Two Families, One Story

 

William A. Jackson, 1850

 

     In the early 1800s, there were three William Jacksons living in Fredericksburg--grandfather, father and son.

     In 1770, William Jackson an eighteen-year-old stone mason from Bath, England, arrived in Fredericksburg. He lived in a house near the town wharf, and over the years earned a reputation as a reliable builder and respected citizen. He married his second wife, Frances Ellen Snelling, in 1783 and their only son, William, Jr, was born shortly thereafter.

     William Jackson, Jr., married Elizabeth Minor about 1805. She was a daughter of Colonel Thomas Minor of Spotsylvania, who had served in the American Revolution and had been present at Yorktown during the surrender of Lord Cornwallis's army. William, Jr., and Elizabeth had six children together, including four daughters. Their firstborn was William A. Jackson, born in Fredericksburg about 1806.

    

Mary Cassandra Riely Jackson, 1850

     William A. Jackson was married twice. His first marriage, to his cousin Emmeline Jackson, took place in 1831. Emmeline died three years later, after the birth of their second child, Mary. In May 1837, William married Mary Cassandra Riely of Winchester. They settled in Fredericksburg in a house he built at the intersection of Princess Ann and Lewis streets. They had six children together, the oldest of whom was Emma Catherine, born April 10, 1838.

     Jackson was a man of prodigious energy who made full use of his many talents in a variety of enterprises. For a number of years he commanded the town's militia, the Fredericksburg Guards, and was often referred to as Captain Jackson. He was active in the local politics of the Whig party. Years later, his daughter Emma still remembered the Whig songs he enthusiastically sang at home, such as "Rally, Whigs! Rally, Whigs!"

     Jackson and his father, William, Jr., worked together or singly in a number of businesses. They partnered in a dry goods store Fredericksburg in the early 1830s. Jackson had a financial interest in the town's woolen factory as well as the Hope Foundry. He was also president of the Fredericksburg Union Manufacturing Company, which bought pig iron from the Catharine Furnace in Spotsylvania. 

     But the most significant investments by father and son lay in the gold mining business. In 1836, William, Jr., bought a 1600-acre tract in northwestern Spotsylvania County called "Greenwood." He built a summer home there, but his primary reason for this land purchase was because of the presence of gold in the area. In 1836, he sold 1,030 acres to what was called the Greenwood Mining Company. He and his son were also heavy investors in the nearby United States Gold Mine on the Rappahannock River (Previously, Greenwood had been the home of John Strother Green and his wife, the former Lucinda Jones. Lucinda was the mother of Bettie Churchill Jones, who inherited Ellwood). 

     The Jacksons lost a great deal of money in their gold mining schemes, and by the 1840s they were experiencing serious financial difficulties. Their solution to their money problems was to double down and invest in another gold mining enterprise, this time in California. 

     When a major gold discovery was made in 1849 at John Sutter's mill near Sacramento, California, Jackson and his father saw what they believed to be the ideal opportunity to reverse their financial fortunes. They sold all their real estate in Fredericksburg (at least fourteen properties, by my count) in order to raise capital for an ambitious but highly risky plan. 

     William A. Jackson's mechanical skills and map-making abilities were now employed to the fullest. He invented an improved gold-washing machine and partnered with a General Walbridge of New York to manufacture these devices and ship them to California. Jackson accompanied this ship on its voyage around the southern tip of South America to California. During his eighteen-month-long stay there, he produced this well-known map of the gold fields near Sacramento:

William A. Jackson's map

     At the same time that Jackson was making arrangements for his westward journey, his parents and unmarried sisters moved to Lexington, Kentucky. A Virginia-born Episcopalian minister named Edward Berkley was in the process of establishing a church and school there. The Jackson sisters were contacted by Reverend Berkley to teach in the new Episcopal school there. The school was a success and they remained there for a number of years.

     In the meantime, Jackson's wife Mary and their children moved to her hometown of Winchester, where they lived briefly with her brother (he and his wife had twelve children of their own). They later divided their time between the town's two hotels and at Jordan's White Sulphur Springs.

     Jackson returned briefly to Virginia after his stay in California. He then sailed to England to negotiate the sale of land bought by his company in the gold fields. This effort did not realize the financial gain that Jackson had hoped for. However, while he was in London he visited The Great Exhibition and brought home picture books from the exposition for his family's enjoyment. 

     Jackson reunited with his family in Winchester in 1852. Soon after his arrival, his sisters in Kentucky urged him to bring his daughters Emma and Anna to their school. The girls spent four years there, and Emma later recalled that "we had every care and every instruction of education by the finest teachers, both in English and French and music and drawing...We owe a debt of gratitude to those dear aunts for the care and advantages we could otherwise never have obtained." While in Kentucky, Emma's grandparents, William, Jr., and Elizabeth Minor Jackson, died.

     During his years in Winchester, William A. Jackson's interest in all things military remained strong. Just as he had in Fredericksburg, he served as captain of the local militia, the Continental Morgan Guards, whose uniforms were made to resemble the sort worn by the Continental Army during the American Revolution. These uniforms included ruffled shirt fronts, and Emma Jackson was given the responsibility of properly maintaining the ruffles of Matthew Burrell "Byrd" Washington, a descendant of a relative of George Washington. 

     In 1858, Jackson was hired to manage one of the coal mining operations on The Kanawha River in what is now West Virginia. His wife Mary and their children accompanied him there. The Jacksons socialized with other families who were involved in running the mines. It was during one of these gatherings that Emma met Legh Wilber Reid, a civil engineer who was the superintendent of the Great Kanawha Coal and Oil Company. They two fell in love and became engaged. They could not then foresee that events would conspire to make that engagement last five years.

Map showing the Orange & Alexandria Railroad, 1860

     James Henry Reid was born in Prince William County on December 18, 1804. He married Amy Ann Tolson of Stafford County in 1832. They raised their two sons--Legh Wilber and James Henry, Jr.-- on their farm near Brentsville. Attorney Eppa Hunton, a future brigadier general, congressman and senator, was a friend and neighbor of the Reids.

     Reid was educated in the law, and during the 1830s and 1840s he made the most of his training. A partial list of his positions and appointments during these years included: clerk of the circuit court of law and chancery; chancery commissioner in that same court; justice of the peace; jail inspector for the state of Virginia; coroner for Prince William County; deputy sheriff of Prince William County. He was very well connected and was acquainted with some of Virginia's leading citizens.

     In May 1848, the Virginia Assembly chartered the Orange and Alexandria Railroad to construct a road from Alexandria to Gordonsville. It's president was James Strode Barbour, Jr., whose family owned "Fleetwood Hill" in Culpeper. Reid was named the treasurer and secretary of the company. The office for the soon-to-be-built railroad was established in Alexandria, and the Reid family moved there in 1849.

     The O & R completed the track to Gordonsville in 1854. That same year, the General Assembly gave permission to the company to extend the line to Lynchburg. The Virginia Central Railroad already owned the road from Gordonsville to Charlottesville, so it was only necessary to build a new road from that point to Lynchburg. The O &A was required to pay a trackage fee to the Virginia Central. Once the road was completed to Lynchburg in 1860, it could connect with the Virginia & Tennessee and Southside railroads. 

     During the years leading up to the Civil War, Reid was very active active in the civic life of Alexandria. He was an alderman from the Third Ward and served as chairman of the Alexandria committee on streets and was a member of the committee on improvements. In 1855, Reid ran (unsuccessfully) for a seat in the House of Delegates on the American Party (also known as the "Know-Nothings") ticket.

Legh Wilber Reid, 1858 (VMI Archives)

     In 1854, Reid's older son Legh began his studies at the Virginia Military Institute. In that era, most of the courses offered by the institute prepared its cadets for a career in engineering, either in the military or in civilian life. One of Legh's professors, Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson, made an impression on him that inspired the writing of this short poem:

     The stamp of genius on his brow, and he

     with his wild glance and keen but quiet eye

     Draws forth from secret sources where they lie.

     Legh graduated in 1858, ranking second among a class of 47 cadets. Soon after graduation, he was named superintendent of the Great Kanawha Coal and Oil Company. And there he met Miss Emma Jackson, and so began a courtship that lasted until the end of the Civil War. 

William A. Jackson in his Confederate uniform

     Once the Civil War began, William A. Jackson was appointed lieutenant colonel of the Fourth Regiment, Virginia State Line. He later was named 22nd Virginia Infantry (also known as 1st Kanawha Regiment). Also serving in the 22nd was Colonel George S. Patton, grandfather of the famed World War II general (Colonel Patton died of wounds received at the Third Battle of Winchester, September 25, 1864). Perhaps because of his age or prior experience in the mining business, in January 1862 Jackson was transferred to the Confederate Nitre and Mining Bureau, in which he would serve for the duration of the war. 

     At the beginning of the war, Jackson's family was living in Charleston (West), Virginia. Two of his daughters, Emma and Anna, were teaching school there. A flood rendered the Jackson house uninhabitable, and for a time they lived in the empty house of Colonel Patton, which stood on higher ground.

     When Virginia seceded from the Union, Legh Wilber Reid went at once to Richmond and was appointed lieutenant. He returned to Kanawha and started work as a drill master for new recruits. On July 15, 1861, Legh was appointed lieutenant colonel of the 36th Virginia Infantry. Later, his regiment was sent to Tennessee to reinforce Fort Donelson. During the unsuccessful defense of this fort on the Cumberland River in February 1862, Legh was wounded in the shoulder and evacuated to Virginia. He was furloughed to recuperate at his family's temporary home in Charlottesville.  During his absence, an election was held by the 36th to select its new commander. Legh lost this election, primarily because many of the new soldiers in the regiment did not know him well, if at all. Having lost his colonelcy, Legh was named adjutant, with rank of lieutenant, in the 27th Virginia Partisan Rangers (which became part of the 25th Virginia Cavalry two years later).

      The Civil War also brought many changes to the lives of Legh's parents and younger brother. When the Union army occupied Alexandria, the Reids retreated to their farm at Brentsville. The headquarters for the O & A Railroad were moved to Lynchburg, and the senior Reid spent much of his time traveling and attending to the company's business. He also sought a position in the Confederate government. In July 1861 he petitioned Christopher Memminger, the Confederate Secretary of the Treasury, for an appointment as Auditor of the Treasury for the Post Office Department. He enlisted the help of his friend, Judge Richard C.L. Moncure of the Virginia Supreme Court, to provide a recommendation for him to Memminger. Judge Moncure's letter of reference to Secretary Memminger is shown below:

     It is not clear if Reid ever got a position in the Confederate government, but his work for the railroad continued. His name appears on a number of documents pertaining to his work on behalf of the O & A. The receipt shown below, signed by Reid was from the Confederate quartermaster to the O & A for transporting troops between Lynchburg and Fairfax Station. Because of the importance of the railroads to the war effort, corporate officers like Reid were  deemed by the Union authorities to be worthy of capture and imprisonment if caught. While that did not happen to James Henry Reid, the U.S. government confiscated his house in Alexandria in June 1864.

     Legh was among the almost 3,000 cavalrymen who accompanied General John McCausland to Pennsylvania during the summer of 1864. Their mission was to exact retribution on the town of Chambersburg for the destruction wrought by Union General David Hunter in Rockbridge County and Lexington. Upon the arrival of the Confederates in Chambersburg on July 30, they demanded that the city fathers hand over $100,000 in gold or $500,000 in greenbacks.When this demand was refused, the Confederates went to work setting the town ablaze. Legh later described the sorrow he felt for the women and children. He helped one elderly woman onto a horse and led her to a place of safety. He said he was able to salvage some of her valuables before her house was reduced to ashes. Legh also described the death of his friend, Calder Bailey of the 8th Virginia Cavalry. As the Confederates were leaving Chambersburg, Legh saw a drunken Bailey "recklessly riding back into the town. I hailed him and begged him not to go to the town, as all the Confederate cavalry had left. Bailey did not heed this warning and was overpowered by some of the townspeople and killed on the spot." Legh later heard that Bailey's body was paraded around the town in a wheelbarrow "as a show."

Chambersburg (National Park Service)

     In the fall of 1863, Emma Jackson was offered a teaching position at Mrs. William Brown's female seminary in Lynchburg. The school was held in the Browns' large house, which was also being used as a boarding house. Among the boarders were James and Amy Reid. Their presence at the house was the deciding factor in Emma's decision to accept the teaching job.

General Eppa Hunton

     Several weeks before Legh rode to Chambersburg, General Eppa Hunton lost his adjutant, Captain Charles Linthicum, who was killed at Cold Harbor. This vacancy on Hunton's staff started a letter writing campaign to have Legh take Linthicum's place as adjutant with the restoration of his previous rank as lieutenant colonel. On July 29, 1864, Hunton wrote to Samuel Cooper, Adjutant General and Inspector General of the Confederate army. By October 1864, no action had been taken regarding the appointment of Legh to Hunton's staff, so General Hunton followed up with a letter to Secretary James A. Seddon asking that Legh be allowed to join his staff. Legh's father also began to pull strings on Legh's behalf. On October 6, 1864 Reid wrote a letter to Walker Peyton Conway, a prominent citizen who was a principal in the Fredericksburg banking house of Conway, Gordon and Garnett. Reid asked Conway to use his influence with Judge R.C.L. Moncure to assist Hunton and, of course, his son.

     Reid's exertions on behalf of his son proved to be unavailing. Just two days after he wrote his letter to Mr. Conway, Fate--in the guise of a Federal artillery shell--changed the course of Legh's life. 

     In the words of Emma Jackson, on October 8, 1864 "in Luray Valley, near Tom's Brook, conspicuously prominent on a hill, [Legh was] a fine mark for a shell, which came home to him, shattering his left leg, and, wonderful to say, not injuring his horse." Several of his comrades accompanied him to search for an ambulance; one of them kept his hand on Legh's leg to keep it from moving too much as he rode. At last, they came upon an ambulance and Legh was taken down from his horse and placed inside. He was driven to Woodstock and placed on the floor of a church, which was filled with other wounded Confederates. Legh still felt little pain, just a blessed kind of numbness, but during the night he became increasingly concerned about the amount of blood pooling around his leg. 

     The next day, Legh was told that his left leg would have to be amputated. There being no anesthetics available, Legh was given raw apple brandy. Several men then firmly held him down and Dr. Malcolm Fleming proceeded to saw off his left leg above the knee. Once he was able to be moved, he was taken to the home of a Mrs. Rinker, who had kindly agreed to take care of him. A telegraph was sent to his parents in Lynchburg, and they came to Woodstock at once. James H. Reid spoke to his son only briefly. Legh begged his father to not stay long in this vicinity, as he could easily be captured by United States troops. 

     Reid returned to Lynchburg, but his wife remained with Legh at Mrs. Rinker's home. A local physician, a Dr. Magruder, oversaw Legh's medical care. Amy Reid was anxious to get Legh back to Lynchburg as soon as possible. Legh had not been able to sleep since his operation, and Dr. Magruder would not allow him to be moved until he could get some rest. Magruder went to the house of a local woman who was known to be a drug addict, and was able to obtain enough morphine from her to give Legh two nights' sleep.

     A local man was found who agreed to convey Legh and his mother in his wagon to Staunton. The wagon was filled with hay, which was then covered with blankets, and Legh was gently placed on top. A few days later they reached a Confederate hospital in Staunton. The surgeons there thought it best that Legh remain in their care for a while before traveling again. At last permission was given for Legh to take a train to Lynchburg. He arrived there shortly before Christmas eve. During this time Emma's mother and her sister Anna had come to Lynchburg to offer whatever help they could. 

     In January 1864, the Confederate Congress passed legislation that created what would be called the Association for the Relief of Maimed Soldiers. Its goal was to "supply artificial limbs to those gallant men who have been maimed in the defense of their country." At some time after he was wounded, Legh's name was placed on the register of this organization. Whether he ever received a prosthetic leg as a result of this is not known.

Association for the Relief of Maimed Soldiers

     Lieutenant Leigh Reid had lost his leg, but he had lost none of his fighting spirit. On January 27, 1865 Legh wrote a letter to Allen Taylor Caperton, a member of the Confederate Senate, asking to be considered for some position in the active service, despite the fact that he was disabled. He requested that he be appointed commander of the 25th Cavalry or, failing that, to be given a position in the engineer corps.

     Other efforts to help Legh regain his colonelcy were also afoot, but the Confederacy was quickly disintegrating and other than a flurry of letters, no progress was made on his behalf. Legh made one more effort to be of use to the Confederacy before it came crashing down. On March 13, 1865 the Confederate Congress passed a law that allowed black men to serve in combat roles. Three days later, Legh wrote a letter to General Samuel Cooper: "I respectfully ask to be appointed Colonel of a Regiment of negro troops and authorized to recruit it in this city..."

Letter of Legh Reid to Samuel Cooper

     But by now it was too late. Two weeks after he wrote this letter, Richmond was abandoned by General Lee's army and the Confederate government was on the run. Word reached Lynchburg that the Army of Northern Virginia had surrendered at Appomattox and Union soldiers were already in the city. Legh and Emma had already obtained their marriage license, and they decided to get married on her birthday, April 10, 1865. That morning, Reverend William Henry Kinkle, rector of St, Paul's Episcopal Church, was summoned to Mrs. Brown's boarding house. Kinkle, whose wife had died in 1862, brought his children with him. The wedding ceremony was held in the parlor of the Brown's house. Legh wore a gray officer's uniform, complete with gold buttons and insignia, that his mother had made for him. He is shown wearing that uniform in the photograph below:

Legh Wilber Reid (Library of Congress)

     It was a lovely spring day, one that Legh and Emma had looked forward to for five years. Unfortunately, their memory of their wedding day was marred by a violent episode. Despite the presence of Union soldiers in the city, Lynchburg resident Stockton Terry defiantly hoisted a Confederate flag at his home. One of the soldiers in blue tore it down, and Terry shot him, and then he was killed moments later.

     Emma continued to teach at Mrs. Brown's until the end of the term. Then she and Legh and his parents moved to the City Hotel, where they stayed until they moved to Alexandria the following year. During their remaining time in Lynchburg, Legh ran the new Southern Express office, and he operated a store on the first floor of the hotel. Neither undertaking was particularly successful.

Legh Wilber Reid

     

     Legh and Emma's first child, a son, died shortly after he was born in Lynchburg in February 1866. They had three more children during their years in Alexandria--Legh Wilber, Jr., James Henry and Mary Cassandra. 

     When they returned to Alexandria in May 1866, Legh and Emma shared a house with his parents. James Henry Reid continued his work as treasurer and secretary of the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. Legh was given the job of the company's paymaster. This required him to travel by a special car attached to a freight train, which stopped at each station and pay the employees in cash. Because Legh had to use crutches, Emma accompanied him on these trips.

     James Henry Reid died of a stroke while conducting the company's business in the Baltimore banking house of Robert Garrett on May 19, 1869. His remains were brought back to Alexandria, where he was buried in Ivy Hill Cemetery. 

     After Reid's death, his widow Amy and Legh's family moved from the large house they had lived in on Fairfax Street to a smaller one on Cameron Street. Legh was offered his father's positions as treasurer and secretary. He met with the company's president, John S. Barbour, Jr., and convinced him that the company would be better served by dividing those two offices between two men. He also told Barbour that the frequent trips to Baltimore to transact the treasurer's business would impose difficulties on him in his crippled condition. Barbour agreed, and Legh became the company's secretary at the same salary his father was paid for both offices. 

     At the end of the Civil War, William A. Jackson reunited with his wife, Mary. They lived with their daughter Lucy and her husband David Kent in Pulaski County. Jackson remained there for the rest of his life, which ended on January 15, 1875. His remains were brought back to Fredericksburg, where he was buried in the Confederate Cemetery. 

     Jackson's unmarried sisters, who had enjoyed a successful teaching career in Kentucky before the Civil War, came to Alexandria in the autumn of 1869. They lived in hotels for a while, but then moved to the home of Legh and Emma, who had bought a house with Amy at 504 Duke Street. Legh enlarged the house to accommodate Emma's aunts. Except for a period in the 1880s when they lived in Northampton County, the Jackson sisters lived with the Reids for the rest of their lives [1]. After the deaths of her daughter Lucy and son-in-law David Kent, Mary Cassandra Riely Jackson moved in with her sisters-in-law in Northampton County, where she died on September 29, 1889. Like William, she was buried in the Confederate Cemetery in Fredericksburg. 

John Strode Barbour, Jr.

 

     Legh continued his work with the railroad, which was renamed the Virginia Midland in 1873. He was also president of the Charlottesville & Rapidan Railroad, and sat on the board of directors for several other companies. In 1884, the Virginia Midland was bought by northern investors and its headquarters were to be moved to New York. Legh decided to make a career change, with the help of John S. Barbour who by now was serving in the House of Representatives. Grover Cleveland, a Democrat, had just been elected president of the United States, and patronage jobs became available to those with connections. Legh's connection was Mr. Barbour. Legh was given the position of assistant register of the Treasury Department. His boss was former Union General William S. Rosecrans. Legh stayed at the treasury until the Republicans came back into power in 1891.

     By this time, Legh's eyesight had begun to fail. He was diagnosed with cataracts. Dr. Robert Randolph of Johns Hopkins Hospital operated on one eye, and two years later repeated the operation on the other eye. Unfortunately, Legh derived little benefit from these procedures. Unable to work, he spent most of his time at home. By now he no longer used crutches, but was confined to a wheel chair. He and Emma enjoyed visits from from friends and family members, and they spent their summers in Atlantic City. The years quietly passed by. Legh Wilber Reid died at his home on Duke Street on Thanksgiving morning, 1908.

Legh Wilber Reid

Emma Catherine Jackson Reid

    

     Emma outlived Legh by fifteen years. The family of her daughter Mary moved in with her at Duke Street. She died at home on December 3, 1923. She is buried near Legh in Ivy Hill Cemetery.

The Manassas Journal 7 December 1923

[1] Pattie, the last surviving sister of William A. Jackson, died at the Reid home in Alexandria in January 1901. I have been told that during the Civil War, Pattie made great efforts to ship food and clothing to captured Confederate soldiers confined in northern prisons. A collection of letters written to her by these grateful men are being edited for publication.

My thanks to Marc Storch, who introduced me to the stories of the Jackson and Reid familes. 

Special thanks to Ronald Turner, Morgan Breeden and Dave Cuff of the Prince William County Historical Society for their assistance.

Sources:

- "Reminiscences Dedicated to my Children and Grandchildren," by Emma C. Reid, March 1918.

- Ancestry.com

- Fold3.com: Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers who served in Organization from the State of Virginia, and Confederate Papers Relating to Citizens or Business Firms, 1861-1865.

- Chronicling America