Call Number:

SC.190

Repository:

Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College

Extent:

.1 linear ft. (.1 linear feet (3 folders.))

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Cite as: [indicate the cited item or series here], Jenkins Family Papers, SC190, Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College.

Date:

1829-1854 (inclusive)

Creator:

Jenkins, Jabez, 1792-1858 and Jenkins family (Jenkins, Jabez, 1792-1858)

Form:

Diaries

Abstract:

Papers of the Jabez Jenkins family of Pennsylvania, 1829-1849. Includes "On board the Packet Ship George Washington Capt. Holdrege Liverpool to New York 1833: Some Recollections of England &c." 1833, manuscript Recollections of travel in England and Scotland in 1833 by Jabez Jenkins. Jenkins stopped for a relatively short time in England, on his way home to Philadelphia from Canton. Observations were largely of architecture and industry in London, Birmingham, Staffordshire, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, and Edinburgh. His postscript reflects on the differences between Americans and the British. Also of interest is a manuscript entitled "Tea and the Chinese" detailed notes on the differences between varieties of Chinese tea and its preservation. The section of "Miscellaneous Remarks" is entered between two passages on tea, and includes observations on the government, education, class structure, and personal appearance of the Chinese. A published version of The Pocket Lavater (1829) has an inscription in Jenkins' hand concerning the need to include a knowledge of physiognomy in a good education.

Jabez Jenkins (1792-1858) was a Quaker merchant. He was born in Little Creek, Delaware, and was a birthright member of Duck Creek Monthly Meeting. Jabez was received on certificate in Philadelphia Monthly Meeting in 1810, and transferred his membership to Chester in 1813, the year of his marriage to Ann. P. Newlin, the daughter of Nathaniel and Martha (Parker) Newlin. They had four children, the youngest of whom died in 1824, three months after her mother passed away. Jabez was in business with his brother, Jonathan, and this endeavor failed; Chester Monthly Meeting disowned the young men in 1818 for extending business beyond their ability to manage and making only a partial assignment of debts. The former acknowledged this transgression in 1837, and was given a certificate of removal to Uwchlan Monthly Meeting. Uwchan also accepted the certificate of his second wife, Mary S. (Newlin) Jenkins (1795-1864), daughter of Cyrus and Ann (Shipley) Newlin, from Wilmington Monthly Meeting; Mary S. had previously acknowledged her marriage "out of unity.". The couple also requested membership for their only daughter from Uwchlan since she was not a birthright member. From that point on, until he moved back to Philadelphia in 1845, Jabez was involved in meeting affairs, and was appointed a representative to quarterly meeting. Jabez Jenkins died in 1858, in his 66th year, a member of Western District Monthly Meeting.