Schaefer was born in 1855 inMilwaukee, Wisconsin.[4] He was the first US-born son of German emigrants. He was the father of fellow billiards proJacob Schaefer Jr. (1894–1975).[3]
Schaefer first started playing billiards at the age of eleven,[5] at a billiard hall that was owned by his step-father John Berg.[4] At the time of the1870 United States census, he was listed as "Jacob Berg", aged fifteen atLeavenworth, Kansas, in the home of John Berg, who was a billiard hall owner.[6] He was the best player in Leavenworth by the age of fifteen.[7] Schaefer's debut as a professional player came in 1873.[8] Before May 1874, he had become the champion of Kansas.[9]
He became one of the world's topbalkline players, to such an extent that some of the more challenging versions of balkline were invented to attempt to level the playing field against him. He won matches and titles around the world, including the March 11, 1908, World18.1 Balkline Championship versusWillie Hoppe, although extremely ill, he won the match by 500 points to 423.[3] He died of tuberculosis in 1910 inDenver, Colorado.[10]
