Roley Jacobs was born in Virginia and it is likely that his given name was actually "Roland" or "Rowland". However, he seems to have been known as "Roley" or "Rowley" throughout his life. It is believed that he was the son of William Wood and Elizabeth Jacobs, but the maiden name of his mother remains unknown. Moreover, his age, given as sixty-five in an affidavit made in Floyd County, Kentucky, on October 19, 1818, in application for a pension, implies a probable birth year of 1753 although 1752 is also possible.1 It is thought that Roley Jacobs and Millian Ann Carter were married on January 24, 1774, in Frederick County, Virginia. If this is correct, then according to his subsequent pension affidavit it would appear that he enlisted in the colonial militia at Winchester, Virginia, immediately after his marriage, perhaps, the very next day. At this time Frederick County was on the Appalachian frontier and militia units were commonly organized for protection from Indian attack and general prevention of disorder. Roley further stated that he served under the command of Daniel Morgan. This would imply that he probably served with Morgan in Lord Dunmore's War in 1774. Lord Dunmore, the Royal Governor of Virginia, along with others instigated the conflict to dispossess Indian tribes and secure lands for settlement in Kentucky and the Ohio Valley.2 This was at least in part an attempt to defuse the growing rebelliousness of the English colonists by allowing westward expansion, which had been restricted by a Royal Proclamation of George III issued in 1763.3 (It is possible that Roley did not serve in Lord Dunmore's War since a strict enlistment period of one year would imply that he did not join the militia until the end of 1774 or the beginning of 1775; however, his enlistment period probably should not be taken too literally within this context.) Nevertheless, by the following year the Revolution had begun in earnest and after the Battle of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, the Continental Congress called for the formation of military units to oppose coercion of the colonies by the British Government. On June 22nd, Captain Daniel Morgan was chosen to lead one of the two rifle regiments raised by the Virginia colony. He enlisted ninety-six men in ten days, set out from Winchester on July 15th, and arrived in the vicinity of Boston after a march of only three weeks, i.e., in early August of 1775.4 At this time after the Battle of Bunker Hill, which had occurred in June, the British occupied the city and the Continental Army, such as it was, was encamped in the surrounding countryside. There is some confusion among researchers as to the origin of Morgan's regiment. In particular, it is sometimes stated that Morgan enlisted his men in western Pennsylvania. However, there has never been any doubt that Morgan's regiment was a Virginia unit of the Continental Army. This is not as strange as it might seem. First of all, prior to the Revolutionary War, Virginia and Pennsylvania both claimed the area around Fort Pitt (later Pittsburg). In addition, this area along with regions further west was precisely the location of Lord Dunmore's War. Furthermore, the reputation of Morgan's Virginia Riflemen was precisely that of backwoods Indian fighters and sharpshooters. Therefore, it is plausible that some of them were in western Pennsylvania in June of 1775 when they received word of the rebellion and either rapidly came to Winchester or met the regiment as it marched overland toward New England. Subsequently, the Continental Congress authorized an invasion of Canada and Morgan's regiment was one of three rifle companies chosen to accompany Colonel Benedict Arnold on this expedition. They began their march on September 25th and arrived on the bank of the St. Lawrence River opposite the City of Quebec on November 10, 1775. Because, enlistments expired the following January 1st, the Continental forces attacked the city in a snowstorm in the early morning of December 31st, but due to a series of unfortunate circumstances they were defeated. The colonials were taken prisoner and apparently were held at Quebec until the following September after which they were paroled. Clearly, these details, obtained from published historical accounts of Morgan's Virginia Riflemen, accord well with the pension affidavit made by Roley Jacobs later in Floyd County. Indeed, he cites January 1, 1776, as the end of his first period of service, which agrees precisely with the expiration of enlistments cited above. Moreover, it is quite reasonable that he received no written discharge for this service since his unit, including commanding officers, had been captured by the British. Likewise, he stated that he remained a prisoner for nine months, which is consistent with the parole of Morgan in September of 1776. It is likely that Roley Jacobs returned to Virginia after his release. Even so, he re-enlisted under the command of Captain Charles Porterfield on January 21, 1777, for a period of three years, and was, again, attached to Morgan's Virginia Riflemen. This unit served at Saratoga and various skirmishes and battles in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.5 Porterfield himself was killed at the Battle of Camden in 1780.6 According to Roley Jacobs' affidavit, he was discharged from the Continental Army on February 9, 1780. Clearly, this is in agreement with his stated enlistment period of three years. Nevertheless, his grandson, Joseph Gordon Jacobs, said in 1904 that his grandfather had fought at the Battle of Cowpens, which occured on January 17, 1781.7 Perhaps, this later account is in error; however, it is possible that he was present at the battle as an irregular spy or scout. Indeed, this is plausible because Brigadier General Daniel Morgan had been recalled in the summer of 1780 after a furlough of about one year and was in command at the Battle of Cowpens.8 In consideration of his previous service under Morgan's command, it seems likely that Roley might have once again served with Morgan, perhaps out of personal loyalty irrespective of whether he was officially enlisted or not.
It seems clear that sometime after the Revolutionary War, Roley and Millian Carter Jacobs settled in Montgomery County, Virginia. This is further supported by two land grants given by the Virginia Land Office on September 29 and December 30, 1796, respectively, for sixty-five and one hundred acre parcels of land both lying in Montgomery County.9 For the smaller parcel, the stated grantee was Roland Jacobs and for the larger parcel, Rowland Jacobs. In all probability these both can be identified with Roley Jacobs. Moreover, the land was obtained in exchange for two Land Office Treasury Warrants, Nos. 13101 and 18405, issued August 3, 1782, and August 6, 1783, respectively. Both of these warrants were probably given by the government of Virginia in return for military service during the Revolutionary War. The household of Rowley Jacobs also appeared in 1810 US Census for Montgomery County and, at that time consisted of a male child of less than ten years of age, a male child or adolescent between ten and sixteen, a young female between sixteen and twenty-six, two adult females between twenty-six and forty-five, and an older male and female both above forty-five years of age. If the older couple is identified as Roley and Millian Carter Jacobs, then the three adult females probably were their daughters, and the older male child their son, Carter Henry. Moreover, according to later family tradition, Roley and Millian Carter had five surviving daughters and only one son. Two of their daughters had married in a double wedding in 1809, but the identity of the young male child is not clear. It is possible that he was a son that did not survive to adulthood; however, it is also possible that he was a grandson, cousin, or even an unrelated individual. By 1820, Roley and Millian Jacobs had migrated to Floyd County, Kentucky. Indeed, the population schedule of the 1820 US Census for Floyd County included households of Rowley, William, Claudius, John, and Carter Jacobs. William Jacobs was almost certainly the younger brother of Roley and in all likelihood, John Jacobs was another brother. Similarly, Carter Jacobs was almost certainly the son of Roley and Millian Jacobs; however, Claudius Jacobs remains unidentified although it is likely that he was a relative. Roley Jacobs died in Floyd County on February 19, 1825. Again, according to Joseph Gordon Jacobs, he was buried near the mouth of Stone Coal, a small stream that entered into Beaver Creek near Joel Martin's Mill. Indeed, there are three small streams in Floyd County named Stonecoal Branch, one that empties into Dewey Lake, which is a recent impoundment of Johns Creek, one that empties into the Right Fork of Beaver Creek at the town of Garrett, and one that empties into the Left Fork about one mile north of the town of Drift. Clearly, the second two of these both satisfy the description given above and, moreover, they are separated only by about four miles. However, a stream called Martin Branch also empties into the Left Fork of Beaver Creek a few hundred yards downstream from Stonecoal Branch. Within this context, it is likely that Martin Branch was named for an early association with Joel Martin's Mill, and therefore, this is probably the location described by Joseph Gordon Jacobs. This is further supported by the existence of a cemetery near the mouth of Stonecoal Branch, just as described. This area of Kentucky is quite mountainous with only narrow creek and river bottoms suitable for any kind of agriculture. However, in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, it would have been covered by an almost unbroken forest filled with game. At this time, hardy frontier families such as the Jacobs family, were attracted to such regions. Sadly, after 1850 Floyd County in particular and eastern Kentucky in general came to be dominated by coal mining, which has seriously marred the landscape from its original beauty.
http://web.pdx.edu/~davide/gene/Jacobs_Roland.htm
