The History of the Yakima Valley, Washington, Comprising Yakima, Kittitas and
Benton Counties, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1919, Volume II, page 855 

REV. JACOB ALLAN EBY.

Rev. Jacob Allan Eby is now identified with ranching interests near Sunnyside
and also since January, 1915, has been elder in charge of the Church of the
Brethren at both Sunnyside and Grandview, his time being thus divided between
his ranching interests and his church work. He was born in Stephenson county,
Illinois, December 3, 1877, a son of the Rev. David B. and Hannah (Studebaker)
Eby, both of whom are natives of Somerset county, Pennsylvania. The father was a
son of Enoch Eby, also a native of the Keystone state, who removed to Illinois
in the pioneer epoch in the history of that state, spending his remaining days
there. Rev. David B. Eby attended college at Bourbon, Indiana, and afterward
entered the ministry of the Church of the Brethren, preaching in Illinois until
November, 1898, and also dividing his time with farming interests. In the year
indicated he came to Sunnyside, Washington, and purchased one hundred and
twenty acres of land two miles east of the town. The tract was partly improved
but there was only a shack upon it. In 1899 he built one of the best homes in
this part of the county and otherwise greatly improved the property,
transforming it into one of the well developed ranches of the district. In 1900
he assisted in organizing the Church of the Brethren and became the first pastor
together with Rev. S. H. Miller. He remained pastor of the church until January,
1916, when he removed to Olympia. Washington, and is elder in charge of a church
there. In the meantime he and his sons had developed one of the best ranches of
the valley, of which Rev. Jacob A. Eby now farms sixty acres.

During his youthful days Jacob A. Eby was a pupil in Mount Morris College of
Mount Morris, Illinois, and in 1906 he went with his family to Chicago, where
for two years he studied in the Bethany Bible School. He then returned to
Sunnyside and assisted on the ranch and also became assistant pastor of the
churches at Sunnyside, Outlook and Grandview. Since January, 1915, he has been
elder in charge of the Church of the Brethren at both Sunnyside and Grandview
and gives much of his time to the interests of his denomination. He likewise
cultivates sixty acres of the home place and gives his attention largely to the
production of hay, sugar beets and potatoes.

On the 14th of April, 1902, Rev. Eby was married to Miss Viola Smith, a native
of Maryland and a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Smith, the latter now deceased.
Her father removed to Sunnyside in 1900 and has conducted business as a
contractor. In 1911 Rev. Eby was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who
passed away in March of that year. They had become the parents of four children:
Francis and Fern, twins, born June 2, 1904: and Kenneth and Katherine, also
twins, born February 11, 1911.

In his political views Rev. Eby is a republican with independent tendencies, for
he makes his support of any candidate or measure a matter of judgment and not of
party following. In 1906 he served as a director of the drainage district and he
cooperates in all plans and measures for the material upbuilding and the social
and moral progress of the community in which he makes his home. He is one of the
most highly respected residents of this section and his worth is acknowledged by
all who know him.

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Submitted to the Washington Bios Project in January 2008 by Jeffrey L. Elmer.
Submitter has no additional information about the subject of this article.