Fonds F2816 - Jackson family fonds

Thomas Gethyn Jackson, 1835?-1899, and Elizabeth Eastwood, 1828?-1921, were both born in Yorkshire, England. They married in 1858 and emigrated to Stanley Mills, near Toronto, Ontario that year. They had three children who survived infancy: Eastwood, William Henry “Will”, and Cicely (Plaxton). Thomas was a general merchant and farmer. The family moved to Wingham, Ontario in 1863, then to Prince Albert, North-West Territories in 1879.

Eastwood, 1859-1935, studied and apprenticed as a pharmacist, becoming the first professional pharmacist in the Territories. He later became a clerk and Indian Agent on the Mistawasis Indian Reserve in northern Saskatchewan.

Will, 1861-1952, studied classics at University College, now part of the University of Toronto, then became an activist for the rights of the Euro-Canadian settlers in the Prince Albert district. He was secretary and advisor to Louis Riel during the North-West Rebellion, and avoided conviction for treason on the grounds of insanity. He represented himself as a Métis and adopted the name Honoré Joseph Jaxon. He became an anarchist labour organizer in Chicago, U.S.A. and briefly in western Canada, and operated a small construction business. In 1919 he moved to New York City, where he engaged in real estate speculation. Cicely, 1863-1949, married Amos Plaxton, a farmer in the Prince Albert district, and raised six daughters.

For further information see: Honoré Jaxon, Prairie visionary / Donald B. Smith. - Regina : Coteau Books, 2007.