"This quiet community of East Attleboro' were thrown into an unusual state of excitement on the evening of Tuesday, Jan. 16th, by the finding of the dead body of a colored man near the rail-road track in that village. On investigation it proved to be the body of John H. Jackson, a discharged soldier of the Fifth Massachusetts Cavalry. Born a slave, in Maryland, he was made free by the civil war that clothed our land in mourning, and fought with our own state men. That he took the cars at Mansfield, on the eve of the 15th of January, and having no money to pay his fare, was told he would be arrested at the station, he soon left the cars and was seen no more until found as above stated. These facts suggested the following lines."--Caption

"January 15, 1866.--John H. Jackson jumped from steamboat train near Attleborough station, and was killed."--Cf. Returns of the railroad corporations in Massachusetts for the year 1866 (Boston: Wright and Potter, 1867)