The Jenkins Story

by Sybil Knight Jenkins

Some time before the Revolutionary War, Jacob and Jerry Jeinins, (half English and half Welsh) came to this country. The chief difference in brothers was their difference in political beliefs. Jacob was a firm believer in the separation from the Mother Country of England. Jerry was very obnoxious to his acquaintance in the State of North Carolina that he was killed by his neighbors. The story goes that as he rode on his Coffin on the way to his execution, that he cried, “Long Live King George.”

Jacob married and had seven sons, all of whom were Revolutionary War Soldiers. Following the war, Jacob and his family moved to Barren River in Kentucky, by the way of Boone Trail. There, a large settlement of Jenkins grew up. Here it is noted that at this early date, the family characteristics were of extremes, rowdiness and respectability. A family feud developed over, for the want of a better term, “wild women.” Uriah and Sam, who were cousins, became particularly bitter enemies.
Some time before the Mexican War, Jacob (Grandsire) Jenkins, brought his family, consisting of Amos, Jacob, Uriah and a daughter, Nancy, to Barren Fork, in Hickman County, Tennessee to avoid the bitterness of the bloodshed in Kentucky. Uriah continued his “wild ways” in Hickman County, where he became known as “The Bull of Duck River.”
Jacob settled around Centerville, Tennessee and there is no record of his family. Uriah married and an Anderson and they had one daughter, Blanche, who married Wilson Overby. She died young, leaving no children. One day, Uriah got on his horse and started back to Kentucky for a visit. Before leaving, he told Zade Martin, that if he did not get back, he could have his wife. Arriving in Kentucky, he encountered his old enemy Sam, by whom he was killed. The story that his wife then married Martin and raised a large family.

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