The noted author
Alex Haley (1921–1992) was the grandson of Queen, the illegitimate and unacknowledged daughter of James "Jass" Jackson III (the son of a
James Jackson a friend, but not a relative, of
Andrew Jackson) and Easter, a slave he owned. Easter was the daughter of Captain Jack and Annie, who were enslaved by James Jackson II at the plantation
The Forks of Cypress. Easters position at the plantation was as a weaver, while her daughter Queen became a servant to her half-sisters. The novel recounts Queen's anguished early years as an enslaved girl, longing to know who her father was, and how it gradually dawned on her that he was her owner. Haleys mother Easter died sometime around 1860, and was buried in the
Forks of Cypress Cemetery. After the
American Civil War of 1861 to 1865 and the subsequent
abolition of
slavery, Queen was cast out. Jass Jackson would not acknowledge her as his daughter, afraid of compromising the inheritance of his legitimate children and goaded by his wife, who despised Queen. After many adventures, often unpleasant, she married a reasonably successful formerly enslaved man by the name of Alec Haley, and had one son with him (
Simon Haley). Alec and Queen each had a son from previous relationships. Simon Haley later attended
Lane College in
Jackson, Tennessee and earned his master's degree at Cornell University. He went on become Dean of Agriculture of
Alabama A&M University. He then met his wife, Bertha Palmer, and they gave Queen three grandchildren: George, who became a lawyer; Julius, who became an architect; and Alex, who became a writer. Alex Haley died before finishing
Queen, and it was completed by David Stevens. While Stevens benefited from the many boxes of research notes and a 700-page outline of the story left behind by Haley, he would later say that his writing was guided mainly by their many long conversations. ==Haley lineage==