Rash's Surname Index
Notes for John JACKSON
JOHN, born 9mo. 25, 1809; married Rachel Thomas, daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth T. Tyson, and granddaughter of Elisha Tyson, at Lombard street meeting House, Baltimore, 10mo. 14, 1835. They had five children. John Jackson was an approved minister in the Society of Friends, and as such, stood pre-eminent in his day as an eloquent and impressive speaker, and for his well-adapted language, and the clear enunciation of his religious principles. In 1837 he and his wife (whose education and taste favored his literary pursuits) founded the Sharon Female Boarding School at their residence near Darby, which proved a highly successful institution, and was maintained as such until the close of his life.
In 1840 he engaged in religious service on a visit(*) to the West India Islands, which, after an absence of several months, was accomplished with "great comfort and peace of mind." As an Astronomer he ranked high among the scientific minds of the country. His large Frauenhoffer Equatorial Telescope and its valuable auxiliaries attested his liberality and earnestness in the promotion of astronomical science; and through their agency, as a contemporary has observed, he was enabled "to present to the minds of the children under his care, the grandeur and glory of the Divine Architect of the Universe." In other departments of science his knowledge was extensive, and co-equal therewith he possessed the happy faculty of imparting, instructingly, and in a lucid manner that knowledge to others. Having become a member of the Delaware Co. Institute of Science, in 1834, by his aid its interests were materially advanced. His library, cabinets of minerals and fossils, with other appliances for scientific instruction, were extensive, and open to all who might
(*) George Truman, of Philadelphia, having also obtained a minute corresponding in concern,
accompanied by Thomas B. Longstreth as their companion, they entered upon the important
engagement together; and on their return testified to their respective meetings
that they felt the reward of peace and satisfaction.
(*) George Truman, of Philadelphia, having also obtained a minute corresponding in concern,
accompanied by Thomas B. Longstreth as their companion, they entered upon the important
engagement together; and on their return testified to their respective meetings
that they felt the reward of peace and satisfaction.
incline to their investigation. The study of the Natural Sciences, rightly pursued, he regarded as ennobling and elevating in its tendency; and his high appreciation of such pursuits is expressed in his own words as follows: "Every page of the great volume of nature is full of living and instructive truth. There is a beautiful relation between mind and matter, between the works of God and our capacity to contemplate them. Our intellectual nature is as much a gift of God, as the gift of grace, and we are responsible for the culture and improvement of the one, as of the other. I have no idea that so noble a talent is to be buried in the earth, that it is to be employed merely in procuring food and raiment for these frail temples, which are soon to moulder in the dust. Far otherwise! Placed in the midst of a beautiful creation, we are invited to meditate on the workmanship of its Author. Such an exercise of the intellect is profitable to us for it leads to humility, and while it makes manifest the feebleness of man and our comparative nothingness, amidst the immensity of creation, it exalts our views of the wisdom, goodness and power of the Creator."
He visited his Astronomical Observatory, for the last time, about six weeks before his death, to record some important observations for the Smithsonian Institute at Washington; his services in this way having been continued for years, and fully acknowledged in a fitting manner as an aid to the Coast Survey Department of the Government.
As an earnest advocate of the principles of peace, his views upon this subject resulted in the publication of a work on "Peace and War;" and later in life his "Dissertation on the Christian Ministry." He died 4mo. 14, 1855.
The Tysons were of German descent, and Reiner Tysen, the grandfather of
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