I added a name as a Jacobs ancestor to my family tree and came up with a connection with whom I may be a 4th to 5th cousin. We also share the correct amount of DNA for this to be possible. The question is, is it probable, regardless of the actual unknown ancestor’s name? By the way, I chose John L. Jacobs of Maryland; it may not be him but that’s beside the point at this moment.
As I stated in the previous two posts, there are two William Jacobs born in Kanawha County, West Virginia about 1840. I believe there are two and here are my reasons why:
- William Jacobs that married Mary E. McGraw in Fayette County (20 Feb 1859) gave his parents’ names as Harrison and Jane Jacobs as well as his birthplace as Kanawha County, his age being 19.
- There is indeed a Harrison Jacobs listed in the 1840 Kanawha County Census between the ages of 30 and 40 but he is the only one in the household.
- There is a marriage record of Samuel H. Jacobs to Mary Jones dated 30 Jan 1843 in Kanawha County.
- Either Mary Jane Jones was a second wife and helped raise young William from an infant; possibly Samuel Harrison Jacob’s first wife died and his son William (and any other siblings) were in the household of family members nearby. I’ve read that the kids were left to one of the mother’s sisters when she died.
- Or, Sam H and Mary Jane put off getting officially married for a few years and William truly was the offspring of Mary Jane Jones.
- This is the William H. Jacobs that I believe joined the Union Army in October 1864 and never returned to the Kanawha Valley. After his discharge in Wheeling, his pay – $100 – was credited to the congressional district in Pleasants County, not to the soldier himself.
- There was a William Jacobs born to Floyd J. Jacobs and Drusilla Light in Kanawha County. Floyd is also listed in the Kanawha County Census in 1840 and subsequent years. His marriage record to Drusilla is also found in that county in the archives. You’ll also find Floyd owned at least one slave – this is evidenced by the 1850 Slave Schedule.
- This is probably the William Jacobs that enlisted in the Confederate Army for three years, was captured in Mercer County, sent to Camp Chase, OH then to Vicksburg, MS as part of a prisoner exchange. This William Jacobs RETURNED to Kanawha County, however, and wrote a letter for payment of a horse dated 1863.
- I say this is the one that joined the CSA because his father owned at least one slave; William and his father Floyd were likely sympathetic to the South’s cause.
- This William Jacobs married Mary E. Adams, born in Gallia County, OH in Kanawha County in 1868 and is found in the 1870 Census for Kanawha. After that, these two seem to have dropped off the radar. However, widow Drusilla and several of the children are still living in Kanawha (Malden) until 1900.
One man did not fight on both sides of the Civil War.
That said, I made Samuel Harrison Jacobs and Floyd J. Jacobs brothers and assigned them as sons of John L. Jacobs born in Westminster Parish, Anne Arundel County, Maryland. John L. Jacobs is a Hypothesis, remember, not a carved-in-stone ancestor. Having done so, here are my Ancestry Thrulines:
The “cousin” on the Floyd J. Jacobs and Drusilla Light line shares with me 8 centimorgans on one segment making us 4th to 6th cousins. Not a lot but there it is. I don’t have any Spriggles or Spriegels or Lights in my tree so we are very likely related through the Jacobs line.
If you want to view the Census records, you’ll need to sign up for a free account at familysearch.org. I’m unable to link to census images here that would be large enough to read. ALL RECORDS that are available at familysearch.org are FREE, including the censuses. There are a LOT of others so get yourself an account. I’ve linked to the marriage records available for these couples (*note: I’ve been unable to locate the marriage of William and Mary E. McGraw using the wvculture.org/vrr/ database. I do have knowledge, however that it is there on microfilm).