Jackson's Mill
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Jackson's Mill
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Jackson's Mill, owned by Cummins Jackson
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| Nearest city | Weston, WV |
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| Coordinates | 39°5′45.69″N 80°27′59.21″W / 39.0960250°N 80.4664472°WCoordinates: 39°5′45.69″N 80°27′59.21″W / 39.0960250°N 80.4664472°W |
| Built | 1837 |
| Part of | Jackson's Mill State 4-H Camp Historic District (#04001598) |
| NRHP Reference # | 72001289 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | February 23, 1972 |
| Designated CP | February 4, 2005 |
Jackson's Mill is a former grist mill in Lewis County, West Virginia, near the city of Weston. The mill, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972, is now the centerpiece of a state-owned museum property. It is significant as a well-preserved early grist mill, and as the boyhood home of American Civil War General Stonewall Jackson.
The center of the Jackson estate stood in the peninsula formed by the confluence of Freeman's Creek and the West Fork River. Edward Jackson (1759–1828) built a home on a prominent knoll 100 yards from the West Fork, a two-story frontier-style log structure 40 feet by 20. On the other (east) side of the river, he built a sawmill and grist mill in 1809. An original millstone and feed hopper can be seen on the second floor.
The surviving mill structure is a three story wood frame structure, with a wooden shingle roof and weatherboard siding. The interior of the mill retains a significant amount of original woodwork and equipment, including large cog wheels. Some elements have been replaced, including the flooring, which has been replaced by oak similar to the original.
After Edward's death, Jackson's Mill was operated by his son, Cummins Jackson, a paternal uncle of future Confederate General Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson (1824–1863). By 1826, Cummins Jackson's brother, Clarksburg attorney Jonathan Jackson (1790–1826) had died of typhoid fever, and his wife had struggled to support her children. In 1830, 6 year-old Thomas and his younger sister Laura Ann went to live with Cummins Jackson. The children's mother, Julia Neale Jackson (1789–1831), died the following year, leaving her children orphaned.
Young Thomas helped around his uncle's farm, tending sheep with the assistance of a sheep dog, driving teams of oxen and helping to harvest the fields of wheat and corn. Formal education was not easily obtained, but he attended school when and where he could. Much of Thomas Jackson's education was self-taught. He would often sit up at night reading by the flickering light of burning pine knots.
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