{{Short description|Indiana Attorney General (1937–1940)}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = | honorific_suffix = | image = | alt = | caption = | office = 28th Indiana Attorney General | term_start = January 1, 1937 | term_end = June 1, 1940 | governor = Paul V. McNutt, M. Clifford Townsend | appointer = | predecessor = Philip Lutz, Jr. | successor = Samuel D. Jackson }}
'''Omer Stokes Jackson''' (September 1884{{snd}}June 1, 1940) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the twenty-eighth Indiana Attorney General from January 1, 1937, to June 1, 1940.<ref>{{cite web |title=Attorneys General of Indiana |url=https://www.in.gov/library/collections-and-services/reference/attorneys-general-of-indiana/ |website=Indiana State Library}}</ref><ref name="Valpo">{{cite news |title=Heart Attack is Fatal to O. S. Jackson |url=https://www.newspaperarchive.com/us/indiana/valparaiso/valparaiso-vidette-messenger/1940/06-03/ |agency=Valparaiso Vidette Newspaper |date=3 Jun 1940}}</ref>
==Biography== ===Early life and education=== Jackson was born in Hancock County, Indiana. His father was Stokes Jackson, a lawyer and former chairman of the Indiana Democratic Party.<ref name="Valpo"/>
Jackson graduated from high school in Greenfield. He attended Valparaiso University before entering Indiana University Bloomington, where he earned his legal degree from the Maurer School of Law.<ref name="Valpo"/>
Jackson practiced law with his father until the latter's death in 1916. Jackson also practiced law for over twenty years in Rushville as a partner of John B. Hinchman, a local judge who would later swear Jackson in as attorney general.<ref name="Valpo"/><ref name="Rush">{{cite news |title=Omer S. Jackson In Sudden Death |url=https://www.newspaperarchive.com/us/indiana/rushville/rushville-evening-daily-republican/1940/06-03/page-3/ |agency=Rushville Evening Daily Republican |date=3 Jun 1940}}</ref>
===Political career=== In 1911, State Attorney General Thomas M. Honan appointed Jackson to the office of second deputy AG. Honan's successor, Richard M. Milburn, retained Jackson, reappointing him to the same office.<ref>{{cite news |title=Attorney General Retains Jackson |url=https://newspapers.library.in.gov/?a=d&d=GR19141112.1.1&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN------- |agency=Greenfield Republican |date=12 Nov 1914}}</ref>
Throughout the 1930s, Jackson worked his way up the ranks of the Indiana Democratic Party. In 1930, he was elected Democratic chairman of Hancock County. In 1933, he was elected Democratic chairman of Indiana's 11th District. In 1934, Jackson was elected chairman of the party, leading the Democrats to several key victories in the state throughout the rest of the decade. As chairman, Jackson helped to establish the party's first "colored bureau" and was known throughout his life as a friend to Black Hoosiers. Jackson resigned as chairman in 1939, amid criticism from those in his party that he was holding too many offices at once—in addition to his position as chairman, Jackson was also serving as state attorney general and as a member of the state election board.<ref>{{cite news |title=Demos To Pick New Chairman |url=https://www.newspaperarchive.com/us/indiana/hammond/hammond-times/1939/03-28/page-45/ |agency=Hammond Times |date=28 Mar 1939}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=State Official Dies Suddenly |url=https://www.newspaperarchive.com/us/indiana/jeffersonville/jeffersonville-evening-news/1940/06-03/page-4/ |agency=Jeffersonville Evening News |date=3 Jun 1940}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Tribute Paid Jackson By Race Friends |url=https://www.newspaperarchive.com/us/indiana/indianapolis/indianapolis-recorder/1940/06-08/page-2/ |agency=Indianapolis Recorder |date=8 Jun 1940}}</ref><ref name="Valpo"/><ref name="Rush"/>
In January 1937, shortly before the end of his term, Governor Paul V. McNutt appointed Jackson to serve as Indiana Attorney General, succeeding Philip Lutz, Jr. Jackson was the first attorney general to be appointed since the passage of the 1933 State Governmental Reorganization Law, which turned state attorney general from an elected to an appointed office (appointed by the governor). Jackson served the bulk of his term in the administration of Democratic Governor M. Clifford Townsend. James P. Hughes, former Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court, served as Assistant Attorney General under Jackson.<ref name="Rush"/><ref name="Valpo"/><ref>{{cite news |title=Attorney General's Passing Regretted |url=https://www.newspaperarchive.com/us/indiana/greencastle/greencastle-daily-banner/1940/06-03/ |agency=Greencastle Daily Banner |date=3 Jun 1940}}</ref>
Jackson pushed Lieutenant Governor Henry F. Schricker to run for governor in the 1940 gubernatorial race. Schricker did run, and narrowly won the election.<ref>{{cite news |title=19 Republicans File, 53 Democrats in First Week. Few Candidates Filed for Major Offices |url=https://www.newspaperarchive.com/us/indiana/terre-haute/terre-haute-saturday-spectator/1940/03-16/page-6/ |agency=Terre Haute Saturday Spectator |date=16 Mar 1940}}</ref>
===Personal life and death=== Jackson was married to Ellis Rock Jackson. They had a daughter, Dorothy June Williams.<ref name="Rush"/>
In 1940, while traveling to his farm in Hancock County with his son-in-law, Jackson died suddenly of a heart attack, in the middle of his term. Governor Townsend appointed Samuel D. Jackson, former Allen County prosecutor, to succeed Jackson as attorney general.<ref name="Rush"/>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{s-bef|before=Philip Lutz, Jr.}} {{s-ttl|title=Indiana Attorney General|years=1937–1940}} {{s-aft|after=Samuel D. Jackson}} {{s-break}} {{s-end}} {{Indiana Attorneys General}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Omer}} Category:1884 births Category:1940 deaths Category:People from Greenfield, Indiana Category:Indiana Democrats Category:Indiana attorneys general Category:Valparaiso University alumni Category:Indiana University Maurer School of Law alumni Category:20th-century American people