John James Jackson II (June 1809 – November 4, 1887) served as the 9th

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

, U.S.

Biography

John James Jackson II was born in Ballybay, County Monaghan,

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. He immigrated to the United States with his brother in 1841. The brothers traveled to New Orleans where John worked as an Assistant City Engineer for two years. In 1843, the federal government hired Jackson to survey a large land grant in present-day Palmetto, Florida. He accepted this appointment as federal surveyor and then moved to Hillsborough County with his brother Thomas to begin work. In addition to his salary, the federal government gave Jackson a large land grant in Hillsborough County. Jackson's work also took him throughout Florida and it was on an assignment in St. Augustine that he met and married Ellen Maher in 1847 with whom he bore four children. Several weeks later, Hillsborough County hired Jackson to survey and map Tampa which had been designated the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

in 1846. Jackson named the streets of Tampa after U.S. Presidents, military figures, and two local individuals, William Ashley and himself. After completing his assignment, Jackson returned to surveying but in 1849 he and his wife decided to move to Tampa where he established a general store on the corner of Washington and Tampa Streets. Jackson also became involved in Tampa politics and activities.

Term as mayor

Jackson was elected mayor of Tampa on February 3, 1862, in which he served on 19 days, the shortest in Tampa history. In late April 1861, the Confederate military commander at Fort Brooke had placed Tampa under martial law which essentially nullified the authority of the town's government. On February 22, 1862, the Confederate military commander dismissed the mayor, city council, and other employees. This event was a formality since both the military authorities and Hillsborough County had assumed the city's activities the previous year. After his dismissal, Jackson returned to his general store and remained in Tampa for the remainder of the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

Death

Jackson died on November 4, 1887.

References

Sources

*Covington, Dr. James W. and Wavering, Debbie Lee, "The Mayors of Tampa: A Brief Administrative History", Tampa, Florida: University of Tampa, 1987. *Grismer, Karl H., ''Tampa: A History of the City and the Tampa Bay Region of Florida'', St. Petersburg Printing Company, Florida, 1950. *Robinson, Ernest L., ''History of Hillsborough County, Florida: Narrative and Biographical'', The Record Company, St. Augustine, Florida, 1928. *Tampa Council Minutes, City of Tampa Archives, Tampa, Florida *January 1, 1857 – October 2, 1891 Microfilm Roll # 1

External links

John Jackson biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, John Mayors of Tampa, Florida 1887 deaths 1809 births Irish emigrants to the United States People from Ballybay Politicians from County Monaghan 19th-century mayors of places in Florida