So I bought a subscription to Fold3.com and hunted for William R Jacobs who I thought was a Confederate soldier. Nope. His name was William H. Jacobs, the H perhaps for “Harrison” like his father. He enlisted at Charleston, now the capital of West Virginia, on October 12, 1864, for the term of one year. He was described as being 24 years old, 5′ 3″ tall, dark hair, and brown eyes. He was born in Kanawha County. He served as a Private in Co. K, 7th Regiment of the WV Cavalry. From what I can gather from the documents, he was either paid and mustered out in either Pleasants County or Wheeling in 1865.
I don’t think he returned home to Kanawha or Fayette County to his wife, Mary E McGraw, or the two children once his tour of duty ended. As a matter of fact, I can’t find one iota of information about this individual. At least, none that is obvious.
More about him later as I continue to research.