Phineas Jenks

Phineas Jenks (May 3, 1781 – August 6, 1851) was a medical doctor{{cite book

| last = Davis

| first = William Watts Hart

| title = The History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania: From the Discovery of the Delaware to the Present Time

| publisher = Democrat Book and Job Office Print

| year = 1876

| page = [https://archive.org/details/ldpd_8671657_000/page/n257 244]

| url = https://archive.org/details/ldpd_8671657_000 }}

and a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.{{cite book

| last = Battle

| first = J. H.

| title = History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania: Including an Account of Its Original Exploration

| publisher = A. Warner & co.

| year = 1887

| pages = [https://archive.org/details/historybuckscou00unkngoog/page/n237 214]–215

| url = https://archive.org/details/historybuckscou00unkngoog | quote = phineas jenks.

}}

He lived in Newtown. He married Amelia Snyder (June 21, 1791 - August 6, 1859),{{cite web

| title = Rash's Surname Index

| date = 2008-11-27

| url = http://www.pennock.ws/surnames/fam/fam47784.html

| accessdate = 2009-04-05 }} daughter of Pennsylvania Governor Simon Snyder,{{cite book

| last = Davis

| first = William Watts Hart

| title = History of Doylestown, Old and New: From Its Settlement to the Close of the Nineteenth Century, 1745-1900

| publisher = Intelligencer Print

| year = 1904

| page = [https://archive.org/details/historyofdoylest00davi/page/310 310]

| url = https://archive.org/details/historyofdoylest00davi | quote = phineas jenks.

}}

in 1820, in Harrisburg.{{Cite news

| title = Matrimony Notice

| newspaper = Repertory, The (Boston)

| volume = 18

| issue = 27

| page = 4

| date = April 11, 1820 }}

Early life

Jenks was born in Middletown, PA.

Medical Doctor

Jenks studied medicine with Dr. Benjamin Rush, graduating in 1804{{cite book

| last = Maxwell

| first = W. J.

| title = General alumni catalogue of the University of Pennsylvania, 1917

| publisher = University of Pennsylvania

| year = 1917

| page = 567

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=xYttvbIxHcMC&dq=phineas+jenks&pg=PA567 }} with a diploma from the University of Pennsylvania.{{Cite news

| title = Interesting Celebration By Doctors Of Bucks County Sixtieth Anniversary of Medical Society Brings Out Facts

| newspaper = Trenton Evening Times

| page = 8

| date = December 8, 1908 }} He began the practice of medicine under Dr. Isaac Chapman of Wrightstown Township. He was elected a junior member of the Philadelphia Medical Society in 1803.{{Cite news

| title = Medical Society.

| newspaper = City Gazette

| page = 2

| date = March 24, 1803 }} His thesis was An essay on the analogy of the Asiatic and African plague and the American yellow fever.{{cite web

| title = An essay on the analogy of the Asiatic and African plague and the American yellow fever

| ol=15085816M

| url=https://openlibrary.org/b/OL15085816M/essay-on-the-analogy-of-the-Asiatic-and-African-plague-and-the-American-yellow-fever

| accessdate = 2009-04-04 }} He was the first president of the Bucks County Medical Society.

Pennsylvania House of Representatives

Jenks represented Bucks County from 1815 through 1820,{{cite book

| last = Battle

| first = J. H.

| title = History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania: Including an Account of Its Original Exploration

| publisher = A. Warner & co.

| year = 1887

| page = [https://archive.org/details/historybuckscou00unkngoog/page/n766 709]

| url = https://archive.org/details/historybuckscou00unkngoog | quote = phineas jenks.

}}

as a member of the Federalist party.{{Cite news

| title = The Election.

| newspaper = Star of Freedom

| pages = 158

| date = October 1, 1817 }}{{Cite news

| title = Election Returns

| newspaper = Franklin Gazette

| pages = 2

| date = October 21, 1818 }}

In 1817, Jenks submitted a bill in the Pennsylvania House to make a new county called Penn from the lower portion of Bucks County. 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).{{Cite news

| newspaper=Spirit of the Times

| volume=1

| issue=6

| page=3

| date=December 8, 1818 }} 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).{{Cite news

| newspaper=Carlisle Republican

| volume=1

| issue=6

| page=23

| date=December 14, 1819 }}{{Cite news

| title=From the National Intelligencer. State Concerns.

| newspaper=American (New York)

| page=2

| date=December 15, 1819 }}

Other activities

He served as a trustee of the Bucks County Academy at Newtown.{{Cite news

| newspaper=Franklin Gazette

| page=4

| date=June 3, 1820 }}

In 1825, he was among the leaders of another movement to create Penn County from a portion of Bucks County.{{cite book

| last = Battle

| first = J. H.

| title = History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania: Including an Account of Its Original Exploration

| publisher = A. Warner & co.

| year = 1887

| page = [https://archive.org/details/historybuckscou00unkngoog/page/n238 215]

| url = https://archive.org/details/historybuckscou00unkngoog | quote = phineas jenks.

}}

Jenks was one of the original founders of St. Luke's Protestant Episcopal Church in Bucks County{{Cite news

| newspaper=Daily National Intelligencer

| volume=32

| number=9839

| page=3

| date=August 31, 1844 }} in 1836.{{cite book

| last = Battle

| first = J. H.

| title = History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania: Including an Account of Its Original Exploration

| publisher = A. Warner & co.

| year = 1887

| pages = [https://archive.org/details/historybuckscou00unkngoog/page/n506 463]–464

| url = https://archive.org/details/historybuckscou00unkngoog | quote = phineas jenks.

}}

Along with Edward M. Paxson, he founded the Bucks County Agricultural Society, in 1843.{{cite book

| last = Allibone

| first = Samuel Austin

| title = 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

| publisher = J.B. Lippincott Company

| year = 1882

| volume = 2

| pages = 1530

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=DsgZAAAAMAAJ&dq=phineas+jenks&pg=PA1530 }}

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.{{Cite news

| title=Miss Susannah Paff Dead

| newspaper=Trenton Evening Times

| volume=32

| number=9839

| page=3

| date=March 16, 1904 }}

Descendants

Jenks had a son named George Ante Jenks,{{cite book

| last = University of Pennsylvania, General Alumni Society

| title = 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

| publisher = University of Pennsylvania, General Alumni Society

| year = 1894

| page = 171

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=GNe6AAAAIAAJ&dq=phineas+jenks&pg=PA171 }}

who was a cousin of George A. Jenks,{{cite book

| last = Pennsylvania Bar Association

| title = Annual Report of the Pennsylvania Bar Association

| publisher = Pennsylvania Bar Association

| year = 1909

| page = 111

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=KeQ8AAAAIAAJ&dq=phineas+jenks&pg=PA111 }}

Solicitor General of the United States, 1886–1889.