Jacob (1797-1871) married Telithe Hylton (sister of Burwell Hylton who married Jacob’s sister Mary Ann) and in 1834 was deeded 200 acres (part of an 1816 survey) by Christopher. Their children were Jeremiah, John B., Leroy, Francis Marion, Oliver Perry, George Washington, and Mary Malissa.  Jacob was a farmer and carpenter who built “a house for school teaching” that became known as the “Slusher School.” (The school was located behind the present home of Jolee Harmon Crawford, a descendant of Oliver Perry.) By 1878 Jacob’s son, Jeremiah, held church services in the school until it was deemed unwise to use the school building for public worship; that congregation eventually built a meeting house, the Laurel Branch Church. Descendants of Jeremiah include Vicky Maberry Howery, Glenna Weddle, Arnold Slusher and Mike Slusher of Floyd. A great-granddaughter of Oliver Perry is Janet Slusher Keith, recording secretary for the Slusher Family Organization since 1970.  Janet’s son Kevin and his wife, Melissa, continue the farming tradition on land directly passed down from Christopher; Kevin is the seventh generation to farm the land on Laurel Branch Road. Jacob’s great-great-great-granddaughter, Venda Radford Keith, presently serves as one of the organization’s historians and great-great-great grandson Jeff Slusher is the corresponding secretary and web master for the organization.

Jacob's tombstone contains interesting symbolism brought to America by German settlers of the period. Thanks to a researcher from Ohio, we learned of an article published in Our State Magazine by Shannon Farlow called "Stone Foundation" which relates to this grave marker. The May 2006 article can be downloaded here compliments of Our State Magazine

Jacob's home today, photographed by Morgan Slusher 18 July 2010

A number of Jacob Slusher's descendants (along with additional Slushers, Hyltons and other Floyd families) meet at a Floyd County Church of the Brethren in 1940. A high resolution, scanned version of this panoramic photograph is available for download here. The image is 68.9 MB, so it may not be wise to download without a high speed internet connection.The original photograph is 40" wide. Very nice reprints can be reproduced from this file in the $50.00 range from specialty shops.