My Genealogy Quest

The Stories of our Ancestors past

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Hannah Jackson

Searching for Hannah Jackson descendants

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Hannah Jackson and her descendants 
I am absolutely obsessed with my Jackson surname on my genealogy quest.  The stories that were handed down about the elusive “Hubbard/Herbert Jackson” had me obsessed with him from the early tales from my Uncle Donald.  So now I am on a search to try and track down other Hannah Jackson descendants who may have passed down the family stories on their family lines.  It may be a needle in a haystack, but that is pretty much what genealogy is, finding those needles in a haystack.   Unfortunately there were no slave narratives that were passed down from family so I am trying to put together an idea of the type of life my slave ancestors would have endured during and after slavery.  The only thing I have to put in perspective on how their lives were are through the historical documents that I have found thus far.
Here is what I know about Hannah Jackson and her descendants:
  • She had at least 8 children: Laura, Thornton, Hubbard, Cassandra, Edward, John, William and Charles.
  • She bought a small track of land and built a house on the land in Winchester, KY.
  • Hannah and her children were slaves of the Joseph and Penelope Kelly and then their children Charles, John, Cassandra and Mary.
  • Laura’s son Horace moved to Cincinnati, Ohio.
Hannah Jackson Heirs

Hannah Jackson Heirs

Here’s what I want to know:
  • Who was Hannah’s parents?  Was she originally owned by the Kelly’s?  I would like to know when the Kelly’s came into possession of Hannah.
  • Who is Hubbard’s father?  The results from a Y-DNA test from my cousin has brought unknown surnames into the mix of my research.
  • Who and where are the descendants of Hannah Jackson? Cassie Walker, Laura Ferguson, Edward Jackson, John Jackson, William Jackson, Charles Jackson? (Emma Oakes, Catherine Johnson Are these her children too?)
  • Was Hannah Jackson related to the other slaves that were owned by the Kelly’s?
Why did she take the last name Jackson?
So many questions and so little time!  This post is in hope of the Jackson descendent’s finding me! 🙂
IJK

52 Ancestors # 2: Hubbard(aka Herbert) Jackson

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Finding Hubbard Jackson
Whoever says that African American genealogy research cannot be done prior to 1870 is incorrect!  I am making it a personal mission to recreate the untold stories and facts of the life of my ancestors.  Through continued persistence and making connections with other genealogists a brick wall has been shattered!  Here is how it has unfolded…..

My genealogy quest for the 1st Hubbard Jackson (aka Herbert), who was born a slave in or around 1850 has been an ongoing brick wall for many years.  This past year I have revamped my genealogy methodology by reading great books, going to conferences and doing a lot of collaboration with other genealogists.  A fellow genealogist led me in the direction of a possible slave owner of Hubbard Jackson, John Kelly.  I had always wondered if this “Herbert Jackson” on the census was my Hubbard as he is listed as white.  Well, I remembered my Uncle Donald telling me the family story that this Hubbard was passing for white and I always thought he was referring to the 2nd Hubbard Jackson.  It turns out that I had got the generations of the Hubbard’s mixed up.  There has been 4 Hubbard’s/(Herbert’s) my Uncle Buster being the last name sake.  So when my friend told me she had found the slave owner I went back to the 1870 census to revisit the information of this white Herbert Jackson and tracked his employer John Kelly down in Clark County Kentucky on the 1860 census.
Willow Fork Township

Willow Fork Township, Moniteau County, Missouri

In the midst of this research I had decided to do an AncestryDNA test to help me narrow down some of these brick walls that I have.  However, it was not Ancestry.com that helped me solidify the link of Hubbard, but it was a DNA cousin that I found by uploading my DNA results to Gedmatch.com a free website for DNA testers to upload their raw data to compare to others outside of Ancestry.com.  I cannot say enough great things about this website because it helped me connect with 2 distant cousins and one who connects with me on Hubbard Jackson side.  He was able to share his tree with me and we narrowed down that our connection is in Clark County, Kentucky.  We are very close to discovering who Hubbard’s father was through our DNA.
Probate report listing Hannah and Hubbard

Probate report listing Hannah and Hubbard

So here are a few facts that we have discovered in the probate records.  Hubbard moved from Kentucky to Missouri with a son, John Kelly, of the slave owning family between 1860 and 1866.  I personally don’t think it was until after the civil war and after the death of John Kelly’s mother in 1864, but I am still gathering more information around this family.  Another great find in the Clark County, Kentucky probate records is we are able to identify Hubbard’ mother Hannah, who was born around 1825, and siblings.  So many questions with so little time.  Of course I now want to know what happened to Hannah after slavery and where did Hubbard’s siblings go?  Also, will I be able to trace Hannah’s origins?  Who were her parents?  Can I get back even further?  But right now I will focus on who is Hubbard Jackson’s father?  Do you think this mystery can be solved?
IJK
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