The legend was that J. S. Jacobs was a traveling salesman peddling his wares in Lincoln when he unexpectedly passed away at the Windsor Hotel on June 11, 1891. Local townspeople, sympathetic to the plight of this unmarried stranger with no known family, took up a collection to bury him and mark his grave with a stone created by an anonymous carver.  That was the story that had been repeated many times in state and national publications.

 

'Twas true that J.S. Jacobs was a traveling salesman and he did die in Lincoln.  Local carver Henry Sahlman was the craftsman who designed the unique stone.  He also misspelled a word in the epitaph - "Here is where he stoped last" which adds to the stone's charm.

 

Lincoln native, historian, and Washington Post columnist Tracee Hamilton collaborated with Lee Modrow, who published cemetery guides, which are available at the Lincoln County Historical Museum.