Grave Site of John O. Jackson (1834-1861)

I recently visited the grave of my great-great-great (“3rd great”) grandfather, John O. Jackson (1834-1861). At the time of his death, he was a Private in the 19th Alabama Infantry Regiment, Company E, Confederate States Army. He is from my maternal grandfather's (William Obeyn Jackson, 1909-1988) line.

"JOHN O JACKSON, PVT CO E 19 ALA INFANTRY, CONFEDERATE STATES ARMY, OCT 16 1861" (Photo by Robert Luke - click images to enlarge)

It is located in a section (34.734380N -86.573223E) of the Maple Hill Cemetery (34.733168N -86.574609E) in Huntsville, Alabama set aside for graves of (apparently then) unknown Confederate soldiers. The Maple Hill Cemetery is located at 202 Maple Hill Street SE, Huntsville, Alabama 35801.

"MAPLE HILL CEMETERY, ESTABLISHED 1818, OLDEST AND LARGEST MUNICIPAL CEMETERY IN CONTINUOUS OPERATION IN THE SOUTH. COLONEL WALTER ASTON CHAPTER XVII CENTURY, HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA, 2006." (Photo by Robert Luke)

The following is a diagram provided to me by the cemetery staff at the main entrance office that day.

In that section of the Maple Hill Cemetery I counted 193 simple white grave stones that said only "Unknown Soldier C.S.A." It was cold and blustery that day, 27 deg F; since I had only a light jacket, I kept needing to blow on my hands and my count may not be completely accurate.

"UNKNOWN, SOLDIER, CSA" (Photo by Robert Luke)

There are also about 62 name plaques mounted on the fence that surrounds this section, one of which is for my grandfather. A close-up picture is shown above and it is mounted on the lower left on the fence in the following photo. These individual plaques are about 5 inches by 8 inches in size.

(Photo by Robert Luke)

According to the 1860 US Census, John O. Jackson was a farmer in Cherokee County, Alabama and preacher. He was probably a Baptist minister, as I think several other of my ancestors in that area were Baptists. One of his sons, John William Jackson (1856-1926), was my second great (“great-great”) grandfather.

According to a 29 September 1984 interview of Carrie Maude “Jackie” JACKSON Grote (1911-1998), a great-granddaughter of John O. Jackson, by my mother (1938-1992), a second-great grand daughter of John O. and also Jackie’s niece:

“[John O. Jackson] went to the Army during the War and they never heard from him again. The day he left, Grandpa [John William Jackson] (he was real small) tried to go with him. His dad took him back and the second time he tried to follow, his dad spanked him."

It is my impression from this interview - and from the lack of any information that I inherited from my mother’s genealogy research materials - that the family as a whole simply didn't know what became of John O. Jackson. I didn't know either, until I happened to find his name at the findagrave.com memorial web page maintained by Sarah Johnson (a great-great granddaughter of John O. Jackson) and created by Leah Brannon in 2009. The fact that he was identified as being in this particular section of this particular cemetery means records of some kind were kept that were not generally available until some time after 1901, as explained below. I need to research this further but the family may never have been notified. I have read in various sources in the past that unfortunately, but perhaps inevitably, this happened to many families on both sides in the War Between the States. 

Probably the same Sarah Johnson wrote in the Military History Online - Civil War Genealogy Database indicates that John died of disease:

"Name:  John O. Jackson, Rank: Private, Company: E; John O. Jackson enlisted in Co. E, 19th Alabama Infantry on August 12, 1861. He died from disease in a CSA camp in Hunstville, AL on October 16, 1861. He was born on December 17, 1834 to Solomon H. Jackson and Eunice 'Eunicy' Clements Jackson. John was married to Atharilla Elizabeth Roberts Jackson in 1855 and they had four children. John was my great, great grandfather." (by Sarah Johnson). Date added: 12/7/2010."

John O. Jackson enlisted on 12 August 1861 in the 19th Alabama Infantry Regiment being raised in Huntsville, Alabama. His death from disease in the camp was a common fate on both sides. There are estimates that two out of three deaths in the Civil War were due to disease (WGBH American Experience web site), out of a total of between 650,000 and 850,000 deaths due to all causes (J. David Hacker, Binghamton University, New York, as reported in 2 April 2012 NY Times). I suspect there was an epidemic in the camp because a number of the name plaques show men from the 19th Infantry Regiment who died within just a few days of the date when John O. passed away -- 16 October 1861.

From a Regiment’s chronology shown below, the 19th Regiment was located at Camp Bradford in Huntsville at the time of his death, before moving out to Mobile, Alabama in November. Among many other battles and skirmishes, the Regiment eventually fought at Shiloh (1862); Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, and Missionary Ridge (1863); and Kennesaw Mountain and others defending Atlanta against Union Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman in 1864.

"In Memory of THESE CONFEDERATE UNKNOWN, BG JOHN HUNT MORGAN #2541, UNITED DAUGHTERS OF THE CONFEDERACY" (Photo by Robert Luke)

The fenced area for graves of what were then unknown Confederate soldiers appears to have been improved by the United Daughters of the Confederacy and perhaps others. It is separated from the rest of the cemetery by what appears to be a black wrought iron fence with a gate on each of two sides. The original monument for the area was placed in 1901.

C.S.A., The Lost Cause, "Furl that Banner, for 'tis weary.", July 21, 1901 (Photo by Robert Luke)

The quote is likely from the poem, “The Conquered Banner” by Abram Joseph Ryan (1838-1886), a chaplain in the Confederate Army and dubbed “The Poet-Priest of the Confederacy”.

"UNKNOWN CONFEDERATE DEAD" (probably 1901?) (Photo by Robert Luke)

It looks to me as if there are both older and newer gravestones present. The newer gravestones, about one foot wide and having about two feet exposed above the ground, are largely clean and are certainly readable and they are likely more recent than 1901. Based on the presence of a few thinner stones that remain, overgrown by the roots of trees among them, the newer stones have been placed more recently. I did not find any examples of the older, thinner gravestones that had a visible inscription. In fact, none of them had enough of their faces exposed so that any inscription would have been visible.

(Photo by Robert Luke)

Based on the inscription on the bench shown above and again just below from a different point of view, I suspect these plaques may have been placed by the UDC in 2009.

(Photo by Robert Luke)

(Photo by Robert Luke)

My working hypothesis is that lost burial records found between 1901 and 2009 identified the remains of a portion of the men buried here. But, again, I need to research this further.

"IN GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE OF OUR CONFEDERATE DEAD, 1861-1865" (Photo by Robert Luke)

Finally, here is a diagram of the relationship between my 3rd great grandfather, John O. Jackson (1834-1861), and my maternal grandfather, William Obeyn Jackson (1909-1988).