Martin Jackson

Martin Jackson was born in 1847 in Victoria County, Texas, enslaved by Alvy Fitzpatrick, who he said was the grandfather of Governor Jim Ferguson. When interviewed at 90 he was blind, sharp-minded and living at 419 Center Street in San Antonio, and he questioned his interviewer thoroughly before agreeing to talk. He asked for a copy of the write-up, saying his children might like to have it. He may have been the only formerly enslaved person to serve in both the Civil War and World War I.

He followed his young enslaver into the war with the First Texas Cavalry. He never wore a uniform or carried a gun; he carried in the wounded and helped his father, the battalion's head cook. His commander, Colonel Buchell, died in his arms. He said he knew from the start the Union would win and wanted it to, only hoping his own company would survive. Even with good treatment, he spent most of his time planning to run away, but his father counseled patience: "No use running from bad to worse, hunting better." He said many formerly enslaved people closed the door before telling the truth, because the life of the average enslaved person "was not rosy"; they were dealt plenty of cruel suffering.

In the second week after the United States declared war on Germany in 1917, he enlisted as a cook at Camp Leon Springs. When the government required freedpeople to register names, he refused to take Fitzpatrick and chose Jackson, from a grandfather in Africa called Jeaceo. He said he had picked up smoking "over seventy-five years ago."