JACKSON, William, soldier, born in Cumberland, England, 9 March, 1759; died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 17 December, 1828. He was left an orphan, and brought at an early age to Charleston, South Carolina, where He received a good education. He was appointed a lieutenant in the 1st South Carolina regiment in June, 1775, served as aide to General Benjamin Lincoln in the fight at Stono in June, 1779, was engaged in the repulse at Savannah, and taken prisoner at Charleston in May, 1780. In 1781 He acted as secretary to Colonel John Laurens, who was special envoy to France, and he subsequently served as aide-de-camp to General Washington, with the rank of major, in 1782-'3 he was assistant secretary of war under General Lincoln. After a visit to Europe he practised law in Philadelphia. He was secretary to the convention that framed the United States constitution in 1787, and took private notes of the debates and proceedings, which are preserved by his descendants. During President Washington's first administration he was his aide and private secretary. He next spent two years in Europe, and upon his return was appointed surveyor of the port of Philadelphia in 1796. This office he held until he was removed by President Jefferson in 1801, after which he began the publication of a daily newspaper in Philadelphia, called the "Political and Commercial Register," which was continued till 1815. From 1800 till his death he was secretary of the Society of the Cincinnati. In 1820 he became a solicitor of Revolutionary pensions.