816 20th St, Rock Island, Illinois,
824 20th St, (formerly 140 Madison St.), Rock Island, IL
When the Smyth family moved to California in 1873, they sold their five-year-old home at 140 Madison Street, as 20th Street was known, to attorney William Jackson. At the same time, the Smyths sold a piece of their large lot on the north to Mr. Jackson's law partner, Edward D. Sweeney, who soon built a home there for his family.
Born in 1834 in Liverpool, England, Mr. Jackson was educated at an Episcopal school there and then began work as a grocer's apprentice. But at age 17, he had larger dreams and set out with his mother in 1853 to make his fortune in America. They went first to New York City where his sister and her husband had come a year earlier. Soon thereafter, the entire family headed west to Rock Island County, where they took up residence in Moline.
While working at John Deere’s plow factory, the young man began studying law with attorney H. L. Smith. Mr. Jackson was admitted to the bar in 1860, just a year after his mother had died and two years after he became an American citizen. His first law practice was in partnership with James Chapman in Moline. In 1862, he moved to Rock Island, where he formed a law partnership with Edward Sweeney.
Sweeney had come to Rock Island in 1851 as a school principal, but like Mr. Jackson, he soon entered the study of law. He too was admitted to the bar in 1860. Under the name Jackson & Sweeney and later Jackson, Sweeney & Walker, Mr. Jackson practiced law until leaving the partnership in 1883. From then on, he practiced alone.
In 1865, the well-established young lawyer married 25-year-old schoolteacher Jennie Sammis. They raised two daughters. Carrie was born in 1866, and Hattie was born in 1870. In the early 1900s, they expanded their house, adding a two-story open porch on the south – currently being restored -- and a second-story bay window. They also enlarged the front porch, combining three smaller porches into a single large one.
In addition to a resident maid, the family would share their big house with relatives. In early years, Jennie’s two sisters, one a schoolteacher, the other a student, would live with them. The younger daughter, Hattie, and her husband George Babcock, a dentist, later would reside with them as well.
Carrie’s son, William Barth, who studied law with his grandfather, stayed with the older couple even after Jennie died in 1915.
William Jackson was an active lawyer until his death in 1925 at age 91. In addition to his legal practice, he was a community leader and often was asked to speak at important events. But his greatest legacy was the Rock Island Parks system as we know it today.
Appalled by the condition of the old town squares, which had become little more than dumping grounds, Mr. Jackson raised public interest and money to restore them as beautiful garden spots. Spencer Square downtown was the star, with many donated enhancements, including a fountain, a bandstand and statuary. He then set his sights on a larger park and was instrumental in the establishment of the 40-acre Long View Park, dedicated in 1908.
At his death, still living in his house, William Jackson had earned his honorary title, "Father of Rock Island Parks." His obituary said, "Despite his advanced years, his remarkable intellect was with him to the last," and that except for his last illness, he "preserved his remarkable physical stamina throughout his life."
Imagine William Jackson walking from his downtown office back to his house today. While he might be shocked at the missing tower, he surely would take comfort in the soft green house that sheltered him for 52 years.