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GEN. SAMUEL McCARTNEY JACKSON
GEN. SAMUEL McCARTNEY JACKSON, “Colonel” as the old members
of the 11th Regiment loved to call him, was one of the sons of Armstrong
county whose privilege it has been to achieve distinction in civil as well as
military life. He was an active and successful business man of the county,
located at Apollo, with whose interests he was closely identified for many
years. He was a son of John and Elizabeth (McCartney) Jackson, and was born on
the farm where his father settled, near Apollo, Armstrong county, Sept. 24,
1833.The Jackson family is of Irish descent and has always been prominent in the
southern part of the county from its earliest settlement. James Jackson, the
General’s grandfather, came from Ireland to Pennsylvania with his parents, who
were at Hannastown (1782) when it was burned by the Indians, and finally
settled in Kiskiminetas township. James Jackson died at eighty-four years of
age, and his eldest son, John Jackson, born Oct. 12, 1797, died Jan. 8, 1853.
John Jackson was the builder of his own fortune and became one of the wealthy,
honorable and highly respected men of Armstrong county, On Oct. 5, 1826, he
married Elizabeth McCartney, of Scotch lineage, who was born Oct. 10, 1805,
and died Aug. 9, 1880. She was the mother of ten children, of whom the second
son and fourth child was Samuel McCartney.Samuel M. Jackson was reared on the farm, but he early craved something
more than farm life seemed to offer, and at the age of sixteen he entered the
Jacksonville Academy, in Indiana county, where he hoped to get that training
which he considered the basis of a useful life. The unexpected death of his
father, however, compelled him to leave school one year later and abandon his
cherished desire for a liberal academic education. However, he became well
read in history and biography. At an early age he displayed an active interest
in military affairs, and when only twelve years old he was enrolled as a
drummer boy in the State militia, evincing in childhood those talents which
were afterward of incalculable value to his country in the hour of her sore
distress. For efficient service he was promoted, step by step, until he
obtained a captain’s commission, and when the dark clouds of rebellion broke.
Captain Jackson was one of the first to proffer his services in the great
struggle to maintain one flag and a united country. He recruited Company
“G” or the Apollo Independent Blues, of the 11th Pennsylvania
Reserves, and was commissioned its captain when it was mustered into the
service. His signal ability as a soldier could not long remain unnoticed. On
July 2d, 1861, he was made major of his regiment. On Oct. 28th he was promoted
to the office of Lieutenant-Colonel, and on April 10, 1863, he received the
sword and commission of a colonel. The talents of the man were so marked, his
character and bearing so distinguished, that advancement in the service was as
steady as the flow of the irresistible tide. At the head of a brave regiment
he proved himself a gallant officer, and through the whole three years’
service was a conspicuous figure in all the campaigns in which his regiment
was summoned to duty. At the battles of Gaines’ Mills, Second Bull Run, South
Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Wilderness, Spottsylvania
Court House, and Bethesda Church, General Jackson and his regiment showed the
fighting worth of Pennsylvania blood, rendering particularly distinguished
service at South Mountain, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, and in the Wilderness.
At Spottsylvania he commanded his brigade, and so well and ably did he bear
himself in this battle that he was breveted a brigadier-general for gallant
and meritorious conduct. It is a striking coincidence, and worthy of note,
that this noble life went out on the anniversary of this sanguinary battle,
which won for him his highest military rank. But it was at Gettysburg that
General Jackson so eminently displayed his keenness of judgment and powers of
command. On the second day’s fight the 11th Reserves lay in the front on the
slope of Little Round Top, overlooking the terrible valley of death from which
the 3d Corps had been driven back. Supports sent to the relief of the 3d had
been fearfully broken, and the enemy, flushed with success, was steadily
advancing with a terrible and resolute purpose to carry the hill. General
Crawford’s orders had been to remain in position and hold the hill at all
hazzards. This seemed impossible. Moments then were as vital as hours. There
was no time to await orders from superiors. General Jackson, quick to see and
realize the danger of delay, on his own responsibility ordered the regiment
forward, and was at once followed by the commands in the rear. Down the slope
they charged, and hurling themselves like thunderbolts on the columns of the
confident and unsuspecting enemy they fought them foot by foot back across the
valley of death, across Plum run and into the wheatfield, regaining the entire
field so nearly and irretrievably lost. It was here that General Crawford rode
up in rear of the regiment, and with much excitement complimented them in most
extravagant terms, saying, “Colonel Jackson, you have saved the day; your
regiment is worth its weight in gold sir.”At the battle of the Wilderness, General Jackson again displayed his signal
ability to command, and his ready power to meet any emergency, however trying.
While commanding his own and the 2d Regiment, he suddenly found himself cut
off from his division by a strong force of the enemy Thus isolated from the
Union forces and surrounded by a confident foe, the situation presented but
one of two alternatives –death or surrender. But General Jackson had never
learned how to surrender. The chance of cutting his way through the enemy’s
lines, desperate though it was, was promptly accepted, and at the head of his
brave troops, with an unequaled valor, broke through the Rebel forces, and by
a circuitous route reached the Union front, where for several hours they had
been given up as lost.During three years of active, hard service, General Jackson won the
confidence and respect of his superiors and the esteem and admiration of all
within his command, and when mustered out he returned to his home and the
quiet pursuits of a business life. While in the war he received two slight
wounds. The appreciative regard of the officers and men of the 11th Regiment
for their colonel was mdicated by their presenting him a superb gold encased
and jeweled sword, together with sash and spurs, the presentation speech on
behalf of the regiment being made by Captain Timblin. To keep warmer and more
vivid the memories of his soldier life, its comradeships and past dangers, the
general allied himself with Post No. 89, G. A. R., Encampment No. 1, U. V. L.,
and the Pennsylvania Commandery of the Loyal Legion.For some time after the close of the war General Jackson was engaged in the
oil business in Venango county, but in 1889 he returned to his native county
of Armstrong and was in the same year elected to the State Legislature, and
reelected the following year. In this position, as in all others he filled,
both military and civil, he so won the confidence of those he served that four
years later he was elected to represent the forty-first Senatorial district,
composed of the counties of Armstrong and Butler, in the State Senate. At the
close of his term of office he was again honored by the offer of a
renomination, which he felt compelled to decline. In 1871 he was instrumental
in organizing the Apollo Savings Bank, in which he filled the responsible
position of cashier until 1882, in April of which year President Arthur
appointed him collector of Internal Revenue for the twenty third district,
composed of the counties of Beaver, Allegheny (northern part), Butler,
Armstrong, Indiana, Jefferson, Clearfield, Blair and Huntingdon. He assumed
the duties of this office July 1, 1882, and served until July 1, 1885, when he
was removed by President Cleveland, on account of his politics. In September
of -this year he was elected president of the Apollo Savings Bank, which later
became the Apollo Trust Company, and he served in this position up to the time
of his death. In 1893 he was elected State treasurer by a plurality of over
135,000. He was considered as a candidate for governor, and twice received the
indorsement of his county for Congress.Until the organization of the United States Steel Corporation General
Jackson was largely interested in the sheet steel business in the Kiskiminetas
valley. In 1886 he became interested in the benefits to be derived by his town
and county from the erection of sheet iron mills at Apollo, and after he and
others had agitated the subject the firm of P. H. Laufman & Co., Limited,
was formed with a capital stock of 150,000. They kept in constant operation
three large mills. General Jackson became a stockholder in this company and
was elected treasurer. Some time before his death P. H. Laufman & Co.,
Limited, and the Saltsburg Rolling Mill Company, in which he was interested,
had been sold to the United States Steel Corporation. He was a lifelong member
of the Presbyterian Church, and for many years an elder. He devoted much time
to charity, and from the of its organization was president of the board of
trustees of the State Institution for Feeble Minded, at Polk, Pa. He always
devoted his time, money and energy to indusfles and promotions beneficial to
his native town of Apollo and the Kiskiminetas valley, and was active in local
affairs, securing the passage of the act authorizing the building of a free
bridge at Apollo and taking an interest in every important measure for the
public improvement. While the weight of years was beginning to burden him he
never faltered, but was active almost to the very end. It was indeed, as if he
had been taken while yet in the harness, for though practically retired at the
time of his death he was president of the Apollo Trust Company and was
assisting in the reorganization of the Pittsburgh & Allegheny Traction
Company. His interest in his friends, his faithfulness to every trust,
doubtless prompted him to tarry unduly long at the altar of responsibilities.
On March 7, 1906, his family noticed and remarked upon, the condition of his
health. He insisted that it was but a passing ailment, but to his loved ones
the absence of that brilliant luster of his kindly eyes, that joy of his usual
disposition, seemed to portend a more serious result. For two weeks his
condition varied with some indication of slight improvement, at which time he
was markedly affected by his insidious ailment, and he was compelled to remain
abed, from which he never arose. But throughout his entire sickness of nine
weeks, while unable to talk, his spirit never waned, and his sincere interest
in his friends and loved ones continued up to the very last. On the evening of
Wednesday, May 8, 1906, just as the sun was sinking into the golden western
sky, and the peaceful twilight was marking the close of a beautiful summer
day, as if wearied by the weight of years, and responding to the beckonings of
nature, like a tired child lie sank to rest, and beloved by his friends,
honored and respected by all, the enemy of none, his noble spirit took its
flight from an honorable, busy and useful life into the realms of a cherished
memory, a worthy example and a glorious eternity. The Master called and he was
ready. It is given to but few men in life’s struggle to attain and occupy the
place held by General Jackson. He was a gentleman of the old school, and his
dignified appearance was supported by dignity of action and manner. While he
occupied a prominent place in life he was always generous and considerate of
the most lowly, and the needy found in him a ready sympathizer. His platform
in life, in business, in politics, was fair play to everybody, and win or lose
he always stood upon it. Those who knew him best, his friends and neighbors,
who were the constant observers of the varying changes in his busy life, all
testify to the high esteem in which he was held. He was loved and honored by
all, and without exception he always proved worthy of the confidence so often
placed in him by his fellow men. His prominence in the affairs of the State is
already history, and in every capacity in which he was called to serve he
exemplified the highest type of American citizenship. It is, however, as a
soldier that he endeared himself to the members of the old 11th Reserves. It
was during those terrible days of civil strife that the character of the man
showed forth in its true light. It was during those awful three years, as
commander of a brave and faithful regiment, that he encouraged confidences
which became the basis of a friendship lasting with increasing fervor until
death, and an example which will continue while memory runs. It is well known
what constant care and consideration he exercised for the comfort and safety
of the regiment, and by his quiet manner and his inherent sympathy he so
endeared himself to the “boys” that they would gladly follow
whereever he led, even to the “jaws of death.” His was surely the
fullness of an ideal life. As a soldier he was obedient and brave; as an
officer, gallant and fearless, as a statesman, conscientious and wise.General Jackson was twice married. His first wife was Martha J. Byerly, of
Westmoreland county, whom he married in 1860 and who died in 1864, leaving two
children Mary Gertrude (Mrs. Townsend) and Lizzie Virginia (Mrs. Hammitt). On
Dec. 29, 1869, General Jackson was united in marriage with Mary E. Wilson,
daughter of Col. John M. Wilson, of Clarion county. By his second marriage he
had five children: Frank Wilson, John Howard, Bessie, Mamie (deceased) and
Emily Louise. The mother of this family still lives in Apollo.During his busy life General Jackson witnessed the little river village of
his boyhood, whose industries and interests were those of a center of a
moderately prosperous agricultural district, grow to a town of over two
thousand people, the home of varied industries, the most important of which he
was largely instrumental in establishing, and he was incessantly persevering
in developing them to a highly prosperous condition. -Much of the material
from which this article was compiled was taken from the biography contained in
the memorial resolutions adopted at a meeting of his old regiment, the 11th
Pennsylvania Reserves.-Ed.Source: Armstrong County, Pa., Her People, Past and Present, J.H.
Beers & Co., 1914
Transcribed September 2001 by Laurel Black Morris for
the Armstrong County Beers Project
Contributed for use by the Armstrong County Genealogy Project (http://www.pa-roots.com/armstrong/)Armstrong County Genealogy Project Notice:
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