Jacob enlisted during the Cherokke War in Capt. John Ellis's Co., of the 2nd Regt. of the 2nd Brigade of the Tennessee Volunteers on 30 June 1836 at Sevier City, TN. He was 5' 8.5" light complexion, black hair, blue eyes. He separated from the Army at Ft. Cass, TN on 7 July 1837. Jacob and Elizabeth lived in Blount County for a year and then moved to Clay County, Indiana in 1838 where he lived until 1853.

In the 1850 Census, he was in Clay County, 47 yrs. old laborer. Elizabeth was 38 yrs. old. In 1853, he received a bounty land warrant for his service and moved to Story County, Iowa, where there were other Wheelers. There, he received a patent to 160 acres where he farmed in Story and Boone Counties until 1876, when he moved to Wapello County, Iowa. He applied a third time for a pension on 13 March 1899. Documentation is not distinct, but it appears that he lived into his 95th year.