Jacob Gates (1811-1892) was an early Mormon leader and one of the first members of the First Seven Presidents of the Seventy in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Jacob Gates was born on May 9, 1811, to Thomas Gates and Patty Plumbly in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. From an early age, he worked as a farmer with his father, and eventually became a carpenter. While his work was broad and constant, Gates' education was very limited. On March 16, 1833, Gates married Millie (Mary) M. Snow. That same year, Jacob Gates was baptized into the Mormon Church by Orson Pratt and was confirmed a member of the Church that same day by Zerubbabel Snow. In 1834, the newlyweds moved to Missouri.

Under the hands of Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon in 1838, Gates was ordained a member of the Seventy. He practiced plural marriage and married three other women, and eventually fathered a total of thirteen children. Gates successfully traveled from Missouri to Salt Lake City, Utah in 1854. He served a Mormon mission from 1859 to 1861 in Liverpool, England, where he was informed by Brigham Young that he had been called one of the First Council of Seventies. He was ordained to that position in 1862.

Jacob Gates' political career began once he moved to St. George, Utah. There he served as a member of the county court for several years, and was elected a member of the house of representatives of the legislative assembly of the Utah Territory every year between 1864-1867. On May 12, 1866, he was appointed brigade aide-de-camp, First Brigade of the Nauvoo Legion Militia of Utah, with the rank of colonel of infantry. Jacob Gates died at his residence in Provo, Utah on April 14, 1892.