HON. WILLIAM JACKSON.
When the American Missionary Association was formed in 1846 it was so unpopular on account of its anti-slavery attitude that it was not easy to find an able and influential man with sufficient courage to accept its presidency. But the man was found. Hon. William Jackson, a citizen of Boston, and an active and successful business man, was so deeply in sympathy with the poor slave that he was willing to assume the position, and all the more because others shrunk from it. Mr. Jackson was a member of the Massachusetts Legislature, and afterward was elected to Congress, and was subsequently reelected for another term by an almost unanimous vote. He was selected by the Liberty Party as its first candidate for Governor of the State of Massachusetts. He was a warm and efficient advocate of the temperance cause. He devoted much of his time and energies to the establishment of railroads in Massachusetts—among others the Boston and Albany, Boston and Worcester, and Providence and Worcester. In various capacities as director or general agent he rendered efficient service in the work of these roads. But the charm of Mr. Jackson's life was its Christian element. At the age of thirty-seven he moved to Newton, Mass., where he spent the remainder of his life. He was actively engaged in the erection of the church edifice and gathering the new church, and was steadfast in his attendance at the prayer meeting, monthly concert, Sunday-school, and other exercises. Advancing years and failing health led him to make a somewhat extended trip through Europe. But life was coming to its end, and it closed with him in deepening interest in the cause of Christ at home and abroad, and in the strongest assurances of a triumphant faith.