PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM 

page 481, 482 

HON. ANDREW JACKSON.  This gentleman is a worthy scion of a family which has given to the world statesmen, soldiers, and business men in various lines of work, and has not been without its share of scholars, some members of the family becoming known over a wide extent of territory through the works that they accomplished.  Personally, he possesses a fine character, a high degree of intelligence and the quick wit derived from his Irish origin, together with the manners which favorably impress those with whom he comes in contact and pave the way for their better acquaintance and higher regard. 

The paternal grandfather of our subject was a first cousin to Gen. Andrew JACKSON, ex-President of the United States, while his father, Robert JACKSON, was commander of the Greene County State Militia and represented the county in the Legislature in 1834.  Gen. Robert JACKSON had come from Jefferson County, Pa., to this section in 1805, locating by a large spring on Clark’s Run.  The farm he occupied is three miles west of Cedarville on the Jackson pike and is now known as the STEVENSON Farm.  He was a man of fine physique, being six feet one inch in height, and weighing two hundred and forty pounds, with a decidedly military bearing, quite in keeping with his position.  His commission as General bears the date of 1831.  He not only belonged to the Legislature but also served as Commissioner of Greene County, in which he attained to considerable note, retaining his prominence up to the time of his death, which took place at the age of eighty years.  In Lebanon, Warren County, in December, 1819, he was married to Miss Minerva J., daughter of Phillip Eddy, of that county, their wedding trip being from that place to Greene County on horseback.  A bureau made of cherry wood, which was a bridal gift from her parents is still in the possession of our subject.  The union was blessed by the birth of twelve children, seven of whom are living at this writing. 

The gentleman whose name introduces this sketch was reared on his father’s farm until thirteen years of age, when he took a position with the firm of MERRICK & CO., dealers in dry-goods at Xenia.  During this time he also attended school, and after two years became a book-keeper for the firm, holding that position until the fall of 1861, when the spirit of patriotism so thoroughly filled his bosom that he enlisted in the Union Army.  Being but a boy under sixteen years of age, and the only son at home, his mother would not consent to his departure for fields of battle, and getting out a writ, had him brought home.  He then went with his brother-in-law to Michigan, and entering his school took up the study of civil engineering, in which his brother-in-law was proficient and practical.  While carrying on his studies young JACKSON formed a company from the class, which was composed of boys larger than himself, and drilled them in Hardee’s tactics.  From that company several commissioned officers were made later in the war. 

Returning to his home the following spring Mr. JACKSON took his old position in a store at Xenia, but in August, of that year, carried out his desire to assist in preserving the Union, becoming a member of the Ninety-fourth Ohio Infantry, organized at Piqua, and being enrolled in Company H.  He took part in a number of engagements, among them being Tate’s Ferry, in which the regiment lost over three hundred men, and at Perryville, where he was wounded in the left shoulder, receiving a bullet in the fleshy part of his arm but never leaving his company.  He afterward participated in the contests at Stone River, Buzzard’s Roost, and the other engagements on the road to Atlanta, numbering among them some of the most famous and bloody contests of the war, the list including Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, Mission Ridge, Resaca, Dallas, New Hope Church, Marietta, Peach Tree Creek and the siege of Atlanta. 

While at Murfreesboro, in 1863, Mr. JACKSON was detailed as Chief Clerk of the Brigade Inspector, which position he held until he received a furlough in 1864.  He was at home but fifteen days when he endeavored to join his regiment, but could get no further than Nashville, Tenn.  There he reported for duty and was assigned to the post of Chief Clerk of the Inspector’s office of that post, a very responsible and dangerous position.  All the ammunition was handled and issued to the troops through him, and it was his duty to place the pickets at their appointed stations.  He was mustered out of the service June 5, 1865, and returned to Xenia, conscious that he had discharged his duties to the best of his ability, and rejoicing in the success of the cause to which he had devoted himself. 

Immediately after returning to his native State Mr. JACKSON went to Dayton as Assistant Engineer of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad.  Among other work which he did for that road, was engineering the building of the bridge at Lima, Ohio, of which he had full charge, and which is one of the finest pieces of work on the road, consisting of three spans of thirty-six feet arches, all of stone work.  Soon after he became the General Ticket Agent of the Cincinnati & Zanesville Railroad, with his office at the former place.  He held the position for six years, most of the time also acting as paymaster and engineer.  During this time he was married, and began house-keeping, but his wife’s parents becoming feeble they wished him to come and live with them at their home in Cedarville.  He therefore moved to Cedarville where his family has since resided and where he has had his vote.  He spent three years in the lumber camps in Michigan, where he had charge of the entire force of one hundred men, and during the time also carried on a farm in Greene County.  The lumber company, of which Mr. James DUNLAP (Mrs. JACKSON’S father) was the senior member, did the largest lumber business in Cincinnati, and was in existence over fifty years.  The business of this company was settled up in that city in 1886, but is still continued in Cedarville by the same firm.  For some time the charge of the company’s business in Cincinnati devolved upon Mr. JACKSON, and he has had full charge of its immense trade in all departments since 1878. 

Miss Mary J. DUNLAP, a true-hearted and cultured woman, became the wife of our subject December 17, 1868, and has borne him four children.  The first-born is Pearl, a young lady who will graduate in the class of 1890 in Cedarville, and who is receiving other advantages.  The other members of the family circle are Frank, Clara, and Fannie, who will also be the recipients of excellent educational advantages and careful home training. 

Mr. JACKSON is a stalwart Republican.  He has served his village as a member of the School Board, of which he is now President, and worked for a larger constituency in the State legislature, to which he was first elected in the fall of 1887, and re-elected two years later.  He has served on the Game, Agriculture, Pikes and other committees, being at present one of the committee of Investigation of the State Board of Pardons.  He was the author of the present game law, which is considered one of the best on the statute book.  He is now Colonel of the Greene County Battalion, Grand Army of the Republic.  The family attend and support the United Presbyterian Church, although Mr. JACKSON does not hold membership. 

We invite the attention of our many readers to a handsome portrait of Mr. JACKSON in this work.