Most people who know the name Katherine Jackson know her as the mother of one of the most famous entertainers in history. Fewer know the name of her father — the man whose Alabama roots and journey northward helped shape the world Katherine raised her children in.
His name was Prince Albert Screws. He was not a performer or a public figure. His connection to fame is entirely through his family. But his story offers real context for understanding where Katherine Jackson came from, and by extension, where the Jackson family itself began.
This article covers who Prince Albert Screws was, his relationship to Katherine and Michael Jackson, the surname variation between Screws and Scruse, his life in Alabama and Indiana, and why most of what we know about him comes from genealogy records rather than biographical sources.
Who Prince Albert Screws Was
Prince Albert Screws was the father of Kattie B. Screws, who later became known as Katherine Esther Jackson. That relationship makes him the maternal grandfather of Michael Jackson and his siblings.
The family connection is straightforward: Prince Albert Screws → Katherine Jackson → Michael Jackson. Three generations. That chain is what ties his name to one of the most recognized families in entertainment history.
It is worth being clear about what he was not. He was not a celebrity. He was not involved in the Jackson family’s music career. He is relevant because of who his daughter became and who his grandchildren became — nothing more, nothing less.
The Screws and Scruse Surname Question
One of the first things people notice when searching for Prince Albert is that his name appears two different ways. Some records and family trees list him as Screws. Others list him as Scruse. WikiTree, one of the more detailed genealogy sources covering his life, lists him as “Prince Albert (Screws) Scruse,” which reflects both names in use at different points.
Several genealogy accounts suggest the family surname shifted toward Scruse around the mid-1930s. However, the exact reason for that change has not been confirmed by a single authoritative document. It may have been a deliberate choice, an informal adaptation, or a clerical variation that gradually stuck.
Name spelling changes and informal shifts were not unusual in historical records, particularly for Black families during this era. Census takers, local officials, and church records did not always record names consistently.
If you are searching genealogy databases for Prince Albert or his relatives, it is worth trying both spellings — Screws and Scruse — to find the most relevant records.
His Alabama Origins and Early Life
Available genealogy records give Prince Albert’s birth date as October 16, 1907, in Alabama. The specific location varies depending on the source. Barbour County, Russell County, and the community of Jernigan each appear in different records.
These differences likely reflect how records were compiled rather than genuine contradictions. County boundaries, local community names, and the way clerks recorded information could all produce slightly different location details for the same person.
He is generally identified as the son of Prince Screws Jr. and Julia Bell Jordan. Some family histories trace earlier generations of the Screws line to formerly enslaved Alabama cotton workers who later became tenant farmers. However, that deeper ancestry appears mainly in secondary genealogy narratives rather than independently verified primary sources, so it should be treated with appropriate caution.
It is also important not to confuse Prince Albert with earlier figures named Prince Screws who appear in some family histories. They are related but distinct individuals, and mixing up the generations leads to inaccurate information.
Marriage, Family, and the Move to Indiana
Prince Albert married Martha “Mattie” Upshaw. Together, they had daughters that included Kattie — who would later become Katherine Jackson — and Hattie Mae, according to genealogy records and fan-maintained family histories.
At some point during the 1930s, the family moved from Alabama to the Gary and East Chicago, Indiana, area. This fits the broader pattern of the Great Migration, a period during which large numbers of Black families left the rural South for industrial cities in the Midwest. They were looking for steadier work, better wages, and improved living conditions.
Gary, Indiana, was one of the destinations that drew many Southern families during this period. It was an industrial city with steel mills and railroad employment — the kind of work that many migrants sought when they arrived in the Midwest.
A genealogy record also reports that Prince Albert registered for the Selective Service draft in 1940 while living in East Chicago. That detail helps confirm both his Indiana residence and his approximate age at the time. However, draft registration alone does not confirm that he served in World War II, and sources do not clearly establish that he did.
Work and Daily Life
Available family-history sources describe Prince Albert as a railroad worker. Some accounts also mention cotton farming during his earlier years in Alabama, which would have been consistent with the rural Southern economy of that era.
Beyond those broad descriptions, the details of his working life are not well documented in publicly available sources. He was a working man who provided for his family during a time when that required moving across the country and taking whatever steady employment was available.
His story is not unusual for his generation. Many Black men from Alabama followed a similar path — farmwork in the South, then factory or railroad work in the industrial Midwest. What makes his story stand out is simply who his descendants became.
Later Life, Death, and Burial
Sources identify Prince Albert’s death as January 21, 1997, in Indiana, at approximately age 89. Online records place his burial at Oak Hill Cemetery in Gary, Indiana. Some secondary pages give slightly different location details, so those specifics should be read with some caution.
If the reported dates are accurate, he lived long enough to see his daughter Katherine raise her family in Gary and witness the extraordinary global fame that her children — Michael most of all — achieved. He died at an age that suggests he was in relatively good health through much of his later life, though nothing in the available public record describes his final years in detail.
Why Most Information Comes from Genealogy Records
Prince Albert Screws was not a public figure, so there are no interviews, profile pieces, or published biographies about him. What exists comes from census records, draft registration cards, death records, cemetery listings, WikiTree entries, and fan-maintained family histories.
That means the available information has varying degrees of reliability. A draft card or death record carries more weight than a fan-site family tree. When sources conflict — on a birth location, a date, or a name spelling — it usually reflects the limits of available records rather than a deeper mystery.
For anyone researching the Jackson family’s background, resources like GrowBusinessPoint and genealogy platforms can serve as useful starting points, but primary documents — census entries, civil records, cemetery records — remain the strongest foundation for tracing family history accurately.
It is also worth being careful about overclaiming. Some online pages present detailed multigenerational Screws family histories with confident specificity. Not all of those claims are supported by verifiable primary documents, and it is easy for unsourced details to spread from one family tree to another without anyone checking the original records.
His Place in the Jackson Family Story
Prince Albert Screws matters to the Jackson family story because he is part of what came before the fame. His move from Alabama to Indiana brought his family into the industrial Midwest at a time when that region was drawing ambitious, hardworking people from across the South.
His daughter Kattie grew up in that environment, married Joseph Jackson, and raised a family in Gary, Indiana. That family eventually became the Jackson 5, and one of those children — Michael — became one of the most famous musicians the world has ever seen.
None of that happened because of Prince Albert directly. But the migration he made, the stability he provided, and the family he built in Indiana all form part of the foundation that made what followed possible.
He was a quiet part of a loud story. And sometimes, that is exactly what a family needs.
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