William Jenkins

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Husband William Jenkins ¹

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           Born: 7 Jul 1779 - ? Lancaster Co, PA 1
     Christened: 
           Died: 24 May 1853 1
         Buried: 

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         Father: David Jenkins (1731-1797) 2
         Mother: 

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Wife

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Children

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General Notes: Husband - William Jenkins

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He was born at Windsor Place. He graduated at Princeton College, New Jersey, in 1797. He read law in the office of James Hopkins, esq., and was admitted to the bar on the 10th of August, 1801. In the winter of 1817-18, he was appointed by Governor Findley Prosecuting Attorney for the county of Lancaster, an office he filled for the period of twenty-three years. In 1845 he was appointed by Governor Shunk Recorder of the Mayor's Court, the duties of which office he discharged until the abolition of the court in 1849. From that period he appeared but little in public; declining years and infirmity forbidding it. He died at his residence on Duke street, May 24th, 1853. As a lawyer, Mr. Jenkins stood in the first rank of that list of eminent men who, in the old history of the Lancaster bar, rendered it so celebrated throughout the commonwealth. He was an able jurist, and a well-read lawyer; a safe counsellor and an eloquent advocate, winning his way to the hearts of the jury with a resistless power, and presenting to the court the strong legal points of his case with a tact and energy that seldom failed of its effect. Always courteous to his opponents, he never for a moment, however, forgot the interests of his client, but seemed to become, as it were, identified with his cause. To young men entering upon the profession, his kindness was great, and he was ever ready to instruct or assist them. His mind was eminently a legal one, and a superior knowledge of law may be said to have been his distinguishing characteristic. Never an active politician, he was nevertheless firm and decided in his opinions, yielding to all the privilege of entertaining and expressing their convictions, and never permitting political to interfere with his personal feelings. In the domestic circle Mr. Jenkins was an ornament. As a husband and father he had no superior; and as a hospitable gentleman, his home was proverbial. His hand and heart were open to his friends, as was his purse to the afflicted and needy. [BHLC 1872, 330]

1 Alex. Harris, A Biographical History of Lancaster County (Lancaster, PA: Elias Barr & Co., 1872), Pg 330.

2 Alex. Harris, A Biographical History of Lancaster County (Lancaster, PA: Elias Barr & Co., 1872), Pg 329.