[3] The family moved to Guthrie in 1889, where his father worked as the town jailer and was elected justice of the peace.

[2][5] In 1910, he married his wife, Julia, and due to increasing segregation and racial animosity toward African-Americans in Guthrie the young couple moved to the Greenwood district in Tulsa.

He was a member of the International Order of Twelve Knights and Daughters of Tabor and served on the board of directors of the Colored Orphan Home for Tulsa.

[6] Former police commissioner and retired judge John Oliphant reported that Jackson was fatally shot in 1921 during the Tulsa race massacre when he "came walking toward me with his hands in the air" saying "here am I. I want to go with you", surrendering.

[7] The Victory of Greenwood, a historical project by Tulsa Star editor Timantha Norman, identifies James “Cowboy” Long as Jackson's killer citing John Oliphant's testimony on July 21, 1921, to the State Attorney General's office.