Capps, Jabez

Born: 1796-09-09 London, United Kingdom

Died: 1896-XX-XX Mount Pulaski, Illinois

Jabez Capps was a schoolteacher, shoemaker, and merchant. He moved from his native London to the United States when he was twenty-one. He traveled to several places in the east before settling in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he remained for two years working in various professions. After short stints in Louisville, Kentucky, and St. Louis, Missouri, Capps established a residence in what would become Springfield, Illinois, in 1820. At various times he worked as a schoolteacher, shoemaker, and merchant. In 1829, he married Prudy Ann Stafford, with whom he had four children. Prudy died in 1836 and Capps married Elizabeth Baker, with whom he had ten more children. That same year, Capps joined with several others in founding Mount Pulaski and opened a general store. In 1858, he retired from his store and pursued horticulture with his son Charles.

History of Logan County, Illinois (Chicago: Donnelley, Loyd, 1878), 407-8; Gravestone, Mount Pulaski Cemetery, Mount Pulaski, IL.