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On July 2, 1851, Mr. Jackson and his mother landed at New York, having

emigrated with the intention of making their future home in this country. They

reached Rock Island in August, 1851. Young Jackson went to work in the plow

factory of John Deere in Moline. He worked at various occupations until the fall

of 1856, when he entered the law office of H.L. Smith, a practicing attorney in

Moline, as a law student. In 1859 his mother died in Moline, and on September 6,

1860, he was admitted to practice in the courts of Illinois. Directly afterwards he

became the law partner of James Chapman, and the business was conducted in

Moline under the firm name of Chapman & Jackson, continuing until May 1862,

when Mr. Jackson removed to Rock Island. While he was a law student in

Moline, during the spring of 1859, he was elected township collector.

Jennie E. Sammis, then a teacher in the Rock Island public schools, became Mr.

Jackson

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s wife on May 21, 1865. She preceded him in death. A daughter, Mrs.

Hattie J. Babcock, resides in Rock Island.

Sept. 6, 1925, the 65th anniversary of Mr. Jackson

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s admission to the bar, found

him still engaged in the practice of his profession. He was remarkably well

preserved, although 91 years old.

Handled Many Cases

It is considered doubtful if any attorney in western Illinois has taken part in more

cases than had Mr. Jackson. Sixteen years ago this fact was called to the attention

of the public, and it was then determined by Circuit Clerk George W. Gamble,

from the dockets of Rock Island county, that Mr. Jackson had participated in

1,376 law cases, 579 chancery cases; had defended in 88 criminal cases and

participated in the prosecution of 11 persons for murder, three for attempted

murder, and four for larceny. Moreover, this list did not include the many cases

in which he had, during his long practice, been interested in the county court or

the proceedings in the probate court in the adjustment of estates, in which he had

a part. In addition, he had practiced extensively in the circuit courts of 15

counties of Illinois other than Rock Island, and in the appellate and supreme

courts of the state. And the trials before justices of the peace, in which he had

taken part, are believed to total more than the cases in which he had appeared in

the courts of record.

In his later years he was in the court frequently and actively as the legal

representative of traction corporations such as the Tri-City Railway company

and the Rock Island Lines. As a matter of fact, Mr. Jackson had been identified

with some of the most famous proceedings in the history of Rock Island county

courts, both civil and criminal. Among the more important of these was the long

series of injunctions in Whiteside and Henry counties, affecting the removal of