Phineas Jenks

Phineas Jenks (May 3, 1781 – August 6, 1851) was a medical doctor[1] and a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.[2] He lived in Newtown. He married Amelia Snyder (June 21, 1791 - August 6, 1859),[3] daughter of Pennsylvania Governor Simon Snyder,[4] in 1820, in Harrisburg.[5]

Early life

Jenks was born in Middletown, PA.

Medical Doctor

Jenks studied medicine with Dr. Benjamin Rush, graduating in 1804[1][6] with a diploma from the University of Pennsylvania.[7] He began the practice of medicine under Dr. Isaac Chapman of Wrightstown Township.[7] He was elected a junior member of the Philadelphia Medical Society in 1803.[8] His thesis was An essay on the analogy of the Asiatic and African plague and the American yellow fever.[7][9] He was the first president of the Bucks County Medical Society.[7]

Pennsylvania House of Representatives

Jenks represented Bucks County from 1815 through 1820,[5][10] as a member of the Federalist party.[2][11][12]

In 1817, Jenks submitted a bill in the Pennsylvania House to make a new county called Penn from the lower portion of Bucks County.[2] On December 1, 1818, Jenks came in last in a vote for the speaker of the Pennsylvania House with one vote. (The speaker elected was Rees Hill with 74 votes. Other votes were: John Purdon - 9, Samuel Bond - 1, and William N. Irvine - 1).[13] On December 7, 1819, he came in second in a vote for speaker with 21 of the 93 votes cast. (The speaker elected was Joseph Lawrence with 56 votes. Other votes were: Rees Hill - 14, Wilson Smith - 1, and William Lehman - 1).[14][15]

Other activities

He served as a trustee of the Bucks County Academy at Newtown.[16]

In 1825, he was among the leaders of another movement to create Penn County from a portion of Bucks County.[17]

Jenks was one of the original founders of St. Luke's Protestant Episcopal Church in Bucks County[18] in 1836.[19]

Along with Edward M. Paxson, he founded the Bucks County Agricultural Society, in 1843.[20]

He was president of the Newtown Whig Meeting (which took place on August 23, 1844) for the Election of 1844. Estimates of the number of people attending ranged from 8,000 to 20,000.[21]

Descendants

Jenks had a son named George Ante Jenks,[22] who was a cousin of George A. Jenks,[23] Solicitor General of the United States, 1886-1889.

Sources
  1. Davis, William Watts Hart (1876). The History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania: From the Discovery of the Delaware to the Present Time. Democrat Book and Job Office Print. p. 244.
  2. Battle, J. H. (1887). History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania: Including an Account of Its Original Exploration. A. Warner & co. pp. 214–215. phineas jenks.
  3. "Rash's Surname Index". 2008-11-27. Retrieved 2009-04-05.
  4. Davis, William Watts Hart (1904). History of Doylestown, Old and New: From Its Settlement to the Close of the Nineteenth Century, 1745-1900. Intelligencer Print. p. 310. phineas jenks.
  5. "Matrimony Notice". Repertory, The (Boston). 18 (27). April 11, 1820. p. 4.
  6. Maxwell, W. J. (1917). General alumni catalogue of the University of Pennsylvania, 1917. University of Pennsylvania. p. 567.
  7. "Interesting Celebration By Doctors Of Bucks County Sixtieth Anniversary of Medical Society Brings Out Facts". Trenton Evening Times. December 8, 1908. p. 8.
  8. "Medical Society". City Gazette. March 24, 1803. p. 2.
  9. "An essay on the analogy of the Asiatic and African plague and the American yellow fever". Retrieved 2009-04-04.
  10. Battle, J. H. (1887). History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania: Including an Account of Its Original Exploration. A. Warner & co. p. 709. phineas jenks.
  11. "The Election". Star of Freedom. October 1, 1817. p. 158.
  12. "Election Returns". Franklin Gazette. October 21, 1818. p. 2.
  13. Spirit of the Times. 1 (6). December 8, 1818. p. 3. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  14. Carlisle Republican. 1 (6). December 14, 1819. p. 23. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  15. "From the National Intelligencer. State Concerns". American (New York). December 15, 1819. p. 2.
  16. Franklin Gazette. June 3, 1820. p. 4. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  17. Battle, J. H. (1887). History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania: Including an Account of Its Original Exploration. A. Warner & co. p. 215. phineas jenks.
  18. Daily National Intelligencer. 32 (9839). August 31, 1844. p. 3. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  19. Battle, J. H. (1887). History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania: Including an Account of Its Original Exploration. A. Warner & co. pp. 463–464. phineas jenks.
  20. Allibone, Samuel Austin (1882). A critical dictionary of English literature and British and American authors, living and deceased, from the earliest account to the latter half of the nineteenth century: Containing over forty-six thousand articles (authors), with forty indexes of subjects. 2. J.B. Lippincott Company. p. 1530.
  21. "Miss Susannah Paff Dead". Trenton Evening Times. 32 (9839). March 16, 1904. p. 3.
  22. University of Pennsylvania, General Alumni Society (1894). Biographical catalogue of the matriculates of the college together with lists of the members of the college faculty and the trustees, officers and recipients of honorary degrees, 1749-1893. University of Pennsylvania, General Alumni Society. p. 171.
  23. Pennsylvania Bar Association (1909). Annual Report of the Pennsylvania Bar Association. Pennsylvania Bar Association. p. 111.
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