Jackson Family Genealogy

 

Descendants

Thomas Jonathan (Stonewall) Jackson married twice. His first wife was Elinor Junkin (1824-1854), who died shortly after giving birth to a stillborn son in 1854. His second wife, Mary Anna Morrison (1831-1915), was the mother of Mary Graham (died shortly after birth in 1858) and  Julia Laura (1862-1889), the only Jackson child to reach adulthood. Julia married William Edmund Christian (1856-1936); they had two children - Julia Jackson Christian (1887-1991) and Thomas Jonathan Jackson Christian (1888-1952).

Ancestors

Great-grandparents

Stonewall Jackson was descended from John Jackson (born ca. 1716 in Ireland; moved to London age 10; d. 1801) and Elizabeth Cummins (b. ca. 1719, London, England; d. 1825).  Both were convicted of theft in 1749 in London's Old Bailey court,  and were sentenced to seven-year indentures "to some of his Majesty's colonies and Plantations in America."   The couple met on board the prison ship Litchfield which departed London in May 1749, and originally settled in Maryland. Both were able to complete their indentures early and they married in 1755.  Shortly after the birth of their first child they left Maryland to become pioneers in the area that is now northwestern West Virginia.  They are buried at Jackson Cemetery, E. Pike St., Clarksburg, WV.    For more information see Chapter one of the notable biography Stonewall Jackson: the Man, the Soldier, the Legend by James I. Robertson, Jr.

Grandparents

Col. Edward Jackson, Stonewall Jackson's grandfather, was one of 8 children of John Jackson and Elizabeth Cummins.  He was born 01 March 1759 in Near Moorefield, Hampshire (now Hardy) Co., WV, and died 25 December 1828 in Jackson's Mill, Lewis Co.,WV. He married (1st) Mary Haddan (Stonewall Jackson's grandmother) 13 October 1783; they had 6 children. Mary Haddan was born 15 May 1764 in [possibly] New Jersey, and died 17 April 1796 in Near Buckhannon, WVA. Edward married (2nd) Elizabeth Weatherholt Brake 13 October 1799; they had 9 children. Elizabeth Brake was born 11 January 1778 in prob. Hardy Co., WV, and died 19 August 1835 in Jackson's Mill, Lewis Co.,WV.

Parents

Stonewall Jackson's parents were Jonathan Jackson and Judith "Julia" Beckwith Neale. Jonathan, the son of Edward and his first wife Mary Haddan, was born 25 September 1790 in Randolph County, WV, and died 26 March 1826 in Clarksburg, Harrison Co., WV. He married Judith "Julia" Beckwith Neale ( born 28 February 1798 near Aldie, Loudoun Co., VA) on  28 September 1817. Jonathan and Julia had four children: Elizabeth, Warren, Thomas (Stonewall) and Laura Ann.   After Jonathan died in 1826,  Julia married Blake Woodson, by whom she had one son, Wirt. (Stonewall Jackson's half brother). Julia died 03 December 1831 in Fayette Co., West Virginia.  

Siblings

Jackson was devoted to his younger sister, Laura Ann Jackson Arnold (1826-1911). The other Jackson siblings, Elizabeth (1819-1826) and Warren (1821-1841), died young. Jackson also had a half-brother, William Wirt Woodson (1831-1875), through his mother's second marriage (in 1830) to Blake Baker Woodson (1783-1833).   Thomas and Laura shared the memories of a difficult childhood and corresponded frequently in the years after Thomas left home to attend the United States Military Academy at West Point. This close relationship was destroyed during the Civil War. While her brother Thomas emerged as a brilliant Confederate military leader, Laura remained an outspoken Unionist, and she ultimately became estranged from both her brother and other members of the Jackson family. During much the war, her hometown of Beverly, WV was occupied by Federal troops; Laura cared for Union sick and wounded in her home. Her Union sympathies were a topic of conversation among her contemporaries. In a May 1863 letter to his wife, in which he discusses the fighting near Beverly, Mortimer Johnson reports "Mrs. J. Arnold--sister of Gen. Jackson--went off with the Yankees. Arnold stayed at home says he is a good southern man, that his wife is crazy but Hell he says, could not govern a Jackson.

Other Resources

  • Jackson Family Brigade, Inc. Website of the Genealogical Association for Descendants of John Jackson (1715 - 1801), with extensive genealogical information.
  • Colonel Edward Jackson, 1759-1828, Revolutionary soldier, by Nancy Ann Jackson and Linda Brake Meyers. Franklin, NC : Genealogy Pub. Service, 1995.   The definitive resource for Jackson family genealogy.
  • The Genealogies of the Jackson, Junkin & Morrison Families by Michael I. Shoop. Lexington, Va. : Published by the Garland Gray Memorial Research Center, Stonewall Jackson House, Historic Lexington Foundation, 1981.
  • For biographical information about Jackson and various family members, see Stonewall Jackson--the man, the soldier, the legend, by James I. Robertson. New York : Macmillan Library Reference USA, 1997.