JACOB ZUBER. – Without doubt the subject of this sketch is one of the men whose name should be among the list of those who are accorded representation in the history of Union county, since he has wrought here with an energy and assiduity that have placed him in possession of a goodly competence, while also he has the distinction of always being allied with those enterprises that were for the benefit of the people of the county, and his life has been one of long and continued activity and manifestation of wisdom and ability, and having been in the path of the frontiersman for many years, he now justly deserves the retirement that is accorded him.
In 1822, where rolls the Rhine its pleasant course through rich valleys and vendured hills in the land of Germany, our subject was born and there he received the thorough training given in the common schools. He remained at home, assisting his father on the farm until 1844, and then sailed from the Fatherland to America’s free lands. He settled in Richland county, Ohio, until 1850, then crossed the dreary plains to California, landing in Hangtown, thence to Sacramento, and after a short stay there came into Trinity county, where he took up mining. Six years were spent in this industry and he did well in a financial way, then he came to the mining districts of Idaho, but not finding them as he supposed, came thence to the Grande Ronde valley, and took up the stock business. After a few years, he went to Silver City, Idaho, and ten years later he sold his stock and came to dwell in Union. There in company with H. Striker, he built a brewery and operated it for five years, and then sold and came to Lagrande and went into the merchandise business.
It was in March, 1887, that the marriage of Mr. Zuber and Susan C. Reeves occurred, and one child has been born to them, Dorothy M. Mrs. Zuber’s parents were Elijah S. and Margaret (McDonald) Reeves and she was born in Brown county, Illinois, in 1848 and the family crossed the plains and located in the Grande Ronde valley in 1867. Mrs. Zuber has two children by a former marriage, Laura E., wife of John Childs, living in Lagrande; Elza, married and living in San Francisco. Our subject has a fine home of twelve rooms and of modern architectural design, one of the finest in the city, and in addition he owns twelve houses and twenty lots, besides six hundred acres of land. He is one of the substantial and capable men of the county, and he and his estimable wife are valuable members of society, being esteemed and highly respected by all, and the later years of their pilgrimage is being spent in quiet enjoyment of the fruits of their worthy labors.