Two weeks ago this column presented the family of early Union settler William Jackson and his wife, Nancy Owenby Stanley Jackson. Many avenues can be pursued on the Jackson families and how they spread from Union County to many states. This column will focus on Thomas Kimsey Jackson, grandson of William and Nancy Jackson, and son of their son William Marion Jackson (05/09/1829-03/12/1912) and Rebecca Goforth Jackson (03/03/1833-06/05/1901).
Marion Jackson and his wife Rebecca lived on Town Creek, Choestoe District, where he farmed. They lived near his parents, William and Nancy Jackson. Marion joined the Union Army during the War Between the States and served as a private in Company H, 2nd Regiment, North Carolina Mounted Infantry from October 3, 1863 through August 16, 1865. He saw action in the Cumberland Gap Campaign. He received a medical discharge for severe rheumatism. His pension application stated that he was unable to perform manual labor because of his disability.
Thomas Kimsey Jackson was one of eleven children born to Marion and Nancy Jackson. Three of T. K.’s siblings died young. Eight of them lived to adulthood, married and had families. Thomas Kimsey Jackson was born December 17, 1867 and died February 2, 1951.
In an account of his life and family, T. K. Jackson wrote: “I was educated for a school teacher and for seventeen years I taught school.” He does not say where he received his education, but perhaps he went through the Gap to the Hiawassee Academy where he received as good an education as was available for aspiring teachers in the late nineteenth century.
He taught at the country schools at New and Old Liberty Churches. Among his famous pupils was his nephew, Mauney Douglas Collins, son of T. K.’s sister, Mary Louise Jackson who married Archibald Benjamin Collins. A letter dated October 9, 1936 from T. K. Jackson, Young Harris, Georgia, and written to a niece (name not specified) states: “Yes, we are all proud of M. D.’s success and his ability to do things. I hope others of our people will make high marks.” By this time, that nephew whom T. K. Jackson probably taught to read was Georgia’s School Superintendent.
Thomas Kimsey Jackson married twice. His first wife was Mary Jane Collins (11/26/1869-01/17/1887), daughter of John P. and Fronia Duckworth Collins. T. K. and Mary Jane had one child, Thurman Sylvester (known as Vester, born 01/15/1887 - 01/19/1922). Mary Jane evidently died with complications following childbirth, for her death occurred two days after her baby boy, Vester, was born. Mary Jane was buried in the Six Oaks Cemetery near Old Liberty Baptist Church about which I wrote last week. Jumping forward in time, this first-born son of T. K. Jackson married Lola Souther, daughter of William Albert and Caroline “Hon” Dyer Souther. Vester and Lola had five children: Elma Clara, Donald Clifford, Worth Oliver, Adele Marie and Ruth Lavesta. Vester Jackson met a tragic death on January 19, 1922 from a gasoline explosion at his store and filling station at Town Creek, Choestoe. His last child, Ruth, was born August 31, 1922, seven months after her father’s death.
Thomas Kimsey Jackson married his second wife, Mary Caroline Collins (04/09/1872-07/03/1952) on January 13, 1889. She was a daughter of Elijah Kimsey and Rosetta Sullivan Collins. To T. K. and Mary Caroline were born fifteen children. They were:
Iowa Rosetta Jackson who married Bluford Vasco Dyer
Sarah Christine Jackson who married Frank Calloway Duckworth
Thomas Watson Jackson (10/21/1893-01/19/1910)
Elma Jackson (08/01/1895-10/01/1895)
Martha Nevada Jackson who married Robert (Bob) L. Jackson
Fannie Jane Jackson who married Earl Penland
Ollie Mae Jackson who married Benjamin Frank Sargent
Lillie Bell Jackson (08/22-1902 - 08/30/1921)
Mary Leona Jackson who married McKinley Pruitt
Margaret Viola Jackson who married Anson Ray Geckler
Pat Marion Jackson who married Louise D. Macon
Pearl Jackson, a twin to Pat (03/23/1909-06-?-1909)
Annie Maude Jackson who married Roscoe McGaha
Thomas J. Jackson who married Lucy Inez Aderhold
Hugh Dorsey Jackson (03/12/1917-04/26/1917)
The Thomas Kimsey Jackson House and Store at Town Creek, Choestoe
In addition to his seventeen years of public school teaching, Thomas Kimsey Jackson operated a country store at Town Creek, Choestoe. The store was in the front ell of the house, accessible by steps from the front. The large family lived in the back wing of the house.
The family moved from Town Creek to Young Harris in 1907 where he also continued his work as a merchant. The twins, Pat and Pearl were born there. Pearl, one of the twins, was buried at Old Union Cemetery, Young Harris in 1909, as were the other children who died young. His reason for relocating to Young Harris was to give his children better educational opportunities at Young Harris Academy and College. Both Thomas Kimsey Jackson and his wife Mary Caroline Collins Jackson were interred at Old Union Baptist Church Cemetery, Young Harris. Jacksonville, the village near Young Harris on Highway 76/APD 515 was named for the Jackson family.
Thomas Kimsey Jackson was ordained to the ministry. This writer does not have information on where he might have been a pastor, but surmises that he probably preached at Old Liberty Baptist Church (Union County) and at Old Union Baptist Church (Towns County).
Descendants which are many of Thomas Kimsey Jackson and his sixteen children, fourteen of whom married and had families of their own, can be proud of the legacy left by this teacher/merchant/preacher.
c2004 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published Apr. 15. 2004 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
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