Family Photo Album

Conrad Jacob Family

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Family Photo Album

Portraits of Family Members - please scroll down to see all the images

Conrad and Eva Elisabeth Jacob

This portrait was probably taken after arrival in Toledo, Ohio.

Original immigrants to the United States

Family stories claim that Conrad met Eva while she was living in a convent, being taken care of as an orphan. Also, the 1860s were turbulent times in Hesse-Cassel, as the Germanic nation of Prussia was battling to take over the Hessen States. Conrad is said to have been a political refugee, so he and Eva had to live in France and Belgium for a time, before finally deciding to leave Europe for good in 1872. Their country of Hesse-Cassel (or Kurhessen) was taken over by Prussia in 1868.

August Clifford Jacob

Known as "Cliff" this portrait was made by his sister Lillian's husband Fred French in c.1910

Son of Conrad and Eva E. Jacob

Cliff Jacob began his career laying intricate tile for the Victorian homes in Toledo. He then became a draper, well-known for his beautiful creations adorning the homes of the wealthy. He moved to Detroit, Michigan, in the early 1900s and became quite successful as a draper, manufacturer of drapes, and then finally as an interior designer. By the 1910s Cliff had a large furniture showroom and drapery factory, and was working with Detroit's auto industry elite to decorate their mansions. His major clients were the Dodge brothers, as well as the Post and Kellogg cereal families of Battle Creek, Michigan. With his business taking a deep plunge after the Stock Market crash of 1929, Cliff suffered emotionally and physically, and died in 1935. He was married to Mona Regina MacDonald of Detroit, and they had two sons, James Clifford Jacob and John MacDonald Jacob.

Mona Regina MacDonald

Wife of August Clifford Jacob, taken by her brother-in-law Fred French, c.1922

Mona

Daughter of Angus J. MacDonald and Charlotte Louise Lomas. She was born in Bay City, Michigan in 1885. She and Cliff Jacob were married in Windsor, Ontario in 1901 (according to her obituary, but I think it was 1903 or 1904). Mona and Cliff led a very interesting life together, entertaining and being entertained by influential residents of Detroit, Battle Creek, MI, and other exclusive cities in New York, California and Florida. Cliff decorated their homes, and Mona had a certain remarkable quality that endeared her to all. She insisted that everyone, including her two sons and grandchildren, call her Mona. It is said that she made "bathtub gin" in her basement during Prohibition, and old family photos of very lively parties (dating from the 1920s) attest to this. She was still doing cartwheels in her 80s, and always remained very spirited and much enjoyed by all who knew her. It is said her personality and style could captivate a room full of people, from all walks of life. Her memory inspired my interest in family history.

John MacDonald Jacob

Known as "Jack" he was the second son of Cliff and Mona Jacob

Jack Jacob

Jack Jacob received his degree in architecture from the University of Michigan in 1932. During his career as an architect Jack designed many homes of the upper middle class in the developing northern suburbs of Detroit. In the late 1930s he was hired by George Wellington Smith as Chief Architect for the wealthy new suburb of Franklin, Michigan. Jack designed the church, library, post office, fire station, and many of the homes in that significant community - which was to be called "The Town that Time Forgot." Jack married Letha Scott in 1927, and they had three children, Jack, Roderick and Barbara. He died in 1980.

Conrad Jacob family c.1870

This portrait of Conrad, his wife Eva and their first son Valentin was taken while still in Europe.

Valentine Henry Jacob

Oldest son of Conrad and Eva Jacob, born in Germany in 1865. He was a barber in Toledo.

Anna Caroline Moench

Wife of Valentine H. Jacob

Jacob family group, Toledo, c.1915

Valentine Jacob and members of his family.

(L to R) Back row: Lillian (Jacob) French, Thuesnelda Jacob (daughter of Valentine), Henry V. Jacob. Marie "Mae" Jacob (wife of Henry), Irion Jacob (son of Valentine), Leona Jacob (daughter of Henry), Valentine H. Jacob, Anna Jacob (wife of Valentine) and Mona Jacob (wife of Cliff). Front row: Kenneth Jacob (son of Henry), Lela, Ada, Paul and Gertrude Jacob (children of Valentine)

Henry Valentine Jacob

Second son of Conrad and Eva Jacob. He was a musician with the Toledo Symphony.

Marie Jacob, wife of Henry V. Jacob

Family members called her "Mae"

Leona Jacob

Eldest daughter of Henry and Marie Jacob

Jacob family group in Toledo, c.1920

Henry and Marie Jacob with members of their family.

(L to R) Back row: Fred W. Jacob, Alma Jacob (wife of Fred), Bernice Jacob (daughter of Henry), James Jacob (son of Cliff), Marie Jacob (wife of Henry), Henry V. Jacob, Leona Jacob (daughter of Henry). Front row: Kenneth and Robert Jacob (sons of Henry), Lillian (Jacob) French, Mona Jacob (wife of Cliff) and August Clifford "Cliff" Jacob.

Robert Byron Jacob

Third oldest son of Conrad and Eva Jacob. He drove horses for a living, near Toledo, Ohio.

Emma Gies Jacob

Wife of Robert B. Jacob

Robert Byron Jacob

With his carriage

August Clifford Jacob

Taken in Toledo, around 1900. His brother was a hair stylist, so all the Jacobs looked elaborate.

Mona Regina MacDonald

Wife of August Clifford "Cliff" Jacob

August Clifford Jacob in his bedroom c.1905.

See family photos on mantel, two of his own paintings, his mandolin & elaborate drapes he designed.

Mona Jacob in Cliff's studio, c1905-10

You can see several of Cliff's beautiful watercolors on the walls in this rare image.

Mona Jacob taken by her husband Cliff, c. 1920-25

Cliff took a great deal of very poetic photos of his beloved wife Mona.

James Clifford Jacob

Oldest son of Cliff and Mona Jacob. Also an Interior Designer, took over his father's company.

Jim Jacob and his wife Alice lived in Gross Pointe, Michigan and had four children: Mona Lou, Alberta. James Jr., and Sandy Jacob.

Frederick William Jacob

Youngest son of Conrad and Eva Jacob.

Alma Jacob

Wife of Fred W. Jacob

Conrad Jacob and son Fred Jacob

Taken in c.1905, near a back shed.

Lillian (Jacob) French

Only daughter and youngest child of Conrad Jacob. Married photographer Fred French. Opera Singer.

Frederick French, husband of Lillian Jacob

He was a photographer and made many wonderful portraits of the family. They had no children.

Lillian E. Jacob

Born years after all of her brothers, when she came they all used to say "A sister for each of us."

Mecklar, Germany

The small town where the Jacob family came from.

Jacob family arrived in America in 1872

Original ship manifest showing Conrad, his wife, their children, and his brother Valentin's family.

The Jacob family members can be seen near the middle of the page:

Valentin Jacob age 41 Farmer (was listed as a musician in the Mecklar records)

Anna age 33 (wife)

George age 12 (really George Nurnberg, son of Valentin's first wife)

Henry age 9

Conrad age 8

Gustav age 7

Justus age 5

Wilhelm age 3

Anna age 9 months

Conrad Jacob age 30 Farmer (He was listed as a wagon maker in Mecklar)

Elise age 25 (wife)

Valentin age 5

Conrad age 10 months (this is really Henry Valentin Jacob)

Mecklar on a modern map

Mecklar now forms part of the community called "Ludwigsau"

Map of what is today Germany, showing Mecklar

The Jacob family's country of Kurhessen or Hesse-Cassel is shaded in brown.

Johann (John) Jacob and family c.1893

Conrad's uncle John Jacob lived in Ogden, MI, near the Ohio border.

John Jacob was born in Mecklar in 1823. He and his two brothers Peter and Christopher Jacob resided in Ogden, Lenawee County, MI. John and his family had lived in Benton, Ottawa County, OH, just outside Toledo, until the early 1880s. He and his seond wife Catherine Christina Court (went by Christina, and she is also pictured above) had a daugher named Anna, who married Amos Wotring of Lenawee Co., MI. The children are Emma Jane, Charles William and Franklin Eugene Wotring. Thanks to Susan Walton for this photo.