Jacob Yoder
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Jacob Yoder, pioneer, born in Reading, Pennsylvania, 11 August 1758 : died in Spencer County, Kentucky, 7 April 1832. He was of Swiss descent.
After serving through the American Revolutionary War in the Pennsylvania line, he built a large boat at Fort Red Stone (now Brownsville), on Monongahela River, which he freighted with flour and carried to New Orleans in May, 1782. With the profits of this venture he bought peltries which he sold in Havana, investing the proceeds in sugar for the Philadelphia market. This was the first attempt to navigate the Ohio and Mississippi rivers for commercial purposes. Subsequently, he settled in Spencer County, Kentucky, and took part in equipping and keeping in the field the military forces in the northwest territory.
He is known for his invention of the flatboat.
Beechland, the home in Spencer County, Kentucky which he built in 1804, survives and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
References
- Articles with topics of unclear notability from March 2010
- Articles lacking sources from January 2009
- United States Army soldiers
- American pioneers
- 1758 births
- 1832 deaths
- People from Reading, Pennsylvania
- People from Spencer County, Kentucky
- American people of Swiss descent
- People of Pennsylvania in the American Revolution