The Jackson name has a distinguished history and was borne by the seventh President of The United States. The name Jackson is, of course, a patronymic surname meaning "son or descendant of Jack" (a pet form of the personal name John, "gift of Jehovah)."
The earliest record of the name appears to have been in 1327 when ADAM JACKESSONE was entered in the Subsidy Rolls of Suffolk. In 1353 the Assizes Rolls of Straffordshire listed an Adam Jackson. Sir John Jackson was a knight during the time of Queen Elizabeth and Francis Jackson was listed as a citizen of Long in 1568. As in the case with other popular surnames of the patronymic class, not all persons named Jackson do owe their surname to individuals name Jack.
In every instance their descent from such an ancestor was the feature most noteworthy about them and their chief means of identification. John was especially popular name in England and so it should not be surprising to find that it and its various pet forms were responsible for the formation of so many surnames.
Scottish records indicate that the name has never been especially in Scotland although it does, of course, appear in various listings. William Jackson was a Burgess of Aberdeen in 1409 and in 1479 David Jackson was accused of treason in parliament.
The number of Jacksons made it almost inevitable that many coats of arms would be recorded in this name. Thomas Jackson of Surrey, England settled in Boston, Massachusetts where he registered his family coat of arms. The coat of arms is a red shield with three silver shoveller ducks, two on top and one on the bottom, each one with a green clover. There is a song "Battle Hymn of the Jacksons" which is sung to the tune: Battle Hymn of the Republic, but will not be shown here. It ends " We must prove worthy of our place on the Jackson Family Tree. We owe a duty to the generation yet to be."
Note: All information on this site is taken from the works "Pioneers West of Appalachia" and "A Supplement to Pioneers West of Appalachia" by JANE PARKER MCMANUS. It greatly appreciated that she has given her permission to post this work on these sites.