Jackson was born on September 22, 1777, in Buckhannon, West Virginia, the eldest son of George Jackson, a man of more rugged intellect than schooling, Indian fighter, colonel in the Continental army, and thrice member of Congress; and grandson of John Jackson, the Scotch-Irish emigrant, who was Gen. "Stone-wall" Jackson's great-grandfather. His mother was Elizabeth von Brake. In 1784 the family moved to Clarksburg.
John received "a liberal education, " became a civil engineer, and at nineteen was appointed surveyor of public lands west of the Ohio.
From 1798 to 1801 Jackson represented Harrison County in the Virginia legislature and gave effective support to all Republican measures during several stirring sessions. Meanwhile he read law and in 1801 was admitted to the bar, where he swiftly won distinction. Succeeding his father in the Eighth Congress, he vigorously upheld the administrations of Presidents Jefferson and Madison, whose entire confidence he enjoyed, and came to be regarded as a leading and highly influential member before ill health caused him to resign, September 28, 1810. At the next election he was returned to the Virginia Assembly and rendered important services in procuring passage of the law which established chancery courts at Winchester and Clarksburg. This same winter, 1811-1812, he was chosen brigadier-general of militia. In 1813 he was again elected to Congress and remained two terms, relinquishing his earlier Jeffersonian principles so far as to introduce amendments in favor of internal improvements, a national bank, and taxes on exports. He declined re-election in 1817. A fluent and fearless speaker, he filled the pages of the Annals of Congress while winning recognition for his outspokenness in debate and for his fidelity to friends and principles. His spirited defense of his brother-in-law, Madison, against the attacks of the Federalists and John Randolph, at the time of the discussions in Congress over the Yazoo Lands and during the conflict over the Spanish negotiations, carried him to the point of inviting duels with Randolph and with Josiah Quincy; and on December 4, 1809, he was permanently lamed in an encounter with Joseph Pearson of North Carolina, whom he wounded badly. In 1819 President Monroe appointed Jackson the first United States judge for the Western District of Virginia, and until his death he graced this office with his urbane and dignified deportment, his eloquent charges, and his capable decisions. His public spirit and astonishing energy prompted him to undertake numerous works calculated to benefit his section. He helped to improve waterways and local roads; served on the commission whose recommendation to the legislature resulted in the establishment of the University of Virginia; and sought to develop the state's natural resources, not only through commerce and by opening salt and iron mines, but also by building furnaces and foundries, woollen factories, tanneries, and mills. Jackson died on March 28, 1825, in Clarksburg, West Virginia.
Jackson's first wife Mary "Polly" Payne was the youngest sister of Dolley Madison - they were married in 1800. She died in 1808 of tuberculosis. Jackson continued to correspond with Dolley Madison after the death of his wife and her sister. In 1810, he married Mary Sophia Meigs.
