Phineas Jenks
Encyclopedia
Phineas Jenks was a medical doctor and a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
. He lived in Newtown
. He married Amelia Snyder (June 21, 1791 - August 6, 1859), daughter of Pennsylvania Governor Simon Snyder
, in 1820, in Harrisburg.
, 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.
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).
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.
, Solicitor General of the United States, 1886-1889.
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....
. He lived in Newtown
Newtown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Newtown is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,248 at the 2010 census. It is located just west of the Trenton, New Jersey metropolitan area, and is part of the larger Philadelphia metropolitan area. It is entirely surrounded by Newtown Township, from which...
. He married Amelia Snyder (June 21, 1791 - August 6, 1859), daughter of Pennsylvania Governor Simon Snyder
Simon Snyder
Simon Snyder was the third Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania from 1808 to 1817. A Jeffersonian Democrat, he served three terms as speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives before becoming governor...
, in 1820, in Harrisburg.
Medical Doctor
Jenks studied medicine with Dr. Benjamin RushBenjamin Rush
Benjamin Rush was a Founding Father of the United States. Rush lived in the state of Pennsylvania and was a physician, writer, educator, humanitarian and a Christian Universalist, as well as the founder of Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania....
, 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 from 1815 through 1820, as a member of the FederalistFederalist Party (United States)
The Federalist Party was the first American political party, from the early 1790s to 1816, the era of the First Party System, with remnants lasting into the 1820s. The Federalists controlled the federal government until 1801...
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
Rees Hill
Rees Hill was a U.S. army colonel in the War of 1812, a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from Greene County, speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, and later a Pennsylvania State Senator.-Military service:...
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
Joseph Lawrence (Pennsylvania)
Joseph Lawrence was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.-Early life:Joseph Lawrence was born near Hunterstown, Pennsylvania. He moved with his widowed mother to a farm in Washington County, Pennsylvania, in 1789, and attended the common schools...
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
Whig Party (United States)
The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic...
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. JenksGeorge A. Jenks
George A. Jenks was a politician from Pennsylvania and Solicitor General.Jenks was born in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania on March 25, 1836. He proceeded to graduate from Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1858. He was a member of Phi Kappa Psi...
, Solicitor General of the United States, 1886-1889.