JOHN ERVIN JENKINS

The following bio was taken from page 259 of the book entitled "Rusk County History" compiled and edited and used with permission of the Rusk County Historical Commission.

Transcribed by Shirley Koym

Submitted by Gloria Briley Mayfield, Cemeteries of Texas

John Ervin Jenkins (1839-1929) married Mary Jane Phelps (1845-1918) in 1858. They were stepbrother and stepsister – she thirteen and he eighteen. They lived in Louisiana where their first three children – Susan, Sidney and Mary – were born. He was a soldier in the Civil War, and when the war was over, he and his family moved to Texas. One child, Mary, died on the way and was buried in Pulashi, Panola County. They settled in the Patrick Community, Rusk County. Seven sons – Thomas, Samuel, Edward, John, Lee, Jesse and Moxie – were born in the community. Lee died in infancy.

Mr. Jenkins farmed and operated a cotton gin. The gin ran on mule power, Sidney and the other boys riding the mule around and around to make the gin go. While the Jenkins were living in Patrick, their daughter, Susan, married Joe Wallace in Pine Hill, Texas.

The next move of the Jenkins family was to Mt. Enterprise. Here the last three sons – Ross, Charlie, and Henry – were born. They lived in Mt. Enterprise area until the children were grown. Charlie ran away from home during this time and no one knew where he was. He went to California and years later returned to Texas to die. From Mt. Enterprise the family moved to Mahl, Nacogdoches County.

The children scattered all over Texas. Sam and John were teachers, but later became involved in the oil business. Ross was a teacher, but later became a grocer, Thomas died as a teenager, and Jesse died in early manhood. Edward (Ed) followed in his father’s footsteps and became a farmer. Henry, the youngest, led an eventful life, serving in both World War I and World War II. At the age of thirty he went into the army and served in Panama during World War I. He was a cook in the army during World War II. He is now living near Tyler, Texas. At age ninety-four, he lives alone in a small house in his daughter’s yard. He still enjoys living and laughing.

John Ervin Jenkins lived several years after his wife’s death and visited around with his children. He entertained his great grandchildren with riddles and rhymes and taught some of them to play dominoes. He was active and liked to take walks in the fields. He died at the age of ninety and was buried alongside his wife and several children in the Shiloh Cemetery in Rusk County.

Submitted by Bonnie Worley Holder