As
I get more memorabilia from my mom, and most recently from a kind, long lost
relation in Maine,
I’m starting to learn more about my history and family. We all have similar stories. We all have history. It provides us an
insight to who we are today. Web
technology allows me to share mine with those who may have an interest.
Rich
Jackson
My paternal grandfather Frank Jackson died when I was five and my grandmother Gertrude remarried Ollie
(O.D.) Hamlin when I was 7. He is
the only grandfather I really remember and I always called him the “Judge”,
because he was just that. My
grandmother’s maiden name was Cole and her grandfather Rector
E. Cole was the 4th dentist to practice in Oakland.
He was very active with the Board of Education and became its first
president. He has a street in East
Oakland and school in West
Oakland named after him. My
middle name is “Cole”, the “C” of RCJ.
A Jackson Furniture recap:
Jackson Furniture was
located in downtown Oakland
for 76 years. In 1960 Jackson’s was the largest
furniture merchant west of the Rockies. It was
established in 1889 by Henry Kennedy Jackson who
settled here from Jefferson,
Maine. The Federal
Building now sits on the footprint of Jackson’s. In 1964 Jackson’s had store locations In Berkeley, Walnut
Creek, Hayward, Oakland (2), San Francisco (design showroom), and 2 locations
within Takashimaya in Japan. We also had
stores in Sacramento and Vallejo for many years. In 1965 Jackson’s got into a
financial crunch and the bank pulled the plug.
My dad held on to Pacifica Designs (the
S.F. showroom and Japan
locations). Many employees owned Jackson’s stock and my
dad bought it all back at face value.
From the Oakland Heritage
Alliance
Jackson’s gift to Berkeley fire
victims
My dad and his dad at
the Claremont CC
My Great Grandfather's
Obituary #1
My Great
Grandfather's Obituary #2
My
Grandfather’s Obituary
My Grandfather’s Picture
w/ my Grandmother
The
Judge with my Grandmother
My dad with a good friend of the
“Judge”
The House in which I grew up
A historical perspective of
Oakland published in the Sunday Oakland Tribune June 18, 1916 (28 meg file)
“Pacifica”, a Chinese Junk my dad
had made in Hong Kong in 1960 and moored at Jack London Square
“Double Life” from the SF
Examiner circa 1958
Full page ad from
the November 22, 1963 Oakland Tribune with John Wheatman
(the day Kennedy was shot)
Half page ad from the
November 22, 1963 Oakland Tribune advertising a Motorola TV
My Dad’s “Recollections”
and Pacifica Designs
