Jacob was the son of Frederick Haas and Elizabeth Schwartz. He was the spouse of Elizabeth Jones.

HARRISBURG — Having a close physical resemblance to fugitive assassin John Wilkes Booth nearly cost the life of a Union Army veteran from Pottsville in the days following the end of the Civil War.

Jacob W. Haas got through the battles of Gettysburg and Antietam unscathed, but he was endangered when a lynch mob, believing he was President Abraham Lincoln’s assassin, came after him in central Pennsylvania.

Haas, a Union Army veteran who lived in Pottsville and Shamokin, was detained several times on suspicions that he was Booth, the actor who assassinated Lincoln 150 years ago on April 14, 1865. Booth was the subject of a nationwide manhunt until he was captured and killed in Virginia on April 26 of that same year.

Haas and the fugitive Booth both had chiseled features, a mustache and dark curly hair; both men had recently spent time in Pennsylvania’s oil boom region in the northwestern part of the state. Haas prospected in the region after he was discharged from the Army in October 1864. Booth had personally checked on investments in the oil region in September 1864.

“Jake” Haas was a 28-year-old father of three small children when the war began in 1861. He became an officer in the 96th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, a regiment made up of soldiers from Schuylkill County that saw plenty of action in the war’s eastern theater.

“We were advancing and were within 15 passes of their Rifle Pit when I was struck on the side of my head by a ball which glanced upwards through my cap, knocking me down and stunning me,” Haas wrote about a fight at Salem Church during the 1863 Chancellorsville campaign.

Haas had three brothers, living in Shamokin, who also fought with the Union. One brother, James, was mortally wounded at the Battle of Cedar Creek in the Shenandoah Valley in the fall of 1864.

Haas’ letters home and written accounts are available to researchers at the U.S. Army Military History Institute’s Research and Education Services at Carlisle.

Haas and Col. William Lessig, a fellow 96th regiment veteran, left Pottsville on April 19 to return to the oil region.

But the peaceful tidings resulting from Appomattox had been shaken by Lincoln’s assassination. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton offered a $100,000 reward for Booth and his band of conspirators. Hundreds of men resembling Booth, including a Delaware congressman, were detained as the manhunt went on.

Trouble started when Haas and Lessig reached Lewisburg, Pa.

They were eating dinner at a tavern when several men entered with pistols drawn. They demanded that Haas surrender for the murder of Lincoln, Haas related.

Tensions eased when an acquaintance entered the tavern and quickly identified Haas.

At Phillipsburg, Haas and Lessig were surrounded by a troop of U.S. cavalry.

“We were taken to Phillipsburg and a great crowd soon gathered, learning that the slayer of Lincoln had been caught,” Haas wrote. “Cries of ‘shoot him, lynch him’ were heard and I felt chills when several ruffians produced coils of rope.”

Haas spent the night in a locked room, but was released the next day after an acquaintance identified him.

A cavalry unit again stopped Haas near Franklin, Pa. He asked to be taken to a local bank where a cashier identified him.

“We were given our liberty again and then word came that Booth had been slain,” Haas wrote.

Haas died at 81 in 1914 and is buried in Shamokin Cemetery.

Jacob was the son of Frederick Haas and Elizabeth Schwartz. He was the spouse of Elizabeth Jones.

HARRISBURG — Having a close physical resemblance to fugitive assassin John Wilkes Booth nearly cost the life of a Union Army veteran from Pottsville in the days following the end of the Civil War.

Jacob W. Haas got through the battles of Gettysburg and Antietam unscathed, but he was endangered when a lynch mob, believing he was President Abraham Lincoln’s assassin, came after him in central Pennsylvania.

Haas, a Union Army veteran who lived in Pottsville and Shamokin, was detained several times on suspicions that he was Booth, the actor who assassinated Lincoln 150 years ago on April 14, 1865. Booth was the subject of a nationwide manhunt until he was captured and killed in Virginia on April 26 of that same year.

Haas and the fugitive Booth both had chiseled features, a mustache and dark curly hair; both men had recently spent time in Pennsylvania’s oil boom region in the northwestern part of the state. Haas prospected in the region after he was discharged from the Army in October 1864. Booth had personally checked on investments in the oil region in September 1864.

“Jake” Haas was a 28-year-old father of three small children when the war began in 1861. He became an officer in the 96th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, a regiment made up of soldiers from Schuylkill County that saw plenty of action in the war’s eastern theater.

“We were advancing and were within 15 passes of their Rifle Pit when I was struck on the side of my head by a ball which glanced upwards through my cap, knocking me down and stunning me,” Haas wrote about a fight at Salem Church during the 1863 Chancellorsville campaign.

Haas had three brothers, living in Shamokin, who also fought with the Union. One brother, James, was mortally wounded at the Battle of Cedar Creek in the Shenandoah Valley in the fall of 1864.

Haas’ letters home and written accounts are available to researchers at the U.S. Army Military History Institute’s Research and Education Services at Carlisle.

Haas and Col. William Lessig, a fellow 96th regiment veteran, left Pottsville on April 19 to return to the oil region.

But the peaceful tidings resulting from Appomattox had been shaken by Lincoln’s assassination. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton offered a $100,000 reward for Booth and his band of conspirators. Hundreds of men resembling Booth, including a Delaware congressman, were detained as the manhunt went on.

Trouble started when Haas and Lessig reached Lewisburg, Pa.

They were eating dinner at a tavern when several men entered with pistols drawn. They demanded that Haas surrender for the murder of Lincoln, Haas related.

Tensions eased when an acquaintance entered the tavern and quickly identified Haas.

At Phillipsburg, Haas and Lessig were surrounded by a troop of U.S. cavalry.

“We were taken to Phillipsburg and a great crowd soon gathered, learning that the slayer of Lincoln had been caught,” Haas wrote. “Cries of ‘shoot him, lynch him’ were heard and I felt chills when several ruffians produced coils of rope.”

Haas spent the night in a locked room, but was released the next day after an acquaintance identified him.

A cavalry unit again stopped Haas near Franklin, Pa. He asked to be taken to a local bank where a cashier identified him.

“We were given our liberty again and then word came that Booth had been slain,” Haas wrote.

Haas died at 81 in 1914 and is buried in Shamokin Cemetery.