During the Great Vermont Flood on November 2, 1927, Jackson's car stalled after he hit a deep hole while attempting to drive through the rising Potash Brook near his home at Nelson and Tremont Streets in Barre. According to a witness, Jackson's hat and glasses were knocked off, and he appeared dazed. He began walking towards his house, and water rushing fast enough to cut a channel across Nelson Street (then a dirt road) carried him away. Those nearby attempted unsuccessfully to save him, as did a Vermont National Guard detachment. He drowned, and the next day his body was recovered from the Potash approximately a mile from where he was last seen.