In Search of C. F. Jackson
(Only for die-hard Oliver Hardy fans who are interested in his younger days.)
Who is C. F. Jackson? Anybody who has read Oliver Hardy’s history (in Simon Louvish’s book and the JSTOR article entitled “Oliver Hardy in Georgia, 1903 to 1913”, knows that C. F. Jackson is the man that Oliver Hardy’s mother married on February 2, 1904, when Oliver, then Norvell Hardy, was 12 years old and became his step-father. We don’t know why she married him, how long she knew him or what happened to him after they wed. We can guess that providing Oliver with a father figure was one selling point. But the only conclusion of why he disappeared I could come up with, is he molested Norvell or too cruel to him with corporal punishment and the KKK or Sam and Bardy Tant killed him and buried him in the cellar. Both sources say he should’ve become an important person in Norvell’s life. The odd thing is that the marriage to Emmie Hardy was the last we can trace of his existence. We know that Emmie Hardy, age 43 at the time of the wedding, was hereafter known as Emmie Jackson or Mrs. C. F. Jackson and that by the time of the 1910 census Emmie was listed as widowed (or declared widow in the case of a missing person never being found 4 years after his disappearance). We also know that only Emmie Jackson re-rented the hotel in July of 1904. Why wasn’t Mr. C. F. Jackson, now included as a co-renter as he most assuredly would’ve been back in 1904. The article would have stated Mr. & Mrs. C. F. Jackson re-rent the hotel. The Milledgeville Hotel was large, requiring a full staff. The way it was done in early 20th century, Emmie wasn’t just hired to manage the hotel, she had to be accepted for the priviledge of renting the hotel to run the business out of it. She staffed it, fixed it and made all of the profit. She also managed the hotel restaurant. It is impressive that she was successful and left on her own terms. Running small hotels and boarding houses out of houses she rented is how she managed to raise her family since the death of Norvell’s father Oliver. But the lack of C. F. Jackson’s name on the new rental agreement tells me he is already out of the picture or insignificant.
The name C. F. Jackson was popular in the area, all using initials C. F. makes it impossible to trace who he was. The man Emmie married will now be known as:
What we do know about him is that his full name was Charles Francis Jackson and he was in his 40s. His reported occupation was as soliciting freight railroad agent. This is the man who coordinates the transport of goods, negotiate rates and secures shipping contracts for the Georgia Railroad based out of Atlanta. But he was “soliciting”, meaning he was more of a travelling salesman. And now he was in Milledgeville, marrying Emmie. With the advent of the telephone, he may have been able to conduct some of his business from the hotel, which enabled him to move to Milledgeville. Jackson’s marriage to Emmie seemed unexpected. Emmie, who used the social pages announcing the comings and goings of relatives, made no such announcement, so it seems a simple Church ceremony on a Tuesday morning, followed by a banquet for local friends at the Hotel would suffice. The question is why would Emmie marry him? Being that he was a salesman, he may have have sold himself as being the companion she needed at the time. Emmie at this time had 2 sons, neither being particularly skilled at repairing things. Neither had a father to teach them such things. She also had one daughter, Emily, who married a month later, so she was about to lose the best help she had to run the hotel. To make the Hotel succeed at a profit, she would need more free help and Jackson’s promise of being a father and teaching the boys how to repair and maintain the hotel as well as doing that job also, would be a big advantage for her. And for what reason would he want to marry her? Money would be the first reason I suspect.
The next likely prospect. He ran the Milledgeville Hotel for 7 months, beginning ~September, 25 1898 then resigned and moved to Atlanta on May 1, 1899. The hotel changed Management 3 more times before Emmie took over. He was General Manager of Milledgeville Railway previous to running the Hotel. It’s not as good a job as it sounds. It was a small company, barely succeeding and his job was mostly clerical, writing schedules, managing day to day operations. He also had a little daughter named Nellie, age unknown. But most likely less than 8 years old. His wife’s name may have been DeEmma (or that was another younger daughter.) He could have told her he could help run the Hotel also. In order for him to marry Emmie in 1904, his wife would have to die. He seems to have come from Charleston, SC and his wife from Chatanooga, TN. In order for this to be Jackson #1, he would have to lose his wife and daughter before 1904. He also seemed like an upstanding citizen and young and unlikely to perpetrate a fraudulent marriage for monetery gain.
Jackson #3’s father, Charles W., was an engineer for the Western and Atlantic Railroad out of Atlanta. After an unknown illness, he returned to work and was killed when he crashed his engine into the first train in freight caravan in Feb.1901. The father’s address was 104 Fowler St. and C. F.’s address was 105 Fowler Street. Jackson was a printer at Foote & Davies Company at that time. Jackson petitioned to partition his father’s estate between him and his mother, Augusta, on Fowler St. He sold a portion of his share. We learn his father had 2 much younger children, named Oma Lucile Jackson and Uriah Louis Jackson. These were C. F. ‘ s siblings. On July 3, 1902, C. F. Jackson’s wife died of Typhoid Fever. Her parents name is Dodgen. Mrs Jackson leaves a husband and infant son (no daughter mentioned.) Her name was Eleanor Dodgen Jackson. Three weeks later, on July 25, 1902, his infant son Charles Jr. dies in the hospital where he was taken to be cared for. Jackson is now a Fireman for Western and Atlantic Railroad. The Fireman is the man shoveling coal into the engine, a very different job than a printer but probably paid more.
Jackson #3’s social status seemed less than #2. His wife’s name was Eleanor (DeEmma?) A daughter Nellie was not mentioned in the obituary. Children aren’t always mentioned at that time, particularly the girls. Or married off already. I had to discount him when I found out his father who died in the crash was only 40 years old making C. F. at most 25 years old. The man that married Emmie, I read somewhere was in his 40s, so this counts out Jackson #3.
He Lost his coat with an Oddfellows pin on it and offered a reward for its return. His address was 143 Hunnicutt St. That address turned up again in December 1905 in a ‘letters to Santa’ column when Jackson #3’s little girl, Oma Lucile Jackson’s letter, asking for all the nice things Santa used to bring, was published. And now there is an infant cousin in the house, Eleanor Rose Jackson. It’s heartbreaking, because the family is clearly not doing well now. The Oddfellows affiliation meant he was a member and was able to take advantage of their charity. Names and addresses were mentioned in the Santa letter, so sympathetic readers knew where to send gifts. So Jackson #4 IS #3. But not Emmie’s husband to be. (And Hunnicutt Street is adjacent to the Fowler Street property.)
In August of 1904, another Mrs. C. F. Jackson died. The husband was barely mentioned except for ‘she is survived by her husband. All funeral arrangements were handled by her parents, the Zachry’s. And once again no daughter is mentioned.
I can count out Jackson #5 because he was still married to his wife in February 1904.
In March of 1909. Mrs. C. F. Jackson (Eunice Jackson) was in court suing (petitioning) her absentee husband, C. F. Jackson #6, for divorce on the grounds of abandonment so that she may remarry. She claims he left her in June of 1904. He left her after 4 months of marriage. They married on Feb 2nd, 1904. The same date Emmie married C.F.Jackson. This made me pause and think how could this fit? The article was actually about two women asking for divorce for the same reason, abandonment, so they could have the right to re-marry. One got her divorce (Eunice) and the other did not.
If Jackson #6 were Jackson #1, as both Emmie and Eunice’s husband to be. As Jackson #1, he travelled the area for work. He was single and most likely staying in boarding houses or hotels often with a regular place to stay in Atlanta. Emmie ran a Boarding House (or small Hotel) out of 109 North Pryor St. Jackson #1 could have lived there. He may have even taken the role of enforcer for delinquent renters after Emmie’s son Sam left home. He could’ve been there when Emmie’s father, The Judge, from a distinguished family from Richmond and very intelligent passed away in January 1901. He could have been there when Emmie’s eldest daughter, Elisabeth, married Ira Sage, from a wealthy family, a few months later. He lost touch with Emmie as she moved two more times, to Lawrenceville, then Forsyth, then caught up with her in Milledgeville. Once he found Emmie in Milledgeville, he broke off his engagement to Eunice, and moved to the Hotel in Milledgeville. Already knowing Emmie, sweet-talked her into marrying him. And she did, believing he could be of great help running the Hotel and helping Norvell become a man. They married in a simple ceremony at her church in the morning and before the ink was dry, he found out she worked hard for her family and wasn’t wealthy at all and she found out all he cared about was money. He stole some money and ran off to Atlanta and eloped with Eunice, she thinking he was still single. This presents a reason why he was never mentioned again and not a force in Norvell’s life and not mentioned when Emmie re-rented the hotel. Norvell might not have even remembered him except for his mother’s name change.
Emmie, of course, would be very embarrassed by being tricked and pretended nothing was wrong, staying married on paper and living as Emmie Jackson now.
