Cummins Edward Jackson was a paternal uncle of Confederate

Confederate States Army

The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...

 General Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson

Stonewall Jackson

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 (1824-1863). He owned and operated a grist mill at Jackson's Mill

Jackson's Mill

Jackson's Mill was a grist mill in West Virginia . The center of the Jackson estate stood in the peninsula formed by the confluence of Freeman's Creek and the West Fork River...

, Virginia (now West Virginia).

Jackson was born at Jackson's Mill, the eldest son of Edward Jackson (1759–1828) and his second wife. He was 26 when his father died and he inherited the mill. Some of the family members claim he seized control and refused to share any of the estate; they sued to get their fair shares, but the case was never settled. Stonewall Jackson biographer James Robertson described Cummins as "unscrupulous and vindictive ... absurdly litigious", having a strong fondness for gambling, horse racing, and drinking, and he quotes an acquaintance calling Cummins a "rascal". In 1835 Cummins arbitrarily constructed a 6 feet (1.8 m) high dam stretching 150 feet (45.7 m) across the West Fork River, needing additional power, but he disregarded the needs of his neighbors downstream. They also sued him, but that apparently was unsuccessful because the dam still stands.

Into this environment, 6 year-old Thomas Jackson and his younger sister Laura Ann went to live with Cummins Jackson in 1830. Cummins's brother, Clarksburg

Clarksburg, West Virginia

Clarksburg is a city in and the county seat of Harrison County, West Virginia, United States, in the north-central region of the state. It is the principal city of the Clarksburg, WV Micropolitan Statistical Area...

 attorney Jonathan Jackson (1790–1826), had died of typhoid fever

Typhoid fever

Typhoid fever, also known as Typhoid, is a common worldwide bacterial disease, transmitted by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the feces of an infected person, which contain the bacterium Salmonella enterica, serovar Typhi...

. The children's mother, Julia Neale Jackson

Julia Neale Jackson

Julia Beckwith Jackson was the mother of Confederate General Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson.- Short and tragic life :...

 (1789–1831), died five years later, leaving her children orphaned. Although some biographies of Stonewall Jackson portray Cummins as a "father figure", this does not characterize the relationship adequately. The young boy called him "Uncle", but thought of him more as an elder brother, one whose morals would have a notable negative effect on him. The sole positive effects of Cummins's guardianship seem to have been the work ethic Thomas developed around the mill, and the equestrian skills he learned at the four-mile (6 km) racetrack Cummins built nearby, populated with a number of blooded horses.

Young Thomas lived there until in 1842, when he was appointed to the United States Military Academy

United States Military Academy

The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...

 at West Point, New York

West Point, New York

West Point is a federal military reservation established by President of the United States Thomas Jefferson in 1802. It is a census-designated place located in Town of Highlands in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 7,138 at the 2000 census...

, and he left Jackson's Mill. He later served in the U.S. Army, was an instructor at Virginia Military Institute

Virginia Military Institute

The Virginia Military Institute , located in Lexington, Virginia, is the oldest state-supported military college and one of six senior military colleges in the United States. Unlike any other military college in the United States—and in keeping with its founding principles—all VMI students are...

, and during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

, became the right hand of Confederate General Robert E. Lee

Robert E. Lee

Robert Edward Lee was a career military officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War....

 until he was killed during the war in the Battle of Chancellorsville

Battle of Chancellorsville

The Battle of Chancellorsville was a major battle of the American Civil War, and the principal engagement of the Chancellorsville Campaign. It was fought from April 30 to May 6, 1863, in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, near the village of Chancellorsville. Two related battles were fought nearby on...

 in 1863.

In 1844, as young Thomas was halfway through West Point, Cummins discovered a small vein of silver near his property. He began to counterfeit half-dollar coins of lead with a thin coat of silver. After several months a federal grand jury indicted him for forgery and 26 counts of counterfeiting. The forgery trial was delayed by the actions of the defense attorneys until 1848, when Cummins leaped out of a jailhouse window and escaped, traveling to California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 with one of his nephews and thirteen others to try his hand at prospecting during the gold rush

California Gold Rush

The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...

. Cummins did quite well for himself, striking it rich at a mine near Mount Shasta

Mount Shasta

Mount Shasta is located at the southern end of the Cascade Range in Siskiyou County, California and at is the second highest peak in the Cascades and the fifth highest in California...

. But he fell ill, either with pneumonia or typhoid fever, and suffered for almost a month before his death in Shasta County, California

Shasta County, California

Shasta County is a county located in the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The county occupies the northern reaches of the Sacramento Valley, with portions extending into the southern reaches of the Cascade Range. As of the 2010 census, the population was 177,223, up from 163,256...

. He is buried there in an unmarked grave. The nephew who accompanied him is said to have gambled away all of the gold profits and returned penniless to Virginia.