Jacob Umstott was born March 30, 1839 in Wheeling Township, Guernsey County, Ohio. His father and mother, Samuel and Ruth (Dawson), moved there from Allegany County, Maryland around 1830. Around that time Samuel had been a stage coach driver on the Cambridge, Ohio – Baltimore, Maryland line. Jacob, their first born, was twenty years old when his father died in 1859 and he was now head of the family. He helped maintain the farm and assisted his mother raising five younger children. He married Hannah Morton, daughter of Samuel and Jane (McKee), in 1861.
Jacob and Hannah had two children when he volunteered for service in the Army at Camp Chase in Columbus. He was sent to Camp Dennison near Cincinnati where on October 11, 1864 he was assigned to the Ohio 175th regiment being organized by Lt. Daniel McCoy. Following the war he returned home to his wife where they raised at least ten children. What is truly known of Jacob is written in the following obituary when he died in Newcomerstown, Ohio April 22, 1902
“Mr. Jacob Umstott, aged 63, an honored veteran of the Civil War, died very suddenly at this place, Tuesday morning, April 22 from heart trouble. Being a carpenter, he had been engaged in building a house for his son, Lambert, on the west side of town. Mr. Umstott had walked up street to order some lumber and when he returned to the building where he had been working he sat down to rest. While yet in a sitting posture, it is said he put his hand on his breast and remarked that he felt very sick and suddenly expired. Mr. Umstott was a hard-working man, very patient and kind hearted. He leaves a wife and several married children to mourn his departure, and they have the sympathy of the entire community in their loss of a devoted husband and kind father.”
The funeral service was conducted by the Newcomerstown, Ohio G.A.R Post 494 of which he was a member.
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