John Jacobs

John Jacobs, his personal and family background, and his involvement in the Mountain Meadows Massacre

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John Jacobs

1825-19  

Biographical Sketch

Early Years in Norway

John Jacobs was born in 1825, in Byglandsfjord, Berjnisley, Norway, the son of Sven Jacobsen and Johanna Johnsen. In the 1840s, he accepted the message of the Mormon missionaries and converted to Mormonism.

Immigration to America and onto Utah

Like many mid-19th century Europeans Mormons, Jacobs decided to immigrate to American to Utah Territory. He and his mother traveled to Utah in 1849. By 1851, Jacobs had settled in Lehi.

To Cedar City and the Iron Mission

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Two years later, he moved to the new settlement of Cedar City in southern Utah. He married Elizabeth Coleman, the daughter of Prime Coleman and Sarah Thornton. Between 1856 and 1869, they had ten children, six of whom survived to marriageable age.

In the Iron Military District: Private John Jacobs, Company E, Isaac Haight's 2nd Battalion, Cedar City

In 1857, Jacobs, 31, was a private in one of the militia platoons in Cedar City. He was one of those in the ad hoc detachments formed in Cedar City that rode to the Mountain Meadows during the week of September 7. According to John D. Lee, Jacobs was at the fateful militia council on Thursday evening, September 10, at the Meadows.

He was not listed in Judge Cradlebaugh's arrest warrant, perhaps because he had already left southern Utah.

Abandoning Cedar City for Central Utah

In 1858, the Jacobs family moved back to Lehi. Jacobs was an Indian war veteran, participating in the Black Hawk War in the mid-1860s. In 1867, Jacob married Harriet Austin, the daughter of John Austin and Emma Grace. They had eleven children but many of them did not survive to adulthood.

References

Carter, ed., Heart Throbs of the West, 10:458; 11:423; FamilySearch.org; Fieldings, ed., The Tribune Reports of the Trials of John D. Lee, ; Esshom, Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah, 956-957; Gardner, History of Lehi, 8 (photo); Lee, Mormonism Unveiled, 232, 380; Lee Trial transcripts; Walker, et al, Massacre at Mountain Meadows, Appendix C.

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