He who leaves behind him, when he passes beyond the goal from which no mortal man has ever returned, a pleasant and abiding memory of his existence on this earth, and has bequeathed to his progeny and posterity a heritage of right living and right thinking, has accomplished much.
His memory will be revered long after that of the individual who has done nothing but accumulate wealth and has made no effort to leave this earthly abiding place a better place to live than when he came upon it. Judge Horace Mortimer Jackson, deceased, was a man who lived an upright life, and was accorded the universal respect of his fellow men and was a legal practitioner of high rank, whose honorable methods of practice and manner of living were such as to commend him for most favorable mention in the archives of his adopted county of Atchison.
Judge Horace M. Jackson was born near Albion, Penn., July 11, 1839, a son of Lyman Jackson, who was the son of Michael Jackson, whose father was also named Michael, and was a native of Ireland. Michael Jackson, the founder of the family in America, came from Ireland and settled near Hartford, Conn. He went to the coast to trade and was not thereafter heard from and was supposed to have been killed by Indians. He had three sons, one of whom, Ebenezer, died in service as a soldier during the French and Indian war. Another son went south, and the third was Michael Jackson, the direct ancestor of Horace M. Jackson. Michael was born March 28, 1735 and on June 4, 1755, was married to Susanna Willcocks, who was born April 19, 1732. They settled in Windham county, Connecticut, later removing to Pownal, near Bennington, Vt. Michael Jackson was a soldier in the colonial army during the French and Indian war, and was a member of Company Ten, First regiment. He was discharged December 12, 1759. He also enlisted in the Seventh Company of the Third regiment of volunteers, Army of Independence, May 5, 1775, and was discharged December 15, 1775. He later volunteered for service in Col. Samuel Herrick’s regiment of “Alarm Men.” Lyman, the son of Michael, also served in the Revolution on the American side. He was born February 29, 1755, at Simsbury, Hartford county, Connecticut. He enlisted eight different times in the American army. Lyman married Deidama Dunham on January 3, 1782. This couple lived at Albany, Otsego and Wyoming, N. Y., at different times. To them were born thirteen children. About 1805, Lyman Jackson settled in Erie county, Pennsylvania, and obtained a dense tract of timber land in the Holland Purchase from which he cleared a farm. Seven sons and a son-in-law of this redoubtable patriot fought in the War of 1812.
Lyman Jackson died March 20, 1835. David Bardsley Jackson, a son of Lyman, born May 29, 1797, at Richfield, Otsego county, New York, married Lucy Hendryx, on April 11, 1822, near Albion, Penn. He was the ninth child of Lyman Jackson and cleared a farm of forty acres in the Holland Purchase on which he resided until the year 1830. He then sold his land, loaded his effects in a farm wagon, drove to Pittsburgh, and took passage down the Ohio river and thence up the Mississippi to Warsaw, Ill., from which landing place on December 15, 1839 he drove to Knoxville, Ill., and bought a farm ten miles west of the village. He returned to Pennsylvania in 1841, driving overland with his team 1,000 miles each way accompanied by his wife and two youngest children. In the year 1846 he removed to a residence in Knoxville and engaged in the grocery business. In 1854 he settled on a farm one-half mile west of Cambridge, Henry county, Illinois. He lived here until 1876, then sold out and made his home at Gilson, for the remainder of his days. This sturdy pioneer died January 18, 1879. His children were: Mrs. Elizabeth Ruth Pierce, Zaremba, Obadiah H., Gershom, David, Francis Marion, Charles Wilmer De Loss, Horace Mortimer, and Mrs. Annie Lucelia Wing.
Horace Mortimer Jackson was reared on the farm, attended the schools of Knoxville, Ill., clerked in his father’s grocery store, sawed wood for forty cents per cord, and did the hardest kind of farm work while yet a boy. During 1860–61, he taught school for $28 per month. On August 7, 1861, he started for De Soto, Neb., by way of Hannibal and St. Joseph. On April 12, 1861, he boarded a steamer at St. Joseph en route for Omaha. Arriving there he joined his brother Zaremba on his farm in Nebraska. He worked here for some time and assisted his brother in tilling the farm with oxen in the most primitive way. He saved his money and in 1862 returned to Cambridge, Ill., taught school during the winter and read law at night. He followed farming, served as deputy sheriff of the county and finally located at Versailles, Mo., in the practice of law. He was a member of the board of education which gave the first public school to the town of Versailles. He married Lavanchia Isabelle Valentine, December 12, 1865. She was the eldest daughter of John O. Valentine. For a time the newly wedded couple were in very poor circumstances.
Their furniture was of crude workmanship, made from store boxes. It was here that the future judge made the friendship of Anderson W. Anthony, a good lawyer whom he esteemed highly, who became his first law partner. He made a journey to Wichita, Kan., in August, 1870, but located at Marysville, Mo., in September of the same year. He became a partner of D. L. Palmer, who later went to Jewell City, Kan. He then formed a partnership with Judge Thomas J. Johnston, and served as prosecuting attorney of the county. In December of 1878 he started for Beloit, Kan., with the intention of locating in that city, but stopped at Atchison where he met W. S. Greenleaf and Gen. W. W. Guthrie. He remained in their law offices during the ensuing winter. General Guthrie at that time was a member of the State senate. He formed a partnership with Mr. Greenlea on March 17, 1879, which continued until Mr. Greenlea’s death in September, 1880. His wife died March 26, 1883, and he later, on February 11, 1886, married Matilda (Adams) Rook, who had one daughter by a former marriage, Effie, now the wife of C. A. Chandler, of Atchison. Matilda Adams Rook was a daughter of Peter and Martha Adams, of England, and sister of J. P. Adams, of Atchison. Horace M. Jackson was appointed judge of the district court on March 1, 1887, and continued as judge until his successor was elected. He and his son, William A., conducted the law business and served as the local attorneys for the Santa Fe and the Burlington railroads until his death, which occurred December 11, 1910. Judge Jackson left two sons, William Anthony and Zaremba Edward. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity, the Elks, Modern Woodmen and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He bequeathed to his children and posterity a heritage of an honorable, upright life without stain or blemish and will long be remembered as one of the honored citizens of Atchison.