My Genealogy Hound

JOHN M. JACKSON. There are many whose lives apparently pass quietly along, who make comparatively little stir in the world, but who when they are gone are sensibly missed from the circles which they have been in the habit of frequenting and whose names the survivors hold in tender rememberance. These thoughts involuntarily occur in recalling the career of Mr. Jackson, who was one of the most highly respected citizens of Moorefield Township, Clark County, and who departed this life July 24, 1890. He was a good man in the broadest sense of the term and was not only mourned by his immediate family but by a wide circle of friends and acquaintances.

The subject of this notice was born in Loudoun County, Va., March 4, 1833, and was the son of John and Mary (Braden) Jackson who were also natives of the Old Dominion, where they spent their entire lives, dying at an early age. When John M. was a lad of four years, he was brought to Ohio by his brother Charles and placed in the care of his uncle, William Moore, who had secured the land which is now occupied by Mrs. Catherine R. Jackson, the widow of our subject. John M. was reared to farm pursuits and received a practical education in the common schools. This with his habit of reading and observation conspired to make him a well informed man. He was naturally industrious and prudent and in due time began preparations for the establishment of a home of his own. With this end in view he was married November 22, 1864, to Miss Catherine R. Kraft and immediately afterward the young couple settled upon the farm which thereafter remained the home of Mr. Jackson until his death. Here also were born the eight children who came to bless their union and of whom but four are living: Edith is the wife of John Fryberger of Springfield; Charles, May and Nellie remain at home with their mother. As a husband and father Mr. Jackson fulfilled his obligations in a most creditable manner, as a member of the community he was looked upon as having contributed largely to the welfare of the people around him. Politically, he was a stanch Democrat, a man of decided views and one who when he believed he was right, was not easily turned from his convictions.

Mrs. Catherine R. Jackson was born August 31, 1846, in Baltimore, Md., and is a daughter of George and Anna (Hackenburg) Kraft, both of whom were also natives of that State and who traced their ancestry to Germany. Mr. Kraft served in the War of 1812 and emigrated to Clark County, this State, about 1848, when his daughter Catherine was an infant of twenty-two months. Settling in the young city of Springfield Mr. Kraft occupied himself as a machinist and for a number of years conducted a shop of his own. He died there about 1872. The mother survived her husband several years when she too passed away in 1878. Their family consisted of nine children and Mrs. Jackson is the only survivor. She was reared to womanhood in Springfield, obtaining her education in its public schools and by an attendance of five years at the Methodist Female College. She and her son Charles are now principally engaged in dairying and fruit-growing, running one milk wagon and raising large quantities of the different fruits for the Springfield markets. They number their customers among the best people of their community wherein they occupy a good social position. Prior to the Civil War Mr. Jackson crossed the Atlantic and traveled pretty much all over the world, arriving home a short time previous to the attack upon Ft. Sumter.