Advertisement

Joseph Jencks Jr.

Advertisement

Joseph Jencks Jr.

Birth
Buckinghamshire, England
Death
4 Jan 1717 (aged 88)
Pawtucket, Providence County, Rhode Island, USA
Burial
Pawtucket, Providence County, Rhode Island, USA Add to Map
Memorial ID
View Source

Family Memorial.


Born in Buckinghamshire, England and died in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.


Originally interred in the Governor Joseph Jenks lot, and exhumed June 2 1831 with others and removed to Mineral Spring in *unknown location within Mineral Spring Cemetery. This is documented in a statement dated November 19, 1997 from the Mineral Spring Cemetery. His burial in Mineral Spring is further confirmed by the Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Commission.


He was baptized in Colnbrook, Horton, Co.Buckinghamshire on Oct 12,1628, the son of Joseph Jenckes (also spelled Jenks, Jencks, Jenkes) and his first wife Joan Hearne Jenckes.


Joseph Jenckes II is known as the founder of Pawtucket. A skilled ironworker, he had come to the New World to join his father, Joseph Jencks I, who had organized and operated the first American iron works in Saugus,MA. In 1670, Joseph II left Massachusetts, intending to build his own forge in Rhode Island. On October 10, 1671, he purchased 60 acres of land on the west bank of the Blackstone River, marking the establishment of the first permanent settlement of Pawtucket. However, it was short-lived, as the Jenckes settlement was burned to the ground in 1675 during King Philip's War. When the war ended, the Jenckes forge was rebuilt, and soon it became the center of a small village including the foundry, a gristmill, and sawmill. The commerce of the village was founded on the production of iron products essential to the survival of these early settlers.


Joseph Jenckes was admitted a freeman in 1677, and served several terms in the Rhode Island Assembly between 1679 and 1698. During 1685–1688, at the direction of King James II, Rhode Island became a county in the Dominion of New England, under Governor Sir Edmund Andros. After the Revolution of 1688, King William and Queen Mary ascended to the throne, and Joseph Jenckes was included in a small group selected to write a letter congratulating them on their ascension and informing them that Sir Edmund Andros had been arrested in Rhode Island.


About 1652 or 1653, he married Esther Ballard, in Lynn, Essex Co, MA.


Children: Joseph Jenckes III, Elizabeth Jenckes Tefft, Sarah Jencks Brown, Nathaniel Jencks, Esther Jenckes Miller, Ebenezer Jenckes, Joanna Jenckes Scott, William Jenckes, Abigail Jenckes Whipple, and Mary Jenckes Jenckes (possibly the second wife of Daniel Jencks).

Family Memorial.


Born in Buckinghamshire, England and died in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.


Originally interred in the Governor Joseph Jenks lot, and exhumed June 2 1831 with others and removed to Mineral Spring in *unknown location within Mineral Spring Cemetery. This is documented in a statement dated November 19, 1997 from the Mineral Spring Cemetery. His burial in Mineral Spring is further confirmed by the Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Commission.


He was baptized in Colnbrook, Horton, Co.Buckinghamshire on Oct 12,1628, the son of Joseph Jenckes (also spelled Jenks, Jencks, Jenkes) and his first wife Joan Hearne Jenckes.


Joseph Jenckes II is known as the founder of Pawtucket. A skilled ironworker, he had come to the New World to join his father, Joseph Jencks I, who had organized and operated the first American iron works in Saugus,MA. In 1670, Joseph II left Massachusetts, intending to build his own forge in Rhode Island. On October 10, 1671, he purchased 60 acres of land on the west bank of the Blackstone River, marking the establishment of the first permanent settlement of Pawtucket. However, it was short-lived, as the Jenckes settlement was burned to the ground in 1675 during King Philip's War. When the war ended, the Jenckes forge was rebuilt, and soon it became the center of a small village including the foundry, a gristmill, and sawmill. The commerce of the village was founded on the production of iron products essential to the survival of these early settlers.


Joseph Jenckes was admitted a freeman in 1677, and served several terms in the Rhode Island Assembly between 1679 and 1698. During 1685–1688, at the direction of King James II, Rhode Island became a county in the Dominion of New England, under Governor Sir Edmund Andros. After the Revolution of 1688, King William and Queen Mary ascended to the throne, and Joseph Jenckes was included in a small group selected to write a letter congratulating them on their ascension and informing them that Sir Edmund Andros had been arrested in Rhode Island.


About 1652 or 1653, he married Esther Ballard, in Lynn, Essex Co, MA.


Children: Joseph Jenckes III, Elizabeth Jenckes Tefft, Sarah Jencks Brown, Nathaniel Jencks, Esther Jenckes Miller, Ebenezer Jenckes, Joanna Jenckes Scott, William Jenckes, Abigail Jenckes Whipple, and Mary Jenckes Jenckes (possibly the second wife of Daniel Jencks).


Inscription

Joseph Jenks. Born England 1632. Died Pawtucket, R I. Jan 4, 1417. First White Male to Build Home in Pawtucket. Settled in Pawtucket, Rhode Island 1655. Town Council 1679-80. General Assembly Speaker Oct 1698-Feb 1699. Founder of Pawtucket.



Advertisement