W. Paul Jackson - Highway Engineer and Consultant

W. Paul Jackson, a resident of Tuscaloosa since 1943, died on September 8, 1996. He had Alzheimer's Disease. A native of Lamar County, AL, he was born on November 14, 1912, in the Shiloh Community, and graduated from Lamar County High School in Vernon, AL. He attended what is now the University of North Alabama, and the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. His father, Thomas D. Jackson, was a high school teacher, livestock trader and for many years the County Surveyor for Lamar County; his grandfather was John Evans Jackson, a Confederate veteran who was the son of Daniel Jackson, a Methodist minister. His mother, Martha Frances (Mattie) Woods Jackson, was the daughter of a noted Southern Baptist minister, Rev. William C. Woods. Paul Jackson was next to the youngest of the ten children of Thomas and Martha Frances Jackson.

The roots of Mr. Jackson's family in Alabama go back to the early days of the 19th century, before Alabama was a state. Several of his forebears were Tennessee Volunteers in the War of 1812, and moved into what is now Lamar County shortly afterwards.

Over a dozen of Mr. Jackson's family who are descended from John Evans Jackson, including his son and three nephews, are lawyers, and most graduated from the University of Alabama School of Law. In 1982, the family endowed the John Evans Jackson Scholarship at the School of Law, in recognition of the role which the law has played in the life of their family. One of their ancestors, Thomas Marjoribanks, Baron of Ratho, was a Writer to the Signet (Scottish lawyer) and as Lord Register headed the legal profession in Scotland in the 16th century. Lawyers in the family were numerous. Many others were Presbyterian ministers.

George Marjoribanks, ancestor of Mr. Jackson, fought as a Scottish Jacobite in the Rebellion of 1715, and as a consequence was transported to Virginia in 1716 as a prisoner after his capture at Preston, following the Battle of Sheriffmuir. He changed the spelling of his family name to Marchbanks, which is how Marjoribanks was and is pronounced by most who bear that name. Most of the Marchbankses in the Southern states are his descendants. His grandson, Burwell Marchbanks, moved to Alabama from Tennessee, along with other family members including Burwell's nephew Elijah Marchbanks, who was an Alabama State Senator and Representative (1838-42) for what is now Lamar County.

The Marjoribanks family is an ancient Border Scots family whose chief is recognized by the Lord Lyon, King of Arms of Scotland, but because it is small, it was not formally organized until 1989. Mr. Jackson and his son attended the first meeting of the Marjoribanks Family in Edinburgh, convened by the eighteenth hereditary chief, the late William L. Marjoribanks of that Ilk. Mr. Jackson' s son currently serves as elected Vice President of the Marjoribanks Family.

During his youth, Mr. Jackson learned the science of surveying from his father, and this led him to a career in highway engineering, first with Lamar County and then with the Alabama State Highway Department, where he retired after more than 34 years of service in 1976. He was an expert in materials engineering and designed the base under many county, state and Federal highways in northwest Alabama in counties that were a part of the old Third Highway Division. During that time, he pioneered the use of lime for stabilizing soils under roads. Following his retirement from the Highway Department, he was a consultant in such use during a 15 year period, primarily for SI Lime Company, now a part of Dravo Corporation. His consulting work included airfields and dams, in addition to parking lots and roads, and took him throughout the sunbelt and into Mexico.

Mr. Jackson was reared a Baptist but later joined the Methodist Church, and served for many years on the Administrative Board of Hargrove Memorial United Methodist Church, where he was an active member. He was a delegate to the North Alabama Annual Conference on a number of occasions, and was quite active in volunteer church work until his health deteriorated in 1991, at which time he became a resident of Heritage Health Care Center. In recognition of his past service, he was made a Life Member of the Administrative Board of Hargrove Memorial.

His wife of 47 years, the late Evelyn Goggans Jackson, died in 1982. He is survived by his son, William P. Jackson, Jr., and daughter-in-law, Barbara Seignious Jackson, of McLean, VA; three grandchildren, William P. Jackson, III, a student at the College of Charleston (SC), Jennifer Anne Jackson, also a student at the College of Charleston, and Susan Barrett Jackson, graduate student at Marymount University, Arlington, VA. Eight of his nine siblings predeceased him. Howard Jackson, formerly of Birmingham and now living in a retirement community near Pell City, AL, is his sole surviving brother.

Funeral services will be held on September 9, 1996, at Heritage Chapel, Tuscaloosa, AL, with interment in Tuscaloosa Memorial Park. Dr. Steven A. Screws will officiate, assisted by Rev. John Drawhorn. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the John Evans Jackson Scholarship Fund at the University of Alabama School of Law.