Jacobs in Latin America
The first Jacobs connection with Latin America that I am aware of is Daniel Jacobs.
He is born, and spends most of his life in England.
However, in 1860 he is living on St. Thomas in what is today the US Virgin Isles, but at the time it was Danish, working as a Clerk.
The family he is living with are called Simmonds and I assume that they are relations of his wife to be. Esther had been on St Thomas since at least 1855
He marries Esther Simmonds in 1862 on St. Thomas.
Daniel and Esther’s daughter Rawner was born there in 1863 and their daughter Sarah in 1865. By 1866 they are in England for the births of Lewis in 1866 and Moses in 1867.
They are back on St Thomas by 1868 when Lewis dies and Benjamin is born there in 1870.
The family all (except Lewis) return to England before 1881. Esther dies in March 1881.
As far as I can see, most of the family remain in England, except for Benjamin.
However there is a Daniel Jacobs of the right age travelling from New York to Liverpool in December 1905. Following this there is a Daniel arriving in St Thomas in 1911.
Daniel’s son, Benjamin, turns up in Guatemala in 1895 and thanks to Lucrecia Peinado I have been able to add some details of the descendants of Daniel and Esther Jacobs in the Virgin Isles and then in Guatemala.
The database has been updated and a new set of photographs added to the Photo Gallery
Lucrecia’s tree on Ancestry can be seen at https://www.ancestry.co.uk/family-tree/tree/36752336/family?usePUBJs=true
One point to note, which confused me a bit, is the change in surnames. Here in the UK we are used to the mother’s surname being given before the father’s.
However Lucrecia clarified it for me:-
“In Latin America the father’s last name goes always first, then the mother’s last name. When the woman marries she can, if she wants, use the husband’s last name. It usually comes after her last name preceded by the word «de» meaning «of or from»”
Lucrecia has also given me permission to use the photographs from her Ancestry tree and these can be seen in the Guatemalan Jacobs section of the Photo Gallery
