Jacob Parrott was born on July 17, 1843, in Fairfield County, Ohio. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1861 as a Private in Company K of the 33rd Ohio Infantry, and participated in the Battle of Ivy Mountain, part of the Big Sandy Expedition, on November 8, 1861. In April 1862 he volunteered to take part in a daring raid as part of Andrews' Raiders hundreds of miles inside Confederate territory in what would become known as the Great Locomotive Chase. On April 12, 1862, Pvt Parrott and the other raiders commandeered the train "The General" at Big Shanty, Georgia, and attempted to destroy sections of the Western and Atlantic Railroad line from Atlanta to Chattanooga as they went. Andrews' Raiders were forced to abandon the train just north of Ringgold, Georgia, only 18 miles from Chattanooga, and civilian scout James J. Andrews was executed as a spy. Pvt Parrott was captured and taken as a Prisoner of War, and was severely beaten for information 110 times in an attempt to make him talk. He was later released by the Confederate forces in a prisoner exchange on March 17, 1863. After his release he was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant, and to 1st Lieutenant in 1864. After the war ended, Lt Parrott was honorably discharge from the Army and returned to his home in Kenton, Ohio, where he worked as a cabinet maker and operated a stone quarry. He died on December 22, 1908, and was buried at the Grove Cemetery in Kenton, Ohio. For his participation in the Great Locomotive Chase, he was the first person ever awarded the Medal of Honor, presented by Secretary of War Edward M. Stanton on March 25, 1863.

His Medal of Honor Citation reads:

One of 19 of 24 men (including two civilians) who, by direction of Gen. Ormsby M. Mitchell, penetrated nearly 200 miles south into enemy territory and captured a railroad train at Big Shanty, Ga., in an attempt to destroy the bridges and track between Chattanooga and Atlanta.