Jacob Kitzmiller

Jacob Kitzmiller
BIRTH 20 Dec 1803
DEATH 2 Nov 1873 (aged 69)
BURIAL
Kitzmiller Cemetery
Grant County, West Virginia

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/88386662/jacob-kitzmiller

Children
Elizabeth Dixon
Elizabeth Susan Kitzmiller Dixon
1842–1913

John Kitzmiller
John S Kitzmiller
1851–1891

Gabriel Kitzmiller
Gabriel Sangster Kitzmiller
1854–1932

During the Civil War an attempted robbery was committed at the home of Jacob when 4 straggling confederate soldiers appeared at the residence and with fire arms drawn in the face of Jacob Kitzmiller demanded his money. The demand was refused. If you search the pages of history you might find a parallel to the exploits of the hero of this story, but nowhere could you find a better example of the dogged determination to stand for loyalty and devotion to a fixed principle than was shown by Jacob in resisting the attempt to secure his money. He was aroused by a knock at his door. When he appeared to answer the call he came into the presence of 4 masked men, one of whom cocked a pistol in his face and demanding money. On refusal to give it up he was taken from the house to the yard at which time Susan, his daughter took her father’s money from the clock, hid it in her clothes and retired to the yard where she hid it. The robber now looped a rope around the neck of Jacob and led him to an apple tree where they threw the rope over an arching limb and lifted him from the ground twice to fall in the noose. At this juncture Jacob agreed to give them the gold if they would set him free, but this made the robbers only more determine to secure the whole amount of cash he had in his possession, so they lifted him by the rope from the earth and let him hang until he was unconscious. When they dropped him to the ground no apparent sign of life remained, but soon the unconscious man revived. Just one hour had past since this awful tragedy started. Imagine the suspense of the wife and children as they timed by the clock this awful scene. Apparently the worst was yet to come. Being foiled in their attempt here they bound their prisoner and led him over the hill into a deep ravine where the family could not witness what was supposed to be an execution. Here they bound him to a locust tree. Before securing him they asked if he preferred his face or back to the tree. He replied he preferred to face his enemy. They bound him securely to the tree but instead of shooting him they went off leaving him to his fate. As luck would have it , one of the party, through mistake or otherwise, left a pen knife sticking in the tree. Jacob some way got the knife and finally succeeded in cutting the rope and returned to the house several hours later. Fortunately he was not disturbed during the remainder of the war. He died in 1872 at the age of 69 years excerpt from The History of Mount Storm

Jacob was born in 1805 and like all the Kitzmillers was a stockman and farmer. He lived along Abram's Creek about one mile north from where the creek crosses the Northwestern Turnpike.

He married Jane Dixon, daughter of the patriarch already referred to. They had eight children, one daughter died in early youth, and a son Jethro died in his young manhood. The other children were: Hannah, Elizabeth, Susan, Ellen K., John S., Gabriel S., and Estella, widow of Joseph Shillingburg. Gabriel and Estella are the only children left.

During the Civil War an attempted robbery was committed at this home when four straggling Confederate soldiers appeared at the residence and with fire arms drawn in the face of Mr. Kitzmiller demanded his money, but the demand was refused. If you were to search the pages of history you might find a parallel to the exploits of the hero of this story, but nowhere could you find a better example of dogged determination to stand for loyalty and devotion to a fixed principle than was shown by Jacob Kitzmiller in resisting the attempt to secure his money. He was aroused by a knock at his door. When he appeared to answer the call he came into the presence of four masked men, one of whom cocked a pistol in his face demanding his money, on refusal to give it up he was taken from the house to the yard at which time Susan, a daughter, took her father's money from the clock hid it in her clothes and retired to the yard where she hid it. The robbers now looped a rope around the neck of their victim and lsd him to an apple tree where they threw the rope over an arching limb and lifted their captive from ground twice to fall in the noose. At this juncture Mr. Kitzmiller agreed to give them some gold if they would set him free; but this made the robbers only more determined to secure the whole amount of cash he had in his possession; so they lifted him by the rope from the earth and let him hang until he was unconscious. When they dropped him to the ground no apparent sign of life remained, but soon the unconscious man revived.

Just one hour had passed since this awful tragedy started. Imagine the suspense of the wife and her household of children as they timed by the clock this awful scene! But apparently the worst was to come. Being foiled in their attempt here they bound their prisoner and led him over the hill into a deep ravine where ths family could not witness what was supposed would be an execution. Here they bound him to a locust tree, but before securing him they asked Mr. Kitzmiller if he preferred his face or back to the tree. He replied that he preferred to face the enemy; so they bound him securely to the tree and instead of shooting as might have been expected they went off leaving him to his fate. Now as luck would have it, one of the party through mistake or otherwise left a pen knife sticking in the tree. Mr. Kitzmiller some way got the knife and finally succeeded in cutting the rope and returned to the house several hours later.

Fortunately he was not disturbed during the remainder of the war. He lived to be 69 years old when he died in 1872.