Charles Jones Jenkins (January 6, 1805 – June 14, 1883) was an American politician from

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. A Democrat, Jenkins served as Attorney General of Georgia from 1831 to 1834. He then went on to serve as

Governor of Georgia The governor of Georgia is the head of government of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and the commander-in-chief of the state's Georgia National Guard, National Guard, when not in federal service, and Georgia State Defense Force, State Defense Fo ...

from December 14, 1865 to January 13, 1868. He was removed from office and replaced by Thomas H. Ruger as military governor after Jenkins refused to allow state funds to be used for a racially integrated state constitutional convention. Jenkins remained a respected figure in Georgia, and despite not running for the office, he received two electoral votes in the

1872 United States presidential election United States presidential election, Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 5, 1872. Incumbent President of the United States, President Ulysses S. Grant, the Republican Party (United States), Republican nominee, easil ...

, due to the premature death of candidate

Horace Greeley Horace Greeley (February 3, 1811 – November 29, 1872) was an American newspaper editor and publisher who was the founder and newspaper editor, editor of the ''New-York Tribune''. Long active in politics, he served briefly as a congres ...

Early life

Jenkins was born in

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

. His family moved to Jefferson County, Georgia, and he attended the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

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at a young age; his exact dates of attendance are not known. Jenkins left the university before graduating and finished his education in 1824 at

Union College Union College is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York, United States. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the s ...

Schenectady, New York Schenectady ( ) is a City (New York), city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the United States Census 2020, 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-most populo ...

. In 1831 Jenkins succeeded George W. Crawford as

attorney general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

for the State of Georgia, himself succeeded in 1834 by Ebenezer Starnes.

Political life

Jenkins first gained widespread attention as the author of the ''

Georgia Platform The Georgia Platform was a statement executed by a Georgia Convention in Milledgeville, Georgia on December 10, 1850, in response to the Compromise of 1850. Supported by Unionists, the document affirmed the acceptance of the Compromise as a final ...

'', a proclamation by a special state convention that endorsed the

Compromise of 1850 The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five separate bills passed by the United States Congress in September 1850 that temporarily defused tensions between slave and free states during the years leading up to the American Civil War. Designe ...

. In the 1852 Presidential election, he ran for

Vice President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

under presidential candidate

Daniel Webster Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress and served as the 14th and 19th United States Secretary of State, U.S. secretary o ...

for the "Union Party". During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, he was appointed by Governor Joseph E. Brown as a justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia. After a state constitutional convention in 1865 re-established Georgia's state government, he ran as the only candidate for governor. He served as the

from 1865 to 1868, during

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...

. In 1868, he refused to allow state funds to be used for a racially integrated state constitutional convention that was supervised by the U.S. military occupation. In response, General George Meade (of the

Third Military District The Third Military District of the U.S. Army was one of five temporary administrative units of the U.S. War Department that existed in the American South. The district was stipulated by the Reconstruction Acts during the Reconstruction period fo ...

) installed Brig. General Thomas H. Ruger as military governor and Jenkins fled the state, taking with him the state seal to thwart state fund payments which had been ordered by the United States military authority. He later returned. In the 1872 U.S. presidential election, he received two electoral college votes. In that election, Liberal Republican candidate

died after the election but before the electors convened and so two electors from Georgia cast their votes for Jenkins. In the state constitutional convention of 1877, delegates unanimously chose Jenkins as president of the convention when they assembled on July 11, 1877.

Death and legacy

Jenkins died on June 14, 1883. He was interred in Summerville Cemetery in

Augusta, Georgia Augusta is a city on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies directly across the Savannah River from North Augusta, South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Augusta, the third mos ...

. Jenkins County, Georgia is named in his honor.

References

External links

Jenkins
at ''

New Georgia Encyclopedia The ''New Georgia Encyclopedia'' (NGE) is a web-based encyclopedia containing over 2,000 articles about the state of Georgia. It is a program of Georgia Humanities (GH), in partnership with the University of Georgia Press, the University System ...

''
Jenkins at OurGeorgiaHistory.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkins, Charles J. 1805 births 1883 deaths Georgia (U.S. state) attorneys general Georgia (U.S. state) Constitutional Unionists Georgia (U.S. state) lawyers Democratic Party governors of Georgia (U.S. state) Politicians from Augusta, Georgia Justices of the Supreme Court of Georgia (U.S. state) Union College (New York) alumni Candidates in the 1872 United States presidential election 1852 United States vice-presidential candidates University of Georgia people Speakers of the Georgia House of Representatives Democratic Party members of the Georgia House of Representatives 19th-century Georgia (U.S. state) state court judges 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century members of the Georgia General Assembly

Early life

Political life

Death and legacy

See also

References

External links