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Thomas A. Jackson (Wisconsin politician)

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Thomas A. Jackson
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
from the Green 2nd district
In office
January 4, 1869 – January 2, 1871
Preceded byJacob Mason
Succeeded byMarshal H. Pengra
Personal details
Born(1829-03-02)March 2, 1829
Fayette County, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedFebruary 15, 1908(1908-02-15) (aged 78)
Black Hawk County, Iowa, U.S.
Cause of deathStroke
Resting placeGreenwood Cemetery, Brodhead, Wisconsin
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
Mary Ann Morris
(m. 1854⁠–⁠1908)
Children
  • Marshall Jackson
  • (b. 1856; died 1951)
  • Emma Luella Jackson
  • (b. 1860; died 1863)
  • Jessie Belle Jackson
  • (b. 1878; died 1897)
  • six others
OccupationFarmer
Military service
AllegianceUnited States
Branch/serviceUnited States Volunteers
Union Army
Years of service1861–1865 (USV)
RankCaptain, USV
Unit18th Reg. Wis. Vol. Infantry
Battles/warsAmerican Civil War

Thomas Andrew Jackson (March 2, 1829 – February 15, 1908) was an American farmer, Republican politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing the southern half of Green County during the 1869 and 1870 terms. Earlier, he served as a Union Army officer through the American Civil War.

Early life

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Thomas A. Jackson was born in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, in March 1829.[1] He was raised there but received only one year of formal schooling. As the eldest child in his family, he was hired out to neighboring farms from the age of 12 to bring in money for the family.[2] As a young man, he supplemented that income by teaching school in the winters. In 1854, he became involved with the Pennsylvania state militia and was captain of a Fayette County company known as the Falls City Guards.[2]

He moved west to Wisconsin in 1856. He settled first at Beloit, Wisconsin, where he resided for two years. He then moved further west to the town of Spring Grove, Wisconsin, in Green County, where he established a farm. He remained there only briefly though, spending most of 1859, 1860, and 1861 working as a farmer at the "Scotch Settlement" just south of the Illinois border.[2]

Civil War service

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At the outbreak of the American Civil War, Jackson joined a volunteer company known as the "Independent Scotch Infantry", but their company was not admitted to the service in the initial rounds of recruitment.

That fall, he and his brother returned to Green County, Wisconsin, where they commenced organizing a company of volunteers in Spring Grove. Their company was originally intended for the 13th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment, but were too late for that organization. They were instead organized into the 18th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment as Company B of that regiment.[2] While the regiment was being organized in Milwaukee, he and his brother were commissioned first lieutenant and captain of their company, respectively.[3]

The 18th Wisconsin Infantry mustered into federal service on March 15, 1862, and arrived at Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee, on April 5. Within 12 hours of arriving at the field, they were engaged in the Battle of Shiloh. The first hours of the battle were erratic and disorganized, with their division falling back through forested terrain. They eventually reformed a line of battle with other regiments of their division and fought for several hours in this position until the enemy had surrounded them on three sides. At that place, the colonel and major of the regiment were both killed and the lieutenant colonel was wounded. About 175 men of the regiment were captured, including Jackson.[4]

Jackson remained a prisoner of war for nearly seven months until paroled in October. On his return to the regiment, he was promoted to captain of the company.[1] He commanded his company through the rest of the war, participating in the Vicksburg campaign, and Sherman's campaigns through Georgia and the Carolinas.[1][4]

Postbellum career

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After returning from the war, Jackson was elected town clerk of Spring Grove in April 1866 and held that office for seven terms.[2] In the Fall of 1868, he was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly running on the Republican Party ticket. He represented Green County's 2nd Assembly district, which then comprised the southern half of the county. He was re-elected in 1869.[2] After his second term, he was appointed to the State Visiting Committee by the governor, but mostly retired to his farm.[2]

In the late 1870s, he began operating as an underwriter for a fire insurance company in Iowa. He relocated full time to Black Hawk County, Iowa, in 1897.[5]

He died after suffering two strokes on the morning of February 12, 1908.[6]

Personal life and family

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Thomas Jackson was the eldest of eleven children of Elijah Jackson, a stone and brick mason. His brother Charles H. Jackson, who served with him in the Union Army, rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel.[3]

Jackson married Mary Ann Morris of Fayette County, Pennsylvania, in 1854. They had nine children together. His wife and six children survived him.[5]

Electoral history

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Wisconsin Assembly (1868, 1869)

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Wisconsin Assembly, Green 2nd District Election, 1868[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
General Election, November 3, 1868
Republican Thomas A. Jackson 1,798 67.21% +3.90%
Democratic Christopher Seeber 877 32.79%
Plurality 921 34.43% +7.80%
Total votes 2,675 100.0% +25.18%
Republican hold
Wisconsin Assembly, Green 2nd District Election, 1869[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
General Election, November 2, 1869
Republican Thomas A. Jackson (incumbent) 1,285 64.64% −2.58%
Democratic Jacob Adams 703 35.36%
Plurality 582 29.28% -5.15%
Total votes 1,988 100.0% -25.68%
Republican hold

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Official Directory". The Legislative Manual of the State of Wisconsin (Report). State of Wisconsin. 1870. p. 363. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i History of Green County, Wisconsin. Union Publishing Company. 1884. pp. 476, 1091. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Eighteenth Regiment Infantry". Roster of Wisconsin Volunteers, War of the Rebellion, 1861–1865. Vol. 2. Office of the Adjutant General of Wisconsin. 1886. p. 87. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
  4. ^ a b Quiner, Edwin B. (1866). "Regimental History–Eighteenth Infantry". The Military History of Wisconsin. Clarke & Co. pp. 656–667. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
  5. ^ a b "Biographical Notes of Thomas A. Jackson". Waterloo Daily Courier. February 13, 1908. p. 3. Retrieved June 14, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Capt. Jackson Passes Away". Waterloo Daily Courier. February 12, 1908. p. 1. Retrieved June 14, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
[edit]
Wisconsin State Assembly
Preceded by
Jacob Mason
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the Green 2nd district
January 4, 1869 – January 2, 1871
Succeeded by