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 ILLIAM M. JENKINS, who for a number of years
was one of the most successful merchants
of Charleston, is now retired from active
business and enjoying the fruits of a well-spent life,
in a handsome home on Washington street, of which
he has been in possession since 1861. The family
residence is a fine brick structure, and its surroundings are those of a prosperous, refined and intelligent citizen. Mr. Jenkins was born in Putnam County, Ind., July 1. 1832, and is the son of J. M. and Nancy (Martin) Jenkins, natives of Lexington, Ky. The paternal grandfather of our subject, Elijah Jenkins, was a native of Virginia, of German descent, and followed agricultural pursuits. He became a resident of Kentucky at an early period in its history, and was there married and reared a fine family of sons and daughters. He died in Putnam County, Ind., at the age of ninety-three years. Among his children was the father of our subject, who, following in the footsteps of most of his ancestors, took naturally to farming, and also perfected himself as a business man, engaging for a number of years as a builder and contractor. He was but a child when his parents became residents of Indiana, and remained there the balance of his days, his death occurring after he had reached an advanced age, in 1883. The parental family of our subject included seven children, four now living, namely, Mary J., Mrs. Parks, of Iuka, Kan.; William M., of our sketch; Elijah A., a resident of Charleston, and Samantha, the wife of William H. O’Neal, and a resident of Putnam County, Ind. The wife and mother passed to the other life in the spring of 1848. William M. Jenkins remained with the family on his father’s farm until twenty years of age, in the meantime receiving a practical education. He commenced teaching when eighteen years old, which occupation he followed three years, then engaged as a clerk at Putnamville, Ind., one year. He then resumed teaching for a brief time, after which he entered the store of T. W. Williamson, of Greencastle, with whom he continued five years and gained a good insight into general merchandising. Mr. Jenkins became a resident of Charleston in the fall of 1859, and in company with his brother Elijah A., and T. W. Williamson, established a business in general merchandise, in which the three continued for two years following. Mr. Williamson then withdrew, and our subject and his brother continued the business until 1865. They then sold out to Wilson Bros., and in two weeks re-established with a new stock and continued until the summer of 1880. William M. then sold out to his brother and the son of the latter, and retired from business to enjoy his justly earned competency. Mr. Jenkins since taking up his residence in Charleston has been one of its most energetic citizens, and has identified himself with the interests best calculated to build up the city and minister to the welfare of its people. Me is still one of the stockholders of the Second National Bank, also a Director, and was identified in former years with the First National as a stockholder. His influence and means assisted greatly in the establishment of the Charleston Hotel, and the plank road, which runs ten miles into the country, and was of great assistance to travel, would scarcely have been completed to its present distance without his material aid. He has also an interest in the Charleston Creamery, and in the Narrow-Gauge Railroad, and is one of the moving spirits in the stock company which has been engaged in developing the coal mines north of the town. Charleston hopes in time to be lighted by natural gas, and Mr. Jenkins, in company with other enterprising citizens, has risked considerable in this venture. The lady who has been the worthy sharer of the home and fortunes of our subject since the spring of 1857, was formerly Miss Elizabeth, the daughter of Benjamin and Catherine (Skelton) Jenkins, natives of Kentucky. The father of Mrs. J. for many years engaged in farming in Indiana, and then removed to Illinois. He resided, however, but a short time in the Prairie State, then returned to Indiana, whence he afterward moved across the Mississippi to Nebraska, where he now resides. He and his estimable lady reared a family of seven children, five now living, namely, Sarah, Mrs. Ward, of Louisville, Neb.; Elizabeth, Mrs. Jenkins; Elijah, of Greenwood, Neb.; Emily, Mrs. Bias, of Missouri, and Columbus, of Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins were not blest with children, but reared two belonging to a sister of Mr. J. His sister Elizabeth became the wife of Rev. B. Garten, a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and at present a member of the Indiana Conference. Of their daughters, Myra became an inmate of the home of our subject when a little girl two and one-half years of age, and continued there until her marriage with S. M. Tooke, of Charleston; she had three children Stella; William, deceased, and Lizzie. Stella went to live with Mr. and Mrs. J. when a child of eighteen months, and remained with them until her marriage with J. M. Davis, of Omaha, Neb.; she has one daughter, Myra. Mr. Jenkins has always given his undivided support to Republican principles, and socially belongs to the Knights of Honor. He and his wife are ex- emplary members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The great-grandfather of our subject, David Martin, was born in the North of Ireland about the year 1725 or 1728, and married a Miss Allison, by whom he had seven children, four sons and three daughters. He emigrated to this country, and served as a minute-man in the Revolutionary War, being in a number of battles. His son William, our subject’s grandfather, married Mary Ann Cook, a daughter of William Cook. The latter in the time of the war between France and England, was on a vessel of marque and reprisal, which captured a great many merchant vessels belonging to France. At the close, of this war he came to the United States and served seven years in the Revolutionary War, under Washington. He then returned to the old country, and it is uncertain when or where he died. Grandfather Martin and wife were born in Augusta County, Va., where they were married, and in the fall of 1805 moved to Kentucky, thence, in 1826, to Putnam County, Ind. |
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