Ebenezer Jackson
Date of Birth
1763
Date of Death
1837
Letters Authored
1
Letters Received
0
Ebenezer Jackson was born 260 years ago.
186 years ago, Ebenezer Jackson passed away at the age of 74.
Letters Authored in Collection
History
INTRODUCE
Ebenezer Jackson, Sr. was the son of Michael Jackson II, a soldier and the captain of a company of Minute Men, who served during the American Revolution at the Battles of Lexington and Bunker Hill; in fact, Michael Jackson was wounded at Bunker Hill and again at Montressor's Island. Ebenezer, himself, was a soldier during the American Revolution and served when he was only fourteen years old in the 8th Massachusetts Infantry under his father’s command. After the Revolutionary War had ended, Ebenezer Jackson moved to Savannah, Georgia where he managed large slave-operated plantations. Ebenezer owned slaves himself and the content of this letter concerns the sale of some of them.
THE LETTER
The letter written to his daughter Mary Selina Jackson concerns the sale of slaves owned by Ebenezer Jackson, but slaves apparently acquired through a marriage settlement with Charlotte Fenwick, his wife. She apparently gained possession of the slaves prior to her marriage to Ebenezer leaving a possible claim by the heirs of Charlotte Fenwick Pierce or William Pierce, Sr., her first husband. Ebenezer’s correspondence to his daughter is a request that she and other potential heirs put in writing that Ebenezer has the right to sell them as he wishes. Indeed, he names each of the slaves, notes their infirmities, and states his desire to sell them for “other” investments. He lists twenty slaves by name and writes that he wishes to sell, as he notes, “old and young, big and little,” The letter is a rather chilling reminder of a time not so long ago when human beings could be considered as little more than a wagon or horse.
FAMILY
Ebenezer Jackson (b. 1763, d. 1837) was married to Charlotte Fenwick Pierce (b. 1766, d. 1819) in 1792. They had the following children: Edward Fenwick Jackson (b. June 1793), Mary Charlotte Jackson (b. 1794), Ebenezer Jackson, Jr. (b. 1796), Harriette Maria Jackson (b. 1798), Michael Jackson (b. 1799), Charles Hunter Jackson (b. 1801), Harriette Fenwick Jackson (b. 1803), Amasa Jackson (b. 1805), Mary Selina Jackson (b. 1807), and George Washington Jackson (b. 1809).
Charlotte Fenwick had one child with her first husband, William Pierce, Sr. and that was William Pierce, Jr. (b. 1790). It is unclear whether the separation of Charlotte Fenwick Pierce and her husband was due to death or divorce. There is at least one record that indicates William Pierce, Sr. may have been living as late as 1793, indicating divorce, but of this there is no confirmation.