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The Wives of Benjamin Jackson: Mary Rushing and Amy Powell Paul
Queens Co., NJ to Anson Co., NC to Chesterfield Co., SC
By Bob Mitchell

I have been operating under the conclusion that Benjamin Jackson was married two times.  I thought his first wife was Mary Rushing and the second Amy Powell Paul (widow of Abraham Paul, of Anson Co., NC).

Jody Dillard, a fellow Jackson researcher, has Amy Powell Paul as Edward Jackson's mother and he was born in 1755.  I had thought she was wrong because I have a record of a land transaction between Abraham Paul and Benjamin Jackson that was dated 1763.  I had reasoned that Abraham Paul was still alive and married to Amy in 1763 and could not be married to Benjamin.

Yesterday (25 Mar 2007), I decided to re-examine this position and found a record that I had over-looked before.  This was a record of Benjamin and Stephen Jackson acting as executors of the Will of Abraham Paul.  The will was probated in 1752, making the death date sometime in 1751.  Now, it appears that the original land transaction in 1763 was probably with Abraham Paul, Jr. who would have to have been of age by that time, making him born about 1742.

With this new information, it appears that the first three children as I have them: Jonathan abt 1740, Isaac abt 1749 and Stephen abt 1750 are with a first wife.  The next two children: Edward 14 Feb 1755,  and David abt 1758 could be with a second wife.  The next two or possibly two: Jesse abt 1764, Mary Rushing abt 1767 could be with the second wife or even a third wife.

The first three children could not have been with Amy Paul as she was still married to her first husband during that time frame.  The next three could be with Amy Paul as could the last two, but it is inconceivable to me that a woman would allow her own child to be named for a previous wife.

I am very interested in your comments and thoughts on this issue.  Obviously, nothing will change dramatically except which child belongs to which wife.  Who are these wives and when were they married to Benjamin?  Were there two wives or three wives?  Who was first?