Chester Jackson's Forebears

The Jackson line in America dates to Henry Jackson (1606-86), who arrived in 1635.  All this, including a detailed genealogy, is detailed in the Chester Eliphalet Jackson monograph.  The Jackson line extends farther back in England, however, through Thomas (1578-1633) to Henry (1556-1635).  There the line stops.  Some have suggested that America has two principal Jackson lines, the northern one that descends from Henry, and a more southern one that includes President Andrew Jackson and General Stonewall Jackson -- no one has been able to identify a common ancestor.  However, it appears early Jacksons in New England are more numerous than that, and we know of no sure relationship among them.  In a web page regarding the Jackson family:

Between 1620 and 1635 there were seven men with the surname Jackson who appear in the records of what became Massachusetts. Edmund Jackson (b. ca. 1611; d. 14 July 1675) is first documented in Boston in 1635. He had three wives and eighteen children....[11] Henry Jackson (b. ca. 1606; d. sometime between dating his will in 1682 and his estate inventory taken in 1686) is documented in Watertown in 1635. He had one wife and five children....[12] John Jackson [possibly Henry's brother], age 27, enrolled in 1635 to sail to New England on the Elizabeth and Ann, but there are no further records of him. He may have died at sea or changed his mind about emigrating [one Ancestry.com family tree shows a John, brother of Henry, born in 1608 and dying in Salem, MA, which would have been consistent with a shipboard death at age 27 during passage].[13] Another John Jackson, age 30, enrolled 6 July 1635 to sail to New England on the Defence, but there are no further records of him. He may have died at sea or changed his mind about emigrating.[14] A third John Jackson (b. ca. 1595; d. 1655/6) is documented in Salem in 1635. He had two wives and a single son, named John.[15] A fourth John Jackson (ca. 1614-1648) is documented in Ipswich in 1635. He had one wife and six children, including five daughters and one unnamed son who was born ca. 1643 ....

See also Henry Whittemore, Genealogical Guide to the Early Settlers of America (scroll to p. 282 if the link does not take you there).  For more, see "The Jackson Line.".

The Button line also has a long American heritage, dating to Matthias Button (1607-72); the record says Matthias arrived in Massachusetts in 1628.  Before Matthias, the line extends in England through Thomas (1558-1617 -- not the famous British admiral and explorer of Canada and the Northwest Passage), to Miles (born in Wales, 1532-97), James (b. 1500), etc., to Thomas in the 14th century.

The Goodrich line is one of the most ancient in England.  Chester's 4th great grandfather, William Goodrich (1622-76), arrived in Connecticut in about 1640.  His known ancestors go back to 15th century England, and because the name predates the Battle of Hastings, no doubt our Goodrich (or Goderic) ancestors go back to Anglo-Saxon times.  The earliest ancestor for whom we have a name is Edward Goodrich.

Finally there is the Stratton line.  Samuel Stratton, Chester's 5x great grandfather, arrived in New England in approximately 1633.  That line goes back to Christopher Stratton, born 1546 in England.

All this, of course, doesn't even count the other four 4x great grandparents, eight 5x great grandparents, etc., from me along Chester's line.  We do know, however, nearly all these other lines had arrived in the Colonies by the mid-1600s.  It is hard to imagine, but I should think it highly unusual to have this degree of continuity within, first, the thirteen colonies (or, rather, only four of them:  Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York) decades before the Revolution; and second, all being this one person's -- Chester Jackson's -- antecedents.  (In addition, the fact that we are able to trace nearly all these 64-128 Chester's n-times great grandparents is nothing short of amazing.)  Take a look at the seven generations preceding Chester, and then this map showing the families' migrations (click to see the large size):

The full list of surnames of Chester's ancestors arriving in New England near or before 1650: 

Abbott, Beebe (an ancestor of Chester’s wife, Eliza Keys, too),  Beeby (may be same family as “Beebe”), Belcher, Benton, Bidwell, Bronson, Brookman, Bumpasse, Button, Carpenter, Coates, Coleman, Cowles, Fletcher, Goble, Goldstone, Goodrich, Hale, Hart, Hartwell, Higbee, Hills, Hollister, House, Hulet, Jackson, James, Johnson, Kilbourne, Lanphear, Lyman, Marvin, Merriam, Morrice, Mousall, Pin, Porter, Raymond, Rhodes, Ruscoe, Scruggs, Smith, Stanborough, Stanley, Stratton, Sumner, Teagle, Treat, Wheeler, Wilbourne, Wilcox, and Wooddam (Woodin).

Pretty impressive!  And nearly universally Anglo-Saxon, with a sprinkling of Dutch ("Bumpasse") and possibly Norman French ("Hulet").  Not a single one of these immigrants landed south of New Amsterdam (New York City), and none of his antecedents until his grandfather left New England, so no wonder that Chester had such strong, pro-Union sentiments.

Here are the few photos (and a photo of a painting) we have of Jackson relatives (prior to Chester):

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