Jenkins Family Papers

The Jenkins Family Papers contain a small number of historical documents pertaining to the prominent Jenkins family of Baltimore. In addition to providing information about the history of that particular family, this collection has a connection to the history of Georgetown College as three of the letters were sent to Georgetown College student Thomas Robert Jenkins in 1838 and 1839. Those letters make references to several leading Georgetown faculty and hint at what the college was like then. Dated between 1829 and 1870, the materials in the Jenkins Family Papers are stored in ten folders in one box (0.25 linear feet). The Jenkins family's important role in the history of Maryland is documented, in part, by the Jenkins Family Papers. The first four items in the collection are letters written to Jenkins family members. The first was received by Rebecca Hillen (1838-1888) and provides a description of work on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in 1829. The next three letters were written by Louis William Jenkins, who attended Georgetown College from 1815 to 1822 without taking a degree, to his brother Thomas Robert Jenkins (1823-1905), who received an A.B. in 1840 from Georgetown. Josiah Jenkins, who entered Georgetown in 1838 but left before completing a degree, is mentioned in a letter. One of the letters was forwarded by Daniel Brent (1774-1841), the American Consul in Paris, who attended Georgetown from 1830 to 1833. The next four folders contain documents related to John F. Bouring, whose legal guardian was Rebecca Hillen. Legal and financial in nature, the documents were created in Baltimore and bear dates between 1841 and 1849. Interestingly, the Baltimore attorney Michael Courtney Jenkins (b. c.1807) was involved in the guardianship matter. Later in his career, he was notable as an editor for the "Catholic Mirror" during the Civil War. The U.S. government suppressed that newspaper during the war because of its pro-Confederacy editorials. The Georgetown University Library Special Collections Division contains several other collections that include information about the Jenkins family of Baltimore. Specifically, documents about Jenkins family members are found in both the Maryland Province Archives of the Society of Jesus and the separate, but related Maryland Province Collection. Moreover, because many Jenkins relatives attended Georgetown University, the University Archives section of Special Collections holds information related to those family members.

A graduate of the Georgetown University School of Dentistry in 1956, Dr. Edward J. O'Shea donated the papers in this collection to the Georgetown University Library in stages between 1962 and 1970. Dr. O'Shea donated one of the letters from Louis William Jenkins to Thomas Robert Jenkins on behalf of Dr. George Whitby, of Holy Cross and Marquette Colleges, in 1962. While it is unknown exactly how this letter came into Dr. Whitby's possession, it is known that his father had been in the employ of a wealthy family from Southampton, New York, who were friends with the Jenkins family of Baltimore. Note: See also the following books for more information: Jenkins, Edward Felix, O.S.A. "Thomas Jenkins of Maryland: 1670, His Descendants and Allied Families." Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society, 1985. "Genealogy of Leading Families of Baltimore and Baltimore County, Maryland." New York: Chapman Publishing Company, 1897.

ABBREVIATIONS: ADS - Autograph Document Signed. ALS - Autograph Letter Signed. AN - Autograph Note.