Born in Livonia, New York, he was a school teacher and principal in New York state.[1] In 1849, he moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and was in the produce and railroad businesses. He served on the Milwaukee Common Council and was the president. He also served on the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors.[2]
In the railroad business, he was a friend and business partner of Byron Kilbourn, and was implicated in the scandal in which Kilbourn was accused of bribing Wisconsin legislators to obtain land grants for railroad construction.[1]
During the 1867 legislative session, while his limbs were paralyzed and he could not walk, he actively participated in senate business as long as possible. He returned to his home in Milwaukee a few days before his death there on March 3, 1867.[4][2]
^'Memoirs of Milwaukee County,' Jerome Watrous, Western Historic Association, 1909, Biographical Sketch of Jackson Hadley, pg. 149
^Tuttle, Charles R. An Illustrated History of the State of Wisconsin: Being a Complete Civil, Political, and Military History of the State, from Its First Exploration Down to 1875 : Including a Cyclopaedia of Legislation During the Administration of Each Governor, from the Organization of the Territorial Government Down to Governor Taylor : with Historical and Descriptive Sketches of Each County in the State Separately, Embracing Interesting Narratives of Pioneer Life, Including an Account of the Commercial, Agricultural and Educational Growth of Wisconsin Madison: B. B. Russell & Co., 1875; p. 605]