John Jay Jackson Jr. (August 4, 1824 – September 2, 1907) was an American lawyer, Whig politician,

United States District Judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...

(initially of the

United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia The United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia (in case citations, W.D. Va.) is a United States district court. Appeals from the Western District of Virginia are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth ...

) and, later, the first judge of the United States District Court for the District of West Virginia. He ended his career as the first judge of the

United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia The United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia (in case citations, N.D. W. Va.) is a federal court in the Fourth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which a ...

Early life and education

Born on August 4, 1824, in Parkersburg,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

(now

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

), Jackson's family included several generations of lawyers, politicians and judges. His grandfather, Judge John G. Jackson, who died shortly after young John J. Jackson Jr.'s birth, had been a U.S. Congressman as well as U.S. District Judge for the Western District of Virginia. Young John J. Jackson Jr. received a private education near home, then traveled north to attend the College of New Jersey (now

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

), from which he graduated in 1845. He then

read law Reading law was the primary method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship un ...

and was admitted to the Virginia bar in 1847.

Legal and political career

Jackson began his private legal practice in

Wirt County Wirt County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,194, making it the least populous county in West Virginia. Its county seat is Elizabeth. The county was created in 1848 by the Virginia Gen ...

, Virginia (now West Virginia) from 1847 to 1848. Local judges appointed Jackson as the first Wirt County commonwealth attorney (prosecutor) in 1848, the year the county was established from portions of Wood County and Jackson County. The following year his father's friend Judge David A. McComas appointed Jackson Jr. as the commonwealth attorney for more populated Ritchie County (which also became West Virginia in his lifetime and had been split from Wood County in 1843), where he served 1849 until 1850. Residents of Wood county operated considerable businesses in both counties, as well as speculated in land and other resources; the Jackson family had bought land near Harrisville (the Ritchie county seat) in connection with James B. Blair and in Wirt county near the Little Kanawha River in conjunction with William P. Rathbone and his son in law Peter G. Van Winkle. Probably Jackson continued to reside at home (Parkersburg being the Wood county seat), helped his father attend the family's considerable business interests, and only traveled to the outlying counties when court was in session. Jackson Jr. was appointed the Commonwealth attorney for Wood County and served from 1850 to 1851, when the post became elective under the new state constitution. When Jackson resumed his private legal practice, Wood County voters elected (and reelected) him as one of their delegates in the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two houses of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

. Jackson served part-time from 1852 to 1855, succeeding his cousin and business associate William Lowther Jackson (a future Confederate General) and being succeeded by

Arthur I. Boreman Arthur Ingram Boreman (July 24, 1823April 19, 1896) was an American lawyer, politician and judge who helped found the U.S. state of West Virginia. Raised in Tyler County, West Virginia, he served as the state's first governor, and a United St ...

(who would become West Virginia's first Governor). After leaving the legislature as 1855 closed, Jackson Jr. concentrated on his family's real estate and other business interests (which boomed after the discovery of oil at Burning Spring in Wirt County), as well as his private legal practice in Parkersburg until 1861.Cynthia Miller Leonard, Virginia's General Assembly 1619-1978 (Virginia State Library 1978) pp. 451, 457

Federal judicial service

On July 26, 1861, President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

nominated Jackson to a seat on the

vacated by Judge John White Brockenbrough, who had sided with Virginia's secessionists. Jackson's father had opposed secession as well as attended the

Wheeling Convention The 1861 Wheeling Convention was an assembly of Southern Unionist delegates from the northwestern counties of Virginia, aimed at repealing the Ordinance of Secession, which had been approved by referendum, subject to a vote. The first of its t ...

in May, 1861 (following Virginia's secession vote), which ultimately led to West Virginia's statehood in 1863. Meanwhile, the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

confirmed Judge Jackson Jr's appointment on August 3, 1861, and he received his commission the same day. Following West Virginia's secession from Virginia and admission to the Union on June 20, 1863, Jackson was reassigned by

operation of law The phrase "by operation of law" is a legal term that indicates that a right or liability has been created for a party, irrespective of the intent of that party, because it is dictated by existing legal principles. For example, if a person dies wi ...

to the United States District Court for the District of West Virginia on June 11, 1864, the new seat having been authorized by 13 Stat. 124. Jackson was reassigned by

to the

on July 1, 1901, the new court having been authorized by 31 Stat. 736. Judge Jackson retired on March 15, 1905, ending his federal service. It has been said that Mother Jones, while under trial for actions related to organizing a coal miner's union, claimed that Jackson had stolen his position as judge from his father, who had the same name. Allegedly, when Lincoln appointed Jackson, he did not specify whether the appointment was for Jackson Sr. or Jackson Jr., and with Jackson Sr. away on business Jackson Jr. took the position for himself.

Notable case

Jackson ruled in 1870 that West Virginia's ex-Confederates were eligible to vote under the Fifteenth Amendment, which had profound effects on the polity in West Virginia.

Tenure

Because Jackson had served from before the creation of the District of West Virginia until after its subdivision, Jackson was the only Judge to ever sit on the United States District Court for the District of West Virginia. Having served for nearly forty-four years, including over forty years in the federal courts in West Virginia, Jackson was known as "the Iron Judge". Jackson became the longest-serving judge appointed by Lincoln.

Death

Jackson died on September 2, 1907, in

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Family

Jackson's father, General John Jay Jackson of Wood County attended the

on West Virginia statehood. Jackson's brother Jacob B. Jackson served as

Governor of West Virginia A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

and his other brother was Circuit Judge and Congressman James M. Jackson. Confederate General

Stonewall Jackson Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson (January 21, 1824 – May 10, 1863) was a Confederate general and military officer who served during the American Civil War. He played a prominent role in nearly all military engagements in the eastern the ...

was a cousin. His grandfather, John G. Jackson, preceded him as Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia. His great-grandfathers included George Jackson. The Jackson Memorial Fountain at Parkersburg is dedicated to the Jackson family.