Symon Jakes was the father of our grandmother Monika. He was born in Bremen, Germany. He had three brothers: Johann who died in a horse stampede; Vincent who had 6 children; the third brother is unnamed - he was a government official and used to travel regularly to America.
Symon practised as a lawyer in Kaunas, Lithuania and his law partner was named Dromerstein. His first wife, Elzbieta, was Polish; she died in childbirth within four years of their marriage. Monika was their only surviving child, her twin having died at birth.
Symon married the Lithuanian widow of his law partner; she had two daughters from her marriage to Dromerstein. She brought the business of coaching inns into the marriage and Symon expanded these until they reached from Bremerhaven to Odessa. The family moved about following the establishment of more coaching inns, so lived for a time in Riga, Latvia and Estonia; however, they settled for a longer period in Odessa, Russia. Symon abandoned his coaching inn enterprise around 1904 when harassment from marauding Cossacks rendered it dangerous and unviable during the Russo-Japanese war; the Cossacks would demand free food and drink, steal the inn horses and destroy rooms and belongings.
Symon then bought a farm which his second wife managed as he travelled on legal business. He is recorded as a farmer on Monika's Scottish marriage certificate, rather than a lawyer which was his most consistent occupation.
The surname Jakes is German for the name Jasper.
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