* a school
acquaintance, daughter of Thomas and Margaret Winn
Neale, of Parkersburg. Issue:
1. Elizabeth, born 1819, died March 5, 1826.
2. Warren, born January, 1821, died November, 1841,
on Turkey Run, Upshur county, (W.) Va.
*(1) The founder of the Neale line in America, from which General
Jackson was descended, was Lt. Daniel Neale, of the English
Army, who emigrated to Northumberland County, Va., in 1659.
He married Ellen and had issue:
(2) Captain Christopher Neale, (1644-1691) a Burgess of North-
umberland County, who married Hannah Rodham and had issue:
(3) Daniel Neale, (1680-1710) of Westmoreland County, who mar-
ried Ursula, daughter of Col. William Presley, a Burgess of
Northumberland County. Issue:
(4) Presley Neale, ( 1749) who married Margaret
and had issue:
(5) Richard Neale, (1743-1816) of Westmoreland County, who mar-
ried Francis Underwood of King George County. Issue:
(6) Thomas Neale, (1774 ) who married Margaret, daughter of
Captain Minor and Elizabeth (Withers) Winn, who resided on
the west side of Bull Run Mountain. Issue: Harriet, who mar-
ried James Hardin, son of Captain James and Hannah (Hardin)
O’Neale, founder of Neale’s Station (Parkersburg); Richard;
Julia Beckwith, who married Jonathan Jackson; Minor; Wil-
liam; Alfred; and Thornton.
Thomas Neale became a member of the Ohio Company and in
1798 removed with his family from Loudoun County to Parkers-
burg. Here on “the point” at the intersection of present Ann
and Kanawha streets, he erected a brick and stone residence
that stood until 1918. He was quite successful for a number of
years as a merchant and exporter of flour; was for a time a
business associate of the ill-fated Harman Blennerhassett; and
became the largest slave owner in the community. “a
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FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON 29
Adjoining the See patent to the north was a patent to
James Keith, of Hampshire county, and this was trans-
ferred on May 15, 1802, by Aleson Clark, D. S., Harrison
county, to Mary Sleeth, who in turn sold to Edward Jack-
son. In April, 18238, the latter conveyed land adjoining
“Jackson’s Mills” to his grandchildren, Edward, William
Pitt, Mary and Nancy, children of David E. Jackson. Title
to the homestead was held clear until November 3, 1820,
when, in a chancery case of William L. Jackson, of Har-
rison county, against “Edward Jackson, David W. Sleeth
and George White, his sureties on a forthcoming bond in
the name of John White for the use of the Ohio Company,”
the property was transferred to William L. Jackson, Sr.
This was done to protect Edward Brake Jackson, who
agreed to assume the payment of $1,800 due on the bond
named, and the property included “one tract of 500 acres
including Jackson’s Mills” and the following slaves: Nancy,
Sampson, Lamar, Cecelia, Meria, Aaron, Lucy, Sam,
Louisa and Lucy.
In the subsequent litigation, and following the death of
Colonel Edward Jackson, who left no will, the property was
sold by the United States marshal according to a decree
of court and was bid in by Cummins E. Jackson. On
August 26, 1830, he in turn transferred it to John J. Allen,
a son-in-law of John G. Jackson. The deed specifies a tract
of land situated in Lewis county, on the east side of the
West Fork River, and ‘“‘also that other tract of land situated
on the west side of said river and opposite to the foregoing
tract, being a tract of land on which the said Cummins E.
Jackson resides, on which there is a mill, being the same
land formerly occupied by Edward Jackson.” And which
was sold under a decree of the superior court of law and
chancery, ‘‘and being the tract of land originally patented
by George See, and by him sold to Edward Jackson.”
It seems that within a short time John J. Allen
reconveyed the homestead to Cummins Jackson and that
Elizabeth Jackson, the widow of Colonel Edward Jackson,
30 FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON
acquired an interest in it. In November, 1835, James
Madison Jackson qualified as the personal representative
of Elizabeth Jackson and also as administrator of the estate
of Return Meigs Jackson, with Edward J. Jackson as
surety.
George Oliver in the Weston Democrat (1892) says:
In 1844 the old Jackson Mill property was owned by Cummins
KE. Jackson. He supplied Weston with a great quantity of lumber
for building purposes. I have been informed that he owned some
1,500 acres in connection with the mill property lying on both
sides of the West Fork.
Cummins Jackson patented in this same year 551 acres
on Cutright Run and 570 acres on Jaw Bone Run. In 1838
he patented 612 acres on the West Fork, 200 acres on Free-
man’s Creek, and 500 acres on Coal Lick.
In the spring of 1849 Cummins Jackson and others
left for California, attracted there by the gold fields. Few
people now living can appreciate the attraction this offered
to Eastern folk. Whole companies of men left sections of
the Valley of Virginia, and in the interior the exodus was
only marked by the smaller numbers. Sylvanus White,
writing to Thomas Jackson Arnold from California, under
date of July 4, 1911, says of the party from around Weston:
I will now give you the names of the little party that left
Virginia, the first of April, 1849, bound for California. The third
day of April we left my father’s (John White’s on Freeman’s Creek).
In the party were Cummins E. Jackson, Edward J. Jackson (son of
David), Calvin J. Brown, myself and brother, George E. White, all
of Lewis county; James T. Jackson (at the time) of Parkersburg,
Jonathan Ireland and John Gipson of Upshur county; White Vine-
yard and Griffin Vineyard from Randolph county; the latter later
joined another train. (These were grandnephews of Colonel Ed-
ward Jackson’s first wife, Mary Hadden.) Then from Gilmer county
we had Shelton Furr, Othello Hays, Samuel Covert, William Queen
and Morgan Queen.
This company arrived in California some time in July,
1849, and the colony was soon augmented by the arrival
of others. Many in later years returned East and others
founded families still to be found on the Pacific coast.
Cummins E. Jackson, however, only lived a few months,
“SPST Lnody
“VA (‘M) ‘NOLSEM YVAN ‘STII S,NOSHOVE
FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON 31
dying of a fever contracted in the gold camps in December
of the same year. The news did not reach Weston until
in February of 1850, and after some delay, due to absence
of proof of death, etc., the Jackson’s Mills property was
subdivided among his heirs, he, it seems, having died with-
out a will.
On March 5, 1866, Andrew Jackson and Mary, his wife,
executed a deed of trust to David J. Hays, conveying “all
real estate descended to said Jackson on the death of Cum-
mins E. Jackson or Edward Jackson direct.”
James Madison Jackson, on October 3, 1868, trans-
ferred to Stokely R. Jackson ninety-six acres, part of “the
old Cummins E. Jackson Mill property.” The mill property
had in the meantime passed into the possession of Kath-
erine Jackson White (Mrs. John White) and was trans-
ferred to William and Huldah Moxley, owners of the Moxley
House in Weston.
On March 31, 1886, William E. Arnold, commissioner
in a chancery case of “Marcellus White, administrator
of Katherine White, deceased, vs. Huldah and Wm. Mox-
ley,” sold Jackson’s Mills property, together with five acres
of land, to Joseph Clifton for $1,300. On November 5,
1913, this five-acre tract with the buildings thereon was
sold by Miss Ella Clifton to A. T. Watson, acting for the
Monongahela Valley Traction Company, for $4,000, and
was by this corporation donated to the state of West Vir-
ginia in 1922.
Additional property was then acquired and donated
by public-spirited people of the city of Weston and Lewis
county. Under the direction of the state of West Virginia
it has been converted into a beautiful park, known as
The illustration facing is from a painting by E. E. Myers, head
of the Department of Art, Marshall College, Huntington, W. Va.
This is based on actual study on the ground, old engineering maps
and prints. The Cummins Jackson house for some years had no
porch, the original being removed, and then replaced in 1886. The
_ site is now occupied by Stonewall Jackson Park. This picture is
the best ever made of this old home place and is the work of an
artist widely and favorably known.
32 FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON
“Stonewall Jackson Park.” Here has been founded the first
unit in a great national movement, known as the 4-H Pro-
ject, devoted to the upbuilding of boys and girls in health,
head, heart and hands. What more fitting purpose could be
served than the creation of Christian citizenship as a memo-
rial to the boy who, with his motto, ““You can be whatever
you resolve to be,” spent his youth at this spot and from
here rode away to national and international fame as a man
and a warrior?
Parts of the original homestead are still in the hands
of members of the family, being owned by the Hays heirs,
Edward J. and Byron Stonewall Jackson.
Colonel Edward Jackson in 1801 erected, on the north
bank of the river bend and facing the broad bottom land
directly south, a two-story, hewn-log manor house with
anell. It was about twenty feet by forty without the wing,
quite well constructed, nicely finished inside and considered
among the best in the community in that day. This home
was occupied by the family until some years after the death
of the widow of Edward Jackson, at which time portions
were used in the erection of other farm buildings. The
site can still be discerned about three hundred feet west
of the location of the late Cummins Jackson house, on a
rise in an open place among the old apple trees of the family
orchard on the county road. This home, rather than that
remembered by later generations and depicted in pictures,
is the one in which Stonewall Jackson spent his boyhood
days, and was dismantled about 1843. |
In 1808 an eight-foot dam was constructed in the river
for the purpose of supplying power for a saw mill and a
grist mill. In or near that year machinery was brought
from one of the earlier mills of the Jacksons near Clarks-
burg and installed in a log building constructed on the
east shore (opposite the present mill). Constant trouble
was encountered; the bend in the river threw the current
against that side and the erosion caused the building partly
to slide into the river bed. To this day a slide area of |
FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON 33
some proportions still exists on this side and gives trouble
to the road-makers and traction lines. With the establish-
ment of this mill the place became Jackson’s Mills, and
was the scene of constant activity thereafter for over forty
years.
At a time precisely undetermined but prior to 1830,
the foundation timbers and machinery were removed to
the opposite side of the river. Here they were housed in a
building, a combination of hand-hewn lumber and lumber
sawn in the mill just above. The wife of a distinguished
local resident, born in 1834, relates that the first mill
building on the present site burned when she was but a
small child, and the present building was erected thereupon.
An old print examined by the writer bears the notation
“Jackson’s Mills, 1837,’ which would seem to indicate that
the building still standing was erected in that year. The
material of which it is constructed is largely sawn by
machine; the building is 40 x 40 feet, two and a half stories
in height, with a native stone foundation. An indication
of the quality of the timber that once abounded in the com-
munity is shown by the hand-hewn beams, which are of
poplar, sixteen inches square, forty feet long and free
from imperfection. The building contained two flour mills,
two bolting machines, burrs for corn and other grain.
Power was supplied by two wheels located under the mill,
and operating horizontally, rather than the open overshot
wheel as depicted by early artists. During the Civil War
parties of Federal troops damaged the machinery and, like
countless people since, carried away “relics,” attracted to
the scene because it was the boyhood home of a Confederate
chieftain whose moves were on every tongue on both sides
during his military career.
Thirty feet above the mill building, on a line with
the dam, stood a one-story building until after 1873, with
roof sloping like the grist mill; this housed the saw mill.
Below these two buildings, on the road to the ford in the
river, stood a carpenter and blacksmith shop and the barn.
34 FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON
For a time a store was conducted nearby, and the place
was a little self-contained community.
In the early forties (perhaps 1843, although one mem-
ber of the family says it was new in 1848) Cummins Jackson
erected a larger and more pretentious house on the north
side of the river in the apex of the curve. It was a two-
story frame building, in the shape of an ell with equal
sides, with five windows in each side. It had no porch and
commanded a view for some distance up and down the
river. Stonewall Jackson probably, indeed in all likelihood,
spent his vacations from West Point and his later visits
in this home. As already noted, it was not his early home
place. It was used as a residence by some member of the
family for the greater portion of the time until the opening
of the Civil War, although it had periods of vacancy even
in that early day.
Cummins Jackson departed for the gold fields of Cali-
fornia in 1849, and for the next four decades the home
place went through a period in which it was often deserted
for years at atime. The Jackson house was leased to others;
the mill was operated at intermittent periods by Trow-
bridges, Whites, James Madison and Andrew Jackson, the
latter’s connection with it ceasing about 1867.
Under such circumstances it became simply a rambling
deserted home place; the old mill building was the ren-
dezvous for ghosts and the alleged scene for the basis of
the novelette, Black Beelzebub, and other stories. Barney
Hamback, a worker in the mill, had lost his life in an un-
fortunate affair in earlier years, and the superstitious be-
lieved that certain mysterious sounds did not cease until
the iron bar from a bolting mill with which he had been
struck had been made into horseshoes. In the late forties
a deputy United States marshal named Tharp appeared at
the mills with a legal paper to serve on a local resident,
who escaped by what seems a dangerous feat of jumping
in the river from a window in the rear of the mill and
Swimming across; later he performed a similar feat by —
FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON 35
escaping under the waterfall created by the dam. This
man eluded pursuit by taking refuge in the old Jackson
house. A negro slave girl, passing in the road, screamed
when intercepted, detracting attention momentarily from
him. Finally, the fugitive was taken to the clerk’s office
of the court house in Weston to execute bond for appear-
ance, when he suddenly pulled a pistol from beneath his
shirt, backed out of the door in the face of his surprised
captors, mounted a horse and left the community.
In the hills to the west is the alleged location of the
lost Barrett lead lode, for which more than one searching
party has sought in order to discover the origin of metal
used for purposes legitimate and illegitimate.
After the purchase of the homestead in 1886 by Joseph
Clifton, the mill and the Jackson house were repaired. The
windows had long been broken out and little sycamore trees
had taken root in the accumulated debris on the floors.
The mortar had fallen from the chimney and under the
hearthstones were found a number of old Spanish silver
pieces. The stairway, if ever there had been one, was
gone, and access to the second floor was secured by a ladder
arrangement on the wall. One end of the basement was
sub-divided by a native stone wall, which created a small
room six feet by sixteen. In blasting a stone for steps
for the house, several fossilized nuts resembling pecans
were found embedded therein; these are still in the hands
of the late owners. A porch was constructed on the two
sides next to the road, the puncheon floors in the kitchen
annex were replaced, and the place again became habitable.
This is the house shown in all the pictures of the “Boy-
hood Home of General Stonewall Jackson.”
When it was announced that the mill pond would be
drained and the mill race repaired, folk of the neighborhood
recalled that in 1867 a local resident had died in another
county. On his death-bed he was constantly talking of a
“box buried in a stream or drain,” and his words were
supposed to have reference to something buried near the
86 FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON
mill. The result was that a number of people appeared
on the scene, and, when the water was let out, the bed of
the river was examined with pitchforks, bare feet and
other means for several hundred yards up and down, but to
no avail. After a period of operation running into the
nineties, the mill was again closed. Floating logs in the
river in timber runs did much damage to the property.
For a number of years the mill and the house as well were
simply used as a storage place; in the meantime several
attempts by patriotic organizations to buy and preserve
the homestead failed.
The visitor to the home of Jackson’s boyhood finds
the scene greatly changed from the days “before the war.”
The old mill stands a silent sentinel at the river’s edge,
rising like a great white phantom of the past, as is so well
expressed in the words of Camden Sommers:
A shell, naught more, the old mill stood,
Grim jest of passing winters’ snows;
Gruesome it stays, bathed in blood,
Filched where the big red moon arose,
A wreck of time—thus each thing goes;
All around the landmarks are falling—
That’s life—the new is always calling.
Above the old mill pond now passes an artistic concrete
bridge replacing the ford in the river below. The dam and
mill race have ceased to exist, leaving only tumbled stones
and decaying timbers to mark their place.
On a rise along the river near the junction of the
Lightburn road is located the old Jackson burying ground,
surrounded by a neat iron fence. Here one reads on the
markers the names of “John Brake’; “Colonel Edward
Jackson, and Elizabeth Jackson, consort of Colonel Edward
Jackson.” Nearby are those of “James M. Jackson” and
“Susan Ann, wife of James M. Jackson”; “Edward J., son
of David and Juliet Jackson”; “Edward Jackson and Mary
Jackson, wife of John H. Hays,” and several others of the
Jackson and Hays families.
FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON 37
The old manor house with its widespread porch,
through negligence, went the way of Blennerhassett’s man-
sion and other historic structures by fire in May, 1915. On
its site stands a block of granite, four feet eight inches
high, weighing about twenty tons, bearing a bronze tablet
on which one reads:
This tablet marks the site of the boyhood home
of General T. J. (Stonewall) Jackson, a soldier of
great military genius and renown, a man of resolute,
pure Christian character. Died May 10, 18638, of
wounds received at the battle of Chancellorsville, Vir-
ginia.
38 FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON
CHAPTER IV
CHILDHOOD
It is a far cry from Main Street in the industrial city
of Clarksburg, West Virginia, to that of the little village
of the same name located in western Virginia in the early
days of the eighteenth century. Yet to Jonathan Jackson,
who inherited much business acumen and foresight, it was
easily apparent that the town would be the leading one of
the great interior in time, the key to the upper Monon-
gahela, and therefore a good place wherein to settle for
the practice of law. Here, in what is now the very heart
of the city, he in 1818 erected a neat three-roomed cottage,
with semi-attic and inset porch, of a type now fast disap-
pearing. No paved street lay in front. No concrete walks
afforded means of egress and access. The street was the
road, and alongside ran an ordinary fence surrounding a
lot of some proportions with an old gnarled apple tree
therein, which tradition relates was set out by Benjamin
Wilson from seed secured from the famed “Appleseed
Johnny.” The site is now covered by a three-story brick
building erected by D. Davidson in 1881; in 1911 there
was attached thereto a bronze tablet by the Stonewall Jack-
son Chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy which
informs the public that it is the site of the birthplace of
“General Stonewall Jackson.” Here, on September 30, 1869,
no less a personage than Horace Greely—he who espoused
enthusiasms so opposite—stood with bared head and ad-
dressed to the assembled crowd a touching eulogy on the
spirit of the departed chieftain.
To this home place Jonathan Jackson brought Julia
Neale, his Parkersburg bride. Rather a brunette, with dark
brown hair, dark gray eyes, of medium height, handsome
face, a close student and well educated, she at once became —
FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON 39
a favorite in the little town. Edward Jackson, the father
of Jonathan, took much interest in the young couple, and
gave to them some property holdings (inherited, it has been
stated, but Jonathan Jackson died before his father). The
law practice grew, and the young lawyer seemed destined
to achieve success; the children born to him came into the
world with no thought of the troubles that were in store
for the family in the future. The father, like many in
those days, in a region far removed from banks and other
financial institutions, advanced money and endorsed notes
for his neighbors. In March, 1826, the oldest child, Eliza-
beth, contracted typhoid fever. The father turned his at-
tention to the bedside of the sick one, and in the same
month both passed to the great beyond, leaving the widow,
a little daughter, Laura, and two little boys, Warren and
Thomas. |
The investigation of the following weeks revealed that
every vestige of the property of the family had been swept
away. The Masonic fraternity, of which Jonathan Jackson
had long been a member, came to the rescue and the be-
reaved ones took up their abode in a small one-room cottage
furnished by the organization. Turning to look for some
means of livelihood, the mother took up sewing and, being
solicited to do so, opened a three-months school. During
this time came the opportunity for the future general’s first
exploration of the outside world. Left with a neighbor’s
child somewhat their elder while the school was in session,
the little girl and the two little boys, Warren and Thomas,
did well enough until their protector deserted them. Warren
raised a window, and the three youngsters got out as best
they could and started down the road. The mother re-
turned to find the house empty and for a time was nearly
distracted, until it developed that Jesse Jarvis, for many
years deputy clerk of the county court of Harrison, had
found them and taken them to his home. With the year
1830, the story of the family and its connection with
Clarksburg comes to a close.
40 FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON
CHAPTER V
THE BOY AT JACKSON’S MILLS
On the removal of the family of Jonathan Jackson to
present Fayetteville, Warren was sent to live with Alfred
Neale, of Parkersburg. Thomas and his sister, Laura,
after a few months in the new home, returned to Lewis
county to make their home with Elizabeth Cummins Jack-
son, second wife of their grandfather, Edward Jackson, two
maiden aunts and several uncles, among whom was Cum-
mins Jackson, who was destined to take a great interest
in the future general.
Some two years later Thomas left Jackson’s Mills for
a short time and resided with Isaac Brake in Harrison
county. Some difficulty, either real or fancied by the young
mind, arose, and he suddenly appeared at the home of
Mrs. John J. Allen, at Clarksburg. She, after listening
to his troubles, told him he should return to his Uncle
Brake. “Maybe I ought to, ma’am, but I am not going
to,” was his reply; and he again took up his home at the
“old homestead” below Weston.
For twelve years the boyhood of the future general
was spent at the Jackson homestead, an existence not unlike
that of many others of the same period. Yet the lad was
marked by many singularities that even then set him apart
from the circles in which he moved. His strict adherence to
truth and unfailing honesty and courage are still proverbial
in the community. One of his schoolmates in the Clarks-
burg Telegram, in 1894, says:
Tom was always an uncommonly behaved lad, a gentleman from
a boy up, just and kind to everyone.
At a very early age Thomas did much work about the
farm. The holdings of Edward Jackson had been increased
FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON 41
by land patents issued to Cummins Jackson on Freeman’s
Creek and in other adjacent locations. Much was in prime-
val forest, the trees of which were cut down and hauled
or floated to the saw mill, located at the foot of the mill
pond just above the grist mill. Indeed, the lumber for the
grist mill was cut in this mill, which was erected first,
besides that used in part in the old manor house, the store
and the blacksmith shop. Most of the neighbors’ homes
were built from lumber from the same source, as well as the
thirty-odd houses and shops and stores in the town of
Weston. Tom was often directed to take charge of the men
and the few slaves engaged in the forest, a task he per-
formed well, even though he would seem to us a mere child.
His labors also took him to the grist mill, where he worked
under the direction of the millers, all of whom felt an
unusual interest in the orphan boy.
Yet, with all his industriousness, he was a boy, with a
boy’s inclinations and addicted to spells of contemplation.
Sitting by the side of the mill race or at the end of the
dam, he would be seen by neighbors deep in a book or en-
gaged in silent meditation. From this he would turn to his
chickens, a collie dog, and a few sheep with great zest. The
barnyard occupants were a great delight, and he wrote
much to his aunt, Mrs. Alfred Neale, concerning this phase
of his boyhood life. Soon he learned to ride the horses
and made several weekly trips to Weston for the mail and
to secure books loaned by the village folk. From this he
went on to practicing on the race track, traces of which
can still be seen on the farm of Wilson Arnold adjoining
the home place; by the time he was twelve he could ride
as well as any of the older boys in the races held at this
spot.
Early in life he was seized with some obscure form
of dyspepsia, and on the advice of others he sought fervently
all kinds of outdoor life. He continued, however, to be
troubled by nervous indigestion for the rest of his life.
His health was not seriously affected by it.
42 FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON
The sheep were his pride, and when shearing time
came he took great delight in that procedure, later hauling
the wool to the carding mill of a family connection, David
Hays, at Jane Lew. The wool was taken home, spun and
made into clothing, some of which he wore. A small amount
of flax was raised, and Thomas worked on this with a flail,
breaking it; from it a coarse linen cloth was woven.
He rode with his uncles in the fox hunt and took part in
deer hunts in the fall. During the winter months he trapped
rabbits along the river and in the forests back of the
bottom lands.
South of the mill pond stood a magnificent grove of
sugar maples, which were by Jackson regarded more or
less as his personal property. In “sap season” the maples
were tapped and the resultant product made into maple
sugar, an operation in which Thomas became quite pro-
ficient. The river then—before the passing of the forests—
was much larger in volume than at this day and could not
be crossed except on a horse at the “ford.” With the aid
of “Robinson,” a log was selected and, with Thomas’s own
hands, the inside was burned out and the trunk fashioned
into the canoe of that period. His sister, Laura, who lived
at Jackson’s Mills until after 1835, made many trips in
this improvised ferry-boat. Tradition relates that he once
attempted to cross during a spring freshet, but the current
was so swift that he lost control and was swept over the
dam, being compelled to swim ashore. Indeed, it is quite
possible that years later, as Jackson lay dying, his mind
reverted to the scenes of his boyhood when he uttered his
last words: ‘Let us cross over the river and rest in the
shade of the trees.”
About three hundred feet from the site of the old
Jackson home there still stands an immense chestnut tree.
With it is connected a well-verified anecdote clearly illus-
trating the determination and grit of Stonewall Jackson as
a boy. One night he, in company with some boys from
down the river and a few of the slaves with choice “coon
|
ee
se
Sas
JACKSON’S MILLS, 1920.
Above—Monument on site of Cummins Jackson home. Top: Cum-
mins Jackson House, the Mill and Cemetery in 1886.
.
FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON 43
dogs,” set out for the hills next to McCann’s Run. The
hours passed with little luck and the party set out for
home. The way led through a cornfield in the level bottom
land north of the home place, and here the dogs routed out
a big raccoon that sought refuge in this chestnut tree.
Clubs and other methods failed to dislodge the prey,
and a darkey was told to “shin up” the tree. Eyes shining
in the flickering light of a pine knot were all of the raccoon
that could be made out, and these on a large limb well out.
Obedient to instructions, the colored boy did his best, but
the coon put up such a fight that he fell from the tree. He
was not hurt, but declared the animal to be a bear and not
a coon.
Young Jackson laughed impatiently, announced that
he would get it and started up the tree himself. Climbing
out on the limb and encountering a resistance such as a
large coon can give, he speedily dispatched it with a club.
Needless to say, he was a hero among the boys for days
thereafter.
The West Fork of the Monongahela then contained
fish of a size and variety seldom found since the hills have
been denuded of forest. Turtles of a rare size were easily
caught, and such prey afforded opportunity to earn a little
money. Thomas Jackson fished much. As an evidence of
his upright character comes the story of his dealings in
fish with Conrad Kester, the gunsmith at Weston. One
morning he came by the home of Colonel John Talbott
with a fine three-foot pike hanging over his shoulder.
Colonel Talbott hailed him, “Tom, that is a fine fish
you have there; what will you take for it?”
“This fish is sold, Colonel Talbott,” replied Thomas.
“T’ll give you a dollar for it, Tom.”
“I can’t take it, Colonel Talbott; this fish is sold to
Mr. Kester.”
“But, Tom, I will give you a dollar and a quarter; surely
he will not give you more than that.”
44 FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON
Thomas straightened up, saying: ‘Colonel Talbott, I
have an agreement with Mr. Kester to furnish him fish of a
certain length for fifty cents each. He has taken some
from me a little shorter than that; now he is going to get
this big fish for fifty cents.”
Kester also offered him one dollar for it, but he re-
fused, giving the same reason he had given Colonel Talbott.
Thomas took part in the social life of the community.
On one occasion he started out to attend a party. On the
way he had to pass a place said to be haunted, a terror to
all the youth of the neighborhood. As he approached the
spot his horse was frightened at a white object in the road.
“Who art thou?” cried Jackson. No reply. “Who art
thou?” he demanded a second time. No reply, but the
ghost grew taller. “Who art thou?” came the third time.
No reply yet, but the ghost rose to an enormous height and
spread wings in a threatening manner. He, who as a man
faced cannon unflinchingly, as a boy succumbed to the
ghost. “Lucy,” he said to his horse, “if you ever did me
any good, do it now.” Lucy needed no further urging and
fled at full speed to the ford, where Jackson crossed and
rode to his destination by another route. His Uncle Edward
played the ghost and told the story.
The educational facilities afforded by the state of Vir-
ginia at that early day were very meager. During some
years there were no schools of any kind except a private
school at Weston conducted by Matthew Holt, which
opened in 1832. There is no record to indicate that Jackson
ever attended this school. Later, Robert P. Ray, at the
instigation of Cummins Jackson, taught a term in a build-
ing generally supposed to have been near the Jackson
home, if not one of the buildings there. Thomas attended
his first sessions there and for a time went to a school on
McCann’s Run. This was the beginning of a strong desire
for further learning. His efforts were so strenuous along
this line that they caused a loss to his Uncle Cummins,
but one which he forgave.
FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON 45
A well-authenticated tale is told that Cummins Jackson
owned one slave who was somewhat above the average in
mentality. Thomas made an agreement with the negro
that if the latter would provide pine knots, which were
stuck in the jam of the fireplace and furnished light by
which to study, he would teach him to read and write. This
agreement was carried out, and the slave kept at the task
until he became sufficiently learned to write a pass on the
“Underground Railroad” and ran away to Canada.
The late William E. Arnold, a distant cousin, relates
an event that occurred while he was under the tutelage of
a Mr. Mills, who taught a school for a few months near
Westfield, as evidence of Jackson’s extraordinary decision
of purpose. “Thomas was a pupil,” says Mr. Arnold, “and
whilst on the way to school an overgrown rustic behaved
rudely toward two of the girls. He was fired at his cow-
ardly conduct and told him that he must apologize to them
at once or he would thrash him. The big rustic, supposing
that he was an overmatch for him, declined to do so, where-
upon he pitched into him and gave him a severe pounding.”
Mr. Arnold, writing in the Weston Democrat, further
describes his character:
He was a youth of exemplary habits. He was not what is
now termed brilliant, but he was one of those untiring matter-of-
fact persons who never would give up an undertaking until he ac-
complished his object. He learned slowly, but what he got in his
head he never forgot. He was not quick to decide, but then when
he made up his mind to do a thing, he did it on short notice and
in quick time.
His untiring efforts toward self-improvement were
noted by Dabney, who says:
To prove himself worthy of his forefathers was the purpose
of his early manhood. It gives us a key to many of the singularities
of his character; to his hunger for self-improvement; to his punc-
tilious observance from a boy of the essentials of a gentlemanly
bearing.
In the fall of 1836, Warren Jackson, then teaching
school in present Upshur county, came to Jackson’s Mills
46 FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON
on a visit. The two brothers set out to visit their sister
Laura at the home of their uncle, Alfred Neale, who re-
sided just above Parkersburg on James Island. Here they
learned of the custom then in vogue of selling firewood to
steamboats plying the Ohio River. As a means of monetary
remuneration this appealed to their youthful minds. After
a short visit at the home of George White, who had mar-
ried their aunt, Rebecca Jackson, then residing at Pond
Creek (Belleville), Wood county, the two boys set out for
Southern waters.
This undertaking finally led them below the mouth
of the Ohio, where on an island in the Mississippi they lo-
cated and plied their trade. Finally, in the throes of
malarial fever, perhaps against the desire of the older
brother, Warren, the undertaking was abandoned; the re-
turn trip was made by way of Parkersburg in February,
1837. The two boys, again at home, were rather reluctant
to talk of their experiences, of which two new trunks were
the principal physical evidence.
After thirteen years of legislation and some prelimi-
nary work, the actual construction of the noted Parkersburg
and Staunton Turnpike through Lewis county got under
way in 1837. On June 14 of that year, Major Minter
Bailey, owner of Bailey’s Hotel at Weston, was appointed
a commissioner to sell contracts for construction. The con-
tracts were made in July. A great deal of surveying was
yet to be done, and the commissioner personally supervised
the contracts let. Jackson secured a place under him during
the summer and labored long and faithfully. Mrs. Bailey
each day packed a lunch for him, and he spent a part of
his meal hour in reading or asking questions. Problems of
engineering, the compass and level seemed to appeal to him
very much. He was described as being one of the best
fellows on the job, always doing just what he was told and
doing it well.
Considerable stress has been laid by various writers
on the lack of religious atmosphere surrounding the boy-
FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON 417
hood of Jackson and the alleged human frailties of his
uncle, who was by many looked upon as the nominal head
of the house. “Cummins Jackson, though temperate and
energetic, was utterly devoid of Christianity, of a violent
and unscrupulous character,” writes Dabney in his widely
read and otherwise admirable work, ‘and the wonder is
that the circumstances did not simply make him [General
Jackson] another Cummins Jackson.” Cummins Jackson,
it is true, was a man of keen likes and dislikes and had a
passion, it seems, for “goin’ a-lawin,’’”’ according to the
vernacular of that day. His ideas as to Christianity have
not come down to us, but his conduct and attitude toward
his orphan nephew do much toward effacing any bizarre
stories that came to the ears of Dabney or his contem-
poraries. Early in life Cummins Jackson began to patent
lands on adjacent streams. Squatters and settlers, both
good and bad, who also received title to lands, with over-
lapping lines, soon engaged him in endless controvercies.
In the Clarksburg Enquirer, September 12, 1832, he notifies
John Hardman and James Keith of a suit against them
and calls James M. Camp, Daniel Stringer, William Mc-
Kinley, Thomas Bland, Weedon Huffman and Gideon Cam-
den, as his witnesses. To one familiar with these men it
does not appear that he traveled in bad company. Again,
some of the alleged violations of law took place after
Thomas Jackson had gone to serve his country in Mexico
and these could not therefore have had the remotest in-
fluence upon his character.
During five years of Thomas’s residence at Jackson’s
Mills his step-grandmother lived; until 1839 his uncle
James Madison had much to do with the direction of
affairs; and there were in addition two aunts and other
uncles of more youthful years. Opportunities for re-
ligious worship were not wanting. There had been a
Baptist Society nearby on Freeman’s Creek since 1820.
The Broad Run Baptist Church, dating back to 1808,
often held Thomas’s attention, and near the home of a
48 FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON
family connection, John H. Hays, on Hacker’s Creek, was
the Harmony Methodist Church, organized in 1829 and
presided over by that early ‘“‘soldier of the cross’, John
Mitchell. In the town of Weston, where the “gentry”
were no greater and no better than their country kins-
men, John Talbott, Jonathan Holt, and John L. Williams
administered to the spiritual needs of the community
during this period in a full fledged Methodist Society. A
daughter of one of these men is authority for the state-
ment that on several occasions ‘“‘Thomas Jackson, a shy,
unobtrusive boy, sat with unabated interest in a long
sermon, having walked three miles in order to attend.”
Members of the Jackson family were connected with
some of these church organizations, especially the Bap-
tists, and it would not be too much to say that few
communities of its period and population had a better
religious background.
“Men of the ruling houses like the Jacksons’, continues Dabney,
“were too often found to be corrupted by the power and wealth with
which the teeming fertility of the soil of their new country was re-
warding their talents. Moreover the general morals of the commu-
nity were loose and the irregularities too often found countenance
from those of the highest station.”
As a matter of fact, the “power and wealth” did not
exist. Not even a bank was in existence in the county
until after Thomas Jackson had taken up his residence in
Lexington. Land was cheap, money was scarce, folk were
“land poor’’, and the “teeming fertility’? allowed the
gleaning of grain only after the hardest kind of labor in
clearing the forest.
Continuing, Dabney says “no one will wonder then
that as young Jackson approached manhood his conduct
became irregular” and he “became a frequenter of house
raisings and log rollings.’’ Strange indeed would have
been a youth of that day who, with his elders, did not
participate in these combination affairs of work and
pleasure, then about all that the limited social resources
offered. True these events could be made coarse and un-
FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON 49
productive of good to the community, but not more so
than certain social pleasures of this day and time. “Apple
peelings, corn huskings” and those gatherings enumer-
ated above were attended by the best and missed by few
citizens of the town. From such a community life have
come ministers and bishops in the church; public men and
soldiers; citizens who by their example left the commu-
nity a better place in which to live. Not the least of
these was Thomas Jackson.
It is related and no doubt, with some basis of truth,
that the religious inclinations of Jackson were accentu-
ated by the intense interest in the subject manifested by
some of the slaves in the household, particularly “Granny
Nancy Robinson’’. She was a typical “Southern mammy”’,
but unlike most of them had been taught to read and
write. She read and preached the Bible to all who would
listen, and at one time held forth in a public meeting.
Cecelia, who had charge of the domestic affairs of the
home, was a devoted follower of the elder woman and
the directing hand of the younger children in the neigh-
borhood, who were all devoted to the faithful old ser-
vant. Edward Jackson, as has been noted, owned ten
slaves, as follows: Nancy, Sampson, Lamar, Cecelia,
Meria, Aaron, Lucy, Sam, Louisa, and Lucy. Meria, who
helped in the mill, and the first two mentioned, later be-
longed to Cummins Jackson; he also acquired Robinson
and Mary, who remained with members of the family
until the beginning of the Civil War.
To Robinson is attributed a piece of race track
strategy that in the end had rather direful results for all
parties concerned. In the summer of 1839, a number of
running races were held on the Cummins Jackson track,
and Thomas Jackson rode his uncle’s horses in most of
the contests. A purchase made shortly before of blooded
stock included ‘‘Kit’’, whose fame as a runner soon be-
came more than local.
On Crooked Fork of Freeman’s Creek was the Sim-
mons farm, and on it was a course laid out for races.
50 FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON
Near by resided a man who owned the only real com-
petitor for Kit in the community, and it was proposed to
pit this horse against the Jackson /horse, which had
made a record. Money was freely bet and local feeling
on the outcome rose to a high pitch. Robinson, on the
night before the day set for the race and probably at the
instigation of others, took the Jackson horse “Kit” up on
Freeman’s Creek and, procuring the other horse from the
barn, with his assistants, ran several races, in all of
which Kit was the winner.
The stage was set, word was passed to friends and
money was much in evidence. Tom Jackson was to ride
the Jackson horse. But an argument arose, and in the
controversy Cummins Jackson announced that he would
ride his own horse and he put up more money. Being
over six feet tall and heavy, his horse with the extra
burden lost. The tables were turned, a fight ensued,
and feelings were aroused that reflected themselves in
the community for several years afterward.
In the spring of 1840, Benjamin Lightburn, of West-
moreland County, Pa., removed to the neighborhood,
establishing a mill on the West Fork, a few miles below
the Jackson homestead. Among the members of his
family was a son, Joseph Andrew Jackson, who was soon
to become a great “chum” of young Thomas Jackson.
Lightburn owned a book he valued greatly, The Life of
Francis Marion, by Mason Weems; he also took a pro-
found interest in religious matters. Jackson had a Bible,
with which he was quite familiar. It was no unusual
sight for travelers to the “Ford” to see the two boys
deeply engaged in study and consideration of the prob-
lems and interests presented to their youthful minds by
these two books. Who can say what influence the story
of the “Swamp Fox” and the Bible had upon their lives?
Both espoused military careers, in which they rose to high
rank; the one surviving the Civil War was ordained a
minister in the Baptist Church, and continued to fight for
Christianity as he had earlier fought for the Union.
FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON 51
From this it would appear that Jackson’s deep religious-
ness manifested itself at an early period in his life—much
earlier than has generally been supposed.
Indeed there is but little question that the thought of
becoming a minister in the church often received much
attention from Jackson. In very early years he often
voiced such a sentiment, and later declared that if he had
more education and could overcome a diffidence in speak-
ing in public he most assuredly would have entered the
ministry.
Writing from Lexington, Va., about 1852, to his Aunt
Clemetine (Mrs. Alfred) Neale, of Parkersburg, he says
in part:
The subject of becoming a herald of the Cross has often seri-
ously engaged my attention, and I regard it as the most noble of all
professions. It is the profession of our divine Redeemer, and I
should not be surprised were I to die upon a foreign field, clad in
ministerial armor, fighting under the banner of Jesus. What could
be more glorious? But my conviction is that I am doing good here,
and that for the present I am where God would have me. Within the
last few days I have felt an unusual religious joy. I do rejoice to
walk in the love of God.
In early years he displayed some interest in music.
The old melodies of the slaves were known to him, and he
could carry them through in their dialect. Like many
boys in the rural districts of that day, he became quite
expert in the making of “corn stalk fiddles’’, and it is
related that during a recess period of the school on
McCann’s Run he became so engrossed in the task that
the teacher finally had to go out and bring him in to class.
About 1840 he came into possession of a regular violin,
badly in need of repairs. Taking it to Conrad Kester, the
gunsmith of Weston, with whom he was on the most
friendly terms, he soon had the instrument in serviceable
condition. After hours of patient practice, Jackson gained
proficiency on it.
During the summer of 1840, Richard P. Camden, ac-
companied by John S. Camden and a young son, Thomas,
set out on horseback to Lightburn’s farm on a business
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52 FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON
errand. As they approached Jackson Ford, they heard
the sound of a violin interrupting the stillness of the
scene. Suddenly around the bend of the road came a
short procession led by Thomas Jackson, who suddenly
ceased playing. By his side walked “Joe”? Lightburn,
carrying a flag; back of him marched a boy named
Butcher with a kettle and some five or six other boys of
the neighborhood, with a rear guard of three colored
boys, one of whom carried an old gun. A hurried con-
sultation was held, and then the future military leader
suddenly broke into the strains of ““Napoleon’s March”,
and with “eyes front” all the young soldiers filed by the
riders, passing out of sight without even a backward
look.
An unconfirmed tradition relates that in the fall of
1840 Jackson taught school for three months. This school
is said to have been conducted in a long building erected
by one Valentine Butcher near the mouth of Gee Lick of
Freeman’s Creek, near the Jackson home. There is yet
in existence a “copy” he is supposed to have “set’’ for his
scholars in penmanship which runs as follows:
“A man of words and not of deeds,
Is like a garden full of weeds.”
In December, 1841, Jackson wrote to his Uncle
Alfred Neale, informing him of the death of his brother
Warren, which occurred in November of that year. In
the spring of 1842, he wrote further,
I have received no answer to my last communication conveying
the sad news of my brother’s premature death. He died in the hope
of a bright immortality at the right hand of his Redeemer. * * * *
As time is knowledge I must hasten my pen forward. We have re-
ceived the smile of a bounteous providence in a favorable spring.
There is a volunteer company being formed here to march to Texas,
in order to assist in the noble cause of liberty.
Three of this proposed company, William Newlon,
Joseph Hill Camden and Jonathan Wamsley, did go to
Texas.
FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON 53
CHAPTER VI
THE CONSTABLE
In the fall of 1839, a private school was opened in
the assembly room of the first court house of the county
of Lewis, at Weston, under the direction of Colonel Alex-
ander Scott Withers. Thomas Jackson, through the kind-
ness of his Uncle Cummins, was permitted to attend this
school for some two months, walking or riding each day
from the Jackson homestead. The teacher was not un-
known in parts far removed from this locality, as he was
the author of Chronicles of Border Warfare, published
at Clarksburg in 1832, a work that has since gone through
six large editions and is reckoned a classic. Colonel
Withers’ tastes were domestic; he preferred the society of
his books—the study of the Latin and Greek classics in the
original—to public life, which would otherwise have called
a man of his ability and education.
Colonel Withers was attracted by the evident sin-
cerity of Thomas Jackson in his school work and had
often observed him in the Jackson home, where he was
an occasional visitor. For a time he maintained a resi-
dence in Weston, and also lived a number of years below
Jackson’s Mills, near the mouth of McCann’s Run, where
he leased a farm that he later acquired in 1857. To the
young people of the community, when he could be found
in the mood, Colonel Withers was a delightful entertainer,
lending them copies of his book, relating further stories of
Indian warfare and tales of ‘fold Fauquier County’,
where he had been born in 1792. Wearing the best of
attire and a tall silk hat, he called on the Jacksons one
day and while there bought a small sack of meal at the
mill. It was prepared so that he could carry it to his
home a short distance below on the river, but this he
declined to do, stating that he would send Old Kit, a
54 FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON
faithful slave, for the sack. Young Joseph Lightburn,
about to return home from spending the day with Thomas
Jackson, volunteered to carry it but was informed by the
Colonel that “gentlemen from Fauquier had servants for
such tasks and worked their heads instead of their
hands”. Thomas thoughtfully replied, “Well, when one
has money to go to William and Mary College, then he
knows how to work his head’’. “Some day I will get you
a job so that you can earn some money”, replied Withers
as he rode away. Later he fulfilled his promise.
On August 14, 1840, Governor Thomas Gilmer ap-
pointed Colonel Withers, a justice of the peace and, as
such, a member of the county court of Lewis. As a jus-
tice, Colonel Withers was fearless, independent and de-
cided. In the spring of 1841, the office of constable in the
Freeman’s Creek section became vacant, and he at once,
after a conference with Major Minter Bailey, a close
friend, called on Cummins Jackson and suggested Tom
Jackson for the place. It would help the boy a little
financially, and more physically, and give him contact
with other people. Objection was made that he was very
young, but, nevertheless, his friends decided to support
him. The eighth of June found all interested at the
county seat to await the result, which is partly disclosed
in the following court record (Record Book 1837, 606) :
At a court held for the county of Lewis, at the court house
thereof on Tuesday, the 8th day of June, A. D. 1841.
The court this day proceeded to appoint constables in this
county: Richard Hall and Thomas Jackson were put in nomination
as candidates. There voted for Richard Hall, David Bennett, Joseph
McCoy, Philip Reger, Samuel Z. Jones, Richard Dobson, Jacob
Lorentz, John Reger, James Malone, Matthew Holt, Benjamin Rid-
dle, Alexander Huffman and James M. Camp, 12. For Thomas Jack-
son, Minter Bailey, Alexander S. Withers, William Powers, Simon
Rohrbough & Jacob L. Jackson, 5; and the said Richard Hall having
received a majority of the votes of the Justices present was declared
duly elected.
One can imagine with what pangs of disappointment
the result was learned by the youthful aspirant. Richard
Copy OF RECEIPT GIVEN ‘JUDGE’? ROBERT IRVINE BY JACKSON.
FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON 55
Hall, his opponent, was a resident of the near neighbor-
hood, an excellent man and the founder of a family prom-
inent in the annals of the county. Among his supporters
were residents of the Collins Settlement section and por-
tions of the present Upshur county, one or more of whom
were connected with the Jackson family. Jackson’s sup-
porters, as will be noticed, included the two men who
espoused his candidacy; William Powers, who had fur-
nished much assistance to Withers in his literary pur-
suits; Simon Rohrbough, and one of the distantly re-
lated Jackson kinsmen.
The subsequent proceedings are unknown, or as yet
undiscovered. No bond is found for Hall; possibly he,
guided by a feeling of kindliness toward the orphan boy,
declined to accept the office. Another story is that Cum-
mins Jackson had acted as “family banker” for some of
the members, and that they changed their minds and de-
cided to make arrangements for two constables. How-
ever that may be, the fact remains that Thomas Jackson
was elected a constable at the same term of court as evi-
denced by the following entry (Record Book 18387, 650):
Friday, June 11th, 1841.
Thomas Jackson who was appointed a constable in the 2nd dis-
trict in this county at this term this day appeared in open court and
entered into bond with security in the penalty of $2,000 which bond
is ordered to be recorded, and took the several oaths prescribed by
law, the court being of opinion that he is a man of honesty, probity
and good demeanor.
Cummins Jackson and John White appeared and
signed his bond, and, at seventeen years of age, Thomas
Jackson found himself a full fledged constable. Of his
service in this office little is of record; it covered the short
space of one year. Sylvanus White, a cousin, in later
years, wrote to Thomas J. Arnold, concerning this period
as follows:
I went with him on one occasion to show him the near way
through the forest, over the hills some three or four miles to a man’s
56 FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON
house by the name of Dennis, whom he wished to serve with a legal
process. He left the horse at father’s, and we went on foot. He
served the papers and we returned home. I remember to have seen
him and William Stringer have a very hot political discussion one day
in Weston. Stringer was an ardent Whig; he was perhaps 45 years
of age. Thomas would not stand to have his word disputed, but went
and brought papers and proved his point. Father was a security
for him in his official capacity. Thomas never superintended his
uncle’s farm, or the mill work; some of the uncles were always at
home. He was a great favorite of mine, one of the most sincere,
upright, polite persons I ever knew. The biographies written of him
as to his early life are in many respects erroneous.
Receipts and notations thereon indicate something of
his trials while acting in the capacity of constable; often-
times circumstances arose that required the skill and
acumen of a man, but he unfailingly made good in all he
undertook. One incident, well authenticated, proves
this statement.
A widow who resided along the river below Weston
sold some goods to a local resident, long noted for his
penuriousness, who did not pay as promised. Jackson
visited him time and again about the debt, but he kept
putting off the settlement. One day Jackson was stand-
ing in the door of a livery stable at Weston when he saw
the man approaching on horseback. The constable
stepped back out of sight. The debtor rode up, dis-
mounted, and was tying his horse to the hitching rail in
front of “‘Benny” Pritchard’s blacksmith shop, when
Jackson stepped out. Seeing Jackson, he hurriedly un-
hitched his horse and swung into the saddle just as the
former grasped the bridle reins, intending to levy on the
horse to meet the debt. But the man guessed his inten-
tion and leaped on the horse, knowing that it could not
be levied upon with its owner in the saddle. Jackson
knew that also, but he started to lead the horse through
the open door into the shop. The rider ordered him to
release the animal and, when he failed to do so, lashed
him over the head and shoulders with his riding whip.
Young Jackson bent his head to escape the cuts and dog-
FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON 57
gedly led the horse on through the doorway. The rider
was forced to jump to the ground in order to avoid injury,
and Jackson levied on the animal. There was nothing
left for the man to do but to pay the debt or lose his horse,
and so he paid.
The position of constable that day carried with it
more dignity and authority than at the present time.
Counties in Virginia were then governed by justices of
the peace, who besides acting as members of the county
court, which they held jointly, were authorized to decide
singly in their own neighborhood upon controversies over
property or money involving sums not exceeding twenty
dollars. Of this little court the constable was the chief
officer—as it were, a minor sheriff.
58 FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON
CHAPTER VII
DIARY OF A JOURNEY TO PARKERSBURG
Jackson, the constable, laid aside the heavy mantle of
office for a few days in August, 1841, to undertake a jour-
ney to Parkersburg, combining business as well as pleasure
to be derived from a visit to his kinsmen, the Neales and
Jacksons. At Clarksburg he was joined by another youth,
of an industrious and inquiring mind who at the time, or
later, set down a resume of the tour to the Ohio.
This somewhat curious but highly interesting docu-
ment laid unnoticed for years, coming to light in the course
of time among the papers of the Haymond family at Clarks-
burg. It is here reproduced with the belief that it is wor-
thy of preservation, and because of the many truthful illu-
sions therein to facts and people of the period depicted. A
number of the parties named, it will be noticed, have re-
ceived previous mention in this volume.
The origin is of course quite obscure. The identity of
the author, “myself,” who was Jackson’s companion, is even
more so. It has by some been attributed to Thaddeus Moore,
who died at Clarksburg in 1859. That the journey was
made as recorded, there is no reason to doubt. And that
the statements therein are correct, as to persons and hap-
penings, can easily be substantiated.
In August 1918, Granville Davisson Hall, a native of
Harrison County, but now of Glencoe, Illinois, in a letter to
the author pointed out that the late Col. Luther Haymond,
of Clarksburg, had often related and possibly written some
notes pertaining to Jackson. Among them was supposed to
be an anecdote relative to a visit of “little Tommy Jackson’”’
to a local store in which one of the Haymond family was
associated.
meritorious conduct in the battles of Contreras and Che-
FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON 79
rubsceo’”’. In the events which followed in rapid succes-
sion, Captain McGruder in his official reports writes: “I
beg leave to call the attention of the Major-General com-
manding the division to the conduct of (then) Lt. Jackson
of the First Artillery. If devotion, industry, talent and
gallantry are the highest qualities of a soldier, then he is
entitled to the distinction which their possession confers.
On Sept. 13, 1847 he was commissioned a major (regis-
ter U. S. Army) for “gallant and meritorious conduct in
the battle of Chapultepec, September 13, 1847’’, having in
less than a year risen to this rank from brevet second
lieutenant.
The Harrison Republican, published at Clarksburg,
states (December 10, 1847) that a letter had been re-
ceived from Lieut. Thomas Jackson, a West Point Grad-
uate from Lewis County, in which it is related that he
had been favorably noted in reports for his conduct in
engagements near the capital of Mexico. His residence in
Mexico was not of any great duration, but during this
time he managed to learn something of the Spanish lan-
guage and investigated the prevailing religion of that
country. On March 5, 1848, an armistice was signed and,
in June, Major Jackson’s command returned to Fort Ham-
ilton, New York, arriving in August. In December of the
same year he secured a furlough and for a short time
visited his sister Laura, then residing at Beverly, and rela-
tives in Clarksburg; he spent the Christmas season at
Jackson’s Mills. Here he found the family circle much
broken; his Uncle Edward with whom he was a great
favorite had died in October of the same year, and his
Aunt Elizabeth (Carpenter), who was then ill, died a
short time after he left the community.
Returning to Fort Hamilton in January, 1849, Jack-
son lived the routine garrison life. Letters extant show
his great interest and feeling in religious matters. He
also set himself to the task of further education and had
in view the possibility of being advanced from a major-
80 FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON
ship to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. The following let-
ter to his benefactor Samuel L. Hays, of Weston, is of
great interest in this connection.
Fort Hamilton, Long Island, N. Y.
Feby. 2nd. 1849.
Dear Sir:
Having to a great extent recovered my strength, and, I hope,
my health, I take pleasure in returning you my most sincere thanks
for your repeated kindness towards me; hoping at the same time,
that some opportunity may present itself, of discharging my debt
of gratitude in some other way; though at present, I must admit,
that I cannot see very clearly in what way I can ever be serviceable
to you; though should that opportunity never present itself, I well
know from the interest which you have taken in my welfare that
you will consider yourself compensated, if I but turn to the best
advantage the opportunities which your exertions in my behalf, have,
and may hereafter give me.
I regret that I could not have had an occasion of conversing a
moment with you at our last meeting; you might have given me some
information, which I could not otherwise acquire.
I believe that the list of brevets is now being made out, and
from what you intimated to me, and from information received since,
and the strong grounds on which I have been presented, I have but
little or no doubt but that I shall be advanced; provided my claims
should be presented to the Secretary of War; but I am afraid that
the case may from forgetfulness, not be brought to his consideration
at this time; as the list is being filled up.
I would be glad to converse with you; as I know that my con-
-versation would be directed to my best friend; but that pleasure I
must forego for the present. My sense of gratitude for the interest
which you have taken in my welfare, is easier to be appreciated by
the heart, than to be expressed by words.
I purpose with the blessings of Providence to be a hard student,
and to make myself not only acquainted with Military art and science;
but with politics, and of course, must be well versed in history. My
historical studies I have arranged in the following order: first a
general history, ancient and modern, and then, special histories of
important events, countries, etc.
I have commenced with Rollins Ancient History, and have read
about one-fourth of it; reading about forty or fifty pages per day.
You will please answer this, and remember me to your family,
those absent as well as at home.
The gold fever is running quite high here; I have conversed with
Mr. Loester, an officer of the Army, from the gold mines, and who
MAJOR JACKSON IN 1851.
FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON 81
brought a quantity of the precious metal with him; the dust consists
of scales, of which he brought a vial full, holding the value of a
hundred dollars; and its appearance is that of scales, instead of sand,
as I had formerly imagined it to be; and he also brought a solid piece
weighing probably more than an ounce.
This officer stated to me that the average gathering there was
about 90 dollars per day, but that everything was extremely high.
The climate, he says, is charming, the thermometer ranging from
60 to 70 degrees.
This post is about ten miles below N. Y. city, and on the east
bank of the Hudson or North River, and is a delightful station.
Your.sincere friend,
T. J. JACKSON.
Col. Samuel L. Hays.
In the fall of 1850 Jackson again secured a furlough
and returned to western Virginia, spending some time at
Beverly, Weston and Jackson’s Mills. Rejoining his com-
mand by March 1, 1851, he was next at Fort Meade in
Florida. |
As he had never been at any time a person of robust
constitution, the swampy air of Florida soon began to
undermine his health. This caused him to determine to
seek some other situation, and D. H. Hill, who afterward
became his brother-in-law, brought his ability to the at-
tention of Colonel Francis H. Smith, Superintendent of
the Virginia Military Institute at Lexington, Virginia.
Smith wrote that he would present his name to the board
of visitors of the institution as an instructor therein.
Jackson on February 25, 1851, wrote to Col. Smith,
“Though strong ties bind me to the army, yet I cannot de-
cline to accept so flattering an offer.” John S. Carlile,
of Clarksburg, Samuel L. Hays, John Stringer, J. M.
Bennett and William E. Arnold, of Lewis County, all men
of great influence in that day, added endorsements; and
on March 28, 1851, Jackson was appointed to fill the
chair of Natural and Experimental Philosophy and Ar-
tillery.
Resigning from the Army, to take effect in 1852, he
spent much of the summer with relatives in western Vir-
82 FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON
ginia and a short time at Jackson’s Mills, and with other
relatives in Lewis County. Sylvanus White, a cousin then
residing in California but at the time on a visit in the
community, later wrote to Thomas J. Arnold:
We stayed over night at the old mill place. There were no
other whites that night, only the negroes [slaves]. He and I slept
in the same bed. In talking of Mexico he was telling me of the
heroism of other officers. I said “I want you to tell me something
of your own.” He replied “Oh, if I have to blow my own horn, it will
be a long time before it is blown.”
Speaking further of the action at Chapultepec, Jack-
son remarked that “It would have been no disgrace to
have died there, but to have failed to gain my point it
would.”
After visiting several medicinal springs, Jackson re-
ported for duty at the V. M. I., on September 1, 1851.
Here for ten years he lived the rather monotonous life of
an instructor.
Writing to his uncle, Alfred Neale, of Parkersburg,
in September, 1851, he says in part:
I have reported at Lexington and am delighted with my duties,
the place and the people. At present I am with the corps of cadets
at this place (Warm Springs), where we may remain until the
company shall leave, which may be some time hence. I recruited
rapidly at Lake Ontario, where I passed part of July and August. It
would have given me much pleasure to have visited you during the
past summer, but I am anxious to devote myself to study until I shall
become master of my profession.
John Esten Cooke, member of J. E. B. Stuart’s staff
and biographer of Jackson, relates that people in Lexing-
ton and especially the students at V. M. I. in his earlier
years there regarded Jackson with a mingled feeling of
awe, respect for his absolute subservience to military
rules, and a belief that he was eccentric. His exploits in
walking through a pouring rain to repay a small debt;
and his firm belief in preordination, which some believed
FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON 83
later led to the loss of his life, only accentuated this feel-
ing. His biographer and close friend further relates that
the moment a military drill began, a salute was fired, or,
later, the roll of battle began, Jackson’s very being
changed and that he was without a doubt the most fear-
less and decisive man that ever wore the uniform of an
American soldier.
In August, 1852, Jackson left Lexington for a short
time and in company with his sister visited relatives in
Parkersburg. He spent a short time at Mineral Wells,
where a number of people from Weston were sojourning,
among them Major Minter Bailey, who had in 1836 em-
ployed him on the surveying of the construction work of
the Parkersburg and Staunton Pike. Jackson thence pro-
ceeded to Weston for a short stay.
During his residence in the Valley he made every
attempt to keep in touch with friends and relatives in
western Virginia, keeping up a quite active correspon-
dence with the family of his sister Laura, the Whites in
Lewis and Wood County, and especially with his Uncle
and Aunt, Alfred and Clementine Neale, residing on
Neale’s Island, above Parkersburg, in the Ohio River.
The letters of his boyhood to Mrs. Neale seem to have
been lost, and indeed but a small part of the extensive
correspondence with this family is extant. The first let-
ter deals with the requirements at the V. M. I. and is as
follows:
‘Virginia Military Institute,
Lexington, Rockbridge Co., Va.,
January 28, 1854.
My dear Uncle:
Though I have not heard from you for many months, yet you
have not been so long absent from my thoughts. Before leaving you
I promised to write and let you know what the inducements are for
sending one of my cousins here to be educated. I am not certain
that the promise has ever been fulfilled. Certainly if it has not, it
ought not to be postponed any longer. Should you at any time wish
to have a son educated at the institute the steps necessary to be
84 FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON
taken will be to make application to the Superintendent before the
annual examination of the cadets, which takes place the latter part
of June of every year. The letter for the applicant should state that
the applicant is not less than sixteen, nor more than twenty-five years
old, that his height is not less than five feet. You should also for-
ward recommendations as to moral character, character of mind,
extent of education, etc. His health and physical constitution should
also be good. The regulations require that every person who re-
ceives the appointment of cadet shall read and write well and that
he shall perform with facility the four ground rules of arithmetic,—
that is simple and compound proportions, vulgar and decimal frac-
tions and reduction.
I find that the application should be made on or before the 20th
of June.
The expenses will be near three hundred dollars per annum.
I am much pleased with my duties here.
It has been rumored that Cousin Harriett Murdock was engaged,
if so is she yet married?
We have in this little town been much shocked by the murder of
a cadet last month. The call court has sent the murderer on to
further trial, which will take place next April.
Please remember me kindly to Aunt and the family and to all
inquiring relatives and friends. If you know anything of Wirt I
would be glad if you would let me know where he is and what he is
doing.
My health is very much improved. During last summer I
traveled with my wife through the North, visiting Niagara, Que-
bee and other places of interest.
I have heard Ohio spoken of as being a desirable place for in-
vesting funds and that bank stock and such like declares a dividend
of ten per cent. Please let me know if such is the case and if so
how I could manage to invest some funds safely there and whether
stock is at par or not. Please let me hear from you soon.
Your much attached nephew,
T. J. JACKSON.
Mr. Alfred Neale,
Parkersburg, W. Va.
During July and August 1855 Jackson made his last
visit to Weston and the scenes of his boyhood.
From this section he went to Parkersburg, spending
a short time with the Neales and the Whites. From his
letters it is evident that he at this date felt that matters
were arising between the North and South that would
FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON 85
later have to be adjusted in some manner. In a discus-
sion of this at Mineral Wells on this visit it is related that
he said if trouble came: “in that event it may be the duty
of some of us to stand for some of the things we may not
implicitly approve. It is inevitably so in a conflict of
that kind.” From Parkersburg he journeyed to Point
Pleasant, and through the Kanawha Valley, visiting the
place of his mother’s burial in Fayette County. He was
ever solicitous of the welfare of his half-brother Wirt,
who became a well-to-do, substantial business man. His
letters to the Neales which follow are of interest in this
connection, portraying as they do the depth of Jackson’s
character.
Lexington, Va.,
Sept. 4th, 1855.
My dear Aunt:
Though I have reached home, yet the pleasures enjoyed under
your hospitable roof, and in your family circle, have not been dis-
sipated. I stopped to see the Hawk’s Nest, and the gentleman with
whom I put up was at my mother’s burial, and accompanied me to
the cemetery for the purpose of pointing out her grave to me; but I
am not certain that he found it. There was no stone to mark the
spot. Another gentleman, who had the kindness to go with us, stated
that a wooden head or foot board with her name on it had been
put up, but it was no longer there. A depression in the earth only
marked her resting place When standing by her grave, I experi-
enced feelings to which I was until then a stranger. I was seeking
the spot partly for the purpose of erecting something to her precious
memory. On Saturday last I lost my porte-monnaie, and in it was
the date of my mother’s birth. Please give me the date in your
next letter.
Your affectionate nephew,
T. J. JACKSON.
Mrs. Alfred Neale,
Parkersburg, Va.
Lexington, Va., Oct. 22, 1855.
My dear Uncle:
Enclosed is a letter from Wirt. While he has departed from
our understanding yet if he will thus be enabled to do well I am
desirous that the money should be furnished him, but in doing so I
must adhere to the conditions that Cousin Wm. Neale shall before
paying for the land approve the purchase and receive the deed made
86 FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON
out in my name. You will observe that the land is represented as of
very good quality and yet the price is below the average price. This
would lead to the inference of a defective title or something wrong.
I will be obliged to you if you will forward a check on N. York for
the money which you get from the bank to Cousin Wm. Neale to be
used by him upon the conditions which I have already mentioned and
if the owner or person from whom Wirt purchased cannot satisfy
cousin Wm. in the several particulars that he then retain the money
until the conditions shall be fulfilled. I shall forward to cousin Wm.
in about two weeks a check for three hundred and fifty dollars unless
you shall deem it improper for me to do so. I could not get the check
here and have sent by a friend to Richmond for it and he will not,
it is thought, return until about next Saturday week, and if you can
let me hear from you by that time if it is but a line, I will be much
obliged to you.
I hope that Aunt’s health has been restored to at least its usual
state. Remember me very affectionately to Aunt and to each member
of the family, and very kindly to all inquiring friends and relatives.
Your affectionate nephew,
T. J. JACKSON.
Uncle please return Wirt’s letter to me.
Mr. Alfred Neale,
Parkersburg, Va.
Lexington, Va., Nov. 12, 1855.
My dear Aunt:
I am much obliged for your letter of the 31st. ult.
Tell Uncle that I am much obliged to him for his kindness in
regard to endorsing for me and all the kindness which he has shown
me. I would say that though he, (Wirt) purchased land at a higher
rate per acre than he was authorized to do, yet I desired to confirm
the purchase, but I never communicated such intention to him, but
since receiving your letter I have concluded not to do so. But on
the contrary to keep within the offer and terms which I made to him.
If he does not desire terms or finds himself unable to accept of such
terms, then as I told him in Uncle Alfred’s presence, and also in my
last letter to him, I do not wish him to do so, but barely to remember
that I made the proposition because he was my brother and that I
was as favorable to him as I felt and still feel I ought to do. He
says that he has been offered two hundred dollars for his bargain;
if he can sell on such terms he will have done well by the purchase
and sale.
Ask Uncle to let the money lay in the bank until he shall know
whether the note is protested and if it should not be protested to then
forward me a check either on Philadelphia or N. York.
FAC-SIMILE OF PORTION OF A LETTER TO Mrs. ALFRED NEALE OF PARK-
ERSBURG, (W.) Va. See text.
a
~ =f
FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON 87
I regret to learn that cousin Hardin’s health is so delicate, and
yet if it were God’s pleasure I feel that I would gladly exchange with
him the apparent period of dissolution. I look upon death as being
that moment which of all other earthly ones is most to be desired by
a child of God.
Give much love to Uncle and each member of the family and to
Hardin and when leisure permits please let me hear from you.
Your much attached nephew,
T. J. JACKSON.
Mrs. Alfred Neale,
Parkersburg, Va.
Lexi ;
My dear Aunt: exington, Va ; Dec 24, 1855
Your welcome letter came safely on Saturday last and you must
excuse a brief reply, looking upon it as a business letter rather than
one which would be most congenial to my feelings and which I hope
soon to write. I am very thankful to yourself and Uncle for your
kindness and tell Uncle that if the three hundred dollars will be of
service to him to retain it and have it ready for me by the Ist of July
next and to forward the remaining portion to me in the form of a
check on New York City as soon as it will be convenient for him to
do so as I am anxious to get funds deposited there as soon as prac-
ticable, as they will thus not only increase, in consequence of interest
which will accrue, but also I hope to be able to purchase land warrants
when they shall fall to their lowest prices. Tell Uncle that in the
event that he is not wanting the three hundred dollars then to for-
ward a check for the whole on New York City. But say to him that
if it will be any accommodation to him that: he must not hesitate a
moment to retain that sum until next July as I can do without it very
well, and it would be a pleasure to me thus to be enabled in a small
degree to requite his kindness to me.
I have no word from Wirt since I last wrote to you and should
you hear from him or Cousin Wm. Neale, by the time this reaches you
and the latter should satisfy Uncle that it would be proper to send
the check to Cousin Wm. on the conditions of which you both already
know to be used by Cousin William, then I wish Uncle would please
have the check made payable to the order of Cousin William and
forward it to him. But don’t wait for any such letter as ample time
has already elapsed and I might thus “lay” out of the use of the
funds any length of time to no purpose. Much love to Uncle and all
the family, and kindest regards to’all inquiring relatives and friends.
Please let me hear from you soon.
Your affectionate nephew,
Mrs. Alfred Neale, THOMAS.
Parkersburg, Va.
88 FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON
During the summer and fall of 1856 Major Jackson
spent some four months in travel abroad. Something of
the methodical manner in which he visited Europe may
be gleaned from the following letter to Mrs. Neale, writ-
ten upon his return.
Lexington, Va., Oct. 27th, 1856.
My dear Aunt:
It is with much pleasure that God again permits me to write to
you from my adopted home. Your kindness and that of Uncle has not
been forgotten; but when you hear where I have been during my
short absence, you will not be surprised at not having heard from
me, as my time was too short to see well all that came within the
range of my journey. After leaving Liverpool I passed to Chester
and Eaton Hall, and from there, returning, I visited Glasgow, Lochs
Lomond and Katrine, Stirling Castle, Edinburgh, York, London,
Antwerp, Brussels, Waterloo, Aix-la-Chapelle, Cologne, Bonn, Frank-
fort on the Main, Heidelberg, Baden-Baden, Strasburg, Basle, Lakes
Lucerne, Brience and Thun; Berne, Freiburg, Geneva, the Mer de
Glace, over the Alps, by the Simplon Pass; Milan, Venice, Florence,
Naples, Rome, Marseilles, Paris, London and Liverpool again, and
then home. . . . . It appeared to me that Providence had opened
the way for my long-contemplated visit, and I am much gratified at
having gone.
Your affectionate nephew,
T. J. JACKSON.
Lexington, Va., February 16, 1857.
My dear Aunt:
Your letter of February 7th reached me on Saturday arriving too
late to answer it. In regard to Wirt I am unwilling to do anything
which will favor his going to California. It does appear to me that
if he goes to California that the gospel may but seldom if ever reach
him and that the influences thrown around him there will be worse
than where he is. I cannot consent to do anything which I have rea-
son to believe will be detrimental to his morals. If I had the money
by me the foregoing reasons would influence me, but I have not the
money at this time, even if I felt disposed to let him have it. I have
been more pressed for money in the last month or so, than I remem-
ber having been for years. But I expect to have some by the last of
March, if not by the middle or 20th of March. It has happened
though that the quarterly pay has not been ready at the expiration
of the quarter, which in this case ends with March. Then I could
FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON 89S
by inconveniencing myself let Wirt have a hundred dollars, and re-
quire neither principal nor interest.
I do not approve of assisting a person unless the assistance will
prove a blessing. To assist him in going to California would in my
opinion be cursing rather than blessing him. Give my warmest con-
gratulations to Leroy and tell him that I hope that he and his wife
and my cousin may have many happy returns of the day which com-
memorates their union.
Much love to Uncle and all the family. Let me hear from you
soon.
Your affectionate nephew,
THOMAS.
Mrs. Alfred Neale,
Parkersburg, Virginia.
In politics Jackson was always a Democrat, with
which party most of his kindred were connected. In this
connection a great deal of interest was aroused in the
furtherance of the ambitions of William L. Jackson, Jr.,
whose career has already been noted under another head.
On January 22, 1857, he addressed the following letter
to John E., son of ex-congressman Samuel L. Hays, then
residing at present Glenville, Gilmer County, West Vir-
ginia.
My dear Friend:
Though I have not seen you for years, yet I remember with
pleasure the companion of my more youthful days, and, trusting that
I am still remembered by you with interest, I have concluded to write
you this letter for the purpose of saying that I feel deep interest
in the election of Wm. L. Jackson to the judgeship of your district,
and of stating that any assistance which you may give him I will
regard as a personal favor.
_ Wm. has ever shown a deep interest in my success in life, and
this, combined with family feeling and my personal regard for him,
induces me to do all in my power to further his success. I have, as
it were, my hands tied in consequence of my position in the Institute
so that I cannot mingle with the electors, and my only way of assist-
ing him is by letters to my friends. I am indebted to your father
more than to any other man for the deep interest he has taken in
my success, and for the promptness with which he has ever responded
90 FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON
to my calls for assistance. Next to him I am under the strongest
obligations to Wm.
Please regard this letter as private.
When you write to your father, I wish you would remember me
to him very kindly.
Should you ever pass through this place, you must make my
house your home. When a leisure moment will permit, I hope you
will let me hear from you.
Very truly your friend
T. J. JACKSON.
The efforts to elect William L. Jackson judge of the
nineteenth circuit court failed at this time, he being de-
feated by Matthew Edmiston, then occupying that office,
and who did so continuously from 1852 until the-fall of
1860. In the latter year Judge Jackson again became
a candidate for this position. Major Jackson, shortly be-
fore the election then, wrote Hon. Jonathan M. Bennett
of Weston as follows:
Lexington, Va., April 17, 1860.
My dear Friend:
I am anxious to see us possess that influence in our section of
the state that will enable us to secure any office there by merely nomi-
nating a suitable person, and concentrating our strength upon him,
and now in my opinion is the time to test our strength by electing
Wm. L. Jackson to the judgeship. Of course Edmiston’s influence
will be vigorously exerted to defeat him but it appears to me that
the united influence of the Jacksons with their relations, connections
and friends, ought to prevail over Edmiston’s influence even in Lewis
and Braxton, where I suppose it is strongest. I have been told by a
member of the old Whig party that W. L. J. is one of the shrewdest
political managers of his party in the state, and I am in hopes that
with his influence united to that of his friends we may be able to set
up for ourselves. All of us who may be looking forward to advance-
ment may expect to have prospects brightened by Jackson’s election
and diminished by his defeat. Being a professor my hands are tied
so that I cannot appear in the canvass—all I can do is to write to
my friends. I would like to take an active part in the canvass if it
were practicable. You have a strong arm, and I think with it you
may carry Lewis and Braxton. I have written with that freedom
which I always desire from you to me. Please say nothing about
the contents of this, but if you think as I do upon the subject, I hope
FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON 91
that you will if possible give Lewis and Braxton to Wm. If I can
be of any service let me know how it can be rendered. I will always
be glad to hear from you.
Very truly yours,
T. J. JACKSON.
In May, 1860, W. L. Jackson was elevated to the
bench, but his term of office was very short, being closed
by his enlistment in the Confederate service. He held
his first term in Lewis County, October 8, 1860, and his
last orders were entered on May 9, 1861.
Several important events marked the ten years of
Jackson’s life at Lexington. His first marriage and the
loss of his wife; his affiliation with the Presbyterian
Church; the second marriage and his march with the
cadets to Charlestown, where John Brown was executed
on December 2, 1859. Otherwise there was little to in-
terrupt the daily duties as an instructor. During this
time he once applied for a place on the faculty of the
University of Virginia, but fate again came into his life
and held him to a military career.
Shortly after his return from Charlestown and his
resumption of his duties as instructor he wrote Mrs.
Neale:
Lexington, Va., Jan. 21st, 1861.
My dear Aunt:
I am living in my own house, I am thankful to say, as, after
trying both public and private boarding, I have learned from expe-
rience that true comfort is only to be found in a house under your
own control. I wish you could pay me a visit during some of your
leisure intervals, if you ever have such. This is a beautiful country,
just on the confines of the Virginia Springs, and we are about fourteen
miles from the Natural Bridge. . . . . Viewing things at Wash-
ington from human appearances, I think we have great reason for
alarm, but my trust is in God; and I cannot think that He will permit
the madness of men to interfere so materially with the Christian
labors of this country at home and abroad.
Your affectionate nephew,
T. J. JACKSON.
92 FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON
CHAPTER XI
OPENING OF THE CIVIL WAR.
In the spring of 1861 the long struggle between the
two great sections of the United States came to an issue
of arms. For some years deep observers of events in
both North and South had felt that such a result was
inevitable. With the election of Abraham Lincoln to the
presidency, the Southern States felt that it was time to
dissolve the Union and form a separate government.
Some of the border states held back for a time, and Vir-
ginia, especially, refrained from formal acceptance of
the Confederacy until April, 1861. On April 17, Gov-
ernor John Letcher refused to obey Lincoln’s call for
troops, and on the same day the Virginia convention re-
pealed the ordinance by which it had adopted the Consti-
tution of the United States and seceded from the Union.
The Virginia authorities at once set about to organ-
ize such a military force as might be possible. A camp of
instruction was established at Richmond and it was deter-
mined to use the senior cadets from Virginia Military In-
stitute as “‘student teachers” in the drilling of volunteers.
Accordingly the cadets set out from Lexington at one
o’clock on Sunday, April 21, under command of Major
Jackson, who laid aside his duties as teacher and left his
home for the last time. A little more than two years
afterward all that was mortal of the noted general was
borne to the little village churchyard of Lexington.
Like many of the citizens of Virginia, Jackson de-
plored the existence of slavery in the state as an economic
and social evil, and yet like others he seemed to feel that
the only method of handling the problem was through
the legislative halls. Yet the institution to him did not
appear morally wrong and he is said to have supported
FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON 93
some arguments to this effect by statements taken from
the Bible. When it became evident that war between
the Southern states and those of the North could not be
averted, it was to him the cause of great alarm.
A comprehensive survey of his attitude and belief
at the time discloses the fact that he deplored the possi-
bility of war, setting forth more than once that the public
did not understand what war meant. Naturally his ex-
periences in the Mexican War had given him an insight
into it not possible for laymen. But once the course of
events seemed to be set directly toward a conflict, his own
course was soon decided on and his actions circumscribed
thereby.
Mary Anna Jackson, his wife, wrote:
He never was a Secessionist, and maintained that it was better
for the South to fight for her place in the Union than out of it.
* * * At this time (March 16, 1861) he was strongly for the
Union. At the same time he was a firm States rights man.
With the beginning of preparations for hostilities,
Governor John Letcher set about the selection of officers
for the provisional army of Virginia. In this connection
Major Jackson received his first commission in the organ-
izing army as a major in the engineering corps. Jona-
than M. Bennett, of Weston, later related that during
April, 1861, he was in one of the hotels at Richmond;
after eating, he sat down in the lobby to look over one
of the city papers and, in glancing over the names of the
officers commissioned, he noticed that Thomas J. Jackson
had been appointed a major in the engineering corps. He
immediately repaired to the capitol building, where, in a
conference with Governor John Letcher, he informed the
latter of the notice in the public press and, further, that
he was well aware of Jackson’s ability and that he felt it
to be a great mistake to place such a man in the engineer-
ing corps. The governor was duly impressed with his
statement and immediately directed the secretary of the
94 FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON
executive war council to transfer Jackson to regular line
duty, and that a commission as colonel be issued him.
“Who is this Major Jackson, that we are asked to
commit to him such a responsible post?”’ asked a member
of the war council when informed of Mr. Bennett’s inter-
view with Governor Letcher. “He is one’, replied S.
Moore, of Rockbridge County, “who, if you order him to
hold a post, will never leave it alive to be occupied by the
enemy.”
Jackson was commissioned colonel of volunteers on
April 26, 1861, and ordered to Harper’s Ferry. Here he
spent his energies in shaping the raw volunteers into the
highly respectable army of the Shenandoah, which he
turned over to General J. E. Johnston, on May 28. Placed
in command of the Virginia brigade that became so re-
nowned, he met the advance of General Patterson at Fall-
ing Waters on July 2, checking the advance and captur-
ing a number of prisoners.
Jonathan M. Bennett, of Weston, was then serving
as auditor of Virginia and lived in Richmond. He at once
directed a letter to Jackson proposing that he should be
made a brigadier-general, to which a reply was made as
follows from Martinsburg on June 5, in part:
Headquarters, Va. Forces,
Harper’s Ferry, June 5, 1861.
My dear Colonel:
Your very kind letter, proposing, if I so desire, to make me a
brigadier-general and send me to the Northwest in command of all
troops of that region, has been received, and meets my grateful appro-
bation. The sooner it is done the better. Have me ordered at once.
That country is now bleeding at every pore. I feel a deep interest
in it and have never appealed to its people in vain, and trust it may
not be so now. I agree with you fully respecting the advantages
named in your letter. Remember me kindly to Judge Allen and thank
him for his kindness. Believe me with lasting gratitude, ever yours,
T. J. JACKSON.
FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON 95
Harpers Ferry, June 5, 1861.
My dear Colonel:
Lest the letter mailed this morning in which I thankfully ac-
cepted the opportunity of being made a Brigadier General and put in
command of all the North Western Troops should fail to reach you,
I send this by private hands. Please have me ordered forthwith.
Very gratefully yours,
T. J. JACKSON.
Again addressing Mr. Bennett relative to the com-
mission Jackson wrote as follows on June 24:
Headquarters 1st Brigade,
Camp Stevens, June 24, 1861.
My dear Colonel:
At present I am in command of the Virginia Volunteers organ-
ized into the First Brigade of the Army of the Shenandoah, and have
my Headquarters on the road from Martinsburg to Williamsport, and
about four miles distant from the former place. On Saturday last
the enemy commenced crossing at Williamsport into Virginia and I
immediately advanced with one regiment of infantry and a battery
of artillery, but it amounted to nothing, as the enemy recrossed the
river into Maryland. They are evidently afraid to advance.
In your last you stated: ‘I presume all commissions will issue
from the Confederate Government; if so, I have no pledge for any
commission, but I shall never cease until I get it. You will hear
from me soon again’. Knowing your success in carrying your meas-
ures, the energy with which you press them, and not having heard
from you, the thought struck me that there might be some obstacle
in the way, which, if made known to me, I might be able to remove.
I am in command of a promising brigade, and I would be greatly
gratified if you could secure me a brigadier-generalcy, and if I cannot
be ordered to Northwestern Virginia, of course I would be continued
in my present command, and as I am so far west, an opportunity
might soon offer of having me with my command ordered into that
region. Providence has greatly blessed me in securing good staff
officers in the quartermaster, commissary and ordnance departments,
which are so essential to the efficiency of the troops. All are anxious
for active service. I feel deeply for my own section of the state,
and would, as a brigadier-general, willingly serve under General
Garnett in its defence. I know him well. There are three Brigades
under General Johnson, and a few days since Brigadier-General Bee
was assigned to the command of one of them, and at any time, so
far as I know, another may be assigned to the command of mine,
96 FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON
unless you can induce President Davis to make the appointment soon
by my promotion.
Please let me hear from you when convenient and ever believe
me your grateful friend,
T. J. JACKSON.
P. S.—Please direct your answer to Martinsburg, Berkley County.
In the meantime, however, a commission was issued
as a brigadier-general on June 17, which after some delay
was forwarded early in July, together with the following
characteristic letter from General Lee:
Richmond 8rd July 1861
My dear General:
I have the pleasure of sending you a commission as Brigadier
General in the Provisional Army; and to feel that you merit it.
May your advancement increase your usefulness to the state.
Very truly,
R. E. LEE.
In the battle of Bull Run, on July 21, 1861, in which
the First Brigade—composed of the 2nd, 4th, 5th, 27th
and 33rd regiments of Virginia volunteers—first attracted
attention, General G. E. Bee, in rallying his men, ex-
claimed: “See, there stands Jackson like a stone wall!”
He thus applied the name known around the world bet-
ter than the Christian name given at birth.
Writing from Headquarters First Brigade, Camp
near Manassas, July 28, 1861, to J. M. Bennett, Jackson
said in part:
Through the blessing of Providence, my brigade passed our re-
treating forces, met the thus far victorious enemy, held him in check
until re-enforcements arrived and finally pierced his center, and thus
gave a fatal blow. I am more than satisfied with the part performed
by my brigade during the action.
You must excuse my not having written this letter in reply to
yours earlier but a slight wound (a broken finger) requires me to
keep watching the flies all the time. I received the wound during the
last charge cet
You will find when my report shall be published, that the First
Brigade was to our army what the Imperial Guard was to the First
FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON 97
Napoleon—that through the blessing of God, it met the thus far
victorious enemy and turned the fortunes of the day.
Please let me hear from you soon.
Your much attached friend,
T. J. JACKSON.
Early in August Jackson again addressed Mr. Ben-
net as follows:
My hopes for our section of the State have greatly brightened
since General Lee has gone there. Something brilliant may be ex-
pected in that region. Should you ever have occasion to ask for a
brigade from this army for the northwest, I hope mine will be se-
lected. This of course is confidential, as it is my duty to serve
wherever I may be placed, and I desire to be always where most
needed. But it is natural for one’s affections to turn to the home of
his boyhood and family.
In the meantime part of a company of the 159th
regiment of Virginia militia had left Weston and the
scenes of Jackson’s boyhood, under the command of AI-
fred H. Jackson, of Weston. He, as has been noted, was
a son of Captain George Jackson, was born in 1836, and
had graduated with honors from Washington College at
Lexington. This command became a part of the 31st
Virginia regiment. Following its activities in the battle
of Greenbrier under Brigadier-General R. R. Jackson, the
following letter was directed to Alfred Jackson:
Headquarters Ist Brigade 2nd Corps.
Centerville, Oct. 11, 1861.
My dear Alfred:
If agreeable to you please join us at once as a member of my
staff. Give my kindest regards to Wm. L. Jackson.
Sincerely yours,
T. J. JACKSON.
P. S. Should you decline, please answer immediately.
Alfred Jackson was then appointed by J. P. Benja-
min, acting Secretary of War, as assistant Adjutant Gen-
eral and ordered to report to General T. J. Jackson.
Judge John W. Brockenbrough later said of him:
98 FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON
He filled the duties of this office with entire satisfaction for
several months. It is a singular proof of the disinterested patriotism
of young Jackson that he preferred the active and more laborious
duties of the camp to the rare and envied position of officer on the
staff of the commander in chief. He accordingly resigned this ap-
pointment and rejoined his old company as a private in the ranks.
Within a short time he was advanced by successive
ranks to lieutenant-colonel, a commission had been made
out as brigadier-general and he seemed on the verge of a
distinguished military career when he was wounded at
Cedar Mountain, on August 9, 1862, and died as a result
in Lexington on August 1, 18638.
With the resignation of Alfred Jackson, as assistant
chief of staff, Jackson at once telegraphed Mr. Bennett
at Richmond, urging him to take the place. The message
was followed by the following letter:
Winchester, Va., Feby. 28th, 1862.
My dear Colonel:
I telegraphed to you last week that Major Jackson had resigned
from my staff, and requested you to say whether you would be willing
to take his place with the rank of Major, but have not heard from
you. You must not understand from my request that I desire you to
give up your present position for the sake of coming into the field.
But Captain Jackson told me that he would not be surprised should
you decline a re-election. And should you do so, the thought struck
me that you might desire active service with this Army. The posi-
tion of Adjutant General is one of great labor and requires much
study and an entire ignoring of personal ease. As it is the chief
staff position, its head should be an example of military adherence
to regulations. Please let me hear from you soon and either accept
or decline. My opinion is that you would make an admirable Adju-
tant General. The letter written to you about Alfred please destroy.
As you had been instrumental in getting him the position, it was
proper that you should know the objection to him, apart from the
request made by me of you in the letter. Alfred expects to bring
his old company back into service, and I hope that he will secure
distinction in the line.
Your most attached friend,
T. J. JACKSON.
FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON 99
The offer was declined by Mr. Bennett upon the
ground of age and in the belief that more good for both
Jackson and the Confederacy could be accomplished by
his continuing in the executive department.
It is interesting to observe Jackson’s inflexible atti-
tude toward duty at all times. Especially was this true
of his requirements of the members of his staff, but at no
time did he ask them to do more than he would do him-
self. Itis related that following the resignation of Alfred
Jackson he had a forced march in mind, lost his patience
with the tardiness of the staff in rising, and ordered the
cook to throw away such a rare luxury as coffee. Before
leaving he threatened to arrest the whole staff if they did
not arise immediately. Suffice to say, they did.
In July, 1862, Jackson wrote his wife concerning her
brother Joseph G. Morrison, then a captain in the service:
“If you will vouch for Joseph’s being an early riser’, he
wrote, “I will give him an aideship. I do not want to
make an appointment on my staff except such as are early
risers.’ The appointment was made, however, and writ-
ing from Charlotte, N. C., on October 25, 1866, to Mrs.
Annie C. Neale of Parkersburg, the ricipient says in part:
I had the honor to serve as aid de camp to the general during
his campaigns in the Valley of Virginia and around Fredericksburg.
During all my life I do not think I have ever known a more pious
and conscientious man.
On October 7, 1861, Jackson was advanced to the
rank of Major General and was, on November 4, assigned
to the command of the Valley District. In January, 1862,
he marched into western Virginia, striking Bath and Rom-
ney. In March he fell back before Banks with his army
of 35,000 men, who reported him “in full retreat from the
Valley’’, and started a column across the mountains to
attack Johnston as he was falling back from Manassas,
when Jackson suddenly turned, marched eighteen miles
in one morning, with 2700 men, fought the battle of
100 FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON
Kernstown, on March 23, meeting 8000 Federals. The re-
sult, scarcely a victory for either side, caused the recall of
the column moving on Johnston. Jackson then left the
community without delay and moved secretly into present
Highland County, leaving Ewell’s division in the Valley to
watch Banks. Suddenly the Confederacy and the North
were thrilled by the following dispatch:
Valley District, May 9, 1862.
Gen. S. Cooper: God blessed our arms with victory at McDowell
yesterday.
T. J. JACKSON,
Major General.
Strong pressure against Jackson’s right brought to his
defense the 25th and 31st Virginia regiments, the former
of which included the “Upshur Greys” and the latter com-
panies made up of Lewis, Harrison and Randolph County
men. The Third (West) Virginia regiment of the Fed-
erals was posted within three hundred feet of the Con-
federates. Former companions and neighbors recognized
one another and exchanged salutations. Such was the
“reunion of fate’? of men from the scenes of Jackson’s
boyhood.
The advance of Fremont under Milroy had been de-
feated and driven back. In rapid sequence followed the
uniting of Jackson’s division with that under Ewell at
Luray, the retirement of Banks’ flank at Front Royal, the
cutting of his retreating column at Middletown, and, on
May 25, the rout of Banks at Winchester and his retreat
across the Potomac. .
Jackson was about to follow Banks, when he learned
that Fremont from the west and Shields from the east
were marching to form a junction at Strasburg in his rear.
With one of his rapid marches he reached the point of
danger in time to defeat the project and protect his troops
and supplies as they passed up the Valley, having in the
meantime taken precautions to prevent the junction of
FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON 101
the Federals. His rear was protected by cavalry under
the brilliant Ashby, who lost his life near Harrisonburg
on June 6.
During the ensuing operation Jackson wrote Mr.
Bennett as follows:
Near Mt. Meridian, June 14th, 1862.
My dear Colonel:
Your letter respecting your joining me in the event of the fall
of Richmond came safely to hand; I hope and trust that no hostile
foot will in the Providence of God ever be permitted to enter our
honored capital, but should that calamity befall us, I will be very
glad to have you with us in the field. Colonel Jackson is with me,
and I hope he will so continue during the remainder of the war, as
his services are very valuable.
T. J. JACKSON.
It is not our design to give in detail the account of
Jackson’s notable achievements in the Civil War. They
have been narrated by many pens.
On June 7, at Cross Keys, Ewell, acting under direc-
tions of Jackson, met and defeated Fremont, and the next
day Jackson defeated Shields at Port Republic on the
opposite side of the river. The Federals then retreated
down the Valley. In thirty-two days Jackson and his
“foot cavalry” had marched about four hundred miles,
scarcely a day without some sort of a skirmish; and in so
doing they had fought five battles, defeated three armies,
captured twenty pieces of artillery, taken 4,000 prisoners
and large amounts of stores of all kinds. This in turn had
cost Jackson some 900 men killed, wounded or missing;
at no time did he have over 15,000 men with which to
meet over 60,000 Federals.
Banks at Strasburg soon began fortfying that point
against an attack by Jackson, who suddenly appeared
on McClellan’s flank near Richmond. Following this, he
participated in the Seven Days’ campaign around Rich-
mond, the second Manassas and the Maryland campaign,
102 FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON
the capture of Harpers Ferry with 11,000 prisoners in
September, and the battle of Sharpsburg.
On October 10, 1862, Jackson was advanced to the
rank of lieutenant-general and given command of the
Second Corps, consisting of his old division under W. B.
Taliaferro, Early’s division, A. P. and D. H. Hill’s divi-
sions, Brown’s Artillery, and numerous light batteries.
At Fredericksburg, in December, 1862, holding the ex-
treme right of Lee’s army, Jackson defeated Franklin
with a great loss to the Federals. After a winter spent in
training, the troops moved forward to Chancellorsville in
April, 18638. General Hooker had thrown Sedgwick
across the river below Fredericksburg and taken position
himself with the bulk of his army at Chancellorsville,
where he was strongly fortified. Lee, leaving Early to
watch Sedgwick, moved up to Hooker’s front, having in
the meantime sent Jackson with 22,000 men to attack
Hooker’s flank and rear. The plan was brilliantly exe-
cuted, resulting in the rout of that flank of Hooker’s army.
Jackson was then preparing to cut off his line of retreat
and compel Hooker to attack him when, in returning from
a reconnoisance, his party was taken for the enemy and
fired on and he was severly wounded. His left arm was
amputated and other wounds dressed, but pneumonia set
in and he died near Guinea Station on May 10, 1863.
Thus came to a close the earthly career of one of the
most distinguished sons of the upper Monongahela Val-
ley, whose faith in the Omnipotent was so blended with
his convictions that his cause was just and directed by
divine power that it was transmitted to his men in actions
that will live as long as time endures. Lee announced his
death to the army in General Order 61, as follows:
Headquarters—Army of Northern Virginia,
May 11, 1863.
Gen. Order 61.
With deep grief the Commanding General announces to
the army the death of Lieutenant General T. Jackson, who
THE CUMMINS JACKSON HOME AS IT APPEARED IN 1900—J ACKSON’S
Mitus. INSERTS: HoUSE IN WHICH JACKSON DIED NEAR GUINEA
STATION AND MONUMENT MARKING THE Spot WHERE HE FELL
.
—
FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON 103
_expired on the 10th instant at quarter past three p.m. The
daring skill of this great soldier by the decree of an all wise
Providence are now lost to us. But while we mourn his death,
we feel that his spirit still lives and will inspire the whole
army with his indomitable courage and unshaken confidence
in God as our hope and strength. Let his name be a watch-
word to his corps, who have followed him to victory on so
many fields. Let his officers and soldiers emulate his invin-
cible determination to do everything in the defense of our
loved country.
R. E. LEEg.
Thus did the beloved commander of the Confederate
army speak of the passing of him whom he has figura-
tively designated as his “‘right arm”’ in the struggle of the
Lost Cause. Within a few days all that was mortal of
‘Stonewall’ Jackson was laid to rest in the little ceme-
tery at Lexington, Virginia.
When the news of Jackson’s death reached western
Virginia, it came into a region where his youth and young
manhood stood in high relief in the minds of all people.
Among them were kinsmen who had espoused the cause
of the Union and those who favored the Confederacy.
The star of this young soldier of western Virginia had
burst upon the world in a meteoric career only to be cut
short by the hand of death. All alike paid him the
respect due a gallant and worthy American. The Wheel-
ing Intelligencer, the leading journal of this region at that
time, on May 16, 1863, said:
The incidents which are told of this able and daring leader
would fill volumes. They all hinge upon the sincerity of his zeal, his
personal bravery, his dash and courage in military operations and
the remarkable influence over his men.
Sixty-odd years have now elapsed since the death of
Jackson and in the intervening time a study of his life
and characteristics have but accentuated its appeal to the
American people. We have long ago passed from be-
104 FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON
neath the passions engendered by the war and can set
in a just light the men produced on both sides.
Jackson died before he was forty, but in that brief
time he sprang from an almost unknown but unusual boy
of the hills of western Virginia to be a national and inter-
national figure. His record of fighting under the Stars
and Stripes in Mexico and his conscientious course under
the Stars and Bars cannot be effaced. No stain of insin-
cerity, no vaingloriousness smirched a character combin-
ing gentleman, soldier and Christian.
Silence! ground arms!—kneel all!—caps off!
Old Blue-light’s going to pray;
Strangle the fool that dares to scoff!
Attention! ’tis his way.
Appealing from his native sod
In forma pauperis to God;
Lay bare Thine arm—stretch forth Thy rod—
Amen!—That’s Stonewall’s way.
FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON 105
A BIBLIOGRAPHY
Cooke, John Esten
The Life of Stonewall Jackson, by a Virginian (1863).
Appeared in two editions, by Ayers and Wade, Rich-
mond, and Charles B. Richardson, New York, many
stamped, ‘Daniels of Richmond,” Mss. preface dated,
“Camp —————- July 21, 1863.”
Ramsey, James Beverlin
A Discourse Occasioned by the Death of Lt. Gen. T. J.
Jackson. May 24, 1863.
Smith, Francis Henney
Discourse on the Life and Character of Lt. Gen.
Thomas J. Jackson, late professor in the Virginia Mili-
tary Institute. July 1, 1863.
Addey, Markinfield
Stonewall Jackson, (Aug. 1868).
Hopley, Catherine Cooper
Stonewall Jackson. By the author of ‘Life in the
South by a Blockaded British Subject,” recorded by
Swem and Cushing, as Sarah L. Jones. Three editions.
London, (Aug. 31, 1863).
Hallock, Charles
Stonewall Jackson, a sketch. (1868).
McCabe, James Dabney
The Life of Thomas J. Jackson, by an ex-cadet. (Octo-
ber, 1863). (Second edition, 1864).
Boykin, Edward M.
Boys and Girls Stories of the War. (Stonewall Jack-
son, etc.) (18647?)
Bradburn, J.
“Old Jack” and His Foot Cavalry, or A Virginian Boy’s
Progress to Renown. (1864). Reissued as second part
of Doolady’s (1866).
106 FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON
Doolady, Michael (Publisher)
Life of Jefferson Davis and Stonewall Jackson. (1866).
Potter, John & Co.
Jefferson Davis and Stonewall Jackson. (Doolady re-
print). (1866?)
Cooke, John Esten
Stonewall Jackson, (1866-1876-1894).
Dabney, Robert Lewis
Life and Campaign of Lieut.-Gen. Thomas J. Jackson.
(1866).
Gorman, John C.
Lee’s Last Campaign with an Accurate History of
Stonewall Jackson’s Last Wound. (1866).
Daniel, John Warwick
Character of Stonewall Jackson. (1868).
Hoge, Rev. Moses D.
Oration at Inauguration of the Jackson Statue, Rich-
mond, (1875).
Randolph, Sarah Nicholas
The Life of Gen. Thomas J. Jackson. (1876).
Taylor, Richard
Destruction and Reconstruction. (1879).
Allan, William
History of the Campaign of Gen. T. J. (Stonewall)
Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. (1880).
(London, 1912).
McLaughlin, William L.
Ceremonies Connected with the Unveiling of the
Bronze Statue of Gen. Thomas J. (Stonewall) Jackson
at Lexington, Va., July 21, 1891.
Jackson, Mrs. Mary Anna (Morrison)
Life and Letters of General Thomas J. Jackson (1891-
2)
Jackson, Mrs. Mary Anna (Morrison)
Memoirs of Stonewall Jackson. (1895).
Field, J. H.
Life of Thomas J. (Stonewall) Jackson.
FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON 107
Hamlin, Augustus Choate.
The Battle of Chancellorsville. (1896).
McGuire, Dr. Hunter
Address at Dedication of Jackson Memorial Hall, V. M.
I., Lexington, Va. June 23, 1897. Repeated July 9, at
Richmond.
Smith, James Power
The Religious Character of Stonewall Jackson, Ad-
dress, Lexington, June 23, 1897.
Dabney, Robert Lewis
Last Lecture on Stonewall Jackson, Davidson College,
October, 1897.
Henderson, George Francis Robert
Stonewall Jackson and the American Civil War, 2 vols.
(1898) (ten printings) London and New York.
Gittings, Major John G.
Personal Recollections of Stonewall Jackson and Other
Sketches. (1899).
Williamson, Mrs. Mary Lynn (Harrison)
Life of Thomas J. Jackson (fourth grade reader)
(1899-1918).
Hovey, Carl
Stonewall Jackson. (1900).
Chase, William O.
Story of Stonewall Jackson. (1901).
Allen, Mrs. Elizabeth Preston
Life and Letters of Margaret Junkin Preston (19038).
Smith, James Power
Stonewall Jackson and Chanecellorsville. (March,
1904).
Anderson, John H.
Notes on the Life of Stonewall Jackson, London (1904-
1905).
McGuire, Hunter Holmes
The Confederate Cause and Conduct in the War Be-
tween the States (1907).
108 FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON
Moore, Edward A.
The Story of a Cannoneer under Stonewall Jackson
(1907).
White, Henry Alexander
Stonewall Jackson (1909).
Lewis, Virgil A.
Third Report State Department of Archives and His-
tory, 1911. Proceedings connected with the unveiling
of the bronze statue of Gen. Thomas J. (Stonewall)
Jackson at Charleston, W. Va., Sept. 27, 1910.
Chew, Col. Roger Preston
Address V. M. I., Lexington, June 19, 1912.
Clopton, Rev. John Jones
The True Stonewall Jackson, a sketch (1918).
Worsham, John H.
One of Jackson’s Foot Cavalry. (1918).
Maguire, Thomas Miller
Jackson’s Campaign in Virginia, London (1918).
Howard, McHenry
Recollections of a Maryland Confederate Soldier and
Staff Officer under Johnston, Jackson and Lee. (1914).
Anderson, William A.
Address, at Laying of Cornerstone of the Equestrian
Statue to Stonewall Jackson, Richmond, Va., June 38,
1915.
Palmer, J. W.
Stonewall Jackson’s Way (1915). (A poem written
for Edmund Clarence Stedman, at Oakland, Md., Sept.
17, 1862).
Newbolt, Sir Henry John
The Book of the Thin Red Line. (The adventures of
Thomas Jackson, etc.). London and New York.
(1915).
Arnold, Thomas Jackson
Early Life and Letters of General Thomas J. (Stone-
wall) Jackson, (1916).
FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON 109
Wise, Jennings C. ;
The Long Arm of Lee.
Smith, Rev. James Power
With Stonewall Jackson in the Army of Northern Vir-
ginia. Jackson number, Southern Historical Papers,
(1920).
Smith, Edward Conrad
Thomas Jonathan Jackson, a sketch (1920).
Riley, Elihu Samuel
Stonewall Jackson (1920).
Ganoe, Major William Addleman
The History of the United States Army (1924).
7
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