Jacob Shallus

Jacob Shallus or Shalus (1750–April 18, 1796)[1] was the engrosser or penman of the original copy of the United States Constitution.

His father was an innkeeper named Valentine Schallus who immigrated from Palatine region in 1747 and his mother was Frederica Catherina.

"[5] The effort consisted of copying the Constitution on four sheets of parchment made from treated animal skin (either calf, goat, or sheep; in 1987 the supervising conservator at the National Archives said, "We don't know which") and measuring 28 3/4 inches by 23 5/8 inches, probably with a goose quill and with ink made of iron filings in oak gall that was black when applied but that has now turned brownish.

[7] Her obituary from the Democratic Press in Pennsylvania from August 3, 1818 notes she was "one of those patriotic Ladies of Philadelphia who first associated together and supplied the suffering soldiers with shirts, stockings, &c. in that eventful period of the revolution, which tried and apalled [sic] even men's souls."

Jacob and Elizabeth would have at least one child that survived to adulthood, their eldest son, Francis Shallus who was born in 1774.