Jackson, Sheldon

▪ American clergyman

born May 18, 1834, Minaville, N.Y., U.S.

died May 2, 1909, Asheville, N.C.

      American Presbyterian (Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)) minister and educator, generally regarded as the foremost apostle of Presbyterianism in America.

      Jackson attended Union College and the Princeton Theological Seminary. From 1859 to 1869 he was a missionary in Wisconsin and Minnesota, organizing more than 20 churches. In 1869 he became superintendent of missions in a number of central and western states, eventually having supervision over half the area of the United States. After 1877 he was concerned chiefly with Alaska, where he introduced Siberian reindeer as a food resource for the Eskimos. He edited the Rocky Mountain Presbyterian (1872–82), the Presbyterian Home Missionary (1882–85), and the Alaskan missionary monthly North Star (1887–97).

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