George Otis Jenkins, one of Whitman’s best known manufacturers and most progressive citizens, was born in Dorchester, Mass., Nov. 22, 1846, son of James and Susan (Holbrook) Jenkins, and a descendant of Edward Jenkins, of Scituate.
Edward Jenkins, of Scituate, was one of the Conihassett partners in 1646, and a freeman of 1647. He purchased a part of Edward Foster’s house lot in 1647, and built his house on the corner of Kent street, near the bridge. He kept an ordinary many years, being first licensed in 1677, and was also largely interested in navigation, being associated with Mr. Hatherley and other substantial citizens. He died in 1699. His will gives legacies to his wife Mary, to son Thomas, to grandson Daniel, to grandson Edward, to granddaughters Hannah Turner and Mary Bacon, to daughter Mary Cooke, to grand-daughter Mary Jenkins. The Christian name of his first wife, the mother of his children, only has been ascertained. His second marriage was to Widow Mary Ripley, of Hingham, 1684.. His daughter Mary married (first) Marmaduke Atkinson and (second) Robert Cooke; his daughter Hannah married Thomas Turner, a lawyer, and his daughter Sarah married a Mr. Bacon, probably of Taunton.
Thomas Jenkins, son of Edward, married in 1678 Martha, and in that year settled on the lot near where the Methodist chapel stood in about 1631 in Scituate. Their children were:
- Hannah Jenkins, born in 1679
- Thomas Jenkins, born in 1681
- Edward Jenkins, born in 1683
- Daniel Jenkins, born in 1685
The families of none of these except Edward are found in Scituate.
Edward Jenkins (2), born in 1683, married (first) in 1705 Martha Damon, and (second) in 1728 Abigail Merritt, and left children:
- Mary Jenkins, born in 1706
- Thomas Jenkins, 1707
- Anna Jenkins, 1708
- Samuel Jenkins, 1710
- Thankful Jenkins, 1712
- Edward Jenkins, 1713
- David Jenkins, 1715
- Mary Jenkins, 1717
- James Jenkins, 1718
- Martha Jenkins, 1724
- Content Jenkins, 1726
- Daniel Jenkins, 1728
David Jenkins, born in 1715, married in 1741 Elizabeth Merritt, and (second) Mary, daughter of Nathaniel Stetson, of Hanover, Mass. He settled in Abington, Mass. His children were:
- David Jenkins
- Isaiah Jenkins
- Keziah Jenkins
- Betsey Jenkins
- Elsie Jenkins
- Rachel Jenkins
- Maranda Jenkins
- Thankful Jenkins
- Malachi Jenkins
James Jenkins, born in 1718, married in 1746 Mary Vinal, and left children:
- Mary Jenkins, born in 1747
- James Jenkins, 1749
- Peleg Jenkins, 1751 (died early)
- Gideon Jenkins, 1753
- Calvin Jenkins, 1758
James Jenkins (2), born in 1749, married in 1774 Ruth Lincoln, and their children were:
- Polly Jenkins, born in 1775
- Ruth Jenkins, 1777
- James Jenkins, 1779
- Cummings Jenkins, 1782
- Isaac Jenkins, 1784
- Ruth Jenkins, 1788
Cummings Jenkins, son of James, was born in 1782, and died Oct. 31, 1834. He married Rachel Cole, born Jan. 27, 1778, who died June 21, 1820. Their children were:
- Mary Jenkins, born June 2, 1810
- James Jenkins, in September, 1812
- Sophia strong>Jenkins, Feb. 12, 1815 (died Feb. 19, 1846)
- William C. Jenkins, July 4, 1816 (died Sept. 4, 1844)
James Jenkins, son of Cummings, was born Sept. 10 or 15, 1812, and growing to manhood located in Dorchester, Mass., where he was engaged in the manufacture of sash and blinds. He died while in the prime of life, Jan. 11, 1850, in his thirty-eighth year. On April 2, 1835, he married Susan Holbrook, born March 20, 1812, and the children born to them were:
- James Cummings Jenkins, born March 27, 1837
- David Sanford Jenkins, May 25, 1840
- Hiram Holbrook Jenkins, Dec. 25, 1842 (died July 23, 1902)
- George Otis Jenkins, Nov. 22, 1846
- Mary Robinson Jenkins, Jan. 5, 1850 (married Thomas Ellis)
George Otis Jenkins was but four years of age when he lost his father, but he grew to manhood under the fostering care of a self-sacrificing mother, who instilled in him the principles of industry, honesty and independence. Coming to what was then South Abington, now Whitman, with his mother and other members of the family, he attended the public schools and later the high school. His first employment was in the factory of D. B. Gurney, where his brother Hiram H. was also employed, in making shanks. Being men of ideas as well as of industry the brothers formed a partnership in 1872 for the manufacture of steel shanks, in what was South Abington. In manufacturing shanks for the shoe trade they built up a successful business, and the product turned out at first was approximately one hundred and fifty gross a day, the sales amounting to about fifty thousand dollars yearly. In 1876 they began manufacturing burial caskets in connection with the other business. In the middle eighties they averaged seventy thousand to eighty thousand pairs of shank? per day, being the largest producers in that line of work in that section of the country, with a yearly business of $200,000. Until the death of Hiram H. Jenkins the business was carried on under the firm name of Jenkins Brothers. Since that event the business has been carried on by George O. Jenkins, who is now engaged in manufacturing leather board at Bridgewater, Mass., having a large mill.
Mr. Jenkins is a director and treasurer of the American Shoe Findings Company, and a director of the Union Shank Company, both of Whitman. He has been president of the Whitman Savings Bank since its organization, and member and chairman of the board of investment. He is also a member of the executive board of the Puritan Trust Company, of Boston, president of the Bingham Last Company, of Bingham, Maine, and a director in several other corporations of Whitman and Boston. He was one of the organizers and first president of the Whitman Street Railway Company, a director of the Rockland & Abington Street Railway Company, and for several years was a director of the Abington National Bank, in which he was a large stockholder. In company with his brothers be built in Whitman one of the finest brick blocks, known as the Jenkins building, in which the post office is now located, has built over fifty houses, and has a fine home on Warren avenue. Mr. Jenkins is a man of great enterprise and progressive ideas. Beginning life poor, he has struggled hard from boyhood with but a limited chance for an education. He takes a deep interest in the town of Whitman, in its manufacturing industries, and in its public institutions, and is a great force for good. He is a stanch Republican, but no politician.
On Jan. 1, 1880, Mr. Jenkins married, in Whitman, Abby F. Bates, daughter of Hon. Jacob and Mary Caroline (Ford) Bates, of Whitman. Mrs. Jenkins is a woman of education, and for several years was a teacher in the public schools. She takes a deep interest in educational matters and in club life, and is a member of Deborah Sampson Chapter, D. A. R., of Brockton, of which she was regent for two terms, and in which she is still very active. While regent of the chapter, and during the celebration of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the settlement of Bridgewater, Mass., June 13, 1906, she made an address in reply to the toast “The Deborah Sampson Chapter.” Mrs. Jenkins has represented her chapter in the State and national conventions of the D. A. R. She is a member of the Woman’s Clubs of Brockton, Abington and Whitman.
Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins have had children as follows:
- George W. Jenkins, born in 1880, died in 1886
- a child born in 1883 died unnamed
- Harold Jenkins, born May 21, 1885, died March 5, 1887
- Ralph Jenkins, born Nov. 22, 1887, died Sept. 22, 1906
- Hiram Loring Jenkins was born Jan. 12, 1890
- Robert Alden Jenkins, Sept. 13, 1891
- Doris Louise Jenkins, Aug. 20, 1893
- George Otis Jenkins, Jr., July 3, 1901
Genealogy of the Bates Family of Hingham Massachusetts
The Bates family to which Mrs. Jenkins belongs is descended from
Edward Jenkins, from Boston or vicinity, in Lincolnshire, England, born in 1605, who came to New England, probably as an apprentice with Thomas Leverett. The latter was a merchant of Boston who came over in the “Griffin” with Revs. Thomas Cotton, Thomas Hooker, Stone and others, who came from Boston or vicinity, and landed at Boston, New England, Sept. 4, 1633. He was admitted to the church that same year. He removed to Weymouth; was a freeman of March 9, 1636-37; was a proprietor, 1643; was ruling elder and deputy, serving three years in the General Court, and taking an active part in its business; was an elder in the church at Weymouth for thirty and more years. He died, according to tombstone inscription, March 25, 1686. The Christian name of his wife was Susanna, and their children were:
- Prudence Jenkins
- Susanna Jenkins
- Increase Jenkins
- John Jenkins
- Mary Jenkins
- Anna Jenkins
- Edward Jenkins
- Joseph Jenkins
The Bate or Bates family is an old one in England, the name there being a common one for nearly two centuries before the Puritans took their departure for New England. The lineage of Clement Bates, who settled at Hingham, Mass., in 1635, and who by some, is made a brother of Edward Bates, of Weymouth, but not thought so by the compiler of the work on the descendants of Edward, is traced back to Thomas Bate, of Lydd, parish of All Hallows, who died in 1485.
Edward Bates (2), son of Edward, of Weymouth, born Dec. 10, 1655, married Elizabeth, born Feb. 26, 1656, daughter of Deacon John Shaw. Mr. Bates settled in Weymouth, Mass., on a part of the old homestead; was a deacon of the church there. He died Aug. 21, 1725. His wife Elizabeth died July 6, 1748, at Hingham. Their children were:
- Susanna Bates, born Feb. 6, 1679
- Edward Bates, born Feb. 3, 1682
- John Bates, born Jan. 16, 1685
- Ebenezer Bates
- Joseph Bates
- Samuel Bates
- Eleazer Bates
- Mary Bates
- Benjamin Bates
- Benjamin (2) Bates
- Elizabeth Bates
Of the sons, Ebenezer and Edward removed to Abington, Massachusetts.
Benjamin Bates, son of Edward (2) and Elizabeth, born Feb. 7, 1700, died Nov. 20, 1789. He married Rebecca Sager, Dec. 6, 1726, and their children were:
- Benjamin Bates, born Feb. 9, 1728
- Abigail Bates, Jan. 19, 1730
- Elizabeth Bates, Dec. 3, 1731
- Lemuel Bates, April 29, 1734
- Sarah Bates, March 31, 1736
- Rachel Bates, Aug. 10, 1738
- Moses Bates, Dec. 23, 1740
- Hannah Bates, May 10, 1744 (died June 20, 1744)
Benjamin Bates (2), son of Benjamin, born Feb. 9, 1728, was selectman in 1777. He was a soldier in the Revolution, serving in Capt. Nathaniel Winslow’s company, Col. Simeon Cary’s regiment. He died March 5, 1800. His first wife was Betty Dyer, daughter of Christopher Dyer. Their children were:
- Christopher Bates, born Dec. 12, 1761
- Benjamin Bates, June 11, 1764
- Asa Bates, Oct. 17, 1765
- James Bates, Aug. 5, 1768
- Betty Bates, July 8, 1770
Mr. Bates married (second) Susanna Reed, daughter of William and Silence (Nash) Reed, of Abington. They had two children:
- Susannah Bates, born Jan. 16, 1789
- Benjamin Bates, born July 11, 1793
Christopher Bates, son of Benjamin (2), was born “Dec. 12, 1761, and died May 27, 1817. He was a soldier in the Revolution, being a private in Capt. John Ames‘ company. Colonel Wade’s regiment. He was known as Ensign Christopher Bates. He married Mary Brown, daughter of John Brown, of East Bridgewater, granddaughter of Woodbridge Brown, and great-granddaughter of Rev. Samuel Brown, first minister of Abington. Their children were:
- Christopher Bates, born Feb. 24, 1785, died aged fifty-six years
- Moses Bates, born Jan. 14, 1787, died June 1, 1859
- Daniel Bates, born May 9, 1789, died June 10, 1826
- Jacob Bates, born Nov. 24, 1791, is mentioned below
- Polly Bates, born Nov. 15, 1794, died Sept. 24, 1878
- Annie Bates, born Sept. 3, 1799, died Sept. 7, 1866
- Nahum Bates, born May 17, 1805, died Nov. 11, 1820
- Charles Bates was born July 5, 1809.
Jacob Bates, son of Christopher, born Nov. 24, 1791, married Lucy Dyer, daughter of Christopher Dyer, who was a Revolutionary soldier. The children born of this union were:
- Jacob Bates, born Feb. 3, 1819
- Samuel Bates, born June 3, 1828
Jacob Bates, the father, died July 6, 1853, and the wife and mother passed away Sept. 7, 1869.
Jacob Bates (2), son of Jacob, born at East Bridgewater Feb. 3, 1819, there grew to manhood. He moved to South Abington, where he became active in public life, being a representative to the General Court at Boston. He was for a number of years engaged in the insurance business, and became very prominent. He had a good home on Washington street, where he died. In politics he was a Republican. He married Oct. 4, 1848, Eliza Waterman, daughter of Nathaniel and Betsy (French) Waterman. She died April 26, 1850, and he married (second) July 7, 1852, Mary Caroline Ford, born July 31, 1824, daughter of Daniel and Abigail (Farrar) Ford. She died Aug. 9, 1873. Their children were:
- Alden Ford Bates, born Jan. 12, 1854, who died Sept. 18, 1861
- Abby Farrar Bates, born March 19, 1857
- William Henry Bates, born Jan. 15, 1862
After the death of this wife Mr. Bates married (third) Susan Strobridge, daughter of Ebenezer and Susan (Paul) Strobridge. She died in October, 1907.
