JENKS' WEB PAGE
Going to Rhode Island
Tradition says that Joseph Jencks settled in the neighborhood of Pawtucket Falls, about the year 1655. He was a native of England, having been born in Buckinghamshire in the year 1632. He came to America in 1645, and resided with his father, who had preceded him, and settled in Lynn, Mass. Remaining with his father, who was engaged in the manufacture of iron, until about the year 1655, he removed to Pawtucket, and also engaged in the iron manufacture, he being a blacksmith by trade. His half-brother Daniel, born at Lynn in 1663, also removed into Cumberland, an adjoining settlement, and from him have sprung the numerous Jenckses in that locality.
Mr. Joseph Jencks, the founder of Pawtucket, soon after coming into this region, purchased a sixty-acre lot of Ezekiel Holliman, an early associate of Roger Williams. He immediately set about building a forge, preparatory to engaging in his vocation of blacksmithing. His forge was erected a little below the west end of the present granite bridge. Here, in this deep cavity, for two hundred years, stood a forge-shop, until it was removed to give place to the huge water-wheels of the present cotton-mill. Here this pioneer, with no one but the rude natives of the forest for neighbors, plied his vocation, and the products of his skill found a market in Providence and the surrounding neighborhoods. Mr. Jencks had four sons, named Joseph, Nathaniel, Ebenezer, and William, all of whom followed the business of their father. For twenty years or more, affairs went on smoothly; new emigrants were constantly arriving and settling throughout the neighborhood. The virgin forests were being invaded upon every hand; clearings cultivated and planted to those products best suited to their immediate wants. The smoke from many a cabin rose in graceful curls heavenward, and domestic joys were gladdening the humble firesides of these early settlers.
But dark and foreboding clouds soon began to gather along the horizon of the sky, and a storm was about to break over these almost defenceless settlements. The red men began to look with distrust upon the rapid influx of these white settlers. They had beheld, with jealous eye, the steady growth of the English, and fearing that their hunting-grounds would soon be wrested from them, they began to meet the pale faces with scowling brows, and it only needed a leader to arouse their savage natures, and combine their efforts to hurl a thunderbolt on the intruders. Philip of Pokanoket began his machinations, and soon the storm burst, with all its gigantic fury, upon the early settlements. In 1675, the war commenced, and desolation and ruin marked the spot where once stood the peaceful home, and the mechanic's blazing forge. In 1676, one of the most tragic scenes occurred. For a long time, roving bands of Indians had harassed the settlements, and disturbed their security, both in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The torch was applied to many a happy home, and ruin marked scores of habitations. At last, Captain Pierce of Scituate, with a force of sixty-three Englishmen, and twenty friendly Indians, from Cape Cod, was ordered to follow the Indians, and to put a stop to their lawless depredations. He started with his little band, reaching Seekonk on the 24th of March. Marching up the river, he soon fell into an ambush, and a desperate struggle ensued. The heavy growth of forest that overhung the banks of the Blackstone River, formed a safe retreat for the Indians, and here they closed around the little band, and, as the shadows of evening fell, they enshrouded the lifeless forms of almost all of that little army. This contest occurred on the banks of the river, between Pawtucket and Valley Falls. Pawtucket, at the close of this struggle, was a lonelier spot even than when Roger Williams first began his early settlement. The effect of such a tragical contest could have had naught but a disastrous influence upon these feeble settlements, and the gravest alarm seized upon the hearts of the people, and they fled for refuge to the Island of Rhode Island.
After a few months, however, the dark clouds of adversity began lifting, and the dawning of a better day was at hand. Philip was soon after killed, his warriors slain, captured, or scattered, and peace and security once more returned. Mr. Jencks returns and rebuilds his forge, the woodcutters and charcoal-burners resume their industry. The tillers of the soil return to plant and sow, and a renewed activity pervades every department of human industry.
The Jencks family was influential in the political affairs of the Colony, as well as in business. The elder Jencks bore the title of assistant, which answers to our lieutenant-governor, or senator; while his son Joseph, born 1656, became governor of Rhode Island from 1727 to 1732, and died in the year 1740; he was blind seven years before his death. Nathaniel, born 1662, bore the title of major, and was a powerful man. In the writings of Eseck Esten, bearing date of 1813, he says, 'he lifted the great forge-hammer of five hundred pounds weight, together with seven men thereon and the handle thereof, one man whereof lifted up under the draw-beam with all his might to reach against him, a proof of very great strength indeed.' He died Aug. 12, 1723. Ebenezer was born 1669, and was a preacher of considerable distinction, and died, 1726. William was born 1674, and was the first chief justice of the Providence County court, and died Oct. 2, 1765.
This is a picture of Joseph Jenks, 3rd as colonial governor of Rhode Island.
Governor Jenks had three sons: Obediah, Nathaniel, and John. They all lived in Rhode Island. Obediah had a son John in 1716 who married Abigail Knowlton and they had a son James in 1749. Obediah is said to be buried in Voluntown, CT but a visit there could not locate the grave.
James married Phebe Tripp in 1770 and moved to Clarendon, VT in 1775. They had eleven children. The first two were born in RI and the rest in VT He served in Capt. Robinson's company in the revolutionary war from 1775 until 1783. They moved to Schroon Lake, NY in 1810.
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