John Jackson (b. 1715 Coleraine, Londonderry, Ireland; d. 25 Sep 1801 Clarksburg, WVA) married Elizabeth Cummins (b. 8 Jan 1720 ? London, England; d. 1825 Clarksburg, WVA).[N1]
[In light of a more recent study on Elizabeth Cummins Jackson it is believed that she was only 96 or 97 years old at her death as opposed to the 101-105 years as recorded by previous reseachers and her tombstone placed by the Daughters of the American Revolution.
As per her own statement, given to her grandson John George Jackson, Elizabeth arrived in America when she was 19 or 20. Arriving in the new country in 1748/49 would make her born on 8 January 1728/29. She died in Clarksburg, (West) Virginia in 1825. - Linda B. Meyers]
"John Jackson was descended from English settlers in Ireland. He was born in Coleraine, Londonderry, Ireland, and at the age of ten moved with his family to London. He emigrated to Maryland in 1748, married, and removed to Virginia in 1758 (present day Hardy County, West Virginia). He was a member of the County Court, served as an Indian spy in 1787 for Governor Henry Lee, and was a lieutenant of the militia in 1787. During the Revolutionary War, he took part in the Battle of King's Mountain. John was said to have been a spare, diminutive man, quiet, determined, courageous, and of sound judgment." [N2]
"Elizabeth Cummins was a strong-willed Englishwoman from London. She was raised by a maiden aunt, who upon her death left Elizabeth one thousand pounds sterling. She set off to America with her inheritance, met and married John Jackson in Cecil County, Maryland. (The legend that she fled England after throwing a tankard of ale at a King's soldier in her aunt's tavern is a little more exciting, but has been fairly well proven to be fanciful.) She is described as being rather masculine in stature, quite intelligent, and as having a great deal of courage and strong character. She fought off Indian attacks and patented 3,000 acres of land in her own name and paid for them herself." [N3]
Elizabeth Cummins is considered a Patriot of the American Revolution by the Daughters of the American Revolution (D. A. R.) as she, while her husband and sons were away, fought at Jackson's Fort. [N4] Jackson's Fort has a nice ring to it, however, as pointed out by McWhorter, "Jackson's Fort [and others] were probably only strategic and strongly built dwellings or block houses, where the immediate inhabitants fled on occasion of sudden alarms, and where scouts had regular places of meeting." [N5]
"There was a block house about three miles west of Bush's Fort, on Fink's Run .... It was built by some of the Jacksons on land now [1915] owned by Mr. Martin Reger. Prof. Maxwell refers to this building as "Jackson's Fort." History of Randolph County, West Va, p. 414. It could hardly be termed a fort, in the sense of that word. It was only a block house, or a strongly built two-story log dwelling without a palisade; and never figured as a defensive stronghold." [N6]
John Jackson married on 4 Jul 1755, Elizabeth Cummins. Their children are the following:[N1]
"Short History of the Jacksons in Oregon" by John C. Jackson.
""Granny's Creek," in Braxton County, received its name when Henry Jackson
commenced a [land] survey thereon and one of his hunters named Loudin, killed a
buffalo cow, which was so old and tough that the men declared her to be the
grandmother of all buffaloes." [N7]
Plat of land purchased by Elizabeth Cummins Jackson near Buckhannon River including the Pringle Tree property.
Some authors lists the ancestors of John Jackson back many generations to the Kings of England, however, since this has not been documented, we have not included it here.
N1. Colonel Edward Jackson 1759-1828 Revolutionary Soldier, by Nancy Ann Jackson and Linda Brake Meyers, Genealogy Publishing Service, Franklin, NC, 1995, page 14.
N2. The Genealogies of the Jackson, Junkin & Morrison Families complied by Michael I. Shoop, 1981, published by the Garland Gray Memorial Research Center, Stonewall Jackson House, Historic Lexington Foundation, Lexington, VA., page 155.
N3. Shoop, page 155.
N4. Daughters of the American Revolution (D. A. R.) Lineage Book Vol. 48, 47615, page 287.
N5. Chronicles of Border Warfare or a History of the Settlement by the Whites of North-Western Virginia: and of the Indian Wars and Massacres, Alexander Scott Withers, 1831, later edition 1895 by Steward and Kidd Publishers, Cincinnati, quoted in McWhorter, page 479.
N6. Border Settlers of Northwestern Virginia 1768 to 1785, by Lucullus Virgil McWhorter, 1915, reprinted by Jim Comstock, Richwood, West Virginia, 1974, as part of The West Virginia Heritage Encyclopedia, page 445.
N7. McWhorter, page 382.
