Jacob Jackson Noah: Pioneer Attorney
Values Codes I – E – L
Jacob Jackson Noah was born in 1830 in New York.
He was a descendant of early Jewish colonists of Georgia.
Along the way . . .
In 1849, Jacob Jackson Noah moved to St. Paul, Minnesota.
There he was a law apprentice to Henry Sibley or Alexander Ramsey.
In 1851, Noah became a lawyer in his own right.
Civic
JJ Noah was “Orator of the Day” in 1851.
In 1852, he was appointed Clerk of the District Court of Dakota County.
In 1854, Noah served as Chairman of the Dakota County Democratic Convention.
Minnesota State Capital 1853-1872
Constitutional Convention
In 1854, JJ Noah had worked with the Constitutional Convention to prepare Minnesota for statehood.
The United States Congress passed an enabling act in 1857, which permitted the voters of Minnesota Territory to decide if they wanted to become a state.
At an election in 1857, Minnesota voters elected delegates to this Constitutional Convention.
The convention met in St. Paul to fulfill its obligations.
Noah was Secretary of the Democratic faction and one of the signers of the completed Constitution.
Members of the 1857 Constitutional Convention
In 1857, JJ Noah was elected Clerk of the Supreme Court, a position that he held until 1861.
He served as a Captain in the Civil War – Company K in the 2nd Regiment.
Family
During the mid 1850s, JJ Noah married Eliza from Louisiana.
They had one son: Horace (b.1857).
Sources
- W. Gunther Plaut, The Jews in Minnesota: The First Seventy-Five Years (New York: American Jewish Historical Society, 1959).
Samantha Silver is curator for this JJ Noah exhibit.