A piece of Hopkinsville’s commercial history is tucked into an unusual, little spot in Riverside Cemetery.
Near the Riverside Chapel, in a sliver of ground surrounded by intersecting driving paths, sits a single headstone. It is the burial place of M. Ted Jacobs Sr. – 1885-1946.
Jacobs was a native of a small town in Louisiana and spent most of his early life in New Orleans, according to a Kentucky New Era obituary that’s listed on the Find-A-Grave website. He came to Kentucky apparently to do promotional work for chambers of commerce in various cities. In 1928, he established the Hopkinsville Retail Credit Bureau.
Jacobs became a member of First Presbyterian Church and the Hopkinsville Rotary Club, according to the newspaper obituary.
His wife, who survived him, was Elise B. Jacobs. She does not have a grave marker next to him and apparently was not buried in Hopkinsville. They had a son, Ted Jacobs Jr., who was a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy. At the time of his father’s death, he was stationed at Amphibious Naval Base in Coronado, California.
The elder Jacobs lived on 14th Street in Hopkinsville. He had been ill for several months before his death on the evening of Saturday, July 6, 1946, the newspaper reported.
His pallbearers were Louis Rosenbaum and Uhland Redd Sr., both of Florence, Alabama, and Joe McCarroll, Eldred Leach, Dr. J. J. Ezell, and Wallace Henderson, of Hopkinsville.
Jacobs’ grave is one among thousands of interesting details and noteworthy history in Riverside Cemetery. Originally a small, private graveyard, it later became the city’s largest municipal cemetery. The first burial was in 1837.
Today, more than 18,000 Riverside graves are listed on Find-A-Grave’s website. Many of the entries, such as the one for Jacobs, contain useful information for genealogists and historians.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. She spent 30 years as a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition.
