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William Thomas Jackson

Also known as: William Jackson, Billy

b. 23 Mar 1895 · Bachelor Town (Teller), Mineral County, Colorado – d. 10 May 1957 · Veterans' Hospital, Whipple/Prescott, Yavapai County, Arizona

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Black-and-white photo of young William 'Billy' Jackson standing beside a pack horse in North Creede, Colorado, wearing miner's overalls and suspenders.
William "Billy" Jackson in North Creede. From the collection of his daughter, Pauline Roberta Jackson.

Vital Facts

Event Date Place Status Source
Birth 23 Mar 1895 Bachelor Town, Mineral County, Colorado Documented 1a,1b Birthplace independently corroborated by two sources: William's own transcribed birth certificate and his self-reported 1938 Who's Who in Colorado entry, which gives birthplace as 'Teller, Colo.' Teller was the informal/post office name for Bachelor City — the post office was named Teller to distinguish it from the towns of Bachelor and Teller, California, and later from Teller County, Colorado, though residents continued to call the community both 'Teller' and 'Bachelor Town.' Shannon has visited the townsite in person and confirms this naming history; no record anywhere gives a competing birthplace, only the Teller/Bachelor naming variant. Independently consistent with ages given in the 1900 census (age 5) and 1910 census (age 15).
Death 10 May 1957 Prescott National Cemetery (burial); died Veterans' Hospital, Whipple, Arizona Proven 2a,2b Cause of death: massive intrabronchial hemorrhage due to erosion of an artery by a broncholith and tumor, due to carcinoma of the right upper lobe bronchus, with metastases to the pelvis, vertebra, and rib. Informant listed as 'VA Hospital Records, Whipple, Arizona' — the hospital's own institutional record, not a family member. Find a Grave gives the burial site's formal name as Prescott National Cemetery.

Family

Parents

  • William Thomas Jackson (1856–1917) — Parent-child relationship confirmed by the 1900 and 1910 censuses and by both his own and his son William Jr.'s death certificates. His own death certificate (located 2026) now directly confirms his birth date — 23 March 1856, North Carolina (previously Working Hypothesis, family-sourced only; his son Billy was born 23 March as well, in 1895, 39 years to the day later) — and his occupation, Miner. It also finally documents the circumstances of his 1917 death and resolves this page's long-open institution question: he died at Woodcroft Hospital, Pueblo (not the Colorado State Insane Asylum by that name, and not "Roselawn Sanitarium" as John's memoir has it — see Open Research Questions), of pneumonia with a contributory cause of "General Paralysis of the Insane," the historical clinical term for what is now understood as neurosyphilis with central nervous system involvement. This gives the family's long-held "committed to the insane asylum" account a specific, documented medical basis for the first time. He was attended by Dr. C. W. Thompson from 12–23 Oct 1917, admitted roughly 123 days before death (implying admission around late June 1917 — close to his son Billy's 5 June 1917 WWI draft registration, a possible connection not yet interpreted further), and was buried at Roselawn Cemetery, Pueblo, 25 Oct 1917 — independently confirmed by Find a Grave. The certificate also newly identifies his own parents — father William [nearly certainly James, per family account and independent 1860–1880 census records — see his own future page's Open Questions] Jackson and mother Agnes Young, both listed as born England, though Agnes's actual birthplace is separately disputed (see census-sourced discussion reserved for William Sr.'s own dedicated page) — two 3x-great-grandparents not previously documented anywhere on the site. 3a,3b
  • Selma Mathilda Carlsson Henriksdotter (Selma Carlson/Jackson) — b. 6 Feb 1863, Bjurtjärn (or possibly Bjurkärna — see Open Research Questions), Värmland, Sweden (Proven — Sweden, Emigrants Registered in Church Books, 1783–1991, Ancestry.com, sourced to original Swedish church books). Emigrated with her family 24 Aug 1872, age 9, traveling with father Henrik Carlsson, mother Mathilda Carlsson, and siblings Henrik Gustaf, Alma Sofia, and Edla Henrika, arriving in Chicago. d. 3 Feb 1931, Bellingham, Whatcom County, Washington, age 67 (Proven — Washington, Deaths 1883–1960, Ancestry.com, sourced to Washington State Archives county death registers). Note: this death record lists her mother's name as 'Selma Carlson,' which is almost certainly a transcription or informant error for Mathilda Carlsson, per the more detailed and contemporaneous 1872 emigration record; the informant's relationship to Selma's family of origin, and whether they had ever known her parents personally, is unknown. Selma's fuller life story — including a possible young-adult chapter in Kansas, and several remarkable and tragic Creede-era accounts — is reserved for her own dedicated page and journal entry.

Spouse

  • Alice Josephine Davis — m. 5 Jul 1921 , Creede, Mineral County, Colorado (Proven) 4 — Marriage license issued under seal at Creede 5 July 1921 by A. J. Weaver, County Clerk; both parties recorded as never previously married. Ceremony performed the same day by Clarence Y. Butler, County Judge, witnessed by Mrs. C. L. Lane (the bride's own mother, Anna Maud) and Mrs. A. M. Davis. Mineral County Marriage Certificate No. 16015, filed for record 7 July 1921 at 11:45 a.m., recorded in Book 64 of Marriages, p. 131. Daughter of Robert Abraham Lincoln Davis and Anna Maud Woodruff. William was known to family as 'Billy.'

Children

  • (see Alice Josephine Davis's page for full list with William Thomas Jackson) — All children of William and Alice Josephine's marriage are documented on Alice Josephine Davis's page: Joel Thomas, William Charles (Scoot), John Richard, and Pauline Roberta (Bubbles).

Research Narrative

William Thomas Jackson, Shannon's maternal grandfather, was born in 1895 in Bachelor Town, a mining settlement in Mineral County, Colorado, whose post office was named Teller to distinguish it from other towns of the same name; residents used both names interchangeably. His father, also named William Thomas Jackson, and his mother, Selma Mathilda Carlsson, a Swedish immigrant who had crossed the Atlantic as a nine-year-old girl in 1872, raised a large family in and around Mineral County's mining camps, a sibling generation (Lillie, Alma, Agnes, Gustavus, Elmer Robert, Claude, and others) that the site is still working to document separately and accurately. The family's fortunes took a hard turn in 1917: William Sr.'s own death certificate, located in 2026, confirms he died that October at Woodcroft Hospital, Pueblo, of pneumonia with a contributory cause of "General Paralysis of the Insane" — giving the family's long-held account of commitment to "the insane asylum in Pueblo" a documented medical basis for the first time, though the actual facility was a private hospital rather than the Colorado State Insane Asylum by that name.

William himself was educated at Creede High School and worked in the Mineral County mines from 1910 to 1927, before his 1928 election as Mineral County Treasurer, an office he still held a decade later, by which time he had also become Clerk of the District Court. He registered for the WWI draft in June 1917, and by his own account served with the 1st and 7th Regiments of the U.S. Marine Corps on garrison duty in the Virgin Islands, 1918–1919, service that explains his later treatment at, and burial in, a VA facility and national cemetery. As of the 1920 census he was still single, living independently in Creede and working as a miner. He was active in Creede civic life as a member of the local Elks lodge and the American Legion.

William married Alice Josephine Davis in Creede on 5 July 1921, herself the daughter of Robert Davis and Anna Maud Woodruff, meaning both of Shannon's maternal grandparents trace back to the same small Mineral County mining community. The couple settled in Creede, where they raised four children: Joel, William Charles ("Scoot"), John Richard, and a daughter living today. By 1930, Alice's brother Albert Woodruff "Woody" Davis was living with them. William's own death, in 1957, came at the Veterans' Hospital at Whipple, near Prescott, Arizona, of complications from lung cancer that had spread to his bones. He is buried at Prescott National Cemetery.

Timeline

  1. 23 Mar 1895 Born, Bachelor Town, Mineral County, Colorado. 1a,1b
  2. 1900 Enumerated, age 5, in the household of father William T. Jackson (44) and mother Selma M. Jackson (37), with siblings Lizzie D. (12), Alma R. (10), Agnes E. (9), Gustavus (2), and Elmer R. (infant, 1/12), Bachelor, Mineral County, Colorado. 5
  3. 1910 Enumerated, age 15, in the household of father William T. Jackson (54) and mother Selma Matilda (47, recorded as mother of 11 children, 7 living), with siblings Lillie (22), Gustavus (12), Elmer R. (10), and Claude Cecil (1½), Bachelor, Mineral County, Colorado. 6
  4. 5 June 1917 Registers for the WWI draft, Local Board, Mineral County, Colorado. 7
  5. 23 Oct 1917 Father William Thomas Jackson Sr. dies of pneumonia (contributory cause: "General Paralysis of the Insane") at Woodcroft Hospital, Pueblo, age 61, per his own death certificate (located 2026); buried Roselawn Cemetery, Pueblo, 25 Oct 1917. Resolves the family account of commitment to "the insane asylum in Pueblo" with a named facility and documented cause for the first time. 3a,3b,8
  6. 1918–1919 Serves with the 1st and 7th Regiments, U.S. Marine Corps, garrison duty in the Virgin Islands (self-reported). 1b
  7. 1910–1927 Works in the Mineral County mines (self-reported). 1b
  8. 1920 Enumerated alone as 'Jackson, Wm. T.,' age 25, single, renter, occupation miner in the metal mines, head of his own household, Creede — a year and a half before his 1921 marriage to Alice Josephine Davis. This record also lists his mother's birthplace as 'Tennessee,' conflicting with every other source on Selma (Sweden); see Open Research Questions below. 9
  9. 5 Jul 1921 Marries Alice Josephine Davis, Creede, Mineral County, Colorado. 4
  10. 1928 Elected Mineral County Treasurer (self-reported). 1b
  11. 1930 Enumerated with wife Alice J. (26, married at 17), sons Joel (8), William C. Jr. (5½), and John (2½), and brother-in-law Woodruff A. Davis (23, born Colorado, occupation miner), Creede — independent corroboration that Albert Woodruff 'Woody' Davis was living with his sister Alice's family at this time. 10
  12. 1938 Profiled in Who's Who in Colorado as Mineral County Treasurer and Clerk of the District Court; lists sons Joel, William C., and John R. (daughter Pauline not yet born); also notes: educated at Creede High School; member of BPOE (Elks) Lodge No. 506, Creede, and American Legion Post Amethyst No. 167; hobbies of fishing and hunting. 1b
  13. 1940 Enumerated as Mineral County Treasurer (income $2,000), with wife Josephine (34) and children Joel (17), William (15), John (12), and infant daughter Pauline, Creede. 11
  14. Aug 1947 Takes the family camping for several days at Brewster Park, at the headwaters of the Rio Grande — wife Alice Josephine, son John Richard, daughter Pauline ("Bubbles"), family friend Gavin Skinner, and the family dog Whitey rounding out the party of six, camped under a tarpaulin beside an old Model T Ford.12 Recalled decades later by son John in his memoir "Please Go to Hell," who remembered it as a real vacation arranged so his mother could "fish to her heart's content." Read full account →
  15. 1950 Enumerated as Mineral County Treasurer, with wife Alice Josephine (46), son John R. (22, Mine Leaser), and daughter Pauline R. (10), Creede. 13
  16. 10 May 1957 Dies, Veterans' Hospital, Whipple, Arizona, of complications from lung cancer. Buried, Prescott National Cemetery. 2a,2b

Open Research Questions

  1. Can official Marine Corps service or discharge records (muster rolls, service record) be located to corroborate his self-reported 1918–1919 Virgin Islands garrison service? medium

    His 1938 Who's Who in Colorado entry states service with the '1st & 7th Regiment US Marines... Virgin Islands 1918-1919,' which explains his VA hospital treatment and Prescott National Cemetery burial. This is self-reported and not yet corroborated by an official military record.

  2. What was the actual cause and circumstances of William Sr.'s 1917 death and institutionalization? low

    Resolved (26 Aug 2026) by his death certificate, located and transcribed this session: he died at Woodcroft Hospital, Pueblo, of pneumonia, contributory cause "General Paralysis of the Insane" (the era's clinical term for neurosyphilis with CNS involvement), attended by Dr. C. W. Thompson 12–23 Oct 1917, admitted roughly 123 days before death. This gives the family's long-held account a specific, documented medical basis for the first time. See the parent-note above and William Sr.'s own future dedicated page for full detail.

  3. John Jackson's memoir "Please Go to Hell" (see "Digging for the Truth") gives the institution as "Roselawn Sanitarium," not the Colorado State Insane Asylum, Pueblo. Is this a separate facility, or does the memoir conflate the institution with somewhere else? low

    Resolved (26 Aug 2026) by the death certificate: the actual facility was Woodcroft Hospital, Pueblo — not the Colorado State Insane Asylum by that name, and not "Roselawn Sanitarium." "Roselawn" was in fact Roselawn Cemetery, Pueblo, where William Sr. was buried 25 Oct 1917 (independently confirmed by Find a Grave) — exactly as this page's prior leading hypothesis predicted: John's manuscript, written decades later, conflated the treatment facility (Woodcroft) with the cemetery tied to his grandfather's actual burial (Roselawn). Note Woodcroft was a privately run hospital at the time (not yet state-owned; Pueblo's Colorado State Insane Asylum was a separate, distinct institution), so "the insane asylum in Pueblo" as family account has it is itself a loose description of a private hospital, not the state asylum specifically — worth phrasing carefully if this distinction goes on a public page.

  4. William Sr.'s death certificate gives his father's name as 'William Jackson' and his mother as 'Agnes Young,' both born England — but Shannon's own family account, and the independent 1860 U.S. census, both give the father's name as James, and Shannon believes Agnes was actually born in North Carolina rather than England. Which is correct? medium

    Reserved for full research on William Sr.'s own future dedicated page, alongside the family account that James was sent from England to America as a young man, married Agnes (whom family lore mistakenly held to be Native American), and later abandoned the family here when his own English family called him back — a story consistent with the absence of any Leadville-area death record for James and with Agnes's later remarriage. Two new 3x-great-grandparents (whichever the father's real name) not previously documented anywhere on the site prior to this certificate.

  5. Is the death certificate's listing of Selma's mother as 'Selma Carlson' a transcription error for 'Mathilda Carlsson,' and can the original informant be identified? medium

    The 1872 Swedish church emigration record clearly names the mother as Mathilda Carlsson; the death record's informant relationship to Selma's family of origin is unknown.

  6. Why does the 1920 census give Selma's birthplace as 'Tennessee,' when every other source (1900 census, 1910 census, Swedish church emigration records, her own Washington death record) agrees on Sweden? medium

    William himself, then an unmarried 25-year-old living alone, was presumably the informant. Shannon has no known family connection to Tennessee for the Carlsons and is treating this as a possible clue to an as-yet-undocumented chapter of the family's path between their 1872 Chicago arrival and eventual settlement in Colorado, rather than assuming simple enumerator error. Reserved for fuller investigation on Selma's own page.

  7. Are Bjurkärna and Bjurtjärn, Sweden the same parish, or two different places? medium

    Selma's Swedish birth record (Sweden, Indexed Birth Records) appears to read 'Bjurkärna,' in what may be Örebro Län, while her emigration record gives 'Bjurtjärn, Värmland.' Shannon has a DNA-matched contact living in Sweden who has offered to help research this but has not yet had the opportunity to follow up. Reserved for Selma's own page.

  8. Was Billy's oldest sister's name 'Lillian,' or is that a mistaken rendering of 'Lillie'/'Lizzie'? low

    The 1900 census gives her as 'Lizzie D.,' age 12; the 1910 census gives 'Lillie,' age 22 — consistent ages for the same person. An existing family working-note calls her 'Lillian,' which doesn't match either census rendering. Not yet confirmed which name she used in life, or whether 'Lillian' is a transcription slip.

  9. Can William Sr. and Selma's other children — Lillie/Lillian, Alma, Agnes, Gustavus, Elmer Robert, Claude, and others — be documented with their own page/section as William Jr.'s siblings? medium

    Confirmed by Shannon: these are William Sr. and Selma's children (William Jr.'s siblings), not William Jr.'s own children as an earlier working note had conflated. What remains open is building out their own page/section, which does not yet exist.

Repository Targets

  • National Archives / VA records — Official Marine Corps service/discharge record for William Thomas Jackson (1895–1957) [Self-reported service (1st & 7th Marine Regiment, Virgin Islands, 1918–1919) per Who's Who in Colorado (1938); official record not yet located]
  • Colorado Bureau of Vital Statistics — Death certificate for William Thomas Jackson Sr., 1917 — identifies actual facility as Woodcroft Hospital, Pueblo (not the Colorado State Insane Asylum) [Obtained (2026)]
  • Washington State Archives — Selma Jackson death record (obtained via Ancestry); original death certificate not yet viewed directly [Indexed record obtained; original certificate not yet viewed]

References

  • 1a. ↩ State of Colorado, Standard Certificate of Birth, William Thomas Jackson, b. 23 March 1895, Mineral County; as transcribed on a website formerly listing Mineral County births, 1892–1901 (site no longer available), citing the original certificate.
  • 1b. ↩ “Who’s Who in Colorado: A Biographical Record of Colorado’s Leaders in Business, Professional and Public Life” (Boulder: Colorado Press Association, Extension Division, University of Colorado, 1938), 770, entry for Wm. T. Jackson; digitized book, HathiTrust Digital Library (https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.32106000654340&seq=776 : accessed 14 July 2026).
  • 2a. ↩ Arizona State Department of Health, Division of Vital Statistics, Certificate of Death, State File No. 3581, William T. Jackson, died 10 May 1957, Whipple, Yavapai County, Arizona.
  • 2b. ↩ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/20561398/william_thomas-jackson : accessed 9 July 2026), memorial page for William Thomas “Billy” Jackson (23 Mar 1895–10 May 1957), Find a Grave Memorial ID 20561398, citing Prescott National Cemetery, Prescott, Yavapai County, Arizona, USA; headstone photo by J. Altman.
  • 3a. ↩ State of Colorado, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Certificate of Death (Form V.S. No. 12), William Thomas Jackson, File No. 372, Woodcroft Hospital, Pueblo, Pueblo County, Colorado; born 23 March 1856, North Carolina, to father William [James per family account and 1860–1880 census records] Jackson (b. England) and mother Agnes Young (b. England); age at death 61 yrs 7 mos; occupation Miner; former residence Creede, Colorado, length of residence at place of death 123 days; died 23 Oct 1917, 10:30 p.m., of pneumonia, contributory cause "General Paralysis of the Insane"; attended and signed by Dr. C. W. Thompson, 12–23 Oct 1917; filed 25 Oct 1917; buried Roselawn Cemetery, Pueblo, 25 Oct 1917; certified copy issued 17 July 1992 (State Registrar Joseph D. Carney, file #s1309773); original in the family papers of Shannon's mother, found among items stored under the family RV since a January 2026 move. NOTE: Dr. C. W. Thompson did not formally acquire an ownership stake in Woodcroft Hospital from Dr. Hubert Work until 1922 — in Oct 1917 he was practicing there prior to that buyout, per "State Hospital's White Elephant," (Pueblo) Chieftain, 30 June 2019 (https://www.chieftain.com/story/opinion/columns/2019/06/30/state-hospital-s-white-elephant/4796492007/). Transcribed by Shannon Field, 26 Aug 2026.
  • 3b. ↩ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/106840303/william_thomas-jackson : accessed 18 August 2026), memorial page for William Thomas Jackson (d. 23 Oct 1917, aged 61), Find a Grave Memorial ID 106840303, citing Roselawn Cemetery, Pueblo, Pueblo County, Colorado, USA.
  • 4. ↩ Mineral County, Colorado, Marriage License and Certificate of Marriage, W. T. Jackson (Creede, Mineral Co., CO; not previously married) and Miss Alice Josephine Davis (Creede, Mineral Co., CO; not previously married), license issued under seal at Creede 5 July 1921 by A. J. Weaver, County Clerk, by Doris Weaver, Deputy; ceremony performed the same day at Creede by Clarence Y. Butler, County Judge, witnessed by Mrs. C. L. Lane (the bride's mother, Anna Maud Woodruff Davis Lane) and Mrs. A. M. Davis; Marriage Certificate No. 16015, filed for record 7 July 1921 at 11:45 a.m., recorded in Book 64 of Marriages, p. 131, stamped “Examined”; original license, certificate, and filing envelope with ribbon, privately held by Field; transcribed by Shannon Field, 26 Aug 2026.
  • 5. ↩ 1900 U.S. census, Mineral County, Colorado, population schedule, Precinct 7 (Bachelor), p. 1A (stamped), dwelling 1, family 1, William [T.?] Jackson household; image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 9 July 2026); citing NARA microfilm publication T623, roll 127, Enumeration District 75.
  • 6. ↩ 1910 U.S. census, Mineral County, Colorado, population schedule, Bachelor Precinct 7, sheet 2B, dwelling 35, family 35, William [T.?] Jackson household; image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 9 July 2026); citing NARA microfilm publication T624.
  • 7. ↩ William Thomas Jackson, World War I draft registration card, Local Board, Mineral County, Colorado, registered 5 June 1917; digital images, Fold3.com (https://www.fold3.com/publication/959/us-wwi-draft-registration-cards-1917-1918 : accessed 9 July 2026); citing NARA microfilm publication M1509, World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917–1918, Record Group 163.
  • 8. ↩ National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, “Roselawn Cemetery,” Pueblo, Pueblo County, Colorado; U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, NPS Form 10-900; digital copy, History Colorado (https://www.historycolorado.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/2018/5pe7989.pdf : accessed 18 August 2026); document states Roselawn “remained the preferred burial place for patients” of the Colorado State Insane Asylum “for many years,” with burials in the Pauper’s section continuing “as late as the 1960s including individuals who perished while being held in the Colorado State Mental Hospital in Pueblo.”
  • 9. ↩ 1920 U.S. census, Mineral County, Colorado, population schedule, Creede (1st Precinct), sheet 4A (stamped 214), dwelling 112, family 112, Wm. T. Jackson; image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 9 July 2026); citing NARA microfilm publication T625, Enumeration District 153.
  • 10. ↩ 1930 U.S. census, Mineral County, Colorado, population schedule, Creede, Enumeration District 40-3, sheet 2A, dwelling 43, family 44, William T. Jackson household; image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 July 2026); citing NARA microfilm publication T626.
  • 11. ↩ 1940 U.S. census, Mineral County, Colorado, population schedule, Creede, Enumeration District 40-1, sheet 4B, household 93, William Jackson household; image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 July 2026); citing NARA microfilm publication T627.
  • 12. ↩ John Richard Jackson and Pauline Roberta "Bubbles" Jackson Bates, "Please Go to Hell" (unpublished manuscript, Creede, Colorado, n.d.), typescript found among John's papers after his death; transcribed by Shannon Field, 2026.
  • 13. ↩ 1950 U.S. census, Mineral County, Colorado, population schedule, Creede Town, Enumeration District 40-1, sheet 2, serial number 12, William T. Jackson household; image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 July 2026); citing NARA Record Group 29, Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950.