The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-12
KIRK JACKSON
From the Montgomery Advertiser.

news on the front page of the Adver. tiser Saturday mornlng--"Kirk Jack son Dead in Birmingham" His old friends here In Montgomery, where he had spent nearly all of his useful and active life, had never as- sociated illness, much les death, with a man of MT. Jaekson's mental and physical activity.
 There were some who were sur prised at Mir. Jaeksons age-5s. He had looked so much younger than that. But those who remembered his Ions career in public life, re- called that he had come to Mont gomery as early as 1SS3-nearly 40 years ago-lto become secretary Of the old Alabama railroad commission. a job for full-grewn man. He was native of Alabama, born in Flor ence, and of an old established fam fly which like so many other south ern families. had felt the heavy losses entailed by the war. As youth the duty of making his own way in the world devolved upon him, and fe went about it in very capable an,l energetic way. Before he was 30 he had been secretary of the Alabama railroad commi sson and private sec retary to Gov. Thomas ". seay.
 His unique record in the public service will probably never be equaled. For one thing. he served for 15 years as secretary to the gov ernor of Alabama, four years with Governor Seay, four years with Gov ernor Jones and seven years with Governor Jelks. Secretaries to the governor come and go, even as gov ernors come and go, and it is alto gether unlikely that another man vii serve three governors and serve for 15 years in that office. Many Ala bama political leaders familiar with Mir. Jackson's work in the governors $ office have said. He is the ideal governors secretary" Mir. Jackson also filled the office of secretary os state of Alabama for four years and in that office as in every othei one he ever held, he displayed abil- ity, diplomacy and eaergy.
 He could, undoubtedly, had he 60 chosen, gone on holding public office. but he did not believe that he should Ia ;,, n service, and he told his friends that the rewards from public service were not enough to justify a mans lifelong service in office holding He voluntarily retired to enter prl- vate business, where the financial re- turns were more in harmony with the efforts and ability which a msh put into his work. But for that matter, he had been associated with several business enterprises fn Montgomery while he was still at the capitol. In his retirement he be- came vice president of the Montgom- cry Light and Water Power company and vice president of the Exchnanse National bank. In 1917 he accepted the tempting offer to become vice president of the American Trust and Savings bank of Birmingham, and his final years were spent in that city.
 Kirk Jack song undoubtedly knew more men of affairs than any other one man in the state. He began to come into contact with them as ear ly as 1883 and, until the day of hls death, he was meeting, mingling and doing business with the men who count in politics, in business and in finance. He was gifted in making and in retaining friends. His ability was perhaps most pronounced in his understanding of human nature-'n automatically meeting and guiding other men, In this ability he had no equal of his own in Alabama. lie was the repository of more political secrets than any man in the state, and vast store of the political his tory of Alabama passed when he died It is regrettable that his act i've, busy life left him no time for writing his memoirs of his time n Alabama public affairs