Notes for: Thomas H JACKSON
Thomas Heady Jackson's first name was for a relative and was given his middle name for his grandmother's family. He grew up on his father's farm in Jackson Township, Boone County, Indiana. As he was born the same year his parents had married, he had to help clear and develop the farm from the age of 6. There was a lot of hard work and very few educational opportunities. For the next 17 years that is what young Thomas did on his father's farm until the day he married Elizabeth Sneethen on Valentine's Day in 1850. His new wife's parents, Abraham and Lydia Richards Sneethen, had come from Kentucky to Indiana, lured by the rich farm land of the area. William H. Clements, Justice of the Peace, married them after Joseph Jackson had proven the age and residence of Elizabeth. They had taken out the license on February 7th, but married on the 14th. This is the first indication of any romantic ideals among any of our ancestors.
The Jacksons set up housekeeping on a farm near their father and had their first three children; John, Sydney, and William. Then the "itchy-foot" of so many of our ancestors hit and they moved out to Valley Township, Page County, Iowa where they farmed from 1862-1873. Here the rest of their 8 children were born including Andrew F. Jackson.
For some unknown reason in 1874, they sold their farm and moved to Wichita, Kansas. While Elizabeth coped with all the children, Thomas searched for good land for another farm. He had found it in Cowley County, Kansas. In 1876, the Jacksons bought a farm from J. K. Fees and his wife for two thousand dollars on April 14. It was near the tiny town of Kellogg, which has now disappeared except for a grain elevator on the A.T.S.F. railroad tracks. It is north and just a bit west of the present town of Winfield, Kansas.
It was here that their children were married and spread out to other farms and states. Andrew Ferguson Jackson, was married for the first time at this farm with his parents in attendance. Carrie, Sydney, and John were also married and started their own families here. This is also where he acquired the affectionate name of "Uncle Tommy" by which he was known for the rest of his life.
It was also here at their comfortable home north of Winfield that on the Friday evening of December 12,1899 that Elizabeth suddenly died. They had been reading and not having received a reply to a question he had asked, Thomas looked around to discover that Elizabeth had passed away, evidently without any struggle or pain. Elizabeth, who had stoicly endured so much as did all pioneer women, died in the same manner. Shocked beyond belief, Uncle Tommy went to a neighbor for assistance, but it was too late. Elizabeth was buried in Mt. Vernon Cemetery on the 15th of December with all of her family in attendance.
Uncle Tommy had lost his helpmate. No longer interested in farming, he sold the rest of his farm to a son-in-law, William R. Moffitt, who had married his daughter Sydney, as William had already bought half of Thomas's farm in 1895. He then lived with various of his children, eventually settling in Hedrick, Oklahoma. On August 19, 1915 he too, died of a heart attack. His body was shipped back on the "Frisco" train and he was buried next to his beloved Elizabeth in Mt. Vernon Cemetery on the 21st of August, 1915.