Jacob H. Jones was born around 1841 in Westfield, New York, to Robert and Mary Jones. His father was an English immigrant and a laborer who owned $400 of real estate and $400 of personal property by 1860. The family moved to Ripley, New York, in the 1850s, and Jones grew up and attended school there. By 1860, he was working as a farm laborer.
He enlisted in the Union army on August 12, 1861, and he mustered in as a private in Company G of the 49th New York Infantry on August 30 alongside his brother Thomas. According to his service records, he was 5 feet, 8 inches tall, with light hair and blue eyes. The regiment took part in the siege of Yorktown, the Seven Days’ Battles, the Battle of Antietam, the Battle of Fredericksburg, the Battle of Chancellorsville, the Battle of Gettysburg, the Overland Campaign, and the siege of Petersburg.
In March 1865, he assured his mother that she “need not wory yourself about our safty for I dont think I shall expose myself unnecesary to the Rebels fire for I am to old a Soldier for it.” He was killed in action at Petersburg, Virginia, on April 2, 1865.