Early life Jenkins was born on December 13, 1809, at the
Windsor Forge Mansion in
Churchtown, Pennsylvania. His parents were
Robert Jenkins (1769–1848), a Congressman from Pennsylvania, and Catherine Carmichael (1774–1853). He had one brother, David Jenkins (1800–1850), and six sisters, Elizabeth Jenkins (1803–1870), Mary Jenkins (1805–1859), Martha Jenkins (1805–1890), Phoebe Ann Jenkins (1807–1872), Catharine Jenkins (1812–1886), and Sarah Jenkins (1817-unknown). He graduated from
Dickinson College in
Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and received a Doctorate in Medicine from the
Medical School at the
University of Pennsylvania in
Philadelphia in 1833. He owned several plantations in the
Natchez District, some of which he inherited, some of which he purchased and developed. For example, he owned the
Cold Spring Plantation in
Pinckneyville, Mississippi. Additionally, he owned several other plantations like the
Stock Farm Plantation near
Nesbit, Mississippi, in
DeSoto County, Mississippi, the
Tarbert Plantation in
Wilkinson County, Mississippi, and another plantation in
West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana. A horticulturalist, he would use his Natchez residence, Elgin, as a
plant nursery for different varieties of fruit trees and cotton he would later use on other plantations. Additionally, he was a wine connoisseur and collector of wine vintages. He kept a diary from 1841 to 1855. He was a proponent of
slavery, both as an economic necessity and a constitutional right.
Personal life In 1839, he married Annis (Field Dunbar) Jenkins (1820–1855), the daughter of Dr. William Dunbar (1793–1847) and granddaughter of Sir
William Dunbar (1750–1810), of the
Forest Plantation near Natchez, Mississippi. They resided at
Elgin in Natchez. They had four children: • Alice Dunbar Jenkins (1841–1929). • Mary Dunbar Jenkins (1843–1927). • Captain
John Flavel Jenkins (1846–1927). He served in the
Confederate States Army and married Helen Louisa Winchester (1849–1917) of
The Elms in Natchez. • Major William Dunbar Jenkins (1849–1914).
Death He died of
yellow fever on October 14, 1855, in Natchez. ==References==