Liggett established his legal practice in Harrisonburg by 1854. In 1860, he was a presidential elector for the Democratic ticket headed by presidential candidate Stephen A. Douglas, who lost to Republican Abraham Lincoln. The federal census for that year showed Jacob N. Liggett as a farmer and lawyer who owned $11,000 of real estate and $5,000 of personal property, and lived with his wife and young children as well as widowed father and nieces Alice and Louisa Winfield. On June 26, 1861, Liggett joined Ashby's Cavalry as a private. He brought his own horse and volunteered to serve for the duration of the war. He was later promoted to lieutenant, and his family preserved a letter from Turner Ashby praising Liggett's courage. In 1867, Rockingham County voters elected Liggett and fellow Conservative John C. Woodson to represent them in the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1868. The Convention met briefly in December, 1867; Chairman John Curtiss Underwood assigned committees on December 12, then recessed for the holidays. After they returned in January, Liggett revealed that Underwood, although never seated in the U.S. Senate, had been improperly using the U.S. Senate frank on his mail since 1865. On March 7, 1868, other delegates ejected Liggett for refusing to vote on a certain measure. Liggett had taken the same stance as delegate J. Henry Williams of Amherst County, Virginia the previous day. Both were among delegates opposing two provisions: one barred former Confederates such as himself from holding office, another required state officeholders to take a loyalty oath beyond that given by former Confederates upon their surrender and required by the 14th Amendment. The draft Constitution with both measures passed the convention on April 17, 1868 by a 51 to 26 vote. However, Major General John Schofield and the Committee of Nine lobbied newly elected President Ulysses S. Grant to allow Virginia voters to vote on the "obnoxious" anti-Confederate provisions separately. In July 1869, Virginia voters rejected the anti-Confederate provisions, although they overwhelmingly approved the new Constitution without them. Liggett's ouster caused him little economic trouble, for in September, 1868, the Old Commonwealth published an article about recent improvements in Harrisonburg, including Liggett's new frame dwelling on North Main Street, which cost $3000.
Death
Jacob N. Liggett died in Harrisonburg, Virginia on May 8, 1912, and was buried in the family plot in Woodbine Cemetery, with his mother, first wife, at least two children who died as infants and other family members.
