HON. TIMOTHY JENKINS
The Hon. Timothy Jenkins was a native of New England, a descendant from the hardy, conscientious, devout first settlers of that seminal part of our country. He was born January 29, 1799, in the town
of Barre, State of Massachusetts, of parents whose genealogy showed them to be allied to the early Puritans of Plymouth. They were farmers, and intended for their son no other occupation in life. It
was their wish that he and his only brother should own and till the same farm which had been bequeathed them by their father. Ere he had attained his sixteenth year his father had been removed by
death. From that day he was left to maintain himself, mark out and pursue his own plan of life. He soon determined to seek a higher intellectual culture, to penetrate some of the regions of science
and learning of which he had, in his elementary studies, caught some glimpses. At the age of eighteen Mr. Jenkins removed to Washington county, this State; there he resided two years, attending the
academies at Salem and White Creek. During that time he devoted himself assiduously to the attainment of classical and scientific learning. He then entered upon and pursued for three years the
honorable employment of school teacher, in the prosecution of which he was continually extending and perfecting his acquaintance with several sciences and classical literature. At that time he
commenced the study of law, the practice of which he had determined should be the profession of his life. Afterwards, having prosecuted his legal studies the required term under two distinguished
lawyers in Utica, Mr. Jenkins was admitted to the bar in 1825. Soon after he opened an office in the adjoining village of Vernon, and in 1832 he removed and settled himself at Oneida Castle, where he
continued to live till his death.
From that time until his death, which occurred December 24, 1859, he was constantly engaged in an ever-increasing legal business, extending into adjacent counties, and often into more distant parts of the State.
In 1840 Mr. Jenkins was appointed the prosecuting attorney of Oneida county, and he held that responsible office five years. During his term of service the criminal business of the county was unusually large, but his onerous duties were discharged with signal ability, and to the entire satisfaction of his legal brethren and of the people generally.
For ten years, under the appointing power of the State, Mr. Jenkins held the office of attorney to the Oneida Indians, and to this remnant of a once noble tribe of the aboriginals of our country he faithfully extended the benefits of his talents and influence. In 1844 he was elected a representative to the Congress of the United States; also in 1846, and again in 1850. During those six years in that exalted but often desecrated station, Mr. Jenkins served his constituents, his State, the republic, and the cause of humanity with a fidelity to principle and independence of party that gained for him universal respect, and made him a still greater favorite of the people. He is believed to have been one of those who devised the" Wilmot Proviso." If he did not originate the measure he was early in the counsels of those who did. He supported it with great earnestness, although he knew it was displeasing to many of his own party. Mr. Jenkins was from early life a Democrat in his political belief; he nevertheless opposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, which repealed the Missouri Compromise. In 1856 he joined the Fremont movement, and ever after acted with the Republicans. Mr. Jenkins was delegate-at-large to the convention which met in Philadelphia in 1856 to form the Republican party.
Mr. Jenkins was a man positive in intellect, disposition, and in heart. He commenced life under disadvantageous circumstances, but there was no man who enjoyed more entirely the confidence and respect of the whole community. He was highly distinguished for his learning and industry in his profession, his great personal resolution and perseverance, and he maintained aposition in the very first rank at the bar. Although not an orator as that term is generally understood, his speeches were always sound, logical and to the point, and in the preparation of his causes he had no superior. In his religious convictions he was earnest and decided, and took a prominent part in the formation of a Unitarian society in Vernon and the erection of an edifice. To those who knew him slightly he appeared cold and distant, but a better acquaintance showed him genial and communicative, with a heart brimful of love and kindness to all.
In 1822 Mr. Jenkins was united in marriage with Miss Florilla Tuttle, of Vernon, which marriage was terminated by the death of the wife about a year afterwards. In 18 9 [sic] Mr. Jenkins married Miss Harriet Tuttle, a sister of his deceased wife, who still survives him. She was a sharer of his earlier struggles and a partaker of his later successes. By his second marriage he had four children: Charles M., also a lawyer, who died aged twenty-six; Hiram T., also a lawyer, who died in 1868, aged thirty-five; he was also district attorney of Oneida county for three terms: Florilla. Mrs. W. J. Hickox, and one, Albert, who died in infancy.
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