BIOGRAPHY: Jacob was a quiet, industrious
young man and, naming him executor to her will, his mother Magdalena called him
her steady, trustworthy son. About 14 years old at his fathers death, he
assisted his mother on their plantation.
On reaching maturity he continued on
farming. A tax record in 1783 showed him owning 20 acres and a still. Not long
after this he was married to Mary Storm on Conewago Chapel by Fr. Pellentz S.J.
He acquired considerable acreage in Heidelberg Township in Sacred Heart Parish,
better known at that time as Conewago Chapel, whose history dates back to the
beginning of the Catholic church in America and is contemprary with St. Peters
in Baltimore. The church was made a minor Basilica, one of the few in the
United States. Jacob was Justice of the Peace for 12 years under Washington and
refused another term. He died Aug 15, 1822 at the age of sixty one. His wife,
Mary, survived him 21 years and died Jan 15, 1843. Their monuments are still
intact in Conewago Chapel Yard.