Biography:  Jacob was born on March 24, 1818 to Johan Jacob Renkert and Christine Elizabeth Klaisin in Baden-Wurttemburg, Germany.  He was a farmer (described as very industrious) married on July 25, 1843 to Maria Barbara Spittler (after Maria died, he married Catherine (Margaret) Mauser in 1886).  They had a son, Jacob John, in 1844 and came to Hamburg in 1847.  Jacob (Sr.) passed away on June 19, 1892 from stomach difficulties and asthma.  Jacob donated the land for the cemetery and asked that all profits from plot sales benefit the building of a new Sunday School at St. James.