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FREWSBURG, NY (WNY News Now) — Where would you have your eternal resting place be? Historical figure Robert H. Jackson chose to be laid to rest in a place he considered home, Frewsburg New York. Now a local high schooler honored the justice by donating a historical plaque to be placed at his grave site.
Jacob Sears, a senior at Frewsburg Central School, had spent the latter half of a year raising close to $1,400 dollars to fund a custom made historical marker to commemorate and honor the historical justice Robert H. Jackson.
“One of the big parts of our history class, we’ve talked about Robert H. Jackson, you know, main prosecutor of the Nuremburgh trials, and all of the supreme court trials that he’s done,“ explained Sears. “And he’s really a figure that I admire specifically, we’re on the mock trial team, and he’s a pretty interesting guy, and I just thought it would be really awesome for this town to have a way to honor him.”
This all spurred from an optional extra credit opportunity provided by his government class, in which he went above and beyond for the sake of history.
“I promise high grades for these kinds of things,“ explained teacher and county legislator Tom Nelson. “And I followed through on that, so I might have bumped his grade from 99.5 to 100. Anyway what he will remember years from now, when he comes to the cemetery he’ll say hey that’s me, I did that, I was a part of that, and I think that’s awesome.”
Robert H. Jackson is best known for his role prosecuting Nazi criminals during the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials in 1945. He was also a Supreme Court Justice.
“I think the school is doing its part to keep Jackson’s memory alive,“ explained Nelson. “We have an essay contest for eighth graders and eleventh graders, and I believe Jacob won the essay contest. Now we have a historic marker, we have scholarships in his name.”
In the end, the high schooler would like to see a younger generation be interested in history.
“History is cyclical,“ Said Sears. “We learn from the past, and learning from the past will help us with the future, and I think that your town’s history and where your town came from is really important in a young person’s life as they go through life and know where they came from.”
Sears plans to possibly attend the Naval academy or Westpoint College once he graduates from high school.
The plaque will be given to the cemetery association board to be properly displayed. They hope to have it erected before Memorial Day in May.
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