| Notes |
- WILLIAM JACOB(S), SR. (ABT 1743 - 1816)
&
ELIZABETH DROLLINGER (TROLLINGER) (1748 - 1833)
REVOLUTIONARY WAR SOLDIER
The birthplace of WILLIAM JACOB(S), SR. is not known at the present time. Some of his descendants believe he was born in the town of Eglwysilan in Glamorganshire in Wales and that his parents were William Jacob, who had been born there in 1717, and Elizabeth Thomas, The records indicated that their first son was William, christened on September 13, 1743. They also had two other sons, namely James christened on April 29, 1745, and Edward, christened on March 16, 1746. However, some others believe that he was born in Connecticut after his reported parents, William Jacob(s) and Elizabeth Thomas migrated to America and then moved on to New Jersey. A great-grandson, Albert G. Jacobs, wrote in 1927 that his great grandfather came to New York from Austria (date unknown) and worked in its shipyards for a while, and then moved to the "Juanty River" (probably the Juniata in central Pennsylvania) where he built small boats. Somewhat in support of this was a notice in the November 29, 1759, issue of the Maryland Gazette that reported as a runaway convict servant William Jacobs, a sailmaker of about age 30 who had been born in the West of England. He had been deported to the colonies to serve a seven-year sentence after been convicted of theft. Obviously, further research is needed to discover the true facts of WILLIAM SR.'S origin. While his birth year is believed to be about 1743, nothing is acurately known about his parents, the place and year of his birth or his activities during the years of his youth. During his early twenties, WILLIAM, SR. apparently spent some time exploring and living on the Southwestern Pennsylvania frontier. Records indicate that during 1761 he took possession of land there in Washington Township of Fayette County. It was situated on the east side of the Monongahela River at the mouth of Great Redstone Creek. This tract had previously been in the possession of the Ohio Land Company and it had built some supply storehouses upon it. However, when the company abandoned this 104-3/4 arce tract, WILLIAM, SR. took posssession and claimed it. He then proceeded to clear about 15 acres for cultivation. He also built a cabin and a corn crib there. But the Indians were a constant threat to him and, after numerous skirmishes with them, he was finally forced to retreat to a safer place sometime in 1762. Besides, just a year later the British government ordered all settlers out of the Ohio Valley and forbade settlements west of the Appalachian Mountiains. Also the Indian Chief Pontiac began to wage war on the frontier settlements. It was not until 1767 that frontiersman Daniel Boone made his first journey over the Appalachians into present-day Kentucky.That same year, the Mason and Dixon line was established as the boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland. WILLIAM, SR. did not abandon his claim to this land. In fact, on April 24, 1769, he made Application No. 3156 for a warrant to have it surveyed. But before the survey was completed, he conveyed his rights to the land to Prior Theobald and Lawrence Hannifon on June 21, 1769. After Hannifon conveyed his rights to Theobald on July 10, 1769, the survey of the land was surveyed completed on July 19, 1770. Prior Theobald held the land until April 5, 1776, when he deeded it to Jesse Martin. He named it "Martin's Folly." A few days later, on May 22, 1776, Martin conveyed the land by deed to SAMUEL JACKSON, WILLIAM SR.'S brother-in-law. They had married MARGARETHA and ELIZABETH DROLLINGER, respectively, who were daughters of GABRIEL DROLLINGER and ANNA MARGARETHA LOTTHOLTZ. After JACKSON paid the Pennsylvania Receiver General's Office the sum of 18 pounds and 16 shillings, he was granted a patent to this land on February 7, 1789. Prior to this, in 1784, SAMUEL JACKSON had also made application to purchase 240 acres of land abutting WILLIAM SR.'S tract that became known as "Martin's Folly." On August 20, 1785, he received a patent to the tract which he called "Mill Dam." These tracts later became the site of Fort Redstone and then present-day Brownsville, Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, WILLIAM, SR. appeared in Salem County in the Colony of New Jersey. It is not yet clear whether he had family there, lived there for some time or happened to be passing through. However, it is known that he married ELIZABETH DROLLINGER (TROLLINGER) there in 1765 or 1766. She had been born in Mannington Township of Salem County, New Jersey, in 1748, and she was the daughter of GABRIEL DROLLINGER and ANNA MARGARETHA LOTTHOLTZ, who had been born in Ellmendingen in Karlsruhe, Baden, Germany.
After their marriage, WILLIAM, SR. and ELIZABETH settled in Maurice River Township of adjacent Cumberland County in the Colony of West Jersey, where they bought 150 acres of land and took up farming. However, no deeds have been located covering any land purchases by WILLIAM while living in New Jersey. Such deeds were not always recorded. Also, Cumberland County land deed records do not begin until 1785. While living there they were blessed with three children. The first, William, Jr., was born in 1768 or 1769 and he was followed by Sarah in 1772 or 1773 and by Henry in 1776. Colonial New Jersey Tax Rolls records show that WILLIAM, SR. paid property taxes on his 150 acres of land in Maurice River Township that were due in September 1773. At the time, the number of his horses and cattle totaled seven. Actually, at the time Maurice River Township had 13,270 acres, 726 cattle and horses, one single man who kept a horse, 34 other single men, 11-1/2 vessels, two merchants, two grist mills, seven sawmills, and 18 householders. None of the residents had servants or slaves. During these years, the relations between the American colonies and the British mother country gradually deteriorated. In 1765 the British parliament passed the Stamp Act levying taxes on the American colonists for the first time. It also passed the Quartering Act forcing the colonists to provide quarters and supplies for British troops. In retaliation, the colonists held a Stamp Act Congress in New York to protest the British's taxation without representation. The British were forced to repeal the Stamp Act when Americans refused to import taxed goods. After other such legal skirmishes, the British passed the Tea Act, which led to the "Sons of Liberty," dressed as Indians, dumping tea from East India Company ships into Boston Harbor. Then in 1774, the representatives of twelve colonies met at the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia to protest the British measures and they called for a boycott on the importing of all British goods. All of these difficulties caused great discension among the Americans colonists. Not everyone supported a break with the mother country. It has been said that before open hostilites began about one-third of them supported the cause of the separationists, about one-third supported the British cause and the rest were indifferent to the outcome. The "defectors" - those who supported Great Britain, were called "Tories" or "Loyalists" and they were prevalent throughout New Jersey. After the Revolutionary War began with the Battles of Lexington and Concord, Congress adopted a resolution on October 9, 1775, to raise the first Continental troops of the "Jersey Line." It authorized two battalions of eight companies each. Each company was to be commanded by a captain and consist of a lieutenant, an ensign, four sergeants, four corporals and 64 privates. The privates were to enlist for one year, at $5 per month, and were to be allowed, instead of bounty, "a felt hat, a pair of yarn stockings, and a pair of shoes." But they were to furnish their own arms. These battalions were first designated the Eastern and Western, and then subsequently as the First and Second Battalions. A family legend says WILLIAM JACOBS, SR. served in the Revolutionary War. At the present time, evidence exists that a "WILLIAM JACOBS" enlisted from Maurice River Township of Cumberland County, New Jersey. It is presently believed that he served in one of these two initial New Jersey battalions. On November 10, 1775, six companies of these battalions all that were then full, were sent to do garrison duty in a fort "on the highlands of the Hudson." On November 27, of that same year, the balance of the two battalions went into barracks at New York.The battalions were officially mustered to active duty in December 1775. Then on January 10, 1776, three companies of the First Battalion were sent to Queens County, New York to help arrest Tories. The rest of the battalion was stationed at Perth Amboy and Elizabethtown, New Jersey, until they left to join an expedition to Canada. They participated in the operations before Quebec, and then went into barracks at Ticonderoga, where they remained until November 5, 1776, when they were sent home to New Jersey for discharge. Meanwhile, on January 8, 1776, the Second Battallion was ordered to Albany, New York, to report to General Schuyler. Later, a Third Battalion was authorized by Congress on January 10, 1776. Four of its companies were first stationed at Staten Island, and the other four at Perth Amboy. Then all eight proceeded on to New York City. When they were mustered in on May 2 by the muster-master-general, General George Washington pronounced them "the flower of all the North American forces." Soon afterwards, this battalion departed by sloops for Albany, New York. Jacobs family legends also says that WILLIAM JACOBS, SR. helped to provide for widows and orphans during the Revolutionary War. It is not yet clear how he did this, but it is believed that in his service with the "Jersey Line" would provide him an opportunity to help gather food and fuel to help meet their needs as the war spread. In fact, the British took New York City in 1776 and the fighting spread southward into New Jersey. During the Battle of Trenton on December 26, 1776, however, Washington successfully crossed the Delaware and caught the British and their Hessian soldiers by surprise.
When WILLIAM, SR. was mustered out, he and ELIZABETH decided to move to a safer place. She had become pregnant again and the Revolutionary War continued to rage around them. Finally they and her parents reluctantly pulled up stakes and moved to a safer area in East Pennsboro Township in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, which lies between Carlisle and Harrisburg, and abuts the west bank of the Susquehanna River. There, WILLIAM and ELIZABETH again took up farming to support their growing family. In fact, seven more children were to be born to them there. They were: JACOB, born in 1779; GABRIEL, born in 1781; Elizabeth and her twin, Mary, born in 1783; Eli, born in 1785; Matthias, born in 1787; and Catherine, born in 1791. Records show WILLIAM paid taxes on his possessions in East Pennsboro Township of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, in 1778. This was the first property tax imposed by Pennsylvania as a state after the war. In 1778, WILLIAM was listed as having no taxable land or slaves. But he was taxed 1 pound, 8 shillings and 3 pence for having two horses and one cattle. WILLIAM, SR. apparently moved westward to West Pennsboro Township of Cumberland County, for the records (see below) indicate that he had served there in the Cumberland County Militia in 1780. However tax records then indicate he moved back eastward to Middleton Township, near Carlisle, Pennsylvania. There In 1781, he had 1 horse and 2 cattle, but paid no taxes on them. Likewise, in 1782 he had 1 horse and 3 cows, but paid no taxes on them.
In fact, ELIZABETH'S parents, GABRIEL AND ANNA MARGARETHA DROLLINGER, (actually this is their son married to Philisare Reach GLD) also moved to East Pensboro Township from New Jersey about this same time. In 1778, GABRIEL was taxed 21 pounds and 9 shillings on his 45 acres of land, 3 horses and 3 cows. He, too, had no slaves. During the early part of this period, Washington's Army was hard pressed as it wintered in 1777 at Valley Forge, outside of Philadelphia, about 70 miles to the east. It may have been during this period of time that the family legend of WILLIAM helping to provide for the widows and the children of the soldiers may have been based on fact.
My third cousin, Mark Jacobs, Jr., a retired college professor now from Santa Maria, California, spent many years tracing our Jacobs ancestory. In about 1980, he visited "Aunt" Flossie Jacobs Frye in Charleroi, Pennsylvania, who was a descendant of Matthias Jacobs, a son of WILLIAM JACOBS, SR.. Mark recalled that in his conversation with her she said that her father had told her, seventy years before, something like: "William Jacobs and his family left New Jersey about 1776 or 1777 and and moved to Pennsylvania. He was a civilian scout and forager for Washington's Army at Valley Forge and was almost captured a couple of times." So far nothing has been found to positively prove this hearsay evidence. However, it is recorded on pages 183-185 of Volume VI, Fifth Series, of the Pennsylvania Archives that WILLIAM JACOBS had been enrolled in the 7th Class of the 1st Company of the Second Batallion of the Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, Militia in 1780 under Captain William Moore. Interestingly, his township of residence was listed as West Pennsboro. However, the roll call of September 20. 1780, indicates that he had moved prior to this date (see above). Even so, this is the first positive indication that WILLIAM, SR. may have helped to supply the Continental Army at Valley Forge and it tends to prove the story of his service during the Revolutionary War that has spread along all of the various branches of his descendants.
WILLIAM, SR. may have returned to Southwestern Pennsylvania in search of land suitable for supporting his growing family. A WILLIAM JACOB, SR. is listed on the 1784 Assessment Roll of Cumberland Township of Washington County as a single freeman. Interestingly, a SAMUEL JACKSON is also listed because he owned taxable property there. This might be WILLIAM JACOBS, SR.'S brother-in-law. After farming in Pennsylvania for nearly 10 years, the families of WILLIAM JACOBS, SR. and GABRIEL DROLLINGER (TROLLINGER), SR. decided to move to take advantage of available low-cost state-owned lands in Western Maryland. In 1787 or 1788, they moved to George's Creek Hundred in Washington County, Maryland, which was west of Fort Cumberland and which was later separated into Allegany County in 1789. Fort Cumberland had been built in about 1746 by the Ohio Land Company on land that was then supposed to belong to Virginia. Then in 1788, Maryland became the seventh state to ratify the U. S. Constitution. Even by 1750, this area was still virgin country, virtually untouched by civilization. It was the land of the Delaware Indians, and at the time a fierce struggle was going on for its possession between the whites and the aborinines. Perhaps the first white man to permanently penetrate the wilds of its mountains was an Englishman named Evart. He built a cabin atop a mountain about seven miles northwest of the present town of Cumberland, Maryland. At the time, the trail of the Indians from the Atlantic Ocean to western waters passed along the valley of the Potomac River and crossed Dan's Mountain some eight miles south of his cabin. There he lived like a hermit frontiersman for the rest of his life.
In 1762, the Maryland Gazette called attention to the great advantages that would come from making the Potomac River passible for small craft Fort Cumberland, at Will's Creek, to the Great Falls, which would facilitate the commerce of both Maryland and Virginia. The necessary money to do so was soon raised. At the close of the French and Indian War, settlement in this area rapidly increased until the Revolutionary War, when immigration practically ceased. But after peace came in 1783, new settlers flocked in from other Maryland counties, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Europe. To encourage the settlement of Western Maryland, in 1777 the Maryland General Assembly approved granting a bounty of 50 acres to every Maryland recruit who would serve three years or for the duration in the newly-formed Amercan army. By an 1781 act, these lands were selected to be west of Fort Cumberland. Then in 1787, Colonel Francis Deakins was appointed to survey these lands into so-called military lots. He later reported that 4,165 lots of 50 acres each had been laid out, that 323 heads of families had already settled on 636 of the lots and that they were already being improved upon and cultivated. However, not all of these heads of famililes were Maryland veterans. In J. Thomas Scarf's "History of Western Maryland," published in 1882,
he lists the following as among the "settlers located in 1788 upon the lands lying in Maryland west of Fort Cumberland." : AARON DUCKWORTH, WILLIAM JACOBS, SAMUEL JACKSON, and JACOB TRULLINGER (sic) (TROLLINGER), all forefathers of mine. By 1788, the State of Maryland gave these settlers the option to either prove their service with Maryland troops during the Revolutionary Was or purchase their lots for twelve and a half shillings per acre over a three-year period. WILLIAM, SR. apparently decided to purchase his lot on Dan's Mountain overlooking George's Creek Valley. The 1803 title to his land reads: "Mr. William Jacob his patent, 50 acres Lot No. 3795. The State of Maryland vz: Know ye That Whereas there was laid out and surveyed pursuiant to a resolution of the General Assembly passed at April session seventeen hundred and eighty seven amongst the Lots westward of Fort Cumberland in Allegany County one distinguished by the number 3795 and containing fifty acres, and Whereas the said lot was by the Commissioner appointed in virtue of an Act of the Assembly passed at November session seventeen hundred ninety one and sold to a certain William Jacob and it appearing by a receipt of the Treasurer of the western shore that the purchase money for said lot hath been fully paid according to Law, The State of Maryland doth therefore hereby grant unto him the said William Jacob the said Lot No. 3795 lying in Allegany County aforesaid, Beginning at a bounded Linn marked 3839 standing forth forty three degrees east one hundred and four perches from the beginning of Lot 3793 and running north seventy four degrees west one hundred perches then south sixteen degees west fifty five perches south seventy four degrees east one hundred and twelve perches then by a straight line to the beginning containing fifty acres: according to the rec ord returned to and now remaining in the Land Office together with all rights, profits, benefits and privileges thereunto belonging To Have and To Hold the same unto him the said William Jacobs his heirs and assigns forever. Given under the Great Seal of the State of Maryland this fourteenth day of October eighteen hundred and three - Witness The Honorable Alexander Contee Hanfon Esquire, Chancellor. John F Mercer (The Great Seal) A. C. Hanfon, Chanc."
WILLIAM, SR. named this Lot "The King's Place." GABRIEL DROLLINGER obtained two nearby 50-acre parcels, Military Lots 3731 and 3791. These acres were on the northwestern slope of Dan's Mountain, a mile or two from the present villages of Lonaconing and Barton, Maryland. At the time, some 200 families were residing in George's Creek Hundred. The nearest town was Cumberland, Maryland, the county seat, some 14 odd miles to the northeast.
Dan's Mountain was named for Daniel Cresap, Sr. His father, Colonel Thomas Cresap, a pioneer trader and Indian translator and fighter, had been born in Skipton, England, in about 1702. He arrived in the province of Maryland in about 1717 and soon became one of the most prominent men on the Appalacian frontier. He married Hannah Johnson in about 1727. Called the "English Colonel," he was one of the first white settlers the area now occupied by Allegany County, Maryland. He was an organizing member and agent of the Ohio Land Company, which was promoting expansion westward of the Allegheny Mountains and selling land to those who ventured to do so. In 1734, he served as a captain in the Maryland militia. Soon after Fort Cumberland was built by the Ohio Land Company in 1749, he established a fort-like settlement to the west on the north fork of the Potomac River, which he called "Skipton." It was initially occupied by his and a few other pioneering families. Later it would become known as Oldtown. The settlement thrived despite the threat of the local Indians. By 1756, Fort Cumberland, also called "Mount Pleasant," had ten carriage-type cannons and a garrison of four hundred soldiers under the command of a Captain Dagworthy. After a raid by Delaware Indians on Oldtown, young Daniel Cresap pursued one of them along a trail on the side of a mountain. When they came to a clearing in the dense woods, the Indian whirled, raised his rifle and fired. At that same instant, Daniel fired at the Indian. The ball of the Indian's rifle went through Daniel's lungs, and his went through the Indian's abdomen. When Colonel Cresap rushed to the scene, the Indian begged to be killed, and the colonel obliged. Daniel died before he could be carried off the mountain. As a result, ever since it has been called "Dan's Mountain" in his honor.
Other names that would become commonplace in the life of WILLIAM JACOBS, SR. and his descendants were "George's Creek Hundred" and "George's Creek Valley." The "Hundred" had come from the English's division of a land area. The "George's Creek" was named after a Delaware Indian called "Indian George." His father, named Nemacolin, had left him as a boy with the Cresaps when the tribe moved westward. He spent the rest of his life with them. However, for years he had his own hunting camp in the valley between Dan's Mountain and Savage Mountain to the northwest. It was traversed by a stream that rose near present-day Frostburg and emptied into the Potomac River at Westernport, Maryland. After Indian George's death, it became known as "George's Creek" and its valley as "George's Creek Valley."
Before any farming could be undertaken on these virgin lands, they had to be cleared of oak and maple trees and srub brush. It was a slow, back-breaking task, as WILLIAM'S only source of power was an ox. But he was a hardworking and resourceful farmer by now and devoted to providing food and shelter for his family in this new frontier. Shelter was the first real necessity and WILLIAM began building a log cabin from the timber he cut from his land. Since there were no sawmills in the area, he had to hew the logs into shape with an axe. He also used stone gathered in the area to fashion a hearth and a chimney. Since glass was very expensive and virtually unavailable, he used oiled paper for windows. The floor of the cabin was of hand-hewn boards covered with area rugs made of deer hides and sheep pelts. The beds were hand-made with matresses stuffed with corn husks and covered with blankets that ELIZABETH had woven by hand. In addition, WILLIAM built a crude shelter for the farm animals. Meanwhile, Elizabeth cared for the children and made clothes for them. She also preserved fruits and meats by drying and smoking them and storing others in a root celler that WILLIAM had dug. Meanwhile, their tenth and last child, Catherine, was born to them in the cabin in 1791 with the aid of a neighbor midwife. WILLIAM was soon raising sheep, cattle and hogs on his farm, as well as corn, rye, wheat and hay to feed his animals during the winter months. He kept some of his corn to make his own whiskey. He took other corn into the village of Cumberland and exchanged it for staples, goods and other necessities of life. The making of one's own whiskey was common practice in those days. In fact, a bill of sale recorded in 1778 mentions that "Jonas Lorett sold his cows, sheep, horses and household goods, plus two 70-gallon copper stills, to WILLIAM for 60 pounds." Also in the records is the fact the WILLIAM paid taxes on Lot No. 3795 from 1804 through 1812. Religion played an important part in the lives of the members of the Jacobs and Trollinger families in George's Creek Hundred. They all attended the services of Methodist circuit-riding preacher William Shaw, who attended his flock of faithfuls throughout the George's Creek Valley area. Initially, there was no church building, so the services were held at the homes of various members. Reverend Shaw admonished them to obey the Ten Commandments and follow the teachings of Jesus. He sternly preached, with fire and brimstone, that the worst sins were debauchery, gambling and fighting. Sinners, he warned, would go to Hell. But those who believed in God would have everlasting life.
Reverend William Shaw officiated at the marriages of many of the Jacobs children, including that of William, Jr. to Sarah Chess in 1790; Sarah to Jonas Lorett in 1793; JACOB to MARY SPENCER in 1802; GABRIEL to MARGARET JACKSON in 1805; Mathias to Margaret Potter in 1809; and Catherine to John Miller in 1809; plus Susannah, the daughter of William, Jr., to Cavalier Poland in 1805.There were no schools in George's Creek Hundred when the Jacobs and Trollinger families arrived so none of their children were able to receive a formal education. Instead, they learned to read write and cipher at home under their parents' tutelege. It was not until 1810 that some of their grandchildren were able to attend a private school that Reverend William Shaw opened in his log Methodist Church. As the chilren of WILLIAM and ELIZABETH reached adulthood, they gradually married and left the family farm. Wiliam, Jr. and his wife, Sarah, moved northwestward to Green County, Pennsylvania. Henry and Eli went to Fayette County, Pennsylvania. By the time WILLIAM, Sr. died on his farm in George's Creek Hundred sometime before July 16, 1816, only his daughter, Elizabeth, remained at the homestead. In fact, after helping to care for her aging mother, she remained a spinster after ELIZABETH died on the farm in 1833.
Both WILLIAM, SR. and ELIZABETH were apparently buried on the family farm, as was a common custom of the day in the frontier areas. Some descendants claim that they were buried there under a giant oak tree. But no trace of their graves have ever been found. WILLIAM, SR. died intestate, without leaving a will. As a result, his son, Jacob, made application to the Orphans Court of Allegany County on July 16, 1816, to be appointed administrator of his father's estate. In response, the court named him administrator of his father's goods, chattles and personal property on August 13, 1816. The court also named James Theiner, Sr. and Robert Ross as appraisers of the estate. In April 1817, they set its value at $130.34. Among the items of interest from a monetary viewpoint were a stack of hay and one of rye valued at $9.50; wheat in the barn at $3.50; one mare at $12; two hand saws at $1.25; six Delf china plates at $1.25; four Delf china bowls at $0.75, one cupboard at $4.00; and one bed and bedding at $10.00. Rather than sell the family farm, the heirs of WILLIAM, SR. decided to retain joint title to it. They selected their brother, Matthias, to manage it and distribute the profits from it among them. At the time, each child of WILLIAM, SR. was entitled to one-ninth of Lot No. 3795. This was because no one knew where his son, Henry, was. It is said that prior to his father's death, Henry had a severe disagreement with him and as a result left for "parts unknown." At the time of the death of WILLIAM, SR., it was assume that Henry was also deceased and the estate was divided among the remaining nine children. Quite a few years later, William, Jr. and his wife, Sarah assigned their one-ninth share in Lot No. 3795 to Matthias on March 22, 1837. Then Eli sold his one-ninth share in the lot to Matthias for $28.00 on February 12, 1842. Next, GABRIEL and his wife, MARGARET, sold their one-ninth share for $25.00 on February 1, 1843. Matthias also purchased the one-ninth rights of Catherine Jacobs and her husband, John Miller, on May 13, 1843. Finally, he purchased the rights of the following children of Sarah Jacobs Lorett, who had deceased: Jonas, John, Samuel, William, Sarah, and John Candeffs, the husband of deceased Susan Lorett. When Matthias finally sold the family farm to William Shaw, Jr., the son of Reverend William Shaw, for $252.00 on December 29, 1847, the deed contained the following interesting clause: "It is understood by the said parties hereto that as there is some doubts about or whether a small piece of the above Lot No. 3795 is enclosed by some other enclosure, and if so the said Matthias Jacobs is not nor to be accountable to said William Shaw for any of the land of said lot that may be lost or taken off by the same being enclosed twenty years." This provision of the deed probably refers to a burial plot on the farm that had been set aside by WILLIAM, SR. and ELIZABETH. However, in the fall of 1810 coal was discovered in George's Creek Valley. Up to that time, George's Creek had flowed peacefully between Dan's and Savage mountains and eventually emptied in the Potomac River at Westernport. While the creek had moderate floods almost every year, the one in November 1810 ravished the lowlands along it and stripped away most of the productive top soil. In the process, it lay bare a vein of fine quality coal on the Barton property, which could be easily removed with a mattox. But with the tillable top soil gone, many of the families in the lowlands began to move away, including some of the children of WILLIAM, SR. and ELIZABETH. This discovery of good coal led to the opening of the Eckert Mines on the land of William, Jr. Soon, eastern capitalists became interested in the area and the Lonaconing Iron Works was built on the homestead of William, Jr. As a result, these mining operations led to the founding of the village of Lonaconing a few miles from the the Jacobs farm in 1837. This also led to the building of a railroad to carry the coal from the mines to Cumberland and other cities farther east. A few years later, coal was discovered up on the slopes of Dan's Mountain near the old Jacobs farm. As a result, William Shaw, Jr. sold Lot No. 3795 to the Phoenix Big Vein Coal Company for a handsome profit in 1854. It is now believed that subsequent strip coal mining operations there probably destroyed the little-marked graves of WILLIAM, SR. and ELIZABETH.
The children of WILLIAM JACOBS, SR. and ELIZABETH TROLLINGER soon spread to many other parts of the frontier of the expanding nation. They and their offspring added their own contributions to help make it a land of hope, opportunity and plenty for those who came after them from other shores to seek its freedom and to enjoy its blessings.
MY PEDIGREE:
WILLIAM JACOBS, SR. m ELIZABETH DROLLINGER (TROLLINGER) > GABRIEL JACOBS
m MARGARET JACKSON > AHIMAAZ JACOBS m EMILY TROLLINGER > JULIUS CICERO
JACOBS m HANNAH MIRIAM JOHNSON > JAMES MADISON HARRIS JACOBS m RUTH ANN
VANTILBURG > JAMES WILBUR JACOBS m BETTY JEAN STAMBAUGH.
REFERENCES:
1. Ronald V. Jackson; "New Jersey Tax Lists, 1772-1822, Vol. 4".
2. "Ratables, Maurice River Township, Cumberland County (New Jersey),
September 1773"; State of New Jersey, Public Record Office.
3. "Enlistees from New Jersey in the Revolutionary War"; page 61.
4. "Transcript of Taxables, East Pennsboro Township, Cumberland County
(Pennsylvania), 1778-1782".
5. Pennsylvania Archives; Fifth Series; Vol. V1; page 183-185;
"Muster Rolls Relating to the Associators and Militia of the County of
Cumberland (a); Harrisburg Publishing Company; Harrisburg,
Pennsylvania; 1906.
6. "Assessment Roll, Cumberland Township, Washington County,
Pennsylvania, For Year 1784".
7. Cumberland County (Pennsylvania) Historical Society. See 26 February
1994 letter to James W. Jacobs.
8. J. Thomas Scharf; "History of Western Maryland, Vol II", Louis H.
Everts; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; 1882.
9. William Jacobs' Patent to Lot No. 3795; 14 October 1803; K#S, page
30; Maryland State Archives.
10. Register of Wills, Orphans Court Proceedings, William Jacobs; Book A,
Page 184, 1816; Maryland State Archives.
11. William Jacobs; Inventory of Estate, 15 October 1816 and 24 April
1817; MSA CR 39, 629; Maryland State Archives.
12. Margaret D, Culper, Historian, Allegany County Chapter, Daughters of
the American Revolution; Letter to Mark Jacobs, Jr. July 17, 1982.
13. Cecil Montgomery; "William and Elizabeth (Trollinger) Jacobs";
unpublished manuscript; November 1968.
14. Mark Jacobs, Jr.; "Lineage of the Jacobs Family"; unpublished
manuscript; circa 1990.
15. Mark Jacobs, Jr.; " My G G G Grandfather"; unpublished manuscript;
circa 1990.
16. Mark Jacobs, Jr.; "The Ten Children of William Jacobs, Sr.";
unpublished manuscript; circa 1990.
17. Allegany County, Maryland, Deed Index To Deeds "J", pages 232-235.
18. Allegany County, Maryland, tax Records; Vol II, page 88.
James Wilbur Jacobs
http://www.digitalarchives.state.pa.us/archive.asp?view=ArchiveItems&ArchiveID=13&FL=J&FID=501557&LID=501656
Jacobs, Wm PVT Cumberland 2nd Bn 1st Co 7th Class Sep 20, 1780
William Jacobs in the New Jersey, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1643-1890
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Name: William Jacobs
State: NJ
County: Cumberland County
Township: Maurice River Township
Year: 1773
Record Type: September Tax List August Tax List
Page: 001
Database: NJ Tax Lists Index 1772-1822
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1743 - Bef 1816 (< 73 years)
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