Joshua Jacobs North Carolina Circa 1740 - 1790

 

In the previous post we established a well known relationship between the Seminole County, Florida Jacobs family and the Columbus County Jacobs of North Carolina. I have photos of my 3rd great grandfather Needham Noah Jacobs (N.N.) hunting with the W.C. Jacobs family in Florida Circa 1920's. 

It was from William Canada's line that we gained this lineage path. Even if it is not 100% accurate, what I always believe is accurate in these stories is the names. The naming patterns of the 17th century were strict and not usually crossed. By the time of the Civil War, as our nation's pride was taking shape, many families loosened up and began naming their children on their own terms. 

But in the early 1800's the naming patterns were still fairly in tact. According to the story that was passed along at Gaston Jacobs 90th birthday party, Joshua Tilden Jacob's presented a history of the family all the way back to England 1500's.  The problem was that Gaston and later Tilden's house both burned taking much of the research family history. From this document we have: 

 William Canada Jacob's father was George Jacobs who died sometime after 1820 leaving a family of four children to be raised by other relatives and neighbors. 

George's father was Col. John Jacobs and he had Henry, Gabriel and George. 

John Jacobs father was Joshua Jacobs and he was from North Carolina. 

Before we  begin this discussion it needs to be noted that I have searched in every county in the state of North Carolina and have never been able to discover one record of George Jacobs. This would make sense if he died young, especially if he was living on his father's estate. 

I can find a John Jacobs who served in Wilmington during the Revolutionary War helping keep the town safe. 

I also happen to know that there is another Jacobs family that came to America and settled in Massachusetts. That is my Grandmother Geraldine Jacobs Jacobs line. She was a Jacobs when she married my grandfather W.O. Jacobs in Florida. 

It is quite the task to sort out the Joshua and John Jacobs from Massachusetts from the North Carolina Jacobs family. They are two very different families. 

I have a few clues that might connect John Jacobs to Noah Jacobs but the strongest lead I have at this time is the naming patterns that William C. Jaocbs, Noah, and Nathan Jacobs all followed. Their father was John, their grandfather was Joshua. 

So we are skipping over John for the moment and concentrating on Joshua Jacobs of North Carolina. 

The thing is we have most of our DNA from the 4th generation and occasional 5th gen. coming from South Carolina, Richland and other counties around the Columbia area. People traveled and moved especially after the Rev. War. 

But I digress. Back to Joshua Jacobs of North Carolina 

Our timeline is key here:

1. 1803 Noah Jacobs Born 

2. 1780's circa George Jacobs born   (these dates are approximate and used to help discover candidates)

3. 1750's John Jacobs born 

4. 1730's ish Joshua Jacobs born. 

During the Revolutionary War age did not matter. All men who wanted to fight could fight. I have a Joseph Jacobs (from Vermont and my Grandmother Geraldine Jacobs line who fought at the age of 13 as a drummer boy). Men of all color fought. Slaves fought in place of their masters. Indian and other free people of color fought for the promise of freedoms, land and voting rights. 

I found 2 Joshua Jacobs from North Carolina who fought in the Rev. War. 

Jacobs, Joshua	1st NC Regiment	1782		A Private under Capt. Peter Bacot for 18 months.
Jacobs, Joshua	5th NC Regiment	1777	1777	A Private under Capt. Simon Alderson.  Killed at the battle of Brandywine Creek, PA on 9/11/1777.	Brandywine Creek (PA).

Joshua Jacobs that fought in the 5th NC Regiment and died in 1777 at Brandywine Creek most likely also came from Hyde County, NC. His Regiment leader Captain Simon Alderson was from Hyde County NC and the 5th NC Regiment was recruited from the central and coastal plains of N.C. Since we do not know the ages of either of these Joshua Jacobs, it is possible that they are related. 

This post is about Joshua Jacobs who fought with Capt. Peter Bacot. I chose him as the likely candidate because of his enlistment in the 1st NC Regiment at Wilmington and because Capt. Peter Bacot had settled in the area of Lake Waccamaw in Brunswick County and was from the French Huguenots from Charleston SC. 

These documents tell us that Private Joshua Jacobs most likely lived in Hyde County, North Carolina. 

In doing the research about the Rev. War Land Grants I learned a few important things: 

1. New Bern was the capital of N.C until 1792. 

2. Because the newly formed United States Government was short on cash they paid their soldiers with bounty land. This bounty land for NC soldiers was its western lands in what later becomes the state of Tennessee. 

3. Soldiers received 1. A land warrant 2. Then a survey 3. Then a formal land grant

3. Privates received 640 acres

5. Bedford county is south of present day Nashville and was one of the counties that were used to pay war debts to the soldiers. 

6.  90% of soldiers who received land grants never relocated to their given land, but rather sold it for cash. 

7. There were many scams afoot by land speculators. 

With regards to Joshua Jacobs: 

1. He received his land grand on Dec 21, 1785 in New Bern, North Carolina.

2. He sells it  to Walter Braddy, who was from Hyde County NC and was most likely a land speculator. One document I have identifies him as a Esq. or lawyer. 

Bedford County Tenn

• Was formed from Rutherford County 
• is in Middle Tenn. below Nashville 
• Was Part of the former Military Reservation 
• Joshua's grant predates the formation of Bedford's formation and was later absorbed into it. 
• The land was in the Second district
• The land was on Cove Spring Creek, a branch of Elk River. 

If he had settled there, he would almost certainly appear in the 

1805-1815 tax rolls, 1810 census Tennessee , Early Bedford deed books. He does not. 

In the 1780's, land assignments were almost executed in the county where the soldier resided. 

Witnesses were usually neighbors, local justices, county court officials, 

We know from these documents that Joshua Jacobs 

• Served as a Private (likely through the end of the war) 
• Received 640 acres of military entitlement
• Sold his warrant very soon after he received it for cash
• Did not go to Tennessee to live on the land 
• Most likely remained and died in North Carolina 
• The land that Joshua Jacobs received in 1785 first sold to > Walter Braddy > he sold to Hart> he sold to Gillespie> He sold to Archibald Woods who settled there on 300 acres of the land. 
• The wording of the document states that the land is granted unto Archibald Woods, assignee of Joshua Jacobs. 
• When the land was surveyed it was surveyed for A. Woods.

The NC warrant number was 3219 

The Tennessee Grant No was 1708

The land was surveyed 30 July 1805

The land deed was entered 24 October 1808 and was granted to Archibald Woods, assignee of Joshua Jacobs 

Time Line 

1776-1783 - Joshua Serves under Capt. Peter Bacot's regiment, enlisted in Wilmington. At this time, the Tennessee lands are still part of western North Carolina. The land is in the Military District or future Middle Tennesee. 

1785-1805 - Dec 1785 Joshua sells teh warrant 1st to Walter Braddy. Braddy sells it to Hart who sells it to Gillespie who sells it to Woods. Archibald Woods is a known land speculator

30 July 1805 - Land is surveyed for Archibald Woods 

24 Oct 1808  - Land is entered under the Tennessee Act of 1807 ( occupant claim system). 

28 May 1810 - Tennessee issues final grant to Archibald Woods. Joshua is only mentioned because he was the historical as original warrant holder. 

If Joshua had moved to Bedford County he would have appeared in the 1805 survey as claimant, he would appear in an early tax lists in Beford county formed in 1807, and he would likely show up in the 1810 census in Tennessee. 

This strongly suggests: 

Joshua Jacobs most likely never went to Tennessee, that he sold his warrant while still living in North Carolina, and that he either died in NC or moved out of state.  Once he sold the land, he was out of the picture. 

__________________________

Hyde County Evidence 

1790 census for Hyde county does not list Joshua Jacobs.  If he was under 21 he would not yet appear independently, moved or died. 

When Joshua signs over his land grant to Walter Braddy, the witnesses are Jesse Latham and Joseph Keach. These two witnesses matter because they are historically very present in Hyde County, Tyrell County and Beaufort County, North Carolina. Jessee Latham's father was a well known Rev. War Hero who died in 1782. Colonel Rotheas Latham was appointed Colonel/commander of the Hyde County Regiment and before the war he served in the Colonial Assembly and later represented Hyde County in the NC House of Commons 

In searching the Hyde and Beaufort County records I found 

•  1763 - A land Deed for the Swann family where Joshua Jacobs and his wife Dianna sign as witnesses. Pasquotank County 
• 1762 - A land deed where Joshua Jacobs and William Swann sign as witnesses for deed. Pasquotank County 
• 1765 - Estate sell of most importance here is that a William Berry and Sellars, and Simmons, Swindall, Williams, Ruffs families are represented as well. We see all of these families in Brunswick County in the early 1800's. 
• 1772 - An Estate sell where Joshua Jacobs purchases  several items including 2 hogs and 2 pewter dishes. Hyde County  
• 1774 - Estate Sale Hyde County 
• 1775 - Justices to take the list of Taxables Joshua Jacobs for the Upper District in Currituck.

The above evidence is all I have of him before the war. But it suggests that if all of the Joshua Jacobs of the region are one and the same that his birth date would need to be Circa 1740 or before based on his being of legal age to sign land deed documents as witnesses. 

He does seem to disappear after he sells his land. Did he pass away? Did he go south? 

I did find this 1797 Newspaper clip in Augusta Georgia of a Joshua Jacobs that served in the local militia. But then it could be that this is the Joshua Jacobs from Edgefield SC who served in the war under Capt. Philemon Waters and moved to Warren Co. Ga. . Oh well.  Once we get the documentation settled I am certain that the DNA will help us sort the rest of it. 

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I will say before I close this post that for me the Hyde County Joshua Jacobs makes the most sense. The reasons being are: 

• Evidence given gives proof of his residence 
• This area was settled in the late 1600's by families from Virginia. 
• Many of the Jacobs of this area are known to have DNA haplogroups of EM2 which would tie them back to the original Jacobs ancestor of Colonial America, Gabriel Jacobs 
• The fact that I cannot find a land deed for Joshua Jacobs in any of these counties suggests to me that he was living on his father's plantation, he was a FPC (free person of color) and lived tribally, he was on the water often and traveled from county to county. More research is needed, but it appears that there might have been a migration down from Pasquotank and Perquimmons Counties to Currituck, Onslow, Duplin, Sampson, and Cumberland. 

Joshua Jacobs of Oviedo, Florida - grandson of William Canada Jacobs

When I first began my research into my North Carolina Jacobs family, I had no idea the time, energy or difficulty it would entail. But I also had no idea who I would meet, how these DNA cousins would change me life and bring me purpose and joy and learning some of the real stories in our American History. 

Noah Jacobs my 3rd great grandfather was born in 1803 in NC. Where exactly we are unsure and this is where the story becomes interesting. When I traced his family back to the 1840 Brunswick County Census he was living next door to Prudence Jacobs (1775-1860). Every other Jacobs researcher at this time was brick walled in the 1800 census in Brunswick County wondering what happened to the records of the Jacobs family in post Rev. War NC? 

We all emailed one another and helped one another. What we discovered was: 

1. Naming Patterns existed 
2. the Jacobs were Scottish, Native American (Lumbee or Cherokee), African American, and English. 
3. The census records were of no help for fpc (free people of color) because they didn't give ages only body counts. 

Eventually I discovered Fran Simmons from Florida. She and I compared notes. Soon Karen Jacobs (wife of Mark Jacobs) also from Sanford, Florida found me and we discovered our common family ties. 

Karen had written a book, "The Jacobs Journey" about the William Canada Jacobs family who had left Columbus County, NC in 1867 and taken all of his children and their families by ship to Seminole County, Florida to settle the town of Oveido, Florida. This meant that other Columbus County families were represented as well: Longs, Simmons, Sellars, Gores, etc. 

In this book she had taken the statement by Joshua Tilden Jacobs that he had gotten from William Canada Jacobs before he passed and combined it with his own research. This information and its documentation was lost when Tilden Jacobs house burned, however the copies of the his research survived because they had been passed out at his 90th birthday celebration. 

The above document is the information that was passed out at his birthday party. Much of his research was done in the 1950's or earlier and relied on local libraries, newspapers, and archives. In that he never married and was a school teacher he had much time to devote to the family history research, and in that he was able to obtain a verbal rendition of William Canada Jacobs' recollections of his family history, there is much credence given. However, in trying to recreate his research many great difficulties begin to unfold. 

The first one is that there is no record of John Jacobs having George, Henry and Nathaniel Jacobs. There are very few records of the Jacobs family line in North Carolina. But we keep searching. 

Now with DNA, there is evidence that one of the reasons it is most difficult to research this Jacobs' line is because they were of Native American and African American heritage, and were living with and traveling with other FPC of the Carolinas. 

We now understand that Noah's haplogroup means that somewhere along his paternal line he had an African American father. Because of his 4 step match that takes us back to early 1700 or late 1600 Virginia we suspect that it may have been to Gabriel Jacobs of Virginia, a FPC who received his emancipation in 1696 from the Custiss family. Yes, the same Custiss family as that of Martha Washington, George Washington's wife. 

With all of this being said, I am still searching for Joshua Jacobs, the proposed father of John Jacobs. 

Why? Because I believe in family lore, I believe in naming patterns, I believe that there is always some grain of truth to every good family lead. 

So, with that lengthy introduction I dive into what I have discovered about Joshua Jacobs, the supposed father of John Jacobs. This is what we know thus far from my research. 

Here is a transcription of Joshua Tilden Jacobs document 

        William C. Jacobs's died comparatively young and left a family of four children. 

        William, Noah, Polly, Nathaniel (further study necessary) to be brought up by relatives and                        neighbors as was customary in those days. 

        William born August 22, 1820 was raised by a name by the name of Holmes on whose plantation the         boy learned many useful things. He learned the copper trade, tannery, cobbler, carpentry, brick                    making, and many other useful things for it must be remembered that in those times, each plantation         provided for, not only the negroes, in the quarters, but for most of the things needed in the masters            "big house". 

        William Canada Jacobs was the son of George Jacobs and the great grandson of the Col. John Jacobs who served in the revolution from his home state. He Col. John Jacobs was a descendent of the Jacobs family of Accomack Co. Virginia that had emigrated to America from England in 1636. 

Joshua Tilden Jacobs 1877-1962  is the son of Joshua Pickney Jacobs who was the son of William C. Jacobs. 

We are very grateful for his love of history and all that he has left. Because of his lead I have felt frustrated, confused, and even believe that maybe the story was embellished a bit, but I have continued to reach, dig and research the Jacobs line and I believe the story is as good as it gets when understanding the true history of America. 

Please see the next post for detailed discoveries on Joshua Jacobs of North Carolina. 

YDNA Results

 

YDNA

The Y DNA holds the clues of the paternal line of your family. Everyone has 23 chromosomes. 22 are for the passing of distinct family traits: eye color, hair color, the amount of melatonin, a dimpled chin, etc. The 23rd set of chromosomes is designated for the sex of the child. Women carry 2 X chromosomes, and Men carry 

1 X and 1 Y (see the above charts). 

The Y chromosome can take us backward into our families past through the paternal line. It is shared by all common male members of the family and can trace back from son to father to grand father to great grandfather. This would then also include the uncles, brothers, cousins, etc that descend from the same Y DNA ancestor. 

HAPLOGROUPS & THE HAPLOTREE

Also, included in a YDNA match test is the Paternal Haplogroup of the YDNA tester. The haplogroup contains the information about the original progenitor of the YDNA line, thousands of years ago.  The haplogroup is the larger view back and helps us trace our ancestry back to the origin of our male family line and place it on a larger family tree known as the haplotree. Think of it as one large floating tree and there are locations on the tree. The name of the location of your very most distant paternal ancestor is the branch from where your paternal ancestor descended from. It is the name of your haplogroup. 

One other way to describe a haplogroup is by using the analogy of a search engine. 

When you type the name JOHN SMITH into the search engine you only get a few hits. But if you broaden your search to just the letter J you get thousands of hits. Now add JO and your hits are reduced. With regards to haplogroups, J represents the largest of the groups hits, (or the name of the entire branch) and with each letter added you get more specific of a find until you are able to have just one JOHN SMITH.  The haplogroup is the genealogists way of organizing everyone whose alleles are similar and come from similar branches of the haplotree. So men who have a haplogroup R come from a different branch on the haplotree, than say E, or U, or I.  More information can be found on FTDNA.com 

The knowledge of one's haplogroup is imperative to knowing which John Smith to look for. You could have a JOHN SMITH with a haplogroup I, or U, or R. All are named JOHN SMITH but all of their paternal lines come from different branches of the haplotree. Using the haplogroup as a guide keeps you from doing the genealogical research on a line that is not the same as your line and therefore, even though the names are the same, and they may have even lived in the same town, county and state, if the haplogroups are different, they are NOT from the same families and could never be a YDNA match. 

Noah JACOBS haplogroup EM-2

Based on family lore, naming patterns and even some DNA findings, Noah Jacobs father was believed to have been John Jacobs. This name is as difficult to trace as John Smith. I have done extensive genealogical research and am therefore somewhat familiar with many of the John Jacobs that were born in the 1700's and lived somewhere in the southeastern states of Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. Only when I understood the power of knowing your haplogroup did I understand how these men, though likely candidates could not have been Noah's father because they all had haplogroups different from Noah's. 

From our YDNA JACOBs test, we gained great information about our family line. 

EM-2 

From FTDNA we learn: 

• The E-M2 paternal line was formed when it branched off from the ancestor E-V38 and the rest of humankind around 38,000 BCE.
• The man who is the most recent common ancestor of this line is estimated to have been born around 16,000 BCE.
• He is the ancestor of at least 2 descendant lineages known as E-M4901 & E-FT183172.
• Haplogroup E-M2, also known as E1b1a1-M2, is a human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup. E-M2 is primarily distributed within Africa followed by West Asia.

From YourdNAGuide.com we learn: 

• 35% of African Americans who get YDNA testing, they discover their haplogroup is of European origin. This sadly shows that the sexual exploitation of African American women by those who were of European descent was real. 
• 65% of African American and other Free People of Color find that their haplogroup of origin comes from Africa. 
• The most common haplogroup of the above group is EM-2
• The total amount of E-M2 in the America's varies greatly, but the presence of EM-2 tells a story of a paternal line connected back to the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. 

Noah's Family and EM-2 

   There are many different scenarios that could have transpired to give Noah's line a haplogroup of EM-2. One that I am partial and proud of is that his family, his people, were from a group of people known as FPC, or Free people of color. These men and women were not the upper crust of American society, they were not classified as white on the original census of this county, but that does not mean they were not men of integrity, honor, and family values. What they were can only survive in our imaginations for there is little evidence here. But one thing for sure, they fought hard to maintain the freedom of their families and America. They were frontiersmen who worked hard and believed in the hopes and promises that our new nation brought. 

INTERPRETING NOAH'S RESULTS

The two different YDNA test results we have back show that yes, the SURNAME IS JACOBS! We are not dealing with a NPE (non parental experience)! The reason we know this is because of a match that is 2 steps off, or 2 generations removed from Noah. That simply means that the match between the other tester and our YDNA tester was in the late 1600's or more likely the very early 1700's. This 2 step match's surname was ALSO JACOBS. 

With this information we have a gap between Circa 1690 and 1720  to 1803 when Noah was born. In other words, one of the great grandfather's of our 2 step off match was also one of the great grandfather's of Noah!. What we don't know is who the family is in between these two matches. We have a good idea but no real proof.

What this also tells us is that Noah's original immigrant ancestor from the early 1600's was most likely an African American slave who gained his freedom early on. In working with other researchers, we have a good idea who this slave was and when he gained his emancipation but that will be another post. 

What is important here is that we understand that Noah's great or great great grandfather was freed early on and lived as a FPC.  It would have meant that he would have worked to free other members of his family. The life of FPC in colonial America was not easy and some of the hardships they endured might have been: 

• Double Taxes - for no other reason than they were not 100% white
• Living on the edge of society- they were not allowed to be part of the English Colonial America other than to provide the wealthy with needed labor skills. 
• Being dependent on the mercantile system for work and compassionate souls that would offer protection from the ever changing slavery laws.
• Never receiving the same rights of freedom guaranteed to the more English Americans. 
• Hiding their children of mixed relations from the powers that would a. either seek to enslave them or b. seek to give them the privileges of a white America forever separating them from their family of birth.  It all depended on how their DNA fell out as to the life they would be forced to live. 
• Living in a society that valued people based on the amount of melatonin and esteemed family pedigree. 
• After the American Revolution - always being afraid of being captured and sold into slavery
• The condemnation and execution of the laws that prevented the intermarriage of race. 
• The ever-changing laws against FPC such as ones that prevented them from the carrying of arms. These arms were mandatory for their hunting and obtaining food. 

Many of the FPC intermarried with Native Americans, run away Irish, English or Scottish indentured servants, emancipated or run away slaves of all races, and African Americans that may be current slaves of families they worked for. I am certain that the scenarios were many and the circumstances heart breaking. 

The Free People of Color welcomed all of the whiter societies outcasts and did not love a person based on the amount of melatonin in their skin, but the amount of compassion in their hearts and souls. 

NOAH's FATHER

Because we have the 2 step YDNA match to Noah's YDNA paternal line, we know that ALL of Noah's father's in his paternal line were FPC all the way back to the early 1700's. So there were no men of a different haplogroup ( I, R, U)  having families with the women of his family, HOWEVER, it is very possible and probable that Noah's paternal line chose to have families with women who were not FPC. By doing this they could ensure their children's place in a society that valued the lighter melatonin levels. And their EM-2 haplogroup would not be interrupted. 

These women may have been:

•  the daughters of men who DID NOT HAVE EM-2 haplogroup
• the daughters of Cherokee chiefs - a good way to obtain land to hunt on
• the daughters of men with mixed heritage but with less melatonin than the African or Native American race. 
• the daughters of other FPC with whom they lived and worked and socialized. 

What I believe is of most importance here is that we understand that Noah Jacobs, nor his father nor his father's father ever consider themselves as Free People of Color. This is a 20th century term that has been used to differentiate the class of American's that were neither slave or owners of slaves. They were outside of the realm of societal standards and they knew this, but they never classified themselves in such a manner. They knew they had freedom from slavery, AND they knew they would always have to fight for that freedom; it would never be free to them. 

Freedom is more than a term used to classify a group of people, its a sense of pride in what you have done and who you have become because of the challenges you have overcome. I am proud to be a descendant of the JACOBS family of southeastern NC. I am proud because of all they have overcome and the sacrifices they have made for me, their next generation. When I consider how they loved and existed and cared for one another as a community, I know they had something special. 

I wonder sometimes what I am searching for in the search for Noah's father's identity. I believe I am searching for an understanding of not just their names, but who they were and why they were families that understood what it means to live in a nation that values freedom enough to fight for it. Look around the world and you will see that there are many countries where Freedom is not free for everyone. 

EXACT MATCH 

I saved this paragraph for the last on purpose. I wanted you to understand that living in a marginalized society meant that you interacted with others who too were marginalized by society. 

Noah's one exact match was an NPE. (Non Parental Experience) with a woman of color who was a slave to Thomas Nicholson when he lived in Brunswick County NC and before he moved to Tennessee. This slave woman gave birth in 1812 in Tennessee to her son Sam Nicholson, (the surname comes from the slave owner). I have tried to research this line but it is worse than a needle in the haystack. 

The descendant of this exact match is a product of slavery and her ancestors suffered greatly and paid with their lives for the sins of slavery in America. 

I have met, visited and enjoyed a delightful afternoon with this wonderful genealogist and historian. Sharon Morgan is the author of many books. Look her up. It will change your life. Especially when you realize she is the Jacobs family  DNA cousin. 

The above paragraph is just one scenario and is unconfirmed. What is does tell us is that because Noah was too young at the age of nine to father a child,  a member of his paternal line, his father, gfather, uncle, brother, cousin with the same haplogroup and allele sequence fathered Sam Nicholson. Because the Jacobs family and the Nicholson families lived next door to one another in 1800 in Brunswick County, North Carolina and because Thomas Nicholson later moves (dates unknown) to Tennessee, it is most likely that Sam was conceived in NC and then birthed in Tenn. However, we are not sure that the Jacobs did not go to Tenn, so another scenario would be that the ? Jacobs lived near Thomas Nicholson or even worked for him in Tennessee where Sam Nicholson was born. Thomas Nicholson dies young in Tenn. and it is assumed that all of his wealth and slaves went to his relative Judge Isaac Whitehead Nicholson of Noxubee Mississippi. This would explain how Sam who was born in Tennessee, ends up in Noxubee Mississippi where he is emancipated in 1865. 

There is a third scenario involving Felix Winston of Nashville Tenn. and his family as he purchased a 16 year old slave in 1828 ish in Tenn. from Wilson McClellan. He later removes to New Orleans where he dies from Malaria. His slaves are put on the selling block back in Virginia where his family originated from. I have not followed the trail from there, but that too could have been ... 

All this makes me really grateful to the slave owner who granted our ancestor emancipation in 1696 back in Virginia. If Noah's ancestor had not been granted emancipation at such an early time in the history of slavery in our country, it is probable he would have never obtained it. And we would have never known the story of the JACOBS family and their fight to remain free in a politically unstable environment. 

Daniel Pinckney Jacobs 1861-1931

 In the beginning of my research I learned the best tactic was to keep it close to home. This means to research the closer generations to discover more about them and consequently learn clues to your earlier ancestors. It works for the beginning of the 19th century because Americans were not as mobile then as they are now. 

It worked because ancestors tended not to relocate as often and they lived, worked, and socialized with the same families. Their children married into families that either were already family or had farmed next to one another for two or three generations. The people your ancestor's children married were comfortable, established friends and hold clues to your ancestors past. Todays post will be about my 2nd Great Grandfather who was from Pireway, Columbus County, North Carolina. He was the father of Noah Needham Jacobs who was the father of Jake Jacobs. 

"Big Catfish" Watercolor by Linda Conkey Shaw Jan 2026 

Daniel Pinckney Jacobs born in 1861 when Noah Jacobs Sn. was fifty eight and his mother was forty-six.  He was, according to the census records, Noah's and Keziah's youngest child and son. When his father passed away sometime between 1882-1884 (sourced from land records) he had been married to Sarah Jane Benton close to one year, and when his mother passed not too much longer afterwards he was still in his early twenties. 

SarahBentonJacobs 
Daniel Pinckney Jacobs 
Mary Elizabeth Jacobs Grice  Circa1920's

It must have been difficult for him to loose his parents while just starting a life of his own. I can only imagine that he leaned heavily on his older sisters and brothers for guidance, comfort and counsel. 

Sarah Benton Jacobs' grandfather Arthur Benton Jr. was born the same year as her father in law Noah E. Jacobs Sn., 1803. According to census records, both were born in Brunswick, North Carolina. We know that Arthur Benton Jr. was born in Brunswick County NC because the Benton family came early to New Hanover and what later became Brunswick County and then even later to Columbus County. There are reasons to believe, however that Noah may have possibly been born in SC. This is based on the amount of DNA matches we have to the Jacobs of Richland County South Carolina. 

In the end, Noah ends up in Brunswick County and would have been at least a neighbor or peer of Arthur Benton Jr. The reason we don't know the exact location of Noah Jacobs 1803 birth is because family lore states that his father died young and that he was raised by extended family members who took him and his siblings or 1/2 siblings in. It is most probable that he was born in Brunswick County and that the DNA we have in SC is from a close relative of the family. 

Children of Daniel P. Jacobs & Sarah Benton Jacobs
Noah Needham, Agnes Jane, Daniel Lewis, Gabriel Cleveland, Patty Ella, Ulessa Manago,
Kitsey Belle, Ruth Elminor, Henry Herman, and Joseph Jonas.
Daniel Lewis died in 1932 and is not in the photo.

Sarah and Daniel were married in 1881 in Pireway, NC. Most probably in either one of their parents home. Together they brought ten children into the world. 

1. Noah Needham Jacobs 1882-1958 - This is my great grandfather. N.N. as the family came to call him, missed all of the census records that would have put him in his parents home. He was born after the 1880 census, there was no 1890 census and by 1900 he is 19 and out making a life for himself as a servant in the Cox family home.  He married 1st Josephine Metcalf who was from Curtis Mills, Florida and had 7 sons and 1 daughter. He married 2nd Edith Cleaver. She had 3 children from a prior marriage. N.N. Jacobs lived and died in DeLand Florida. He was the owner and operator of a lumber mill and was a well known business man in DeLand. 

2. Agnes Jane Jacobs   1884 - 1960 - The oldest daughter, Agnes married in April of 1902 Alexander Robinson and they had 6 sons and 4 daughters. Alexander's first wife Polly Long died in 1902; they had 2 children together. 

3. Daniel Lewis Jacobs 1886 - 1932  "Lewis" married Dora Caulder. It is unclear why his death certificate mentions his wife's name as Dora Lewis? but then sometimes the informant on the death certificate is misinformed. He lived all of his life in Columbus County and died of complications following pneumonia in 1932. Daniel Lewis Jacobs and Dora W. Caulder were the parents of 6 sons and 3 daughters. 

4. Gabriel Cleveland Jacobs 1888 - 1962 otherwise known lovingly as "Uncle Cleve" married Annie Jane Norris in 1911 and they are parents of 4 sons and 5 daughters. He lived and died in Columbus County NC and is buried in Tabor City, NC. 

5.  Patty Ella Jacobs 1890 - 1979 married Marshall C. Norris and together they brought 4 sons and 3 daughters into the world. She lived and died in Columbus County NC mostly around her fathers and grandfather's land in Bug Hill and Whiteville. She is buried next to her husband in Tabor City, Columbus County NC. 

6. Uless Manego Jacobs 1892 - 1986  Uless followed his older brother to DeLand Florida where he married Alice Painter and they had 2 sons. He lived and died at the age of 91 in Florida. 

7.  Kitsey Belle Jacobs 1894 - 1991 was a beloved mother of 5 daughters and 5 sons. She married John Furney Spivey and lived and died in Columbus County, NC. She did live for a time in Horry County SC. 

8.  Ruth Elminor Jacobs 1897- 1997 married Lennon Soles and they had 4 sons and 4 daughters. She lived and died in Columbus County NC. 

9.  Henry Herman Jacobs 1900-1962 married Blanchie Waddell They had 3 sons and 2 daughters. Henry and Blanchie lived in Wake County, NC and is buried in Tabor City, Columbus County NC. 

10. Joseph Jonas Jacobs 1905-1959 also followed his oldest brother N.N. Jacobs to Florida where he married Viola Long who was from Columbus Co., N.C.  He fought in WWII. We do not have record of any children being born to the couple. He died in Florida and is buried in Tabor City, Columbus County, NC. 

 

 

The Cumbo Family of Brunswick Co. NC

No known family relationship exists (at this time) between the Cumbo and the Jacobs family, however knowing that  Noah Jacobs sold his land on Meadow house Branch in Town Creek, Brunswick County, NC to one Jane Cumbo, makes one wonder if there might have been a family relations. 

It's not so much he sold his ten acres to her but rather that he sold it for only $10. The low amount is suggestive of a family connection. The fact that he sold it to Jane and not her husband Williams shows the changing attitudes with regards to women owning and purchasing land. Later in 1860 when Jane sells the same land to Elenor Blount, she includes her husband in the land deed sale.  

In 1858 Jane Cumbo and her husband William Cumbo sell this same land to Elenor Blount for $75. The description of the land can be compared to the description given in the 1846 deed between Noah Jacobs and Jane Cumbo.

        Noah to Jane Cumbo land description: 

            On Town Creek bounded on McKay's line now Berry's line in the second branch below the Meadow House Branch with that branch to the run o the creek with creek to McKays line. Ten acres more or less.  

signed Thomas Heriden and Allen G. Jacobs. 

        Jane Cumbo to Elenor Blount 

        t

Ten ares on the north side of Town Creek to Elenor Blount of Duplin county. bounded at a stake on McKay's line now Elenor Blounts line, east to the second branch below Meadow House Branch - black gum said thence with Meadow House Branch as it meanders to the run of Town Creek. thence up said creek to McKay's line now Mrs. Blounts line know as Hogue line thence to the beginning. Ten acres more or less. 

signed HC Leonard and Ezekiel Skippper

The Cumbo family of Brunswick County began early on with David, Reubin, Stephen, Solomon showing up on early tax records before the 1790 census. 

Cumbo Census Records for Brunswick County

1800 : Solomon, Reubin 

1810   Solomon, Reubin 

1820 Solomon, Reubin 

1830 Solomon, Levi, Shadrick, Isaac, Isham, David & Abraham 

1840 William(1804) , Jacob, and Isham(1802) 

1850 William & Isham (brothers or cousins) 

1860 Isham and Jacob

1870 Isham 

1880 Isham 

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JACOBS & CUMBOS

The 1830 census in Brunswick County N.C. is the most telling with regards to relationships with the Jacobs family. Living next door to SHADRICK CUMBO is ZACHARIAH JACOBS.  Both are FPC with HG EM-2. From a Y DNA stand either could be the paternal line, (father, brother, cousins, grandfather) of Noah and his 1/2 siblings or cousins: Mary Polly, Nathan, William Canada and Allen G. , but staying with family lore and the YDNA findings have confirmed that the surname is indeed JACOBS. 

In looking at the 1830 census for ZACHARIAH JACOBS the ages of the family members of Noah Jacobs family could match up? I believe they do match up, however without names it is only a guess. 

It is also very possible that one reason why NOAH JACOBS sold the land on Meadow House Branch off of Town Creek to JANE CUMBO, was because JANE CUMBO was his sister, OR 1/2 sibling or cousin. The close proximity to SHADRICK CUMBO and NOAH JACOBS  is enough to reasonably suggest this. 

We have also postulated that Civil Jacobs who married Shadrack SKIPPER may have also been NOAH JACOBS sister. The Skipper family also lives nearby and we have many AutosDNA matches to the Skipper family. 

William and Jane Cumbo seem to disappear after selling the land on Meadow House Branch. Their three children don't show up in the 1860 census either. Their last name could have been altered, they may have missed the census because of travel, or they may have hit on hard times with illness etc. We will continue the search for the family, but the Civil War highly complicated things. 

James Cumbo born in 1840 has a cousin born in 1839 who was also named James Cumbo and also fought in the Civil War from NC. 

We cannot find Oren Cumbo and I even considered it might be Pren but the search engines did not yield me any results. 

In reviewing other Cumbo names in Brunswick County it is possible that their last name is now Cumbee, Cumbow, etc. McCumbee

Oren born in 1837, James born in 1840, and Louisa born in 1843 may hold the clues to the family relations between the Jacobs and the Cumbo families. 

Connecting the Dots on my Cumbo Family Tree is a very interesting blog about the history of the Cumbo family in America. It is possible and very likely that William Cumbo's family falls within the family tree of this Virginia Cumbo family who fought hard for their families freedom. 

The DNA matches we get when we filter for the name Cumbo are larger than I would have anticipated, but sometimes its because of other family lines that also connect with the match. My mother's DNA matches to several Cumbo, McCumbee, Cumbee family trees but many of these trees also match because of the Benton family of which William and Jane Cumbo lived next door to in the 1840 census. 

We will keep researching the Cumbo family ties to the Jacobs. The DNA seems to hold some clues that could be gems in helping us understand the older generations relationships. 

LS. 

Noah & Keziah - A Family History Brick Wall

Noah and Keziah Jacobs of Columbus County North Carolina are the progenitors of 13 children and a tree load of descendants. It is to Noah's and Keziah's ancestry we dedicate this blog! Not that I won't enjoy sharing the stories of their descendants as we discover them, but that most of this blog will be dedicated to the research my Jacobs' cousins have uncovered over the years and even more recently. 

In 1996 I began researching my grandfather's family history of Jacobs from North Carolina. I kept running into a brick-wall or so I thought. And while I was circling the brick wall over and over, trying to make sense of the information it was or was not giving me, I ran into others who were doing the same. Eventually we started an email group where we shared mutual information about our relatives and tried to discover common ground. 

Karen Jacobs of Sanford, Florida and I struck a chord and we soon learned of our mutual relationships. (or her husbands as she was researching his Jacobs line). In the upcoming posts I will reveal on this blog all of the information that I have discovered and how it has changed me and enlightened me and given me a new take on life.

That is what Family Research does, it helps us realize the power of our ancestors in our lives. It helps us grow just a little bit as humans. It gives our small lives perspective into the larger universe of humanity. 

This photo is of Daniel Pinckney Jacobs (my 2nd great grandfather) and his wife Sarah Benton Jacobs, and his sister Elizabeth Jacobs Grice. Daniel and Elizabeth were 2 of the younger children of Noah and Keziah. Since we do not have a photo of Noah, nor of his wooden grave marker, the next best thing is his children. 

Settle in, Use the search engine on the right side of the page or message me and I will gladly share all that I know. This is also a page of sharing of other members of the family. As we all learn together we will grow in knowledge of our past.