Ezekiel  Andrew  Jackson

          The Jackson family has long been a well established one in Shelby county, members of which bear excellent reputations for honesty and industry wherever they have dispersed.  Ezekiel  A. Jackson was born in section 1, range 6, township 12, June 19, 1862, the son of  John  and Elizabeth  (Rodeheffer)  Jackson.   Samuel  Rodeheffer,  the maternal grandfather, was born in Germany.  Elizabeth Rodeheffer was born in Ohio, of German parentage, December, 1837, and she died April 6, 1903. John Jackson was born June 30, 1832, in Franklin county, Indiana, and he died in July, 1904.  He was married November 21, 1852. He was a minister in the Christian church and was a liberal supporter of the same.  He was also considered a progressive farmer of his day.  (For additional history of the Jackson family's ancestors see sketch of Thomas W. Jackson.)
          Nine children were born to Mr. and Mrs. John Jackson, namely:  Mary M., wife of  James  M.  Lee, living in Shelby township;  William  J., a farmer in Scott county, Indiana; Shelby S., living in Anderson, Indiana;  Ezekiel A., of this review;  Sarah  J., wife of  John  A. Fix, a farmer in Scott county, this state; Margaret, wife of Charles W. Parrish, died April 7, 1892; Florence O., wife of James R. Burkhead, a farmer of Scott county;  Otis M., a barber in Indianapolis; Charles O., of Shelbyville.
          Ezekiel Andrew Jackson, the fourth child in his father's family, was reared upon the home farm in Washington township, where he received his education in the district schools and where he has continued to reside.  He worked by the month on the farm for his father until he was married to Eliza J. Parrish, January 23, 1887.  She was born in Shelby township, this county, December 13, 1857.  She was the daughter of James F. and Frances (Clark) Parrish. William Clark, Mrs. Jackson's maternal grandfather, was born in Manchester, England, November 21, 1812, and he came to Indiana in 1817, when the Hoosier commonwealth was in its infancy.  In 1824 he located in Washington township, Shelby county.  On December 25, 1833, he married  Mary Van Benthusen.  He entered land until he owned two hundred and forty acres. William Clark died January 14, 1902, and his widow, who was born in Orange county, New York, March 5, 1815, died in 1899.  Mr. and Mrs. William Clark were the parents of seven children.
          James F. Parrish and Frances Clark were married in 1856, and they became the parents of eight children, all living, Mrs. E.A. Jackson being the oldest of the family.  She was educated in the common schools.  To Mr. and Mrs. Jackson two children have been born.  Oral W. was born July 21, 1899, his birth occurring in Brandywine township, Shelby county.  One died in infancy.  James F. Parrish, father of Mrs. Jackson, died Mary 17, 1902.  He was a farmer, a typical pioneer, clearing his land.   He was a good man and was interested in improvements.  He took a great interest in raising fine hogs and cattle.  He and his wife came to Shelby county when the land was covered with forest growth, and they ate, slept and lived in a covered wagon until they could build a cabin.  The Parrish family was a native of  Kentucky, having come to Shelby county, Indiana, in 1823, locating in what is now Shelby township, Mr. Parrish entering land there on which he lived until his death.  Besides Eliza J., the following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. James F. Parrish:  J. Willard,  a physician, of Shelbyville;  Ellen, wife of  William  Gray,  a farmer of Addison township, of this county;  William L., a gardener living at Flat Rock, Indiana;  George A., a teacher, living in Shelby township, is single;  Frank, living in Sacramento, California, is in the emply of a railroad company;  Edwin is a farmer in Shelby township;  Eva is the wife of  Elmer Hurst, of Shelbyville.
          After his marriage, Mr. Jackson rented land for some time.  Finally, in April, 1898, he bought an eighty acre farm in Brandywine township, this county, going in debt for a part of it.  He lived there until 1906, when he sold out and purchased one of one hundred and sixty-seven acres -- the old Jackson farm that was entered from the government by the maternal grandfather of the subject.  Mr. Jackson is a good farmer and keeps his place in good condition, reaping excellent harvests from it year by year as a result of his good management and habits of industry.  He also keeps some good stock and he has excellent buildings and latest models of farming machinery.  He and his wife are members of the Pleasant Grove Christian church.  In politics Mr. Jackson is a Democrat.
From Chadwick's History of Shelby County, Indiana, pages 554-555.
Contributed by Phyllis Miller Fleming

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