Just Because It is a Common Name...

... does NOT mean that it carries a common past.  I remember placing my oldest Daughter in the arms of her paternal great grandfather, David Jackson, Sr.  She was less than 3 months old and he was in his early 80's and becoming quite frail.  But this would become the first  of  2 Jackson grandchildren.  (both were  daughters) He would pass away  soon after the birth of his second. It was a touching photo.

At the time, we had little genealogical knowledge, except for an old family Bible.  It was filled with people whose names I was unfamiliar with, but I did find out his father was Moses, Son of James and Hanna  Jackson.  My husband's father passed away unexpectedly a year later. And the family stories could no longer be told. Since he was the only son, there were no other Jacksons that we knew of, Jackson became nothing more than a surname, and a very common one at that. I focused on comparing the features of my children with the family members that I did know, realizing that genetic  features are always such a fine blend of shape and form as  well as expressive tendencies.

As my children grew up, and became married, I became interested in finding faces and names of my own family members from generations past. And in doing so, began to wonder about the family of my husband's father.  That is a big chunk of their heritage, even if the name was common.  So I joined Ancestry in order to search for my daughter's paternal lineage as well.


Since the family Bible listed all of Moses siblings, as well as parents, listing them from England, finding Moses Jackson in a manifest was the first start. The problem with  British genealogy is that you may have the name from family bibles, etc, but there are thousands of people with the same name and it ends up being a different kind of "needle in a haystack"  search. Finding our  James Jackson in a haystack of James Jackson's all over the world felt like an exercise in futility. Thanks to my sister-in-law, who finally found two manifests arriving in America from England at about the same time. TWO sets of James and Hanna (Anna) (Porter) Jackson with just as many children as the other, all with similar names.

That was over a year ago, and this time I went back, and although I was  braced for merciless, grueling work, within weeks I found a tree that Moses Jackson was mentioned with a Cora D Unknown. With my Heart pounding, I found this tree not only had the correct ages of the siblings, but that OUR Hanna, ( whose maiden name was Porteus, rather than Porter) had come from  family that, like the Jacksons had lived in County Durham, England, for several generations past. And this tree had documentation verifying 4 generations back from that.

Then came the icing on the cake! While this tree did not have Cora validated as a Kellogg, It seems Cora had an older sister Emma Kellogg who also married a brother of Moses!   And this is where Ancestry does it best magic.  For in related trees that had Emma listed, a picture came up that made my eyes water - Emma Kellogg Jackson.  I could see certain distinct facial features in BOTH my daughters, now grown and middle aged themselves. I especially saw it in my oldest daughter, who had the most beautiful, kind and empathetic eyes. These same eyes stared back at me through Emma's picture. I now wonder if Cora did not also share those features as well.

I wonder if David Jackson SR, upon holding his 2 1/2 month old great granddaughter, would have ever guessed that she would grow up to certainly resemble his Aunt Em, but also  possibly his mother Cora as well. I wish there was a way to go back in time and whisper in his ear. This Baby girl's paternal lineage might have extinguished in our family, but the genes remain. And they remain strong.

Emma Kellogg Jackson 1874- 1938

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