Francis Jackson

Francis Jackson (born between 1815 and 1820), also known as Frank Jackson, was an African-American victim of kidnapping into slavery. He was born free, but enticed into helping to drive horses to Virginia, a slave state, and was sold into slavery in early 1851. Besides escaping a number of times over seven years, there were three legal cases fought in Virginia and North Carolina. It seemed to be settled with the Francis Jackson vs. John W. Deshazer case when he was ruled to be free in 1855, but he was held as a slave until 1858. Jackson lived a continual cycle of being sold to new slaveholders, running away, getting caught, and then being returned to his latest owner.

He was sold to as many as 12 slaveholders in Virginia, South Carolina, and ultimately in Moore County, North Carolina. An attorney, George Cameron Mendenhall, visited him in jail in North Carolina after he ran away from a nearby plantation. Believing Jackson's chain of events, Mendenhall filed legal proceedings that ultimately freed him in August 1858.

During the time that he was enslaved, abolitionists from Pennsylvania tried to track him down and provide legal evidence and depositions that he was free. Their attempts were thwarted for years. Legal certificates of freedom were ignored and he was moved, making it harder for him to be found. After he was freed, he returned to the New Castle, Pennsylvania area and was married by 1860. Despite an infirmity, he enlisted in the United States Colored Troops and was honorably discharged.

Early life Born between 1815 and 1820 in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, Francis Jackson was the son of Elijah and Sarah, also known as Sally. Sarah was freed in 1813 when she was 28 years of age in accordance with the An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery. Any children born after she attained her freedom were free as well. north of New Castle. Young was a conductor on the Underground Railroad. Jackson lived in West Greenville, Pennsylvania (north of New Castle) by the time that he was kidnapped. and horse trader, asked Jackson in early 1851 to help him drive horses to Baltimore, Maryland. W.A. Glass, an attorney from the city, sought and received proof that he was a free man from New Castle and Mercer County, Pennsylvania. Benjamin Ferris took on his case and obtained affidavits from Pennsylvania, including Jackson's neighbors and Judge Reynolds who knew Jackson but they were not accepted for the case. An official from Campbell County said that he would only accept affidavits from people who were white.

Ferris found acceptable witnesses from Pennsylvania who attested that Jackson and his parents were free.

Intervening years

Over several years, Jackson had a continuous cycle where he would escape, get captured and jailed, and then returned to a slaveholder. Swann was a farmer with 17 slaves in 1860.

When Morgan made it to Swann's plantation, he saw Jackson and was able to point him out by a limp he had when he walked. Jackson identified Morgan as a tailor from New Castle. They returned to New Castle, where his parents still lived. He supported his family as a laborer.