Home of Thomas Jackson

Born enslaved in 1820, Thomas Jackson escaped from Virginia in 1842 and finally reached Ithaca in 1850. Soon thereafter, the Fugitive Slave Law was passed and he moved to Toronto for a brief time. Upon returning to Ithaca, Jackson worked as a gardener, farm hand, saw-miller, and general laborer while living at 11 Wheat Street, now 111 Cleveland Ave. In 1860 he married Mary Ann, who escaped slavery from Maryland. She found employment in Ithaca as a laundress.

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