Jackson, David, 1747-1801

David Jackson (1747 – September 17, 1801) was an American apothecary and physician from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was a delegate for Pennsylvania to the Continental Congress in 1785.

Born in Newtown-Limavady, County Londonderry, Ireland, Jackson immigrated to the United States, settling in Chester County in the Colony of Pennsylvania and attending Nottingham Academy at West Nottingham Township and the College of Philadelphia (now the University of Pennsylvania), graduating in 1768 with a degree in medicine. Jackson then settled in Chester, Pennsylvania and practiced there before opening a practice in Philadelphia. In 1776, following the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, Jackson worked on behalf of the Continental Congress as a manager of a lottery held to raise funds for the Continental Army. He also served as paymaster for the Pennsylvania militia. He was forced to leave Philadelphia when British forces occupied the city in 1777. In 1779 he briefly served in the field with the militia as a surgeon and quartermaster. Afterwards he returned to Philadelphia to resume his medical practice and also open an apothecary shop.

After the war, Jackson was named as a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1785, and attended the session from April to November that year. Leaving public service, he also gave up his medical practice and concentrated on his pharmacy business. From 1789 to 1801 he served as a trustee of the University of the State of Pennsylvania, continuing through its merger into the University of Pennsylvania. Jackson died at his home in Oxford, Pennsylvania and is buried in the Oxford Cemetery in Chester County, Pennsylvania.