James Jacob was the eighth child of Martin Henry van Hovenberg and Mary Theresa O'Connor, and the last to survive infancy. He was baptized at Trinity Church in New York City on September 23, 1880, which gives his birthday as October 26, 1866.
James was born in Manchester Township and was educated locally, and then attended college in New York City. Legend has it that he was also a reporter for one of the New York dailies at this time. He also learned to play the piano in his youth, from an old penniless German who used to sleep on his piano. He was an extremely accomplished pianist, and passed on his skill to his beloved grand-daughter, Gwendolyn.
While living in New York City, he married Alice Scelotte at Grace Episcopal Church in Manhattan, in the fall of 1888. Their first child, a son named after his father, was born the following year, but died in infancy. Again, family tradition holds that he couldn't take milk.
Three daughters, who all survived their parents, followed in quick succession: Emily Sevilla in 1891, Alice Ethel in 1892, and Gertrude Grace in 1893. A fourth daughter, Juliette, died in infancy when her mother fell down the staircase while carrying her. (The mother, Alice, suffered severe spinal injuries that eventually cost her her life.)
Following the death of his wife in March of 1899, and the death of his father in October that same year, James followed his brother Alfred to the West Coast and set up a law practice in Eureka in the logging communities of Northern California. While there, he courted Gwendolyn Silcott (born 1880 in Iowa), who he had met in Oakland while visiting his brother Alfred in the Bay Area.
James and Gwendolyn married in 1905, and set up a home in Oakland for themselves and the three daughters. They all married and left home: Alice married in 1912, and had three children; Emily married Maxwell Cutter in 1914, and had one child, Emily, and Gertrude married John Vodvarka in 1919 and had one daughter, Gwendolyn, in 1920. However, Alice's husband died in the 'teens in an accident so in the 1920 census she and her three children were living with James and Gwendolyn.
In addition to practicing law, James ventured in real estate, once owning a block of buildings in Oakland. He also pursued his hobbies, which included fishing in addition to the piano.
In 1918, he was briefly appointed judge in Alameda County in California, and during this time he changed his name to James Jay Jerome. This was directly correlated with the fact that as an attorney he defended German-Americans during the anti-German hysteria during World War One, along with the fact that his name was confused, much to his detriment, with the name "von Hindenburg."
In the late '30's, his real estate holdings were wiped out in the Great Depression. Finally, in 1938, he and Gwendolyn were compelled to move in with his daughter Gertrude, her husband, and grand-daughter Gwendolyn. Suffering from uremic poisoning, James died on Armistice Day, November 11, 1943. Gwendolyn lived with Gertrude until her own death in 1959.
James was fondly remembered by his daughters and grandchildren. He was gracious, kind, quiet, and dignified, and like his brother Alfred seemed the model of a courtly gentleman in a more turbulent age. Above all he is remembered for his music: the song is ended, but the melody lingers on ...
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