Julia Neale Jackson
Encyclopedia
Stonewall Jackson
ຄຽשת״ׇׂׂׂׂ֣|birth_place= Clarksburg, Virginia |death_place=Guinea Station, Virginia|placeofburial=Stonewall Jackson Memorial CemeteryLexington, Virginia|placeofburial_label= Place of burial|image=...
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Short and tragic life
Julia Beckwith Neale was born at Peach Orchard near AldieAldie, Virginia
Aldie is an unincorporated village located on the John Mosby Highway between Gilbert's Corner and Middleburg in Loudoun County, Virginia. It is located in a gap between the Catoctin Mountain and Bull Run Mountain, through which the Little River flows...
in Loudoun County, Virginia
Loudoun County, Virginia
Loudoun County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and is part of the Washington Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the county is estimated to be home to 312,311 people, an 84 percent increase over the 2000 figure of 169,599. That increase makes the county the fourth...
. She was daughter of Thomas and Margaret C. Winn Neale and the grand daughter of Richard Neale and Francis Underwood as well as Minor Winn and Betty Withers all of Virginia. Moving west, her father, Thomas Neale, achieved high prosperity as a merchant in the town of Parkersburg
Parkersburg, West Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 33,099 people, 14,467 households, and 8,767 families residing in the city. In 2006 the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that Parkersburg's population had decreased 4.4% to 31,755. The population density was 2,800.5 people per square mile . There were 16,100 housing...
on the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
. Julia was very intelligent, a devout Christian, and a belle in society, but her life became full of tragedies.
In 1817, she married Jonathan Jackson (1790-1826) of Randolph County
Randolph County, West Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 28,262 people, 11,072 households, and 7,661 families residing in the county. The population density was 27 people per square mile . There were 13,478 housing units at an average density of 13 per square mile...
, an attorney. They were living in Clarksburg
Clarksburg, West Virginia
Clarksburg is a city in and the county seat of Harrison County, West Virginia, United States, in the north-central region of the state. It is the principal city of the Clarksburg, WV Micropolitan Statistical Area...
and already had two young children when, on January 21, 1824, their third son, Thomas Jonathan Jackson (later to be known as Confederate General Stonewall Jackson
Stonewall Jackson
ຄຽשת״ׇׂׂׂׂ֣|birth_place= Clarksburg, Virginia |death_place=Guinea Station, Virginia|placeofburial=Stonewall Jackson Memorial CemeteryLexington, Virginia|placeofburial_label= Place of burial|image=...
) was born. Then tragedy struck the young family. When young Thomas was only 2 years old, both his father and sister Elizabeth, aged 6, died of typhoid fever
Typhoid fever
Typhoid fever, also known as Typhoid, is a common worldwide bacterial disease, transmitted by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the feces of an infected person, which contain the bacterium Salmonella enterica, serovar Typhi...
. Julia gave birth to Thomas' sister Laura Anne the next day.
The young widow of 28 was left with debts and sold everything to pay them. She declined family charity, and moved into a small one-room house. Julia took in sewing and taught school to support herself and her 3 young children for about 4 years.
In 1830, she married another attorney, Blake Baker Woodson, who was appointed clerk of Fayette County
Fayette County, West Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 47,579 people, 18,945 households, and 13,128 families residing in the county. The population density was 72 people per square mile . There were 21,616 housing units at an average density of 33 per square mile...
. Woodson disliked his stepchildren and the family had financial problems. Julia's children were sent to live with her relatives. Young Thomas (and sister Laura) were sent to live with Jackson relatives at Jackson's Mill
Jackson's Mill
Jackson's Mill was a grist mill in West Virginia . The center of the Jackson estate stood in the peninsula formed by the confluence of Freeman's Creek and the West Fork River...
. The other child, her son Warren, went to live with Neale relatives, and died of tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
in 1841 at the age of 20.
Julia gave birth to another son, William Wirt Woodson, but she died at the age of 33 from childbirth complications on December 4, 1831. The family lived in and around what is now Ansted, West Virginia
Ansted, West Virginia
Ansted is a town in Fayette County in the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is situated on high bluffs along U.S. Highway 60 on a portion of the Midland Trail a National Scenic Byway near Hawk's Nest overlooking the New River far below....
, where she was buried without a marker in Westlake Cemetery. A historian wrote later that neighbors wrapped her wasted body in a homemade coffin.
Remembering Stonewall's mother
After the War, Stonewall Jackson was one of the best remembered and beloved of the war heroes. One of his former soldiers who admired Jackson, Captain Thomas R. RansonThomas R. Ranson
Thomas D. Ranson of Staunton in Augusta County, Virginia, was a member of the Confederate Army and served in the Stonewall Brigade under General Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson during the American Civil War....
of Staunton, Virginia
Staunton, Virginia
Staunton is an independent city within the confines of Augusta County in the commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 23,746 as of 2010. It is the county seat of Augusta County....
, remembered the tragic life of Jackson's mother. Ranson went to Ansted, West Virginia
Ansted, West Virginia
Ansted is a town in Fayette County in the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is situated on high bluffs along U.S. Highway 60 on a portion of the Midland Trail a National Scenic Byway near Hawk's Nest overlooking the New River far below....
and had a marble marker placed over the unmarked grave of Julia Neale Jackson in Westlake Cemetery, to make sure that the site was not lost forever. In modern times, community groups continue to make sure the cemetery is kept clean.