Larry this is Glenda Etress Blackerby, I have research this line in SC and NC for a long time, first evidence on him (Henry Etris\Etters) and many other spellings is a deed document for 1777 in The colony of Augusta, Va. I think he maybe her brother and they left Pa abt the same time, as both were in the area at the same time.
Jacob was not a Hessian Soldier. He came to Phliadelphia in the mid 1750s as a German immigrant. He was married in 1759 to Mary Veronica Eteris at Boehm's Reformed Church. He moved to VA before the revolution and was given a land grant in KY for his service in the Revolution.
Tell me if you have any information on him.