John J. Jacob

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John J. Jacob

John Jeremiah Jacob (December 9, 1829-November 24, 1893) was a Democrat politician from Green Spring (Hampshire County), West Virginia. Jacob served two terms as the fourth (1871-1877) Governor of the U.S. State of West Virginia. John Jeremiah Jacob was also elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates from Hampshire County in 1868 and from Ohio County in 1893.

[edit] Background

John Jeremiah Jacob was born in Green Spring on the Potomac River north of Rommey in (Hampshire County). Jacob's Hampshire roots made him the first of West Virginia's governors to be born within the present-day borders of the state. Jacob attended the Romney Academy in Romney and Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Jacob practiced law and taught school in Hampshire County before accepting a teaching position at the University of Missouri in 1853. Jacob worked as an attorney in Missouri during the American Civil War and returned to Romney after the war in 1865 to establish a law practice. In 1868, John Jeremiah Jacob was elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates.

Jacob was elected governor in 1870 to a two-year term making him the first of six consecutive Democratic governors. Jacob supported the elimination of all remaining legislation that discriminated against former Confederates. Jacob also presided over the establishment of new facilities to care for the mentally handicapped and the creation of statewide schools, known as normal schools, to train teachers. Most of these schools still exist as part of the state college system.

John Jeremiah Jacob's most important contribution as governor was the rewriting of West Virginia's state constitution. Moderates and former Confederate supporters themselves believed the original 1863 constitution was too biased in favor of pro-Union supporters. A new constitutional convention, controlled by Democrats, met in Charleston in 1872. The new constitution restricted the power of the legislature and expanded the governor's term in office from two to four years, prohibiting consecutive terms. Due to a split that ensued in the Democratic party over these reforms, John Jeremiah Jacob was re-elected as an Independent in 1872 for a four-year term. In 1875, the state government moved from Charleston and returned the capitol to Wheeling in Ohio County.

After Jacob left the governor's office, he served once again in the West Virginia House of Delegates from Ohio County in 1879 and as its circuit judge from 1881 to 1888. Jacob continued to practice law in Wheeling until his death in 1893.