But we also have some Sprinkles who were not exactly law-abiding
citizens, and some have even spent time in prison. One of the more
interesting of the these somewhat shady characters is the infamous
counterfeiter, Jacob Sprinkle, whom we on the Sprinkle List have
affectionately nicknamed The Silver Dollar Man ("SDM").

Articles have been published over the years about Jacob and his
counterfeit coins, including an 1895 article in the "New York Times"
. More recently, Dr. William Talley has found Jacob an interesting
subject and has written several informative and well-researched
pieces. Although some articles erroneously refer to the SDM as
Josiah rather than Jacob, Dr. Talley assures us that the court records
he examined show that the SDM's name was indeed Jacob Sprinkle.

What did Jacob do?
Jacob supposedly discovered a silver mine in a remote area in or near
Lewis Co., KY. He used the silver to make his own coins, which were
accepted as currency throughout the community. The coins themselves are
said to have been slightly larger than a silver dollar and had
an owl on one side and a six-pointed star on the other side.
Photos of a Year 1839 Silver Dollar
Like Jacob's?
Naturally, the authorities weren't too pleased with Jacob's use of
his homemade coins, and in June 1841, he was charged with "knowingly"
and "willfully" counterfeiting silver coin. A trial took place in Clarksville,
Lewis Co., KY; but in the end, Jacob was found not guilty. What did
the SDM do when the verdict was read? It's said that he turned to
his attorney and paid him with fifty of those silver coins.

If you would like to read details about the trial, excerpts from
Dr. Talley's articles can be found in the
Sprinkle List Archives.

We don't know what happened to Jacob after the trial. Some
accounts indicate he continued to use his dollars until his death.
No one knows exactly when he died, but presumably it was between
1841 and 1850. And although unlikely to be true, there has even
been speculation that he moved on to California. However, we do
know one thing: he died without disclosing his secret source of silver.

How does the SDM connect to our Sprinkle family? That's an
interesting question. Dr. Talley speculated in several of his
articles but today he is uncertain. We on the Sprinkle List have
discussed Jacob's heritage many times. Several of us have come up
with a theory that he is the same Jacob Sprinkle who married Polly
Sheltman in Rockingham Co., VA in 1804, moved to Wythe Co. and
eventually on to Tazewell Co. Jacob was born about 1784, the
grandson of the immigrant William, by William's son Henry and Henry's
first wife, Catharine. Some researchers suggest that Jacob died
sometime after he was enumerated on the 1820 census and before 1830,
because Polly appears as head of household in Lee Co. on the 1830
census. However, we now know he wasn't dead before 1830 because he
was involved in a land transaction in Tazewell Co. in 1839.
Unfortunately for us, the Tazewell land documents do not show his
residence. Our proposal that Polly Sheltman's husband and the SDM
are the same man would be neatly proved (or disproved) if only the
land transaction showed Jacob's then-current location.

However, on the 1830 Morgan Co., KY census, there is a man named
Jacob Sprinkle, age 40-50, who is married to a younger woman and has
two small children in his household born between 1825-1830. In
1840, J. Sprinkles, age 50-60, appears on the census in Lewis Co.,
KY, with his wife and a house full of children. Surely this man is
the SDM. . . and probably Polly Sheltman Sprinkle's missing husband Jacob.

We believe Jacob and Polly separated, Jacob moved west to Kentucky
for fun and adventure, married a much-younger woman (Susan Mullins),
fathered a second family of children, and possibly returned briefly
to Virginia in 1839 to clear up the land transaction discrepancy.
And it must have been around that time
that he began to manufacture the silver coins.

We will never know the complete story, but it's surely fun to
speculate about Jacob, the Silver Dollar Man.
~Margaret

Hezekiah Sprinkle had previously been listed as a son of
Jacob &Polly (Sheltman) Sprinkle.
For many years, that was a "given." However, in the past year,
we have learned that Hezekiah was not a son of Jacob.
Apparently Hezekiah was an illegitimate son of Jacob's brother, Henry.
For details, see:
"The Lost Children of Wythe County, Virginia 1790-1878
- Poor School Children, Orphans and Apprentices from County Records,"
by Mary Kegley.