Born in Drumfaldra, Ireland, Alexander Melvourne Jackson (1823-1889) immigrated with his family to Alabama in 1829. Studying law in Ohio and Mississippi, he was admitted to the Mississippi State Bar in 1845 before serving as captain of Company E of the 2nd Regiment of Mississippi Volunteers in the U. S. Army during the Mexican-American War. Following the war, Jackson settled in Ripley, Mississippi, where he and Nathaniel Price established a law firm and newspaper, the
After two failed bids for the Democratic nomination to the U. S. Congress, Jackson was appointed Secretary of the Territory of New Mexico by James Buchanan, a position he held from 1857 until 1861. During the Civil War, Jackson served as Adjutant-General of Sibley’s Brigade in the Confederate Army, participated in the Arizona Campaign, and became the Chief Justice of Arizona for the Confederacy. In 1866, Jackson settled in Austin, Texas, and formed the law firm Robards & Jackson with Charles L. Robards. In addition, Jackson was Reporter of the Court of Appeals from its establishment in 1876 until his death in 1889.
Source:
Composed of correspondence from A. M. Jackson to his wife Cordelia, the A. M. Jackson Letters, 1862, 1868, document Jackson’s participation in the Civil War and as a lawyer in Texas. The February 22, 1862, missive describes Jackson’s experiences fighting for the Confederate Army at the Battle of Valverde in Arizona (modern-day New Mexico), while the May 19, 1868, letter discusses a business trip to Seguin, Texas.
This collection is open for research use.
A. M. Jackson Letters, 1862, 1868, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.