Shoeless Joe Jackson - Early Life

Early Life

Jackson was born in Pickens County, South Carolina, the oldest son in the family. His father George was a sharecropper. He moved the family to Pelzer, South Carolina, while Jackson was still a baby. A few years afterwards the family moved to a company town called Brandon Mill, on the outskirts of Greenville, South Carolina. An attack of measles almost killed him when he was 10. He was in bed for two months, paralyzed while he was nursed back to health by his mother.

Starting at the age of 6 or 7, Jackson worked in one of the town's textile mills as a "linthead," a derogatory name for a mill hand. Family finances required Joe to take 12-hour shifts in the mill, and since education at the time was a luxury the Jackson family couldn't afford, Jackson was uneducated. His lack of education ultimately became an issue throughout Jackson's life and even affected the value of his memorabilia in the collectibles market. Because Jackson was illiterate, he often had his wife sign his signature. Consequently, anything actually autographed by Jackson himself brings a premium when sold, including one autograph which was sold for $23,500 in 1990.

In 1900, when he was 13 years old, his mother was approached by one of the owners of the Brandon Mill and he started to play for the mill's baseball team. He was the youngest player on the team. He was paid $2.50 to play on Saturdays. He was originally placed as a pitcher, but one day he accidentally broke another player's arm with a fastball. No one wanted to bat against him so the manager of the team placed him in the outfield. His hitting ability made him a celebrity around town. Around that time he was given a baseball bat which he named Black Betsy. He was compared to Champ Osteen, another player from the mills who made it to the Majors. He moved from mill team to mill team in search of better pay, even playing semi-professional baseball by 1905.