Phineas Jenks (May 3, 1781 – August 6, 1851) was a medical doctor and a member of the

Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

. He lived in Newtown. He married Amelia Snyder (June 21, 1791 - August 6, 1859), daughter of

Pennsylvania Governor The governor of Pennsylvania is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as well as commander-in-chief of the state's national guard. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws and the power to approve or veto bills pass ...

Simon Snyder Simon Snyder (November 5, 1759November 9, 1819) was the third governor of Pennsylvania, serving three terms from 1808 to 1817. He led the state through the War of 1812. Born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Snyder established a gristmill in Selins ...

, in 1820, in

Harrisburg Harrisburg ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat, seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50, ...

Early life

Jenks was born in Middletown, PA.

Medical Doctor

Jenks studied medicine with Dr.

Benjamin Rush Benjamin Rush (April 19, 1813) was an American revolutionary, a Founding Father of the United States and signatory to the U.S. Declaration of Independence, and a civic leader in Philadelphia, where he was a physician, politician, social refor ...

, graduating in 1804 with a diploma from the University of Pennsylvania. 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. His thesis was ''An essay on the analogy of the Asiatic and African plague and the American yellow fever''. He was the first president of the Bucks County Medical Society.

Pennsylvania House of Representatives

Jenks represented

Bucks County Bucks County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 646,538, making it the fourth-most populous county in Pennsylvania. Its county seat is Doylestown. The county is named after the English ...

from 1815 through 1820, as a member of the

Federalist The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters call themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of deep ...

party. 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). 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).

Other activities

He served as a trustee of the Bucks County Academy at Newtown. In 1825, he was among the leaders of another movement to create Penn County from a portion of Bucks County. Jenks was one of the original founders of St. Luke's Protestant Episcopal Church in Bucks County in 1836. Along with Edward M. Paxson, he founded the Bucks County Agricultural Society, in 1843. 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.

Descendants

Jenks had a son named George Ante Jenks, who was a cousin of George A. Jenks,

Solicitor General of the United States The solicitor general of the United States (USSG or SG), is the fourth-highest-ranking official within the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), and represents the federal government in cases before the Supreme Court of the United States. ...

, 1886–1889.

Sources

External links

Phineas Jenks Painting Information (no picture) from the Smithsonian
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jenks, Phineas 1781 births 1851 deaths Members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Politicians from Bucks County, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Federalists Pennsylvania Whigs 19th-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly