Mr. Junius Herbert Jackson, Sr. was born and reared in the Oakland community. He was the son of Junius and Evangaline Butler Jackson. They had a total of six children: Herbert, Maude, Lloyd, Joseph, Louis and Carrie. Herbert was married to Sally Ann Burchett and Lloyd married Sally’s sister, Ethel Burchett. Herbert and Sally met when he visited North Carolina. The sisters moved from Henderson, NC to Reid’s Ferry with their mother, Sophonia B. Turner. Sally said they had to walk to Oakland School everyday from their home at Reid’s Ferry. Sophonia’s granddaughter, Ethel J. Whitfield, noted that “all of her grandchildren were Granny’s babies. She also was a very good cook, especially homemade biscuits. She was our best baby sitter.” Herbert and Sally were the parents of nine children: Herbert, Jr., Cornell, Laura Ann, Ethel, Gene, Beautis, Bonita, Jerome and EuGonda. Herbert was a trustee of Little Bethel Baptist Church. Ethel J. Whitfield recounted that “we lived in a farm house which caught fire in January 1951. The fire started in the attic and we lost everything. Our brother Gene saved our tricycles. Our Aunt Carrie saw smoke coming out of the roof and she came running hollering “Sallie, your house is on fire”. We were putting a puzzle together. After that we moved to Moore Farm Lane and then to Pembroke Lane. After that our father built a brand new home which is still at 5325 Godwin Blvd. – once Rural Route 4, Box 368, Suffolk, Virginia.” Herbert Jackson was a farmer who raised cotton, corn and peanuts. He had a horse, cow and mule and raised chickens and hogs. After farming he decided to become a carpenter. He started out working for Henry Pinner of Suffolk and W. G. Saunders, Jr. He trained three of his sons, Herbert, Jr., Gene and Caleb, in carpentry work. They built homes in Kingsdale, 5 Mile Farm, Moore Farm Lane, Everets Road, interior of the post office and the drug store in Chuckatuck. Herbert always took his lunch box to work with a lunch his wife had prepared for him. He also worked students during summer break. Herbert had his two daughters, Beautis and EuGonda, and their cousin, Loretta Cowling, doing roofing. Ethel Whitfield stated “Our dad really took pride in his carpentry work and had lots of patience to show the grandchildren how to cut rafters and frame a house. He also could order material and nails to a “T”.” The GCHF copied a photograph of Mr. Herbert Jackson standing by a Farmers’ Feed and Seed truck that Mr. W. G. Saunders, Jr. let him use until he could afford a vehicle. Herbert would take his kids to the beach in it. The GCHF also has a picture of Mrs. Sally B. Jackson preparing a meal in their kitchen. “She loved to cook and was a good cook. We always had plenty of food to eat and we all set down to the dinner table together to eat. Also prayed together. A wonderful stay at home mom.” Information provided by Mrs. Ethel Jackson Whitfield.
