Husband George Whitten Jackson 1 2
Born: 1801 - Roscrea, County Tipperary, Ireland 1 3
Christened:
Died: 20 Sep 1862 - Pittsburgh, Allegheny Co, PA 1 3
Buried:
Father: John Jackson (1766-1826) 3
Mother: Margaret Davis ( - ) 3
Marriage: 1836 4 5
• Additional Image: George W. Jackson.
• Biographical Sketch: from Encyclopaedia of Contemporary Biography of Pennsylvania, Vol. 1 (New York: Atlantic Publishing & Engraving Co., 1889).
To read this brief biographical sketch of his life and career, click here.
Wife Mary Beard 2 4
Born: 3 Apr 1813 - Pittsburgh, Allegheny Co, PA 6
Christened:
Died: 9 Jun 1879 6
Buried:
Father: Peter Beard ( - ) 6
Mother: Ann Coffey ( - ) 6
Children
1 F Anna Margaret Jackson 2 7
Born: 14 Jun 1837 2
Christened:
Died: 1 Aug 1918 2
Buried:
Spouse: Francis Semple "Frank" Bissell (1833-Aft 1889) 2 7
Marr: 1866 2
2 F Mary Louise Jackson 5
AKA: Mary Louisa Jackson 5
Born:
Christened:
Died:
Buried:
3 M John Beard Jackson 5
Born: 17 Feb 1845 - Pittsburgh, Allegheny Co, PA 8
Christened:
Died: 31 Oct 1908 9
Buried:
Spouse: Did Not Marry
General Notes: Husband - George Whitten Jackson
He attended the primitive schools of the then new city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and by self-study extended his knowledge beyond the usual course taught in the public schools of that time. He found his first employment as a clerk in the grocery store of John Albree, and his business ability soon secured him a partnership, the firm name becoming Albree & Jackson. On the death of his father, in 1826, he sold out his interest in the grocery store and assumed the management of his father's manufacturing plant. As it did not prove as profitable or pleasant as he wished, he sold it out and engaged in packing pork for the southern and western trade. His success warranted his establishing pork-packing houses in Cincinnati, Columbus, and other western towns. In 1845, he became associated with R. W. Cunningham in the business of providing merchandise to the west, and this business led to the firm dealing in grain, iron, steel, and glass, the three latter commodities being extensively manufactured in Pittsburgh. The business of the firm was located at New Castle, where they also operated a foundry and machine shop. In 1849, Mr. Jackson acquired an interest in the Anchor Cotton Mills, one of the first mills of the kind established in Pittsburgh, and his allied interests gave him a prominent place in trade centers. He was a member of the board of directors of the Merchants' and Manufacturers' Bank of Pittsburgh from 1837, which was the pioneer banking institution of western Pennsylvania. He also took part in promoting the building of the Allegheny Valley Railroad, and in 1857 he was elected a director of the company and one of the members of the prospecting party sent out to determine the best route for the extension of the road. He took an active personal part in the construction and equipment of the road and was obliged to resign his office as director in 1859 on account of ill health. He was also a member of the Smithfield Street Bridge Board and of the Western Insurance Company, and was zealous in his efforts to increase the commercial prosperity of Pittsburgh and the well-being of its citizens. To the above, he added a directorship in the Bank of Pittsburgh, the oldest banking institution in Pennsylvania.
Mr. Jackson was a member of the Common Council of the city, and president of the Select Council in 1845, appointed to care for the sufferers from the great fire which destroyed the larger part of the city in 1845, and he was made a member of the relief committee charged with the distribution of the fund contributed by the neighboring cities for immediate relief of suffering.
In politics, he was originally a Democrat, but upon the organization of the Republican Party in 1856, he became identified with the movement for free soil and free men and was sent to Buffalo as a delegate to the National Convention that nominated John C. Fremont for President of the United States. He was also interested in the colonization movement instituted to prevent the introduction of slavery in the territories, and was an active participant in the Kansas immigration scheme which gave rise to the Kansas conflict and led to the Civil War. His loyalty to the Union and the Constitution was unswerving and unqualified up to the time of his death. He was an uncompromising foe to jobbery, and utterly incapable of meanness or trickery to increase his fortune. His kindness of heart was not the least distinguishing of his many characteristics, and was well exemplified by his active interest in the House of Refuge of Western Pennsylvania, the Western Pennsylvania Hospital, and other benevolent and charitable institutions. The care of the insane was a subject near his heart, and he was one of the most prominent advocates of the hospital for the insane, known as "Dixmont." His religious connections attached him to the Protestant Episcopal Church, and in early life he attended Trinity Church and afterward Saint Andrew's Church.