Born: November 13, 1852, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Died: April 27, 1908, San Francisco, California.
Buried: Home of Peace Cemetery, Colma, California.
Jacob was the husband of Eva Korper.
He reportedly attended the Jewish Theological Seminary of Amsterdam (some sources dispute this), and earned a DD degree at Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati, Ohio.
After emigrating to America, he served the Bene Israel Congregation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1873–76); Adas Israel Congregation, Washington, DC (1876–77); Sons of Israel and David, Providence, Rhode Island (1877–78); and Congregation Beth Israel, Houston, Texas (1878–86). He then became assistant, and later chief, rabbi of Congregation Emanu-El, San Francisco, California (1886–1908).
He became professor of Semitic languages and literature at the University of California (1894), and was a chaplain and special lecturer at Stanford University.
He edited The Jewish South, Houston, Texas (1881–83), and the Sabbath Visitor, Cincinnati, Ohio (1883–86).