Born in Marbletown, New York, De Witt was raised in Twaalskill (now part of the city of Kingston).

Jacob De Witt attended the rural schools of Twaalskill and the Kingston (New York) Academy, afterwards becoming a farmer.

His grandfather, Egbert A. DeWitt, was town supervisor of Rochester, Ulster County, New York from 1736 to 1738.

He was originally buried at Sharpe Cemetery on Albany Avenue, and later reinterred at Kinsgton's Old Dutch Churchyard.

[1] This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress