At the Lock 52 Historical Society, I have a shelf of Port Byron branded items. One of these items is a small jar that once held Pure Horse Radish made by F.W. Jacobs. Dave Thomas stopped by and said he had an article on the man, which gives us a look into the business. Since this is the season of the horse radish harvest, I thought it a good time to take a look into Mr. Jacobs. As I would find out, the smallest item can lead you to some interesting stories.

The newspaper obit I found for Frank stated that his family moved to Mentz in the early 1800’s and came from Washington County. This means that this family was one of the early white settlers to the area. Frank’s obit said that he was related to “Uncle Sam” of Troy, but aside from a brother having the middle name of Wilson, I have yet to find evidence of this,. There are also Jacobs in Montezuma, but I have not been able to connect them to Frank. Our Jacobs’ family moves to a farm on Pine Street, between Port Byron and Centerport. This road will eventually be renamed Nauvoo Rd, but in 1945, it was still Pine Street. The farm started with 100 acres and would grow to 175 acres, 5 barns and a 10 room house. Frank had two brothers, Egbert and Charles. Egbert moved to New York City by the 1850’s where he has a very large family. He was killed by a runaway horse team and killed in 1898. Charles can not be found. Frank stayed here and married Fannie Delamarter and had two daughters, Gladys and Marjorie. The family was very active in the Weedsport Baptist Church where Frank was a deacon and long time choir member. Daughter Marjorie Jacobs Banks would become a world traveler and in 1974 returned home to speak about the United Nations at the Federated Church.

According to the undated article, the horse radish business was extensive. The paper states that he once grew his own roots, but was purchasing stock from St. Louis in 100 pound crates. He produced 48,000 bottles a year, supplying stores from Syracuse to Rochester. The business started in 1906, however in looking at newspaper ads, it looks as if the business really started growing in 1923 when Frank was able to expand his range by using a car instead of a horse team. The last ads were in 1939. He also put out horseradish mustard and beet relish. In 1937, a shortage of horse radish roots led Frank to advertise locally for stock, paying 10 cents a pound for good roots. The shortage of roots led to a increase in the sales price from 10 cents to 15 cents a jar. This might account for the ads disappearing in 1939. The business was entirely a family affair, with his wife Fannie bottling the sauce, and Frank Horr doing much of the dirty work of cleaning the roots. Perhaps wishing to retire, the family sold the Delamarter farm on Emerson Road in early 1945. Frank died later in the year, maybe indicating an illness. With no sons, this Jacobs family tree branch ended with Franks death in 1945, although it does appear that Marjorie had children that carried on the line.