Owner I: John Jacobs: family-owned for 100 years.

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John Jacobs (d. 1780) acquired 364 acres around the Old Valley Rd area; developed core estate in phases (1750, 1761). Born into a prominent family in Perkiomenville, Pennsylvania, John Jacobs acquired 364 acres where he built the house/barn/springhouse in two phases, circa 1750/1761. The property was known as “Solitude Farm” today, the Old Valley Rd properties as listed on the NHR:

*Nation Historic Registry reference: 329.01 41-3-5-E Solitude Farm/Jacobs Homestead 402 Church Farm La. Designated Resource (Listed on National Register): One of the Township’s oldest and best colonial stone mansions. Built in 2 parts c. 1750 and 1761. Homestead of the distinguished Jacob family c. 1750. 329.02 41-2-84.12-E Barn 925 Old Valley Rd. Designated Resource Built as part of Jacobs Homestead 329.03 41-2-84-E Springhouse 901 E. Swedesford Rd. Designated Resource Built as part of Jacobs Homestead.

While living in and farming this property, Jacobs was elected to his first of 15 consecutive terms in the Colonial Assembly. Early in his career as an Assembly member, his poor attendance frequently led to him receiving few committee assignments; however, he was involved in committees that addressed financial issues in the Commonwealth. Bills he helped to draft include a 1762 bill to allow the printing of paper money, a 1766 bill that attempted to prevent servants from running away from their masters, and a 1769 bill to grant relief to insolvent debtors.

Jacobs served on several committees during the 1770s that dealt with Pennsylvania’s role in the American Revolution, including one that drafted a letter that was sent to the other Colonial Assemblies calling for the First Continental Congress. In December of 1774, Jacobs served on a committee to draft instructions to Pennsylvania’s delegates that were sent to the Second Continental Congress, which began in 1775. In 1775, he served on a committee to determine the progress of arms and ammunition procurement for the Commonwealth. In 1776, Jacobs served on the committee which drafted and recommended Pennsylvania’s First Constitution, which was adopted and stayed in effect until 1790.

On November 28, 1776, Jacobs was chosen to be the 30th Speaker of the Assembly, giving him the distinction of being the first Speaker elected in an independent Pennsylvania. His year as Speaker was marked by the start of the Revolutionary War, and the Assembly struggled to reach a quorum for much of his term. Notably, in February of 1777, Jacobs accepted and had recorded into the minutes a copy of the Declaration of Independence, which was transmitted to the Assembly by the Continental Congress. Because he supported defensive measures for Pennsylvania, the Quakers formally disowned him in 1777.On March 17, 1777, Jacobs resigned from the Speakership because he was too ill to attend to business. Jacobs was an unsuccessful candidate for re-election to the Assembly in 1778 and 1779.

In addition to his service in the Assembly, Jacobs was a delegate for Chester County to the 1776 Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention.

During the Battle of the Clouds, Jacobs was attacked by the British for quartering Washington’s troops, a practice that was illegal and typically led to the destruction of buildings and the slaughter of livestock. He avoided the troops by moving to higher ground. The British did not pursue for fear of a potential ambush, knowing Washington’s troops were in the vicinity.

Jacobs died in 1780 and the property passed to his son, Thomas H B Jacobs and his daughter Jane (see Pic 3) The wooden portion of the barn had a fire that was unable to contain regardless of if the effort of the Jacobs and surrounding citizens who formed a bucket brigade that lined from the spring fed pond to the barn burnt in 1820 and was n (photo of 1822 plaque commemorating the rebuild of the barn on it’s present footprint). (in the process of repointing the original stone, we discovered charcoal remains in the upper wall from this fire).

The entire property, 364 acres, house, and barn were sold by Jacobs’ heirs to Colonel Hewson Cox in 1851. Hewson Cox, the son of William Sitgreaves Cox(1790–1874, see pics), was an American sailor who served in the Caribbean, the Florida coast, and throughout the waters off Canada and New England, patrolling and engaging hostile British expeditions .During the War of 1812, he was acting lieutenant aboard the USS Chesapeake at the time of its capture by HMS Shannon. In the battle where the phrase “don’t give up the ship” was coined, Cox was subsequently court-martialed for his actions during that engagement and discharged from the Navy. After advocacy from his descendants, his rank was restored by President Harry S Truman.