Biography:
Private Jacob Lytle was born about 1837 in Carroll County, Maryland. He was enslaved by Colonel Joshua Gist, who had served during the American Revolution. When Colonel Gist died in 1839, he willed this two-year-old boy to his daughters, Harriet and Ann. The property list in the court records indicates that the toddler was valued at $60. The eight other people they enslaved were possibly family members. An older boy name Stephen is listed, and this person might be the Stephen Lytle who served alongside Jacob Lytle in the Civil War.
Like other members of the 4th USCT, Private Lytle enlisted in August of 1863, shortly after the Battle of Gettysburg. His enslavers signed a loyalty oath and were paid reparations of $300.
Private Lytle was wounded in the Battle of Petersburg, and returned to duty a few months later. He mustered out in Washington DC, in May of 1866.
He may have returned to the Westminster area, as he owned a burial plot in Ellsworth Cemetery. We have yet to find records of Jacob Lytle after the Civil War. We are still hopeful to find proof of his burial and obtain a headstone to mark his grave.
