Benjamin Jackson (sailor)

Benjamin Jackson (January 2, 1835 – August 20, 1915) was a Canadian sailor and farmer who was a decorated veteran of the American Civil War. Raised in a small community of Black Nova Scotians, Jackson began his career as a commercial seaman at 16 years old and started a farm in his twenties.

During the American Civil War, Jackson served for one year in the Union Navy in the place of a drafted US citizen. For most of that year, he was deployed in the Union blockade of the Confederate coastline. As a gun captain aboard the USS Richmond, Jackson served in the Battle of Mobile Bay. He disarmed multiple naval mines and once picked up a live shell and threw it from the deck of the Richmond. Jackson likely earned an enlistment bounty, as well as prize money, by capturing multiple blockade runners. He developed bronchitis, suffered a serious hand injury, and eventually received a Civil War Campaign Medal for serving during that conflict.

After the war, he lived the rest of his life in Lockhartville, Nova Scotia. He retired from commercial sailing in 1875 but continued managing his farm of 11 hectares (27 acres) and selling fish, vegetables, and other goods. Jackson received a Civil War pension for more than 50 years, though he had to navigate the intricacies of the US Pension Office system to maintain and increase payments as he became eligible.

Jackson's funeral was described as "the largest seen in Lockhartville for many years". His grave remained unmarked until 2010, when a headstone was unveiled at an event attended by his great-great-granddaughter, Government of Nova Scotia officials, and American Civil War reenactors. As of 1999, one of the eight history markers on the Mathieu da Costa African Heritage Trail is dedicated to his story. Ben Jackson Road in Hantsport, Nova Scotia, is also named in his honour.