My name is Madlynn Anglin and my great grandfather was Allan Jackson. Allan Jackson was born in 1838 to Mary Golden, a house slave at Bloomsfield Plantation.
She is buried in the white cemetery at Bloomsfield. His father was Reuben Newman, owner of Bloomsfield Plantation.
We do not know much about the early years of my great, grandfather, but we do know that he lived his entire life close to the ancestral home of his enslaved forefathers and mothers.
My great grandfather was born in a small cabin just below the main house at Bloomsfield (pictured above) and continued to live their after emancipation and through the first three years of married life to my great grandmother Delilah Jackson. Here two children were born (William and Sarah).
Soon after this, the family moved to the area of Jacksontown, only 1 mile west of Bloomsfield, where about 20 other families lived after emancipation. While we do not have any pictures of the family home in Jacksontown, we do know there was a school, a store, and a cemetery in the community that my great, great grandparents helped to establish.
Allan Jackson was a successful man. Family history relates that he was a carpenter and a cabinet maker. His sons, Mitchell and Butler continued this tradition of craftsmanship with Mitchell working as master builder for the duPonts at Montpelier.
Butler and Mitchell’s younger brother Isiah became a well-known doctor in Orange and Richmond and their oldest sister, Sarah, moved to Philadelphia and was very active in society.
My great Grandfather died in 1902 in a tragic accident during the construction of a barn.
It is likely that Allan and Delilah are buried in unmarked graves at the Jacksontown cemetery (pictured left).
Location of Jacksontown in relationship to Montpelier.
My great uncle and aunt, Butler and Emma Wilhoite Jackson (pictured left, lived in Jacksontown after they were married.
While Uncle Butler worked with my grandfather (Mitchell Jackson) on carpentry projects throughout the area, he was better known for his cabinetry skills.
This photo was taken in 1910 of my grandparents, Mitchell and Willie Winston Jackson while on their honeymoon in Atlantic City.
My grandfather built and designed many houses in the Montpelier area, including his own on Jacksontown Road, which still stands today.
1919 photograph of Isiah Jackson’s home in Orange. My great uncle Isiah Jackson was a doctor and ran a medical practice in Orange and later in Richmond.
In addition to his practice (which his grandson continues to operate today), Uncle Isiah was co-founder of the Richmond Community Hospital.
Early 20th-century photograph of Sarah Jackson Williams.
Sarah moved the Philadelphia at the age of 12 and likely lived with family in the city.
She married George F. Williams and held active roles in several societies and clubs in addition to raising a family.
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