# Was Stonewall Jackson's mother from Parkersburg, VIRGINIA

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-stonewall-jacksons-mother-from-parkersburg-virginia/762299>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 10, 2016, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-stonewall-jacksons-mother-from-parkersburg-virginia/762299 "2016-08-10T01:10:32Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![davey77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90ced4/32.png) [@davey77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davey77)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-stonewall-jacksons-mother-from-parkersburg-virginia/762299/1 "2016-08-10T01:10:32Z")

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I have spoken to various docents, tour guides, and bookstore owners from Columbus, O. to Lewisburg and have never been satisfied with any answer. Does _anybody_ know the relationship (if any) of Stonewall Jackson’s family to Parkersburg, West Virginia. I am mainly curious since I was born in neighboring Marietta, Ohio and used to delight in blowing the mind of an Alabamian who attended Ohio University. (Athens, O.–25 miles from the birthplace of Wm. Sherman.)

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**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-stonewall-jacksons-mother-from-parkersburg-virginia/762299/2 "2016-08-10T02:30:49Z")

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[The Wiki article on his mother](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_Neale_Jackson) says:

> [@](#):
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> Julia Beckwith Neale was born at Peach Orchard near Aldie in Loudoun County, Virginia. She was daughter of Thomas and Margaret C. Winn Neale and the granddaughter of Richard Neale and Francis Underwood as well as Minor Winn and Betty Withers, all of Virginia. Moving west, her father, Thomas Neale, achieved high prosperity as a merchant in the town of Parkersburg on the Ohio River.

So she did live in Parkersburg, Virginia (now Parkersburg WV), but wasn’t born there.

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**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-stonewall-jacksons-mother-from-parkersburg-virginia/762299/3 "2016-08-10T03:22:22Z")

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Giles essentially got it, but any confusion you may have is possibly related to the fact in some historical sources, western Virginia towns that are now in West Virginia, are noted as being in Virginia (since they uh, were, until 1863.) The Jackson family moved into Western Virginia from Virginia and have a lot of connections with the counties west of the Appalachians. Jackson’s boyhood home is also in West Virginia, albeit more in north-central West Virginia, not Parkersburg. Jackson didn’t live with his mother all that much, being sent away to live with relatives at a fairly young age.

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**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-stonewall-jacksons-mother-from-parkersburg-virginia/762299/4 "2016-08-10T03:56:18Z")

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Harpers Ferry is another place that causes this confusion. It’s located in what is now West Virginia. But when John Brown led his attack, Harpers Ferry was still part of Virginia.