Thursday, September 29, 2011

 

News of Yore 1934: Chic Jackson Dies Suddenly

Chic Jackson, Cartoonist, Is Heart Victim

Creator of "Bean Family" Is Fatally Stricken When Leaving Office.



Indianapolis, June 3—(AP)—Chic Jackson, who created "The Bean Family," cartoon strip for the Indianapolis Star nineteen years ago, died suddenly today. He was 57 years old.

He was stricken with a heart attack a few feet from his office door as he left his office this afternoon, and died a few minutes later.

The activities of the "Beans" had spread in recent years to other middle western and eastern newspaper comic pages, but they remained a typically Hoosier family. One feature of the strip drew especial notice—the characters grew older as the years passed. "Woodrow Bean," a foundling on the Bean doorstep in 1914, now is a freshman in college.

Chic Jackson was born Dec. 31, 1876, in Muncie, Ind., where he attended school and was employed on the Muncie News when it was absorbed by the Muncie Star.

There he met Margaret Wagner of Springport, also employed on the newspaper, and they married on 1902. He was an illustrator and front page cartoonist.

Jackson and his bride went to Chicago, where he studied at the art institute, and then came to Indianapolis in 1907 to become artist on the Star. At first he did Sunday feature illustrating, later developing the Bean family.

Mrs. Jackson survives, with two sons, William Charles Jackson of Indianapolis, and Richard Wagner Jackson of South Bend. Two brothers are Dr. Frank Jackson and Warren Jackson, both of Muncie.

Funeral arrangements had not been complete tonight.


Kokomo Tribune (Indiana), June 4, 1934


[According to the 1880 U.S. Federal Census, Charles Bacon Jackson was the youngest of four sons born to William and Sarah, whose name was not recorded; her name was found in the 1870 census. The Jacksons lived in Muncie, Indiana. He and his father were recorded in the 1900 census; they resided at 1100 East Main Street in Muncie. Jackson married on September 17, 1902 (Indiana Marriage Collection, 1800-1941 at Ancestry.com). His father passed away on November 20, 1902 (Muncie County Health Office). In 1910, Jackson, his wife and two sons lived in Indianapolis at 924 Hamilton Avenue. His comic strip Roger Bean began in the Indianapolis Star on April 22, 1913. Jackson signed his World War I draft card on September 12, 1918; this document had his middle name. The family remained in Indianapolis at 3029 Broadway Avenue in the 1920 and 1930 censuses. Lastly, there was a Roger Bean Coffee advertised in the Indianapolis Star.]


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Comments:
Roger Bean was a much beloved strip in it's time, among the earliest of what we could call a proto-comic book featured a collection of his strips.
The Manchester N.H. Leader ran it for almost exactly twenty years, from June 1914 to June 1934.
When Jackson died they ran a cartoon tombstone at the top of the funnies page that day, memorializing him.
 
Hi, I'm working on a project for Beech Grove Cemetery where Chic Jackson is buried and I was wondering how to go about getting the copyrights to your photo. Please let me know if you can help!
 
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