| Notes |
Cephas Jacobs, the eleventh child of GABRIEL JACOBS andMARGARET
JACKSON, was born on the slopes of Dan's Mountain in AlleganyCounty,
Maryland, on January 8, 1826. He grew to manhood on hisparent's
farm there, receiving his education in the area's one-roomschool house
and his religious instructions in the nearby Methodist Churchunder the
guidance of Reverend William Shaw.
Little is known of Cephas' activities as a young adult.However, it is
known that he met, fell in love with and married Margaret AnneRavenscroft
on April 10, 1851, probably in the George's Creek Valley area ofAllegany
County. Her parents were Abner Ravenscroft and Nancy Corbus of
Hampshire County, Virginia (now West Virginia). She was born inGeorge's
Creek Valley of Allegany County, Maryland on April 10, 1831.
Four children were born to Cephas and Margaret Anne, includingThomas
Perry in 1852 who became a lawyer and served as a judge in theU. S.
District Court and later served as a delegate to the Republican
National Convention in 1884. He also was a regent of theUniversity of
West Virginia and a mayor of New Martinsville, West Virginia.William,
their second son, was born in 1854 and was a printer by trade.Their
son, James G., was born on July 21, 1858 and died that sameyear. A
daughter, Margaret Virginia, was born in 1860 and marriedReverend George
Kelly. Their last child, Elmer Forrest, was born in 1866 andbecame an
architect.
Not long after his marriage to Margaret Anne, Cephas moved hisfamily
to Preston County, Virginia (now West Virginia), in 1853, wherehe
purchased a grist mill, a saw mill and a tannery on Bird'sCreek. In
1869, he moved to Monongalia County, West Virginia, where hepurchased a
farm on the west side of the Monongahela River, oppositeMorgantown, and
was successfully engaged in agriculture there until 1891. Oneof his
reasons for moving to this area was so he could put his threeboys through
West Virginia University. Then in Julu,1892, he moved intoMorgantown,
West Virginia, where he built a fine home on Foundry Street.
A family tragedy occured when their daughter Margaret Virginia
(Jennie) died at the age of 35 in about 1895. As a result,Cephas and
Margaret took her three children, Lulu, Edna and Chauncey Kelly,to raise.
Cephas was a Republican and was elected by his party to twoterms as
a justice of the peace in the Grant District of town. He wasalso very
active in civic affairs, and became a member of the Morgan LodgeNo. 4
of the Free and Accepted Masons. He was also a member of theBoard of
Stewards of the Methodist Episcopal Church, one of theorganizers and the
president of the First National Building and Loan Association of
Charleston, West Virginia, and a director of the Second NationalBank of
Morgantown.
Cephas passed away in Morgantown, West Virginia, on February 2,1903.
Margaret died there on September 13, 1914. Both were buried inthe Oak
Creek Cemetery in Morgantown.
REFERENCES:
1. West Virginia And Its People; Miller and Maxwell; LewisHistorical
Publishing Company; New York, NY; 1913
|
1826 - 1903 (77 years)
