Henry Jacobs: A War of 1812 Veteran Ancestor?

View of the Camp of Col Laight's Regiment of Militia
from the New York Public Library's Digital Collection

Back in January 2017, I made an accidental discovery about a man whom I believe is my ancestor. 

I was doing some research in old, out-of-copyright county histories for Tioga County, New York at the Internet Archive, searching for any and all of my many family lines who lived there in the second half of the nineteenth century, including my Strong, Curtis, Jacobs, Lane, Mead, Wright, Clark, Rockwell, and Partridge lines.

In the 1907 history, Owego: Some account of the early settlement of the Village in Tioga County, N.Y.... by LeRoy Wilson Kingman, I found a chapter of the military history of the village from the American Revolution through 1850. At the end of the chapter, it said that in March 1867, the Owego Gazette published a list of the survivors of the War of 1812 then living in Tioga County, with their ages. Henry Jacobs, age 83, was listed among them.1

My 4th-great-grandfather, Henry Jacobs, fits this bill. He was born about 1786 in Westchester County, New York,2 so he would have been more or less the right age in March of 1867. He resided in the Town of Spencer, Tioga County, New York when the 1810 Federal Census was taken,³ and was in the Town of Candor in 1820,⁴ so it was likely he was in New York during the war. 

I have looked at the pension records available for War of 1812 Veterans and their widows at Fold3. The only one for a man named Henry Jacobs was a soldier who died 29 June 1861 in Morristown, Pennsylvania.5 My Henry Jacobs lived until 11 November 18766 and died presumably in the Town of Candor, where he was last enumerated in the 1875 New York State Census with his daughter and son-in-law, Esther and James Cortwright.7 Pensions for veterans of this war were not offered until 1871,8 and if his daughter's family was able to support and care for him, there would have been no reason to apply for a pension.

A little digging into this to see if I can find some solid evidence that my Henry is the same man mentioned in the county history is warranted. If true, this would be my fifth identified ancestor who was a veteran of the War of 1812.

Sources:

    1. LeRoy Wilson Kingman, Owego: Some account of the early settlement of the village in Tioga County, N.Y., called Ah-wa-ga by the Indians, which name was corrupted by gradual evolution into Owago, Owego, Owegy and finally Owego (Owego, New York: Owego Gazette Office, 1907), pp. 391-2; imaged, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/owegosomeaccount00king/ : accessed 7 January 2017).

    2. 1855 census, Tioga County, New York, population schedule, Town of Candor ED 2, p. 5, line 29, Henry Jacobs; imaged, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7181/ : accessed 5 August 2016); citing Tioga County Clerk's Office, Owego.

    3. 1810 U.S. census, Tioga County, New York, population schedule, Town of Spencer, p. 85 (stamped), line 20, Henry Jacobs; imaged, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7613/ : accessed 18 June 2016.

    4. 1820 U.S. census, Tioga County, New York, population schedule, Town of Candor, p. 38, line 22, Henry Jacobs; imaged, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7734/ : accessed 18 June 2016.

    5. "U.S., War of 1812 Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application Files, 1812-1815," database with images, Fold3.com (https://www.fold3.com/image/314331865/jacobs-henry-page-20-us-war-of-1812-pension-files-1812-1815 : accessed 3 September 2024) imaged untitled document: Henry Jacobs, Capt. John Huston's Co., Pa. Mil.; citing Case Files of Pension and Bounty-Land Applications Based on Service in the War of 1812; Record Group 15: Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs (Washington, D.C.: National Archives).

    6. Daughters of the American Revolution, Beulah Patterson Brown Chapter, Tioga County, New York, cemetery records of the towns of Berkshire, Candor, Newark Valley, Owego, and Richford (New York: New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, 1928), p. 114; imaged, FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS7S-S9S7-W : accessed 11 September 2024).

    7. 1875 census, Tioga County, New York, population schedule, Town of Candor ED 2, p. 18, line 44, Henry Jacobs; imaged, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7250/ : accessed 7 April 2014); citing Tioga County Clerk's Office, Owego.

    8. Stuart L. Butler, "Genealogical Records of the War of 1812," Prologue Magazine (Winter 1991, Vol. 23, No. 4); online article, Archives.gov (https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1991/winter/war-of-1812.html : accessed 11 September 2024).

My Top 8 Brick Wall Ancestors - Mom's Side

Image courtesy of GenealogyInTime Magazine www.genealogyintime.com

Last week, I posted My Top 10 Brick Walls - Dad's Side. This week, I was going to post the top ten brick walls from my mom's side, but I could only find eight. Mom is three-quarters Dutch-Frisian, and there are amazingly good resources from the Netherlands online. She is one-quarter English, with  many well-researched New England Puritan and Pilgrim lines. I've posted seven brick walls from her ancestry, and one from her step-father's. And I won't complain that I don't have a full set of ten brick walls!

Do YOU have the answers to my brick walls?

1. When did Trijntje Gerrits "Katherine" (DOLSTRA) VALK immigrate to the United States? The 1900 Federal Census says 1888 and I find her in Grand Rapids, Kent Co., Michigan in 1889, but can't find her on passenger lists. In 1880, she was living in Westernijkerk, Ferwerderadeel, Friesland, the Netherlands.

2. Was my ancestor, Berber Sjoerds DeJONG (1858 - 1934), the same individual known as Berber Tjeerds de JONG (b. 1856), daughter of Tjeerd Thijzes de JONG and Jitske Douwes SOEPBOER of Groningen and Friesland, the Netherlands? My research plan is listed in a document file here.

3. When did Wijbren Joukes WIERSMA of Wonseradeel, Friesland, the Netherlands immigrate to the United States? I have a range of 1882 to 1884, but have yet to find him on a passenger list.

4. Who were the parents of Amelia CURTIS? She was b. 11 March 1772 in Spencertown, Connecticut; married Joel STRONG 14 January 1787 in Kent, Litchfield Co., Connecticut; and d. 6 July 1842 in Candor, Tioga Co., New York.

5. Who were the parents of Henry JACOBS (1797 - 1876) of Westchester and Tioga Counties, New York?

6. Was FRISBIE the maiden name of Huldah (1793 - 1875), wife of Henry JACOBS? Her grandson was Charles Frisbie STRONG, and we've often wondered where that middle name (a New England family surname) came from.

7. Who were William Parker WRIGHT's parents? He was b. 19 February 1830 in Minisink, Orange Co., New York; m. c. 1850 to Ann Elizabeth ROCKWELL; and d. 6 November 1915 in Grand Rapids, Kent Co., Michigan. Family records state his parents were Peter WRIGHT and Mary CLARK, but I've also found a David WRIGHT with a Mary CLARK. And how does that Parker middle name fit in? Is it a family surname?

8. This man is a step-ancestor on my mom's side: when and where did Melle "Millard" BOS (BUSH) die? He emigrated from Bierum, Groningen, the Netherlands in 1879. In 1887, his last child was born in Ottawa Co., Michigan; and in 1889, his widow remarried in Lamont, Ottawa Co., Michigan.