Descendants said he had 5 fingers and a thumb, apparently a geneticdef ect that passed to at least one child, Joseph.
Residences & events:
Vermilion Co, IL. He followed his father and siblings there .
12/16/1835 He was already a county resident when he purchased 40acres a t S36 T22N R12W for $50.
6/6/1836 He added another 40 acres of public domain land to hisholdin gs for $50, this plot located at S22 T22n R11W.
1840 Vermilion Co, IL. The census that year listed those living inh is house as: 1 male under 5, 1 at 5-10, Jacob was 40-50, 1 femaleunde r 5, 1 at 5-10, and 1 was 20-30. Two doors down was brotherWilliam wi th other siblings down the road.
1843 Miller Twp, Scotland Co, MO was the date of arrival per hisobitu ary.
1850 Miller Twp, Scotland Co, MO, was where the census taker nextfoun d him, the date of his arrival is unknown. He was 60 years old,a farm er with property valued at $800/300. Wife Sarah was 46 and thechildre n in the house were William and Eliza, 21, Catherine, 18,George, 15, T homas, 12, Louisa, 9, Manda, 3, and Abram, 2. Next doorneighbors were J ames Kight and Jesse Wamack (Womack).
1880 Same residence. In the census that year he was 80 years old ands till farming. Wife, Sarah was 66 and daughter, Eliza, 30, was stillat h ome. Two doors down was son George.
Some relatives say his birth date was actually 12/15/1798, the datepos ted is from his obituray, which besides giving this date, alsosays he w as 91 yrs, 3 mo, and 4 days old. He told the 1880 censustaker he was b orn in OH.
Thomas Gundy mentioned in his diary on 7/4/1887 that he "went tocelebr ation at Crawford Station with Brother Jacob in his 89th yearof age. I w as in my 76th year."
His obituary said he died of the la grippe and old age.
It further states that "he was the oldest person in the county at thet ime of his demise, and was regarded by all his neighbors as anhonest, q uiet and unobtrusive citizen; and a kind, indulgent fatherand husband. "
