CHARLES THOMAS JACKSON WILLIAM T. G. MORTON
Jackson was greatly interested in geology and was the State Geologist of Maine in 1836, Rhode Island in 1839, and New Hampshire in 1840, but his greatest claim to fame is his share in discovering etherization and his association with Dr. W. T. G. Morton, a dental surgeon, fourteen years his junior, who studied medicine in his office. Jackson is believed to have made his first personal experiments with the inhalation of ether in the house at Plymouth, and the chair in which he sat is displayed in Pilgrim Hall. Morton patented the process of anesthesia by ether in 1846 and he sued Jackson for claiming the discovery of the anesthetic effects of inhalation of ether back in the winter of 1841-42. The French Government investigated the matter and decreed Jackson a 2500 franc prize as the discoverer, and a similar prize to Morton for being the first to apply it to surgical operations.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON IN THE EAST ROOM WHERE HE WAS MARRIED
Jackson’s slightly older sister Lydia, sometimes called Lidian, became the second wife of Ralph Waldo Emerson, the American poet and philosopher. Their marriage took place in 1835 in the east parlor, later known as the music room.
ROOM WHEREIN LYDIA JACKSON MARRIED RALPH WALDO EMERSON
The house was sold by the Charles Jackson heirs in 1872 to Lucia J. Briggs, the wife of the Rev. George W. Briggs, who occupied it as a summer residence until 1898, when it was purchased by Charles L. Willoughby, of Chicago, for a summer home. Gardens were planned and planted. Joseph Everett Chandler, authority on the restoration of New England houses and author of books on the subject, was retained to supervise the work, and it is he we have to thank that so much was saved when it was converted into a gentleman’s estate. He it was who saw to it that the new windows, inner shutters, paneling, and many details, are in keeping with the original structure. He even saw to it that the Tory chimney, with its coping painted black, was saved and that the two lovely linden trees, said to have been planted by Edward Winslow’s daughter Penelope, were protected during the alteration. In tearing off the ell on the north side, a board was uncovered on which was painted “Built by William Drew 1820,” which indicates additions were made that year. The house was moved back thirty feet, raised five, porches were built, side doors, new rooms, and a cupola or, as some erroneously call it, a Widow’s Walk, were added.