Stonewall Jackson

Have you ever had a twinge in your side and feel that your body just needs a good stretch?   How about feeling those butterflies in your stomach and deciding that your alimentary canal had to be absolutely straight at all times?   Or that your blood was imbalanced causing one arm to be heavier than the other?   Many of us have not thought about the latter two, but for Thomas Jackson, an American hero, these were common worries.
Born to Jonathan Jackson and Judith “Julia” Beckworth Neale on January 21, 1824 in Clarksburg, Virginia was a blue eyed baby boy.   Thomas, named after his maternal grandfather, was the third child of Mr. and Mrs. Jackson.   Thomas had an older sister, Elizabeth, and an older brother, Warren.   In the following years, Julia became pregnant with her fourth child.   During Julia’s pregnancy, Elizabeth became ill with Typhoid Fever leaving Jonathan to care for the sick child.   On March 5, 1826, when Thomas was only two, he lost his first sibling.   Within three weeks, his father, who was also contracted the illness, had died.   Brought into this world on March 27, 1826, the day after their father’s death, was Thomas’ dear sister, Laura Ann.
Julia found herself trying to make ends meet for her and her three young children; she moved the family into a rented one bedroom house.   The family was left in debt after Jonathan’s passing.   For income, she took in sewing and taught school to children.   After four years of becoming a widow, Julia was going to marry a lawyer named Blake Woodson.   The Neales and Julia’s children pleaded with her not marry Mr. Woodson, but she did anyway.   Again, Julia became pregnant.   Blake Woodson moved him and his new family to Ansted, Virginia.   Julia became ill in the travels.   Blake decided it would be best if the children were to live with relatives.   Warren was sent to live with Julia’s brother, Alfred Neale near Parkersburg.   Months later, Thomas and Laura were sent to Jackson’s Mill, to be raised by relatives of their...