My Genealogy Hound

NELSON JACO is a representative farmer of Platte township, Buffalo county. He is not an old settler, speaking of the county in general, but he is, nevertheless, one of the first settlers in the locality where he lives. He came from West Virginia, moved into the county in November, 1878, and settled on the northeast quarter of section 7, township 8, range 13 west, filing a homestead claim thereon. His farm is located on part of the old Fort Kearney military reservation, which, it will be remembered, was opened to settlement about the above date. He has one hundred and forty-five acres in this tract, eighty acres of which are under cultivation. He has improved his place, having a very good class of farm buildings on it, besides orchard, groves and other conveniences. Lying between the channels of the Platte river, his place is admirably adapted to farming purposes and yields well, producing an abundance of Nebraska’s sovereign products — corn and hay. Mr. Jaco is a practical farmer, having followed the business all his life, and having met with reasonably good success, he began on limited means when he opened his present farm, twelve years ago, and the first few years of his residence in the county were not marked for any astounding amount of progress. With him the case was very much like it was with numbers of others, and was mostly a matter of bread and butter. But Mr. Jaco came West to make a home, and he was prepared to endure a reasonable amount of hardships, but a detailed account of his earlier struggles in the county need not be given here. It will be sufficient to say that he met the obstacles as they arose, and successfully dealt with them, and that whatever praise the general public is prepared to award the old settlers for their pluck, energy and endurance, a fair share of it must be given him, for he faithfully performed his duties in the general undertaking of opening the country to settlement. He has resided on his farm continuously since locating there, with the exception of four years he was back East— from 1882 to 1886.

Mr. Jaco was born in Preston county, (now West) Virginia, June, 1848, and was reared there, growing up as a farm boy, to the age of sixteen. Then came an event in his life which has been duly chronicled in the lives of hundreds of others, and yet an event that should never cease to be told. It occurred in those eventful years when patriotism flashed through the land like an electric thrill; when the canker of gold and the dust of cotton dropped from the manhood of the nation, and men went forth to battle for their country; when men surrendered the search for wealth, dropped the plow in its furrow, the hammer at the forge, the pen at the desk, and marched forth cheerily to wounds and death. Mr. Jaco enlisted in defense of the Union in January, 1864, entering Company K, Fifteenth West Virginia infantry, and serving in Thoburn’s division, eighth army corps, but most of the time he was under Sheridan, and served as a private from the date of his enlistment to the surrender — a boy soldier — carrying a musket in defense of his country at sixteen. The facts need no comments. They speak abundantly for themselves. Freedom — prosperity — equal rights — the dignity of labor — the glories of the republic — these were won by the citizen-soldiers of 1861-5 — stalwart actors they, though many were young in years.

Mr. Jaco comes of old Virginia parentage, his father and mother both being natives of Preston county. His father, Job Jaco, was a farmer in earlier years, but during the war gave up farming and embarked in merchandising, in which he was moderately successful. He led a quiet, unpretentious life, dying in the fall of 1883, at the age of sixty-five. Mr. Jaco’s mother bore the maiden name of Sarah Gandy. She died in the fall of 1884 at the age of sixty-three. These were the parents of eleven children, of whom the subject of this sketch is the ninth. The others are: Allen, Dorcas, Mahala, Jesse, William, Amos, Mary, Jane, Susan and Wesley.

Mr. Jaco married, November 26, 1868, Miss Sarah Jenkins of Evansville, Preston county, West Virginia. Mrs. Jaco was born and reared in Evansville and is a daughter of Joseph and Parmelia Jenkins of that place. She is one of eleven children born to her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Jaco have had born to them a family of six children, four of whom are living and two dead. The full list is as follows — Minnie (deceased), Ollie, Donie, Nettie (deceased), Pearl and Hazel.

While Mr. Jaco has never aspired to any public position, he has nevertheless been called on to fill some offices of responsibility in connection with the administration of local and township affairs. He has served as director of his school district; has been township clerk and is now serving as township assessor. He and all his family are members of the Methodist church and he is a liberal contributor to charitable purposes. He is a republican in politics and a zealous member of the Masonic fraternity and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. As a citizen he is progressive, enterprising and public spirited — liberal in his views and in his means as far as his ability will allow. He is kind and accommodating, a good neighbor, a valuable friend and an intelligent, pleasant gentleman.