- Joined
- Feb 23, 2013
- Location
- East Texas
Part I - Graves of Lt. Gen. Thomas J. Jackson and His Family Members
Maj. Thomas Jonathan Jackson ( U. S. Army, Ret. ) came to Lexington, Virginia, in 1851 to accept a post at Virginia Military Institute ( VMI ) as instructor of artillery tactics and Natural Philosophy, or in modern terms, physics. He remained for the next decade, marrying twice and purchasing the only home he would ever own, plus a small farm just outside town. Therefore it was only natural that it was to Lexington that his body should be brought for interment following his death May 10, 1863, after his mortal wounding at the Battle of Chancellorsville on May 2, 1863.
Jackson was originally buried in the family plot above, to be joined there later by his second wife Anna Morrison Jackson and daughter Julia Jackson Christian. Later in the 1920's they were relocated to a circle near the center of the cemetery surmounted by the famous statue of Jackson as he appeared on the battlefield. Later burials included a grandson who rose to the rank of brigadier general in the U. S. Army around the time of WWI; another stone memorializes great-grandson Thomas Jonathan Jackson Christian who was lost in the skies over Germany in 1943 during WWII.
Jackson's first wife Elinor ( Ellie ) Junkin Jackson died of a hemorrhage during childbirth on Oct. 22, 1854, and rests in the same casket along with their stillborn son who was placed in her arms at the time of burial. They repose in the nearby Junkin family plot which is only a short distance away from Jackson's original burial site.
When the Jacksons were laid to rest here this was known as the Presbyterian Church Cemetery, though members of other faiths are certainly represented as well. This was because the town's Presbyterian Church had originally stood here, though by Jackson's day the building had been removed and a larger sanctuary built only a few blocks away nearer downtown. It remained so known until in the 1920's when it officially became the Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery.
It was overcast on the day of my visit here, my first after almost twenty years, and the twilight gloom and threatening rain provided a suitably lachrymose setting for reflection on Jackson and his meaning. His statue near the center of the grounds seems somehow to loom over all those who rest here, including several of his staff members, fellow generals, and many of the Old Confed's. of the Stonewall Brigade, some of whom will be featured in the next post.
Maj. Thomas Jonathan Jackson ( U. S. Army, Ret. ) came to Lexington, Virginia, in 1851 to accept a post at Virginia Military Institute ( VMI ) as instructor of artillery tactics and Natural Philosophy, or in modern terms, physics. He remained for the next decade, marrying twice and purchasing the only home he would ever own, plus a small farm just outside town. Therefore it was only natural that it was to Lexington that his body should be brought for interment following his death May 10, 1863, after his mortal wounding at the Battle of Chancellorsville on May 2, 1863.
Jackson was originally buried in the family plot above, to be joined there later by his second wife Anna Morrison Jackson and daughter Julia Jackson Christian. Later in the 1920's they were relocated to a circle near the center of the cemetery surmounted by the famous statue of Jackson as he appeared on the battlefield. Later burials included a grandson who rose to the rank of brigadier general in the U. S. Army around the time of WWI; another stone memorializes great-grandson Thomas Jonathan Jackson Christian who was lost in the skies over Germany in 1943 during WWII.
Jackson's first wife Elinor ( Ellie ) Junkin Jackson died of a hemorrhage during childbirth on Oct. 22, 1854, and rests in the same casket along with their stillborn son who was placed in her arms at the time of burial. They repose in the nearby Junkin family plot which is only a short distance away from Jackson's original burial site.
When the Jacksons were laid to rest here this was known as the Presbyterian Church Cemetery, though members of other faiths are certainly represented as well. This was because the town's Presbyterian Church had originally stood here, though by Jackson's day the building had been removed and a larger sanctuary built only a few blocks away nearer downtown. It remained so known until in the 1920's when it officially became the Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery.
It was overcast on the day of my visit here, my first after almost twenty years, and the twilight gloom and threatening rain provided a suitably lachrymose setting for reflection on Jackson and his meaning. His statue near the center of the grounds seems somehow to loom over all those who rest here, including several of his staff members, fellow generals, and many of the Old Confed's. of the Stonewall Brigade, some of whom will be featured in the next post.
Last edited: