Member Biography

Biography

Colonel Jacob Kern (D12) Lehigh, Northampton, Pike and Wayne Counties 1831-1835

Early Life:

Colonel Jacob Kern, born January 4, 1790, Kernsville, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania; son of Private William Sr. and Maria Salome Baer Kern; subscription schools education; advanced education, as a surveyor and soldier; married, Mary Palmer; children, Jacob Clyde Kern, Doctor George P. Kern, Elizabeth M. Kern, Sabina Kern; Lieutenant, Colonel, Pennsylvania Militia, 1811-1821; elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1831-1835,unsuccessful reelection, 1835; married, Mary Palmer Kern, children, Jacob Clyde Kern, Doctor George P. Kern, Elizabeth M. Kern, Sabina Kern; died, March 25, 1837 (aged 47), Bath, Northampton County, Pennsylvania; interment, Bath Kircheyard, Bath, Northampton County, Pennsylvania.

Early Career:

Governor Snyder commissioned, Pennsylvania Militia, 1811; served throughout the War of 1812; Governor Findlay promoted, Colonel; Governor Hiester appointed, Colonel, Twenty-sixth Regiment, Pennsylvania Militia, 1821. 

Pennsylvania Politics:

Elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State Senate, 12th district, Lehigh, Northampton, Pike, Wayne Counties, 1831-1835, unsuccessful reelection, Peter Michler.

Legacy:

Wife, Mary Palmer, daughter of George Palmer, Deputy Surveyor General of Pennsylvania. 

Cited:

Cox, Harold. "Senate Members K". Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.

Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Lehigh Valley,
Pennsylvania, vol. I, editor: John W. Jordan, Edgar Moore Green, George T. Ettinger (New York: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1905) page 446. 

COL Jacob Kern (1790-1837) - Find a Grave Memorial