Jacob Kable, Kessler/Liberty Cemetery, Mercer County, Ohio. (2023 photo by Karen)
This is the tombstone of Jacob Kable, located in row 13 of Kessler, aka Liberty Cemetery, Mercer County, Ohio.
This marker is badly stained but some of the inscription is still legible. FindaGrave.com has a fairly readable photo of the marker [1] and in 1990 the Mercer County Chapter OGS read the tombstone and recorded its inscription:
Jacob
Son of
F & C Kable
Died 11 Sept 1865
Age 7 years, 6 months, 20 days [2]
Jacob Kable’s death is recorded in the records of Zion Lutheran Church, Chattanooga, Ohio: Johann “Jacob” Kable, son of Ferdinand Kable and wife Catharine, died 14 September 1865, age 7 years, 5 months, 20 days. This record indicates that he had a church burial based on Psalm 16:6.
Jacob Kable was born 25 March 1858, as calculated from the church record. I used the church record for the birth date calculation, considering the readability of the tombstone.
According to Zion Chatt’s records, Jacob was the son of Ferdinand “Ferd” (1827-1912) and Catharine (Bollenbacher) (1832-1922) Kable, both German immigrants.
Jacob Kable was enumerated in just one census, the 1860 census, and was enumerated with his parents and brother George. The family lived in Liberty Township, Mercer County, and had a Skeels Crossroads Post Office: Ferd Kable, 28; Catharine Kable, 25; George Kable, 5; Jacob Kable, 3. [3]
In that census Jacob’s father was enumerated as Fred Kable, but his father was actually Ferd [Ferdinand] Kable. Ferd (1827-1912) and Fred (1817-1886) Kable were brothers, but Fred Kable was not married in 1860. Fred did not marry until 1864, when he married Catharine Koch. Ferd was the married brother in 1860. Ferd Kable married Catharine Bollenbacher in Mercer County 10 March 1853 and they had two children in 1860.
Although Jacob Kable’s death was recorded in Zion Chatt’s records, the Ferd Kable family and other closely related Kable families attended St. Paul Lutheran Liberty Township soon after immigrating in the late 1840s and settling in Liberty Township. St. Paul was established in 1841, while Zion Chatt was established in 1855, as an outgrowth of St. Paul. There are Kable names in the early records of both churches. However, I could not find Jacob Kable’s baptism in St. Paul’s records. Their records do not seem to be as complete as Zion’s or I may not have a complete set of their records.
I also suspect Jacob’s parents, Ferd Kable and Catharine Bollenbacher, were married at St. Paul Liberty in 1853. They were married by Rev. JD Gackenheimer and he was St. Paul Liberty’s minister at that time, and later as Zion’s minister as well. But I could not find their marriage recorded in St. Paul Liberty’s records.
Jacob Kable was survived by his brothers George and Adam and sister Caroline.
Jacob’s brother George died about a week later. Zion Chatt’s records indicate that they both died of dysentery.
[1] FindaGrave.com, memorial no. 29193687, Jacob Kable, row 13, Kessler/Liberty Cemetery, Mercer County, Ohio; viewed 28 Aug 2023.
[2] Mercer County, Ohio Cemetery Inscriptions, Volume VI, Black Creek, Hopewell, and Liberty Townships, compiled by The Mercer County Chapter OGS, 1990, p.65. [note by kmb, 2023: The first two gravestones in row 13 are those of brothers Jacob and John G [George] Kable. This 1990 inscription book shows that John G Kable’s tombstone is the first stone in the row and Jacob Kable’s stone is the second. Somehow the stones got switched and Jacob Kable’s stone is now the first in the row and John G Kable’s stone is the second stone.]
[3] 1860 U.S. Census, Ohio, Mercer, Liberty, p.360 [stamped], p.143 [penned], dwelling 1020, family 1025, Fred [sic] Kable; Ancestry.com.
2 comments
Hi Karen,
I remember a Jake Kable who did painting for my Grandma Emma Grauberger.
Farrel
Author
Likely related and a descendant from the original Kable settlers.