Key Facts

Snapshot:	blacksmith; died young (around age 34)
Parents:	80Washington Geiger 81Catherine Tillman
Born:	6 December 1866 Georgia, perhaps Tattnall County
Died:	conflicting information, but probably 12 October 1901 Bulloch County, Georgia
Buried:	Excelsior Baptist Church cemetery, Candler County, Georgia Coordinates: N32.31621 W81.96452

40Jackson Geiger was born on 6 December 18661 in Georgia2,3 to parents 80Washington L. Geiger and 81Catherine Tillman.2,4 80Washington was a Baptist preacher who moved around southeast Georgia quite often, but in May 1867 (when 40Jackson was still an infant) the family lived in Tattnall County, Georgia,5 so 40Jackson may have been born there.

The 1870 and 1880 censuses show 40Jackson with his family:2

1870: 40Jackson's family in in militia district 391 (map), Laurens County, Georgia. Full page.2

1880: 40Jackson's family in militia district 45 (map), Bulloch County, Georgia. Full pages: 1, 2.3

40Jackson married 41Piety Davis on 15 August 1889.6

1889: 40Jackson's and 41Piety Davis' marriage certificate. Full page.6

In 1890 40Jackson lived in militia district 1221 (map), Montgomery County, Georgia. He owned $600 of town property, $40 of furniture, $15 of jewelry, $23 of livestock, and $15 of tools.7

In 1897 40Jackson accused someone of stealing his timber. His father-in-law 82Thomas Davis testified that he and 40Jackson had been drifting timber down the Oconee River, but an oar broke among other raft misfortunes; that 82Thomas was seriously hurt; that they couldn't get to the timber to the intended point; and that when they came back the next day to move the timber, someone had taken it. 82Thomas found the timber at a nearby lumber-yard, identified it from private marks they'd made on the timber before departing, and was told that S. B. Browning had brought that timber in. Court documents show that 40Jackson must have hired his brother Judson Beach Geiger as his attorney for the case.8

40Jackson died near Statesboro on 12 October 1901, but there are peculiarities with the evidence.

Problem: Resolved When did 40Jackson die? According to 40Jackson's tombstone, he died 12 November 1900, which was a Monday.1 This date seems to be incorrect for reasons explained below. The obituary of "Mr. John L. Geiger," published in The Statesboro News on Friday, 18 October 1901, provides some useful descriptions of the deceased:9   "was buried Sunday morning at Excelsior, where his mother was laid to rest several years ago."   "a son of W. L. Geiger"   "He has a brother, J. B. Geiger a leading lawyer"   "died suddenly at Parrish on saturday night last," which would be Saturday, 12 October. Although the obituary names the deceased "John," I'm convinced that this was an error, and that the obituary actually pertains to 40Jackson:   (1) There is no "John L. Geiger" tombstone in Excelsior Baptist Church cemetery. The grave immediately next to 81Catherine's (the mother mentioned in the obituary9) is 40Jackson's.1   (2) 80Washington did have a son named John, but he died years after this obituary was published.4,10

40Jackson's obituary is below.9 It mentions that some people suspected 40Jackson had been poisoned. However, during an interview in 2011, 40Jackson's granddaughter Retha Mae Bennett (daughter of Oscar Geiger) mentioned, "[...] my momma talked about that. She said, 'I couldn, couldn't understand it. We saw him one Sunday on one week, and he seemed healthy, and the next week, he, let's see, he had, she said he had had a pneumonia or something, they told her, and had died. [...] Hm. I just, I don't know [whether he may have been poisoned]. She probably would've, ah, she probably would've told me if she'd a known, 'cause she wasn't that fond of Granny Piety." 11

40Jackson's obituary9

40Jackson is buried very close to his parents in the Excelsior Baptist Church cemetery in Candler County, Georgia at coordinates N32.31621 W81.96452. A photo of his tombstone is below.7

Sources Cited:

1: Tombstone of Jackson L. Geiger, Excelsior Baptist Church Cemetery, Candler County, Georgia at coordinates N32.31621 W81.96452. Photograph taken by 1Bryant Knight, 12 May 2009.

2: 1870 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Militia District 391, Laurens County, Georgia. Page 334, dwelling 393, family 393, Washington Gigger household. NARA microfilm publication M593, roll 161. Ancestry.com, accessed 2009. The same record is also available on FamilySearch: <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-65R5-XJ?i=10&cc=1438024>.

3: 1880 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Militia district 45, Bulloch County, Georgia. Enumeration district 11, pages 519C and 519D, dwelling 15, family 16, Washington Geiger household. NARA microfilm publication T9, roll 135. Ancestry.com, accessed 21 November 2010. The same record is also available on FamilySearch: <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9YB7-9MSD?i=2&cc=1417683 (page 519C) and <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9YB7-1VY?i=3&cc=1417683> (page 519D).

4: Lucian Lamar Knight, A Standard History of Georgia and Georgians, Volume VI (Lewis Publishing Company, 1917), pages 2902-3. Although it lacks source citations, this profile of 40Jackson's brother Judson Beach Geiger was published while Judson was still alive, and Judson almost certainly contributed much of the information. Among other interesting facts, it names parents "Rev. Washington Leonard and Katherine C. (Tillman) Geiger" and briefly describes Judson's siblings, including "[40]Jackson L."

5: Georgia's 1867-1868 Voter Registration Oath Books. Volume 16 (Book 3 for Tattnall, Liberty, and McIntosh counties), page 184, entry 56, W L Geiger. Ancestry.com ("Georgia, U.S., Returns of Qualified Voters and Reconstruction Oath Books, 1867-1869" / Oath Book / Tattnall / 2 / image 182 of 403), accessed May 2012. The corresponding microfilm at the Georgia Archives is microfilm 296/18.

6: Montgomery County, Georgia. Marriages book B (1883-1893), page 143, marriage of Jack Geiger and Piety Davis. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GBZX-JC4?i=239&cc=1927197&cat=334570>, accessed 16 October 2021.

7: Montgomery County, Georgia. Tax digest for 1890, section for militia district 1221, entry for Jackson L. Geiger. Ancestry.com ("Georgia, U.S., Property Tax Digests, 1793-1892" / Montgomery / 1890 / images 7 and 8 of 134), accessed 16 October 2021.

8: Montgomery County, Georgia. Superior Court, record of writs, book 8 (1897-1898), page 189 et seq. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3H3-WCN?view=fullText&keywords=Geiger&groupId=TH-909-88295-27516-50>.

9: "J. L. Geiger Dead," The Statesboro News (Statesboro, Georgia), 18 October 1901, page 5

10: Tad Evans, Montgomery County, Georgia Newspaper Clippings, Volume II, 1906-1919 (published by the author, 1994), page 93. The relevant portion reads, "Three of [80Washington Geiger's] sons [...] [including] John Geiger of Cordele were among those to assemble around [Washington Geiger's] deathbed."

11: Interview with Retha Mae Bennett (daughter of Oscar Geiger, brother of 20Joseph Preston Geiger), 5 November 2011