Parent links and bio courtesy 47600632.

MEMORIAL & BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY
(Of Columbia, Sauk & Adams Counties, Wisconsin)
Chicago
George A. Ogle & Co.
1901
[pages 683 to 685]

George W. Jenkins, M.D.

George W. Jenkins, M. D., has been identified with the interest of Kilbourn City and vicinity for nearly a half-century, and is one of the oldest representatives of his profession in the state of Wisconsin. In both public and private life his career has been such as to inspire the confidence and good will of the people and no citizen of that thriving village is held in higher regard by the community.

Dr. Jenkins was born in the town of Duanesburg, Schenectady county, New York, September 19, 1824.

His father, William A. Jenkins, was a native of Long Island, whose grandfather, Christopher Jenkins, had settled there in colonial days. The last named was an English sea captain. His wife, whose given name was Abbe, was of Welsh lineage. Their son, Christopher, the father of William A. Jenkins, was also a sea captain. He was a very athletic man and could lift an anchor weighing eight hundred pounds.

William A. Jenkins spent most of his life on a farm in Schenectady county, New York. His wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Jenkins, was remotely descended from the same family as her husband. Her mother was a relative of Hamilton Fish, the distinguished New York statesman.

After leaving the public school at Quaker Street, a village near his native place, the subject of this notice engaged in teaching. A little later he took up the study of medicine with Dr. William H. Brigham, of Charleston, New York, at which place he spent about four years, a part of that period being employed in teaching. He afterward attended the medical department of Columbia College in New York City, from which institution he received his diploma in 1851. Having determined to seek his fortune in the west, he joined the late Jonathan Bowman and one or two other gentlemen from Charleston, New York, and came directly to Wisconsin. Upon arriving at Milwaukee the party hired a team and drove by way of Madison to Delton. Six months later Dr. Jenkins began practice at Newport, a flourishing village on the Wisconsin river, at the mouth of Dell creek. He remained about ten years at that location, witnessing its development to a town of fifteen hundred people and its subsequent abandonment by the removal of most of the buildings and inhabitants to the present village of Kilbourn City. This place was entirely unsettled when he arrived in Columbia county, being a part of the Indian reservation. Since locating here he has been continuously engaged in active practice, meeting with phenomenal success, and the demand for his services extending through several counties. For some years he was accustomed to ride on horseback, often fording streams and breaking roads through sloughs and marshes, some of his trips occupying several days’ time. Though he sometimes reached his patients bespattered with mud and water, his services were none the less appreciated. In 1863 he became associated with Dr. H. C. Markham and they opened a drug store at Kilbourn City. After a time he purchased his partner’s interest and still carries on the business. When the business part of the town was destroyed by fire in 1866 he promptly replaced the original store with a substantial brick building, joining with his contemporaries in establishing a brick-kiln, by which means the cost of material for their buildings was materially decreased. For a number of years past he has been a surgeon for the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, and is a member of the National Railway Surgeons’ Association. He is a member of the Columbia County Medical Association, the Wisconsin State Medical Association, and occupies an enviable position among his professional brethren.

The Doctor was married, in 1856, to Miss Mary Markham, daughter of Sidney D. Markham, of Colosse, New York. They have one daughter, Kate M. The family is connected with the Presbyterian church, and the Doctor is prominent in the Masonic order. He is a member of the Masonic lodge and chapter at Kilbourn, in which he has filled the principal offices. He is a member of Fort Winnebago Commandery, No. 4, Knights Templar, at Portage, and also identified with Milwaukee Consistory. In early life he was a Whig, but he has been a Republican since the organization of that party. He has avoided active participation in politics, his only official service having been in the capacity of town superintendent of schools and that of health officer for the village of Kilbourn City.

The Doctor relates some interesting reminiscences of early days in Wisconsin, some of which afford apt illustrations of the uncouth manners, convivial habits and crude but hearty hospitality which were characteristic of the pioneers. Among his early associates at Newport, with whom he boarded for some time, was Colonel Joseph Bailey, afterwards famous as the savior of General Bank’s fleet in the Red river during the Civil war. Another early acquaintance was the notorious fur trader, Jared S. Walsworth (a brother of Judge Walsworth), who kept a country tavern on the road leading from Portage to the pineries. He was famous alike for his hospitality, conviviality and good humor. At the sessions of the court in Madison, one of his favorite amusements consisted in riding a horse through the court room; but he always cheerfully paid the fine imposed for this breach of decorum, considering the fun was well worth the money. At the general election of 1852 the Doctor joined a party which drove to Lewiston, the nearest polling place, to deposit their ballots, a four-horse team being employed to transport the party and give proper dignity to the expedition. A number of taverns along the line were liberally patronized and some members of the party became quite hilarious. On the way home they were passed by a stranger, who made some slighting remark concerning the “four-horse team.” He was overtaken at the next tavern, which happened to be Walsworth’s, where the driver of the wagon promptly resented the insult by knocking him down with his fist, after which everybody shook hands in token of friendship and the stranger set up the drinks for the party.
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Gr-Grandparents: Christopher Jenkins Sr - Abbe (?)
Grandparents: Christopher Jenkins Jr - (? Ruth Tanner ?)
Parents: William A. Jenkins - Elizabeth (Jenkins)

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