Descendants of George & Elizabeth Brake Jackson

Compiled by Linda Brake Meyers

Research Assistants

Nancy Ann Jackson, Ph.D

John M. Jackson

Published by Jackson Brigade, Inc.

An association of the descendants of John and Elizabeth Cummins Jackson

2004

At a time when our nation tottered on the brink of a tumultuous civil war, two descendants of George Jackson moved into the Wood County, (West) Virginia area. They had already risen to prominence in local circles, but it was in Wood County that they achieved great distinction and walked the streets of fame. Not only were they involved in western Virginia’s early gas and oil boom, they also played important roles in the legislative decision-making process during the Civil War, resulting eventually in the formation of the new state of West Virginia in 1863.

Though he was greatly respected as an antebellum legislator and judge by individuals in Wood and surrounding counties, William Lowther Jackson returned from the Civil War a defeated Confederate general, known derisively as “Mudwall” and shunned by those he had formerly served in public office. As a result, he left his native state and migrated to Louisville, Kentucky, where he continued in his walk of fame until his death. William was the grandson of George Jackson, who was an early pioneer of what is now West Virginia and had an illustrious career in his own right. General William Lowther Jackson’s history and genealogy is presented in Chapter One, “Family of William Lowther Jackson.”

General John Jay Jackson, the progenitor of the second family presented in this book, was the grandson of George Jackson and the illegitimate son of John George Jackson, congressman, entrepreneur and brother-in-law to President James Madison.

George and his son John George Jackson set the pace for General John Jay Jackson’s walk of fame. John Jay’s speech in Richmond regarding Virginia’s secession from the Union is a historical moment in American history. His views and those of his three sons during the formation of West Virginia are part of the historical scene. All three of his sons and many of his descendants walked the streets of fame, as will be shown by the compiled sketches in this book.

Contains 46 portraits; 11 pictures of homes; 21 pictures of tombstones and 18 miscellaneous pictures. Approximately 246 pages in a spiral bound laminated heavy card stock paper. Cost: $35.00 plus $5.00 shipping and handling per book. If prepaid for delivery at the Jackson Brigade reunion Aug. 7 & 8, 2004 in Parkersburg, shipping and handling can be omitted.

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· Please send me ________ copies of They Walked The Streets of Fame.

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· Send check made out to: Jackson Brigade, Inc. c/o Linda B. Meyers, 9682 Woodgate Lane, Bryon, IL, 61010-9556.