WILLIAM JACKSON Treasurer of Shasta County, California, is a native of Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, born September 22, 1835. He is of Scotch ancestry. His great-grandfather, George Jackson, with his son Joseph (Mr. Jackson’s grandfather), came to America before the Revolution and both fought under General Washington at Valley Forge. They owned lands in Huntingdon County, on which they resided and reared their families and on which they spent the remainder of their lives. The property is still retained by the Jackson family. It was there, in 1798, that David Jackson (William’s father) was born, and he, too, lived on that place all his life. He wedded Miss Jane Bell, a native of his own county, and to them were born four children. The subject of this sketch was the second child. He was reared at the ancestral home, attended the public schools of Huntingdon, and assisted his father on the farm. He subsequently learned the carpenters’ trade and worked at it at intervals until 1876.

Mr. Jackson dates his arrival at San Francisco June 6, 1856. He followed river-mining on the Feather and American rivers, and met with fair success. In the fall of 1858 he came to Shasta County. He has mined and been interested in mining ever since that time. Some of his mining interests are now in operation. Mr. Jackson purchased a farm near Anderson, which he cultivated two years and which he sold in December, 1873. At that time he removed to Monterey County and engaged in farming, continuing that occupation four years. While thus engaged he was accidentally shot and lost his left arm. A hunter mistook him for a deer. In 1877 the Board of Supervisors of Monterey County, -- then a Democratic board, -- appointed him Tax Collector of the county. In 1879 he returned to Shasta County. From 1880 until 1883 he was employed in the Clerk’s office. In the latter year he was elected County Treasurer and has since held that office, having been re-elected four times. In 1890 he was again the nominee of the Republican party for the same office.

Source: Memorial & Biographical History of Northern California, The Lewis Publishing Co., 1891
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler