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Evan Jackson (1877-)


Sentenced to nine months imprisonment for wounding another man at South Shields


According to the 1880 United States Federal Census, Evan Jackson was born in South Carolina to Friday and Amy Jackson in about 1877. The 1900 census confirms the year, given his birth as October 1877. Jackson’s location is Paranque in the Philippines where he was serving with the United States Military. A register for 1901-1902 shows Jackson as having registered in Manila and serving with the 49th Infantry. He was discharged at Monterey, California on 28 November 1902.

The next record found for Evan Jackson is from 1917, an Application for Registration – Native Citizen, made to the American consulate in Swansea, Wales. On this form, it is stated that Jackson was born on 21 October 1877, in Baltimore, Maryland, which he also gives as his permanent residence. His brother, Thomas, is listed as his next of kin, at the address 22 Church Street, Baltimore. The form states that Jackson last left the United States on 4 November 1915, arriving in Swansea on 15 February 1915, where he took up work with a contractor, Mr Evant, Upper Forest, Morriston, Wales. There are two documents, only partially legible, that are attached to the form, which make a reference to two periods of service with the navy, the latter ending in 1910. Also on the form, his personal appearance is given as 5 feet 7 and half inches, black eyes, black hair, and ‘negro’ complexion.

In September 1918, an article appears in the Newcastle Daily Journal concerning the attack at South Shields on a man named Thomas Carey, of Barry Dock (Wales), by Evan Jackson, 41, an American. The article describes both men as ‘coloured, and the occupation of both is given as fireman, aboard the same ship. Jackson was sentenced to 9 month’s imprisonment for wounding Thomas Carey. He claimed self defence but the prosecution says that he was asking Carey for money, and became aggressive when refused.

The surgeon who treated Carey stated he was “suffering from an incised wound, eight inches long, across the throat, from near the left ear to the right side. The main muscles on the left side were severed, and the large blood-vessel, which was exposed, had only just missed being cut”.

Jackson’s sentencing is reported in the Durham Chronicle of 22 November 1918, though there is no indication of where he served his time, and no record has been found of his life after this event.

Civil Parish: South Shields

Birth date: 21-10-1877

Armed force/civilian: Merchant Navy

Residence: Ebenezer, Darlington County, South Carolina, USA
Baltimore, Maryland, USA
38 Welcon Lane, Swansea

Employment: Ship’s fireman and trimmer

Family: Parents: Friday and Amy
Siblings: Isaac, [Jeff?], Tom, Lee, Solomon, Minda

Military service:

Pre-war service with United States military

Gender: Male

Contributed by Durham at War