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Created page with "{{Infobox person | name=George B. Jackson<br> (Former slave and businessman known as "the wealthiest colored man in Texas") |birth_date=1850 |birth_place=Brunswick County,..."
{{Infobox person
| name=George B. Jackson<br>
(Former slave and businessman known as "the wealthiest colored man in Texas")
|birth_date=1850
|birth_place=Brunswick County, [[Virginai]]
|death_date=November 25, 1900 (aged 50)
| death_place=Between [[San Angelo, Texas|San Angelo]] and [[San Antonio]], [[Texas]]
| occupation=[[Business]]man<br>
Rancher
|spouse=Mary Jackson<br>
No children
|religion=American Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church)
|party=[[Republican Party|Republican]]
}}
'''George B. Jackson''' (1850 – November 25, 1900), was a former [[slavery|slave]] who became a soldier in the [[United States Army]] with the [[Buffalo Soldier]]s from 1869 to 1875 in [[Texas]]. He became a [[business]]man, landowner, [[sheep]] rancher], and [[politician]] in [[San Angelo, Texas|San Angelo]], Texas. One of the founders in the 1890s of the [[Republican Party]] in San Angelo, he was widely believed to have been the wealthiest [[African American]] in the state during the second half of the 19th century.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2011/feb/12/local_briefs/?print=1|title=San Angelo Genealogical and Historical Society Meeting Gets Rescheduled|publisher=gosanangelo.com|date=February 12, 2011|accessdate=June 2, 2011}}</ref>
In 1894, Jackson was chosen to address the Republican state convention, and in 1897, he was appointed by President [[William McKinley]] as customs inspector in Presidio in southwestern Texas.<ref name=Jackson/>
==Background==
Jackson was born into [[slavery]] on a plantation in Brunswick County in southwestern [[Virginia]]. He was of mixed race and may have been sired by his white master. He was emancipated at the age of fifteen with the [[Thirteenth Amendment]] to the [[United States Constituion]].
==Business activities==
As a young man, Jackson enlisted in the [[United States Army]] and was assigned to an all-black unit. He was assigned with the Buffalo Soldiers to Fort Concho in [[San Angelo, Texas|San Angelo]] in Tom Green County in west Texas. At the time, San Angelo was known as a "resort for desperate character," at which sixteen saloons sold an average of 19.4 gallons of [[whisky]] per male resident annually.<ref name=jackson>"George B. Jackson, Black (or African-American) Businessman, Rancher, and Entrepreneur," Lecture by Suzanne O. Campbell, former head of the West Texas Collection at Angelo State University, at the annual meeting of the West Texas Historical Association in [[Lubbock]], April 2, 2011.</ref> Suzanne Campbell, the former director of special collections at Angelo State University in San Angelo, retired after more than two decades of service in 2018. She is writing a book on Jackson.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.angelo.edu/content/news/16110-happy-trails-to-you-celebrating-suzanne-campbells|title="Happy Trails to you": Celebrating Suzanne Campbell's 22 Years of Service|publisher=Angelo.edu|date=June 12, 2018|accessdate=October 18, 2019}}</ref>
By 1875, Jackson was discharged from the Army at Fort Duncan, on the [[Mexico|Mexican]] border in Eagle Pass, Texas. He began operating a saloon and brothel in San Angelo. In an event typical of the rough frontier town, Josephine Thompson in 1879 stabbed buffalo soldier Albert Ford to death in Jackson's saloon. Twice annually, Jackson paid $25 to police to protect his operation of the brothel. The police typically charged prostitutes $2.50 twice per year for "vagrancy." Otherwise, the business flourished without police interference.<ref name=jackson/>
==Political career==
By 1884, Jackson was selected as a petit juror in San Angelo, at a time when blacks in most of the former [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]] were being disfranchised and thus disqualified from jury service. In 1885, the white-controlled school system appointed Jackson as a trustee of the black public school; the system was [[Segregation|segregated]]. He purchased ranch land at a bargain some thirty-five miles west of San Angelo and leased out his holdings.<ref name=jackson/>
Active politically, Jackson in 1894 was chosen to address the Republican State Convention in the capital city of [[Austin]]. He assailed the lowering of the [[tariff]]known as Wilson-Gorman in the [[Grover Cleveland|Cleveland]] administration. Jackson called for higher tariffs to protect West Texas sheep and goat ranchers.<ref name=jackson/>
He started a Republican organization in San Angelo, together with six whites and one [[Hispanic]] man.<ref name=jackson/> In 1894, the Republican candidate, George H. Noonan of San Antonio, was elected as [[U.S. Representative]] from the district that included Tom Green County. A native of [[Newark, New Jersey|Newark]], [[New Jersey]], Noonan was the first Texas Republican elected to Congress after the end of [[Reconstruction]]. He served one term and was unseated in the [[general election]] of 1896 , when Democrats cemented their political power in the state.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=N000131|title=''Biographical Directory of the United States Congress''|publisher=bioguide.congress.gov|accessdate=October 18, 2019}}</ref> The ''San Angelo Standard'' newspaper declared the politically connected Jackson to be "the wealthiest colored man in Texas."<ref name=jackson/>
In 1897, Jackson traveled to [[Washington, D.C.]], to attend the presidential inauguration of William McKinley. The new administration appointed Jackson as customs inspector in Presidio, a small community on the [[Mexico|Mexican]] border west of what is now [[Big Bend National Park]]. Jackson was respected for setting aside racial differences in his dealings. He developed friendships with whites and [[Democratic Party|Democrats]].<ref name=jackson/>
==Personal life==
Jackson married a black woman from [[San Antonio]] named "Mary," who continued to live there while he was running his business in San Angelo, 210 miles west of San Antonio. Jackson prospered in San Angelo and regularly spent time with Mary. They had no children together.<ref name=Jackson/>
Jackson died at the age of fifty of congenital heart disease. At the time of his death,Jackson was en route from San Angelo to San Antonio to see his wife.<ref namne=Jackson/>
George B. Jackson was a member of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the first independent black denomination in the United States, founded in 1816 in [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]]. He was interred at the black Masonic Cemetery in San Antonio. His business partner, Joe Selby, later died in San Angelo.<ref name=jackson/>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, George B.}}
[[Category:Texas]]
[[Category:Virginia]]
[[Category:Slavery]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:Black History]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
[[Category:United States Army]]
[[Categor:Christians]]
| name=George B. Jackson<br>
(Former slave and businessman known as "the wealthiest colored man in Texas")
|birth_date=1850
|birth_place=Brunswick County, [[Virginai]]
|death_date=November 25, 1900 (aged 50)
| death_place=Between [[San Angelo, Texas|San Angelo]] and [[San Antonio]], [[Texas]]
| occupation=[[Business]]man<br>
Rancher
|spouse=Mary Jackson<br>
No children
|religion=American Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church)
|party=[[Republican Party|Republican]]
}}
'''George B. Jackson''' (1850 – November 25, 1900), was a former [[slavery|slave]] who became a soldier in the [[United States Army]] with the [[Buffalo Soldier]]s from 1869 to 1875 in [[Texas]]. He became a [[business]]man, landowner, [[sheep]] rancher], and [[politician]] in [[San Angelo, Texas|San Angelo]], Texas. One of the founders in the 1890s of the [[Republican Party]] in San Angelo, he was widely believed to have been the wealthiest [[African American]] in the state during the second half of the 19th century.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2011/feb/12/local_briefs/?print=1|title=San Angelo Genealogical and Historical Society Meeting Gets Rescheduled|publisher=gosanangelo.com|date=February 12, 2011|accessdate=June 2, 2011}}</ref>
In 1894, Jackson was chosen to address the Republican state convention, and in 1897, he was appointed by President [[William McKinley]] as customs inspector in Presidio in southwestern Texas.<ref name=Jackson/>
==Background==
Jackson was born into [[slavery]] on a plantation in Brunswick County in southwestern [[Virginia]]. He was of mixed race and may have been sired by his white master. He was emancipated at the age of fifteen with the [[Thirteenth Amendment]] to the [[United States Constituion]].
==Business activities==
As a young man, Jackson enlisted in the [[United States Army]] and was assigned to an all-black unit. He was assigned with the Buffalo Soldiers to Fort Concho in [[San Angelo, Texas|San Angelo]] in Tom Green County in west Texas. At the time, San Angelo was known as a "resort for desperate character," at which sixteen saloons sold an average of 19.4 gallons of [[whisky]] per male resident annually.<ref name=jackson>"George B. Jackson, Black (or African-American) Businessman, Rancher, and Entrepreneur," Lecture by Suzanne O. Campbell, former head of the West Texas Collection at Angelo State University, at the annual meeting of the West Texas Historical Association in [[Lubbock]], April 2, 2011.</ref> Suzanne Campbell, the former director of special collections at Angelo State University in San Angelo, retired after more than two decades of service in 2018. She is writing a book on Jackson.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.angelo.edu/content/news/16110-happy-trails-to-you-celebrating-suzanne-campbells|title="Happy Trails to you": Celebrating Suzanne Campbell's 22 Years of Service|publisher=Angelo.edu|date=June 12, 2018|accessdate=October 18, 2019}}</ref>
By 1875, Jackson was discharged from the Army at Fort Duncan, on the [[Mexico|Mexican]] border in Eagle Pass, Texas. He began operating a saloon and brothel in San Angelo. In an event typical of the rough frontier town, Josephine Thompson in 1879 stabbed buffalo soldier Albert Ford to death in Jackson's saloon. Twice annually, Jackson paid $25 to police to protect his operation of the brothel. The police typically charged prostitutes $2.50 twice per year for "vagrancy." Otherwise, the business flourished without police interference.<ref name=jackson/>
==Political career==
By 1884, Jackson was selected as a petit juror in San Angelo, at a time when blacks in most of the former [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]] were being disfranchised and thus disqualified from jury service. In 1885, the white-controlled school system appointed Jackson as a trustee of the black public school; the system was [[Segregation|segregated]]. He purchased ranch land at a bargain some thirty-five miles west of San Angelo and leased out his holdings.<ref name=jackson/>
Active politically, Jackson in 1894 was chosen to address the Republican State Convention in the capital city of [[Austin]]. He assailed the lowering of the [[tariff]]known as Wilson-Gorman in the [[Grover Cleveland|Cleveland]] administration. Jackson called for higher tariffs to protect West Texas sheep and goat ranchers.<ref name=jackson/>
He started a Republican organization in San Angelo, together with six whites and one [[Hispanic]] man.<ref name=jackson/> In 1894, the Republican candidate, George H. Noonan of San Antonio, was elected as [[U.S. Representative]] from the district that included Tom Green County. A native of [[Newark, New Jersey|Newark]], [[New Jersey]], Noonan was the first Texas Republican elected to Congress after the end of [[Reconstruction]]. He served one term and was unseated in the [[general election]] of 1896 , when Democrats cemented their political power in the state.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=N000131|title=''Biographical Directory of the United States Congress''|publisher=bioguide.congress.gov|accessdate=October 18, 2019}}</ref> The ''San Angelo Standard'' newspaper declared the politically connected Jackson to be "the wealthiest colored man in Texas."<ref name=jackson/>
In 1897, Jackson traveled to [[Washington, D.C.]], to attend the presidential inauguration of William McKinley. The new administration appointed Jackson as customs inspector in Presidio, a small community on the [[Mexico|Mexican]] border west of what is now [[Big Bend National Park]]. Jackson was respected for setting aside racial differences in his dealings. He developed friendships with whites and [[Democratic Party|Democrats]].<ref name=jackson/>
==Personal life==
Jackson married a black woman from [[San Antonio]] named "Mary," who continued to live there while he was running his business in San Angelo, 210 miles west of San Antonio. Jackson prospered in San Angelo and regularly spent time with Mary. They had no children together.<ref name=Jackson/>
Jackson died at the age of fifty of congenital heart disease. At the time of his death,Jackson was en route from San Angelo to San Antonio to see his wife.<ref namne=Jackson/>
George B. Jackson was a member of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the first independent black denomination in the United States, founded in 1816 in [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]]. He was interred at the black Masonic Cemetery in San Antonio. His business partner, Joe Selby, later died in San Angelo.<ref name=jackson/>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, George B.}}
[[Category:Texas]]
[[Category:Virginia]]
[[Category:Slavery]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:Black History]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
[[Category:United States Army]]
[[Categor:Christians]]