Georgia Ann Jack

(Taken from the writings of Garth N. Jones Dean/Professor Emeritus, College of Business and Public Policy, University of Alaska, Anchorage)

Doris Faye Bingham—Father, James Edward Bingham—Grandmother, Ada Zoa Jack—Great Grandmother, Georgia Ann Horton

Born on the 30th of May 1841, Georgia Ann Horton, one of six sisters of part Cherokee blood, remembers that just before the Civil War, several denominations “came into the county: Methodists, Campbellites, Hard Shells…. They were very strenuous in their preaching”.

The war had taken its toll on the South, not to exclude the small hollow community of Groveoak, Alabama. Georgia Ann, now 35 years of age, and her husband James Hazlette Jack were living near extended family, in the tight knit community. In the fall of 1876, a Mormon Elder by the name of James T. Lisonbee came to their little settlement preaching the restoration of the gospel.

On November 5th, 1876, Georgia Ann attended a meeting held by Elder Lisonbee at the Pine Grove School House, about three miles from Groveoak. She opened her home for a second preaching service the very next day at “early candle lighting”. The house was filled to capacity with people sitting and standing on the front porch. She responded promptly and enthusiastically to his message. She readily accepted the gospel, made every effort to share the truth she had found and later wrote: “I don’t know how anyone with my sense could fail to see the light”

When aggressive preachers and individuals sought to drive Elder Lisonbee from the area, Georgia Ann was not intimidated. Throughout November and December, she opened door after door for Elder Lisonbee to deliver his gospel message. As opposition increased, she became bolder and bolder, finally becoming alienated from her husband’s family as well as several of her own family. Georgia Ann was a person of conviction. She had seen the light and her soul burned with the Truth.

Georgia Ann was instrumental in introducing the gospel to many of her family, friends and neighbors. Scores were baptized and would soon gather to “Zion”. Only their Zion would be Manassa Colorado: A unique settlement of southern saints.

Compiled by E.J. Dobbins

James Hazlett Jack and Georgia Ann Horton Jack

James Hazlett Jack was born October 24, 1831 in Knox county, Tennessee, the eighth child of Allen Jack and Elizabeth White McCouley.

Georgia Ann Horton was born May 30, 1841 in Lebanon, De Kalb county, Alabama, the daughter of Preston Betty Horton and Elizabeth Malone. the oldest of 15 children. Her father was very prosperous, and her childhood was a happy one. Her education was complete for that time. One of her teachers was James Hazlett, a mild mannered young man. She married him on July 22, 1858. T

hey had 3 years of real happiness and prosperity. Then came the Civil War. James had seven brothers in the Confederate army, most were officers, but he joined the Union army. Because of his brothers he was not put in the firing lines, but acted as home guard, scout and spy.

One day he was swimming across the river with some papers. His son was on his back hold up the papers. Someone shot James in the back. They were near the shore so he made it and his son helped him. They hid him in the bushes. James told his son to take some papers to James' wife, Georgia as she would know what to do with them. Before daylight, Georgia was back with medicine and food. She hid him a hollow gum tree. He stayed there until he was better, but he was always stooped over for the rest of his life from being crouched over in the gum tree. He was in poor health for the rest of his life.

Mr. Berry was a good friend of Jim's and was also a runner for the Union army. As soon as Jim was able, Mr. Betty helped and they went to a Mormon settlement hiding by day and traveling by night. They then wrote Georgia and Mrs. Berry and told them to come to them. Georgia had a mule and Mrs. Berry had a spring rig. They loaded just what they had to have into it and started out. When they got to the river, the guard wouldn't let them cross until Georgia showed him a letter from Jim. He told them to go back a ways, pretend to camp, feed the children, and put them to bed. In the night, they were to come back and get help from them.

They did as they were instructed. They crossed the river in Chattanooga, Tennessee and proceeded on. As they passed a grove of trees, they heard some soldiers talking about hanging five men. They said Jim Jack was through being a spy, that he was hanging to a tree. Georgia could not go on without knowing for sure. She unhitched the mule and straddled him. She took her old musket and went to the place of hanging. None of the five men was Jim. When she returned to the spring rig, the soldiers had taken everything off the rig and scattered it looking for important papers and other items. Georgia, still astraddle of the old mules said, "I just turned that old musket on those men and made them load everything back on the fig." It was unheard of for women to straddle a horse much less brandish a gun as Georgia had.

When they reached their husbands, thy were destitute for food and somewhere to stay. Their son, Bob, was only 6 or 7 years old and he got a job in a blacksmith shop running the bellows. He stayed with this many years. He learned the blacksmith trade.

After the war, Georgia states that there seemed to be a curse on the land. It didn't produce as it had before.

Elders Morgan and Lisbon brought the Gospel to them. Georgia was ready for baptism right away.

She said, "I don't see how anyone with sense could fail to see the light." Jim was slower to accept the Church but was a staunch Latter Day Saint once he accepted it. It was the final blow to the Jack family when James Hazlett and Georgia Ann joined the LDS Church. It was bad enough for them to join the Union army, to to join the Mormon Church was unforgivable.

In 1879, the James H. Jack family was called by the Church to settle the San Luis Valley. They came to Pueblo, Colorado by train. They stayed for a while, then bought wagons and teams before proceeding on to the valley. They came to the fort at Los Cerritos in April 1879. They had just been in the valley 16 days when their oldest daughter died of pneumonia. She was the first Anglo woman buried in the town of Manassa. Untold hardships were their lot in their new home. They were used to the mild climate of Alabama and Colorado was so cold.

Food was scarce. Flour was sold for 8 a hundred, but Georgia was resourceful and managed to have food when other families were without. She always shared with others.

James Hazlett died May 13 1893 following an operation performed on their kitchen table in the Jack Bend.

Georgia died January 27, 1927 at the age of 87. She was survived by only three of her eleven children.

Simeon Adams Dunn, The Mormons; 100 Years in the San Luis Valley of Colorado; 1883-1983, Compiled and Edited by Carleton Q. Anderson, Betty Shawcroft and Robert Compton, Published by the La Jara Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Adobe Press, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Georgia Ann Horton Jack - A Tribute by Sadie Jack Johnson

In my search of genealogy, I find that the most interesting part is to find the histories, journals, and life stories of my ancestors. When you find a story or a history of a family or person, it means so much more than just a name. You can connect the name to the person and they become a real person, not just a name.

Perhaps the most precious and interesting thing that I have found in my genealogy research is the life story of my grandmother on my father's side, Georgia Ann Horton Jack. I knew my grandmother so well as she lived close by when I was a little girl and I saw her every day until she died 27 Feb. 1927. We called her "Glassy Grandma" because she wore eye glasses and they were rare in those days. Long after she died, we found her life written in the first person, but there are no paragraphs, no capitals, commas or punctuation; but it is beautifully told. After knowing my grandmother all those years, I never realized that she had such a colorful background. She was born in DeKalb County Alabama 30 May 1841 and her parents were apparently well-to-do. They had slaves and lived on a plantation and were prosperous. Grandmother married a northern man, James Hazelett Jack, who was a spy for the Union Army. Her story tells about the Confederate rebels and hard it was to have opposing factions within the family. She told about how grandfather was wounded and had to flee to save his life. So after the war, the family immigrated to southern Colorado where they settled and where all my people helped pioneer that part of the state.

We also found that our people were prominent people and leaders in the Revolutionary war as my grandmother states in her story that my great-great grandfather, James Jack helped form the Mecklenberg Declaration of Independence from Mecklenberg, North Carolina to Philadelphia. This happened in 1775 and this document is believed to be the fore-runner or pattern for the Philadelphia Declaration of Independence in 1776.

The Jack family were also prominent leaders in the Civil War. My grandmother often related to me the story of how my grandfather took my father, Robert Jack, who was then six years old, with him on one of his spy missions. He swam a river with my father on his back, received important papers from General Morgan Le Smith's headquarters and started back. He swam the river again with my father on his back, holding the papers up out of the water to keep them dry. As they neared the bank, the rebels started shooting at them and hit my grandfather in the back. He somehow scrambled to shore, sent my father on home with the papers and told him not to let anyone but grandmother have them. This happened at night and was a frightening experience for a little six year old boy. Grandfather then hid himself in a hollow tree. Grandmother found him in the tree, dressed his wounds, but had to leave him all cramped up in that tree as the rebels vowed to track him down and kill him. He remained in this cramped position for several days until some Union supporters helped get him into Union territory. He had stayed in this cramped up position for so long that he could never again straighten up. And this bent over position is how we remember him in his later years in Colorado.

There are so many stories and experiences told in this life story of my Grandmother Jack. I can read between the lines and tell of hardships she experienced and of her love for her family, and for the appreciation for the freedom in this country. I vowed I would write my life story so my children and grandchildren can know my inner feelings. A story of one's life is one of the most beautiful heritages anyone can leave for their children.

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This was taken from a photocopy of a manuscript in the possession of Larue Bingham Lawson.