Jacob McWilliams.   Plaquemine, Iberville, Louisiana
Submitted by Mike Miller



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Jacob McWilliams, Plaquemine, La., has for four decades been closely connected
with the commerce of Iberville parish, and there are few worthy enterprises to
which he has not loaned the influence of his personal and financial support.
He is a native of the state of New Jersey, born in the year 1827. There he
spent his youth, and at the age of twenty. two years he came to Louisiana and
settled in New Orleans, where be was' employed as a clerk in a grocery store.
At the end of two years he came to Plaquemine, and soon embarked in business
on his own account. The experience derived from his service as a clerk he
found of great benefit, and he was enabled to conduct the business
successfully from the start In 1856 be was married to Miss Minerva Clement, a
daughter of Dr. Charles Clement. His mercantile interests continued to thrive
and prosper under his wise management, until he has accumulated a modest
fortune. In 1891, June 1, he opened the Plaquemine bank with a capital of
$50,000. Upon the organization of this concern he was elected president. As
early as 1876, he invested in the Medora sugar plantation, and afterward
purchased the Myrtle Grove plantation; be has superintended the cultivation of
both tracts of land and under his direction the most satisfactory results have
been realized, the annual product being 1,000 hogsheads of sugar. Mr.
McWilliams has given some attention to local politics, and is a stanch 
advocate of honest government. In 1887 he was appointed president of the
police jury, and in 1888 was reappointed by Governor Nicholls, being the
present incumbent of the office. The grandfather of our subject, John
McWilliams, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. The family are all
Presbyterian. 


From Biographical and Historical Memoires of Louisiana, volume 2, p. 229.

Submitted by Mike Miller