Passionate Abolitionist and
Witness to the American Civil War
Passionate Abolitionist and
Witness to the American Civil War
After Thomas Jackson came to America, he was joined by his English wife. However during return visit to England to see her relatives in Birmingham, she died and was buried in England. Thomas jackson was single for most of the rest of his life and was a boarder for a great many years with an English couple Mr and Mrs Hicks.
Finally when Mr Hicks passed away, Thomas and Ruth Hicks married. She continued to run her small shop and it appears that they had a legal prenuptial (or an unofficial agreement to the same effect.)
Finally Thomas Jackson moved in with his daughter who was by then married and passed his final years with her and his grandchildren.
We are indebted to Mr Irvin Rathman, a wonderfully supportive Reading historian who provided us with many materials on this website including the context relating to Thomas Jackson as here .
For most of his life in Reading, Thomas Jackson was a widower. His first wife Matilda Hayward, the father his children, unexpectedly died in 1843 on a return visit to see her relatives In England.
[Left margin:]
Gr $3.50
Israel C. Becker
32 [Case Number]
Jno. S. Richards
Garrigues
writ pd
Levan 475
Gr 305
Atty 500
Cr 15
Albr 150
Commiss 1500
[main body of text:]
Albright $1.50
Ruth Jackson by her next friend Thomas Curry vs. Thomas Jackson
Subpoena Sur Libel for a Divorce
April 9. 1869 Petition filed
Same day Subpoena issued
April 26. 1869 Served personally on Respondent by giving him a true & attested copy
June 14. 1869 Interrogatories filed. Same day A. G. Green Esq appointed commissioner to take testimony in the above case By the Court Chas Kessler aj. Same day commission issued,
And now August 18,, 1870, this case came on to be heard on libel, proclamation and Testamony and it appearing to the court that the fact in the libel set forth were true, and therefore upon consideration thereof by the Court it was ordered and adjudged and decreed that the said Ruth Jackson the complainant be and is hereby devorced and forever Seperated from the nuptial ties or bonds of Matrimony with Thomas Jackson the Respondant the said Marriage is hereby ordered adjudged and decreed to be wholly null and void and all and every of the duties rights and claims according to either of the said parties in pursuance of the said Marriage Shall and do cease and determine. and it is further ordered adjudged and decreed that the said Thomas Jackson the respondant pay the costs of this Proceedings
By the Court
Henry Rhoads
AJ
August 22. 1870 Costs paid by defendant See AB Page 71
The Ambassadors have been repeatedly indebted to Mr Irvin Rathman who has been a major contributor to the Thomas Jackson Letters project from the very earliest days.
Here he not only discovered this sad but important handwritten document recording the divorce of Thomas Jackson from Ruth Hicks but also added his research explaining all the details of that document.
We remain in awe of his ability to provide detail and context for events in the life of Thomas Jackson and his relatives.
Notes on Thomas Jackson’s divorce.
Source: Case No. 32 May Term 1869, Appearance Docket Apr. 1869 – Feb. 1870,
Prothonotary Archives, Berks County Courthouse. Summary [with my comments in brackets]:
[Married women couldn’t sue without their husband, so Ruth Jackson had her brother sue for her.]
4/9/1869 – Divorce petition filed and subpoena issued.
4/26/1869 – Sheriff informed the court that he served the subpoena on the respondent [Thomas Jackson].
6/14/1869 – Interrogatories filed [the questions the lawyers wanted the witnesses to be asked]. “Chas. Kessler aj.” [Charles Kessler, associate judge] appointed A.G. Green the commissioner to take testimony. [Attorney Albert G. Green many years later became president of the Historical Society of Berks County.]
8/18/1870 – Court heard the testimony [the depositions taken by the commissioner] and issued the divorce decree. After the long boilerplate decree is an additional stipulation that Thomas Jackson pay the court costs. Attested by Henry Rhoads, AJ [Associate Judge].
8/22/1870 – Jackson paid the court costs. See A B [Account Book], page 71. [It’s not known if the account books survive. As I mentioned before, the prothonotary’s staff doesn’t believe that the other filings in this case survive.]
[Usually divorces at this time only took a few months. This one took much longer. There must have been some difficulty.
One possibility was that they changed the grounds to desertion and had to wait for the required two years since separation. Brightly’s Purdon’s Digest: A Digest of the Statute Law of the State of Pennsylvania…, 12th edition (1894) shows that the 1815 divorce law was still in effect in 1894. It defined the basic grounds for divorce, including “wilful and malicious desertion” for two years. Voluntary separation didn’t count, but case law established that voluntary separation could be revoked by one of the parties, after which it was willful desertion.]
Top Margin:
Gr $3.50 [prothonotary Wellington B. Griesemer] Albright $1.50 [sheriff William B. Albright]
Left Margin:
Israel C. Becker [attorney for Ruth Jackson]
Jno. [John] S. Richards and [Theodore H.] Garrigues [attorneys for Thomas Jackson. Richards was a longtime Whig and Republican leader in Berks.]
writ pd [paid]
Levan $4.75 [prothonotary George K. Levan, who was elected in the fall of 1869] Gr $3.05 [previous prothonotary Griesemer. I think this is an error in copying $3.50 above in the top margin as $3.05]
Atty $5.00 [fee for state Attorney General’s office]
Cr $.15 [court cryer] [not $.75, as it appears]
Albr $1.50 [sheriff Albright, copied from top margin] Commiss $15.00 [commissioner A.G. Green]
[So assuming it’s $3.50, not $3.05, Thomas Jackson had to pay $29.90 in court costs. This doesn’t include his attorneys’ fees.]