GUILD 
 
 Memorial Address on the 
 Late John Whipple Potter 
 Jenks. 
 
 
 QL 
 31 
 J5G8
 
 JOHN WHIPPLE POTTER JENKS. 
 
 H memorial Bbbress, 
 
 BY R. A. GUILD. 

 
 MEMORIAL ADDRESS 
 
 ON THE LATE 
 
 JohnWhipple Potter Jenks, A.M. 
 
 EMERITUS 
 
 QOMPL1MENTS OF ... 
 
 ELISHA T. JENKS. 
 
 February 6, 1895. 
 
 BY 
 
 Reuben Aldridge Guild, A. M., LL. D., 
 
 LIBRARIAN EMERITUS. 
 
 PROVIDENCE, R. I.: 
 
 PRESS OF CASEY BROTHERS, 7 COLLEGE ST. 
 1895.
 
 MEMORIAL ADDRESS 
 
 ON THE LATE 
 
 JohnWhipple Potter Jenks, A. M 
 
 PROFESSOR OF ZOOLOGY EMERITUS 
 
 AND 
 CURATOR OF THE MUSEUMS. 
 
 DELIVERED BEFORE THE 
 
 Kacxalty and Students of Bro\vn University, 
 
 IN 
 SAYLES MEMORIAL HALL, 
 
 February 6, 1895. 
 
 BY 
 
 Reuben Aldridge Guild, A. M., LL. D., 
 
 LIBRARIAN EMERITUS. 
 
 PROVIDENCE, R. I.: 
 
 PRESS OF CASEY BROTHERS, ^ COLLEGE ST. 
 1895-
 
 At a meeting of the Faculty of Brown University held shortly after 
 Professor Jenks' lamented decease, suitable resolutions were adopted 
 to be placed on their records, and a committee of three was ap- 
 pointed to secure a memorial address. The committee consisted of 
 Alpheus S. Packard, M. D., Ph. D., Professor of Zoology and Geology, 
 Herman C. Bumpus, Ph. D., Professor of Comparative Anatomy, and 
 Assistant Curator of the Museums, and George W. Field, Ph. D., 
 Associate Professor of Cellular Biology.
 
 We have assembled this day to pay a tribute of 
 gratitude and esteem to a departed associate ; one 
 who lately trod these familiar walks, engaged in the 
 daily routine of college life, and worshipped with us 
 the Father of Lights and Mercies. To me it is 
 allotted to commemorate his virtues in a brief sketch 
 of his character and life. In the language of the 
 revered Wayland on a similar occasion I may say, 
 the great and the good with whom I have been 
 officially connected for half a century have most of 
 them passed away, and now another link in the 
 chain has been severed. I seem to myself the rep- 
 resentative of a by-gone generation, and with 
 mingled emotions address myself to the service 
 which the partiality of your committee has imposed 
 upon me. 
 
 For the first time in the history of the University, 
 a beloved Professor has been stricken down at his 
 post, dying upon the College premises. President 
 Manning, indeed, was struck with apoplexy in the 
 midst of the summer term, but he was in his house 
 with his family around him. In these later years 
 Professors Dunn, Diman, Greene, Bancroft and Lin- 
 coln have all had memorial services. Professor 
 Dunn died at his father's house in Newport during 
 the summer vacation. Professor Diman died in 
 term time after a brief illness of six days, and Pro- 
 fessor Greene was stricken down while on his way 
 to College. Professor Lincoln, whom we all re-
 
 member so well, died after a lingering sickness, on 
 account of which he ceased from active instruction. 
 
 The subject of my sketch, John Whipple Potter 
 Jenks, was a native of Massachusetts. He de- 
 scended from a family not unknown to fame in the 
 annals of Rhode Island. Joseph, his great ancestor, 
 migrated from Buckinghamshire in England, and be- 
 came the founder of Pawtucket. Each of his four 
 sons was prominent in the history of the Colony. 
 Joseph, the eldest, of u happy memory," was a lead- 
 ing member of the Baptist church in Providence, for 
 several years Governor of the State, and at one time 
 a representative at the Court of St. James. The 
 second son became the military leader of all the 
 forces in the Colony. The third son, Ebenezer, was 
 an Elder in the church. His son Daniel, familiarly 
 known as "Judge Jenckes," was a wealthy merchant 
 of Providence, and a patron both of the College and 
 the church. For many years he was a prominent 
 member of the General Assembly, where he ren. 
 dered essential service in the matter of the College 
 Charter. His daughter Rhoda, it may be added, 
 married a Brown, and thus became the mother of the 
 noted benefactor who gave to the University its 
 name. The fourth son, William, the direct ancestor 
 of the Massachusetts branch of the family, became a 
 Chief Justice, and died at the advanced age of ninety- 
 one. 
 
 Professor Jenks was the sixth child and eldest son 
 of Doct. Nicholas and Betsey (Potter) Jenks, and 
 was born in West Boylston, on the first day of May ?
 
 5 
 
 1819. His mother was a daughter of Capt. John 
 Potter, a man of great stature, a revolutionary soldier, 
 and a Paymaster at Valley Forge. Often would he 
 tell to his eager listening children and grandchildren, 
 the story of the sufferings of the patriotic men who 
 paraded on the frozen ground with bare and bleeding 
 feet. His father, a native of North Brookfield, Mas- 
 sachusetts, was one of four sons, of whom Hervey 
 was graduated at Brown University with the valedic- 
 tory honors of his class. He himself was fitted for 
 the medical profession, studying at the academies of 
 Woodstock and Leicester, and afterwards with the 
 celebrated Doct. John Green of Worcester. Upon 
 the completion of his studies he commenced practice 
 in West Boylston, teaching school during the winter 
 months, as was the custom with professional men of 
 limited incomes. During a revival of religion that 
 swept over all that section of the country both father 
 and mother were converted, embracing the senti- 
 ments of the Baptists. This they did upon a careful 
 and independent study of the New Testament in 
 reference to church polity, there being no Baptist 
 church or preacher in the neighborhood. In conse- 
 quence of this change in their religious views, the 
 good Doctor lost his practice, the prevailing sen- 
 timents of the people around him being those of the 
 "Standing Order." He was compelled, therefore, 
 to seek a livelihood elsewhere. 
 
 About twenty-five miles distant in the southern 
 part of the county bordering on Connecticut, was a 
 small township that had been set off from Stur-
 
 bridge, by the name of Southbridge. Thither the 
 family removed when young Jenks was about a year 
 old ; and here his childhood and early youth were 
 spent. The religious community at Southbridge was 
 about equally divided between Baptists and Congre- 
 gationalists, who worshipped alternately in the one 
 meeting-house of the place, which was also used as 
 the town house. The Professor in his private 
 memoirs gives a glowing description of this old fash- 
 ioned, yellow painted, two story building, with low 
 steeple and a bell. On three sides was a gallery, 
 and on the fourth side a high pulpit that brought 
 the minister's head above the level of the gallery 
 floors. On the ceiling, back of the pulpit, was a 
 fresco of two large owls' heads with big staring 
 eyes, and wings dropping downward three feet, the 
 whole designed to represent the angels overshadow- 
 ing the Mercy Seat. Square pews that compelled a 
 part of the occupants to sit with backs and sides to 
 the minister, and seats that turned on hinges for con- 
 venience of standing, and, in the words of the Pro- 
 fessor, "slammed with a bang at the close of the 
 prayer," completed the interior. The use of cushions 
 would have been deemed sacrilegious in those days, 
 and foot stoves for the aged and infirm were the only 
 means of warmth in winter. 
 
 Physically the elder brother of the family was 
 somewhat precocious, as also mentally, being able to 
 read, it is said, when a little more than three years 
 old. At the age of five or six he was required to 
 aid his sisters in making wool cards and braiding
 
 straw. Thus early were habits of industry and 
 self-reliance instilled into his mind. Another of his 
 employments was carrying a daily paper to the 
 homes of the subscribers. From the age of four he 
 was kept at school ten months in the year, and 
 drilled at home in the elementary branches. As a 
 result he was at thirteen beyond the ordinary text- 
 books off-the districts ; and by attending a select 
 school in the village he had gone through works on 
 Natural Philosophy, Astronomy and Advanced His- 
 tory. He was furthermore a natural speller, and 
 invariably "spelled down," in the phraseology of 
 the day, all others in the school, although many of 
 the scholars were his seniors. These details, trivial 
 though they may appear, are important as illustrat- 
 ing his after career. The child is father of the man. 
 In the month of February preceding his eighth 
 birthday, the monotony of his childhood life was 
 broken somewhat by a sleigh ride to Providence, 
 in company with his parents and a sister. They 
 stopped for a time with Dr. Messer, who was a relative 
 by marriage, his wife's mother being a Jenks*. He 
 had recently resigned the Presidency of the Univer- 
 sity, and was now living in the "Messer House," so 
 called, in the south western part of the town. Many 
 times afterwards the lad recalled the stately mansion 
 with its tall pillars and portico, spacious rooms and 
 lofty ceilings, associating with it the glories of the 
 Institution over which the owner had long presided, 
 and with which he himself was to be so long and so 
 
 "The wife's maiden name was Deborah Angell.
 
 8 
 
 honorably connected. The house has recently been 
 taken down. This visit and a subsequent one to 
 Amherst determined young Jenks upon a College 
 life. 
 
 He was now approaching his thirteenth year, and 
 it became necessary to make choice of some kind of 
 business or a profession for the future. The father 
 had already made arrangements with a watchmaker 
 and jeweller to take him as an apprentice until he 
 was eighteen, leaving it for the son to decide the 
 matter on his coming birthday. The decision was 
 promptly made. He would go to College. His 
 father could only give his approval, and his time 
 until he was twenty-one. The lad foresaw the 
 struggle and self-denial involved in the task before 
 him, but his energy and indomitable will, even at 
 that early age, knew no obstacles. Making arrange- 
 ments with a merchant farmer opposite his father's 
 house to assist him in his work, go on errands and 
 the like, for his board and clothing, he made a similar 
 arrangement for his tuition with his pastor, the Rev. 
 Addison Parker, and commenced the study of Latin. 
 While reciting in the pastor's study from day to day, 
 he attracted the notice of a young man visiting at the 
 parsonage, who, on learning his history, offered to 
 take the lad with him to Virginia, where he had been 
 teaching for the past two years, pay all his expenses 
 and fit him for College. The Maecenas* thus prov- 
 
 *In the Journal or Diary of Prof. Jenks occurs the following entry: 
 "Thursday, April 16, 1885. Called upon the Rev. Dr. Parker, the 
 Maecenas who took me at the age of thirteen from Massachusetts to 
 Virginia to attend his school, and begin to fit for College in the 
 Classics. He at the age of seventy-nine had given up active service as 
 a pastor, and was living in IvOs Angeles, with his married daughter."
 
 identially found was the late Rev. Dr. Joseph W. 
 Parker, a native of Vermont, and a recent gradu- 
 ate of Union College. This offer so generously 
 made was gladly accepted, and he at once started 
 on what was then a long journey, going by stage 
 through Hartford, New York, Princeton, Philadel- 
 phia and Washington. His place of destination was 
 the plantation of Nicholas Edmunds, in Charlotte 
 County, Virginia, about ten miles from the Court 
 House, and a mile from any residence. The school 
 taught by Mr. Parker consisted of Mr. Edmunds' 
 family, and as many more pupils as the little twenty- 
 feet square log school house would accommodate. 
 Here young Jenks continued the study of Latin and 
 commenced Greek. Under the judicious and faith- 
 ful guidance of his teacher, his religious convic- 
 tions, which he had before leaving home as the 
 result of a revival in the neighborhood, were deep- 
 ened, until he was brought to a saving knowledge of 
 the truth, and to an experience of the peace of God 
 which passeth all understanding. At this point his 
 religious life commenced, to be continued through 
 all the changes and vicissitudes of subsequent years. 
 Prayer now became his delight and the Bible his 
 constant companion and guide. 
 
 During his sojourn in Virginia he was brought into 
 contact with wild animal life, and he learned to use 
 the gun, in the use of which he afterwards became 
 an expert. His taste for Natural History was here 
 developed. He saw nature in her varied aspects.
 
 10 
 
 Squirrels, rabbits, opossums and reptiles abounded 
 in the woods through which he daily passed, and fox 
 hunting and boar hunting were pastimes in which, 
 boy though he was, he not unfrequently engaged. 
 
 At the close of the year, his kind friend and bene- 
 factor having decided to prosecute his studies at the 
 Newton Theological Institution, he returned to his 
 home in Southbridge, where, on the 9th of June, 
 1833, he was publicly baptised and received as a 
 member of the church. During his absence a 
 brother-in-law, the Rev. Hervey Fitts, had become 
 pastor of the Baptist church in Middleboro, and 
 now he offered his young relative a home while he 
 should pursue his studies at the Pierce Academy. 
 Here he remained another year and then entered 
 Brown University, being the first one of his class to 
 be matriculated. He was now in the beginning of 
 his sixteenth year, small in stature but vigorous in 
 health and strength, poor in purse, rich in hope, de- 
 termined in purpose, and filled with a holy enthusi- 
 asm to do the work to which he felt that he had 
 been divinely called. Such was the lad who, on the 
 second day of the term called on President Wayland 
 to know what he could do to pay expenses. Looking 
 kindly down upon him the good President gave him 
 work in his garden, for which he paid him full 
 wages. This was his first experience in college life, 
 and it was full of promise. As winter set in and he 
 could no longer do garden work, he obtained per- 
 mission of the Steward to take charge of some reci-
 
 It 
 
 tation rooms, and also of the private rooms of several 
 of the college officers. He sawed wood, carrying 
 it from the cellar to the second, third and fourth 
 stories. All work that was lawful was to him hon- 
 orable. What he desired was to pay his own way 
 and be independent. During his Junior and Senior 
 years he taught in a Ladies' School, and in addition 
 had lads in his room as private scholars. In going 
 to and from college in vacations, a distance of forty 
 miles, he usually walked, not being able to pay a 
 stage coach fare. 
 
 There were at this time two tables in Commons 
 Hall, at one of which board was ninety-five cents 
 per week, and at the other one dollar and a quarter. 
 Young Jenks commenced at the former table, but 
 finding even this too expensive, he left and boarded 
 himself, continuing to do this for two years, at an 
 average cost of fifty cents per week. At one time 
 while eating his frugal breakfast of brown bread and 
 molasses, dried herring and cold water, a wealthy 
 gentleman whom he had known in Middleboro, un- 
 expectedly called at his room, and seeming sur- 
 prised, asked him if that was his usual fare. The 
 reply was that sometimes, when he had a fire he 
 made hasty pudding, or boiled some rice. A five 
 dollar bill which was sent him soon afterwards with 
 a suggestion that he procure more wholesome food, 
 was promptly returned with sincere and most grate- 
 ful acknowledgments. The poor student was happy 
 and contented; his present living met his wants;
 
 his health was good, his appetite was excellent, and 
 he did not wish to be beholden for favors which it 
 was out of his power to return. We are reminded 
 by this incident of the reply of the patriotic Marion, 
 to the British officer whom he had invited to dine on 
 roast potatoes. Is this, said the officer in astonish- 
 ment, the fare of yourself and your men ? Yes, said 
 the imperturbable Marion, except that sometimes, 
 when we can get it, we have a little salt. 
 
 It may be interesting to know what was the daily 
 college routine of this period. The first bell was 
 rung at half past five. Prayers were held in the old 
 chapel at a quarter before six, which for a part of 
 the year would be at candle light. Recitations until 
 seven followed prayers, after which came breakfast in 
 Commons Hall, and then recreation until nine when 
 study hours commenced. The second hour for reci- 
 tations was eleven, followed by dinner at twelve, and 
 recreation until two, when study hours again com- 
 menced. The third recitation hour was from four 
 until five, when all assembled in the chapel once 
 more for prayers, after which came a declamation 
 from a Junior, or an original piece from a Senior, 
 spoken from the stage in front of the Faculty. Sup- 
 per followed, and then recreation until seven. Study 
 hours in the evening were from seven until nine, 
 when all were expected to retire. A division of 
 each dormitory was assigned to a member of the 
 Faculty, whose duty it was to make from one to 
 three visits a day in study hours to see if all were in
 
 their rooms. Such was college life in the days of 
 Professor Jenks. During his entire course of four 
 years he never had, as he himself states, a tardy 
 mark, nor did he lose a day's recitation on account 
 of sickness or absence. He attended all the meet- 
 ings of the Philermenian Debating Society of which 
 he was a member, the prayer meetings of his class 
 on Friday evenings, the meetings of the Religious 
 Society on Wednesday evenings, and the monthly 
 meetings of the Society for Missionary Inquiry. 
 His example as a Christian man is in this respect 
 worthy of imitation. During a part of his course 
 he conducted a Bible class in Olneyville, and dur- 
 ing his Senior year he was Superintendent of the 
 Third Baptist, now the Union Baptist Sunday School. 
 He was strict in his attendance upon Dr. Wayland's 
 Bible class, which was held each Sunday afternoon 
 after the preaching service. The Dr. was accus- 
 tomed to use the Greek text, arranging to go through 
 the New Testament every four years. When he 
 reached Revelation, says Jenks, he would say: 
 " Young gentlemen we will begin the New Testa- 
 ment again, as I do not understand Revelation, but 
 hope to some time, probably not in this life." 
 
 When he entered college his class numbered ac- 
 cording to the catalogue, forty-three, and he found 
 himself standing in scholarship forty-one, or nearly 
 at the foot. He had not the grammatical knowledge 
 of Latin and Greek which others of his class pos- 
 sessed, who had fitted at the schools of Boston and
 
 14 
 
 Providence, and at the renowned academies of An- 
 dover and Exeter. He was about the youngest in 
 age, and in purse certainly the poorest. The class 
 numbered at graduation thirty, and his rank was 
 nine, having assigned him for his part at Commence- 
 ment, a conference with Edward D. Pearce and 
 Alexander Burgess. This is the class, be it remem- 
 bered, which Professor Gammell was accustomed to 
 characterize as the ablest in the point of talent and 
 influence of which he had personal knowledge. 
 Among its members was Robinson, late the honored 
 President of the University; Bradley, the Valedicto- 
 rian, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Rhode 
 Island; Ames, the Salutatorian, who died soon after 
 graduation; Morton, Chief Justice of the Supreme 
 Court of Massachusetts; Burgess, Bishop of Illinois; 
 Lothrop, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipo- 
 tentiary to the Court of Russia; Wilson, Judge of 
 the Circuit Court of Illinois, and the leading lawyer 
 in that State; Thomas A. Jenckes, one of the ablest 
 Representatives to Congress from this or any State, 
 the author of Civil Service Reform; Cole, President 
 of a Theological Institution; Clarke, for nine years 
 City Solicitor of Providence; and Arnold, Bowers, 
 Dike, Reed, Stockbridge, Sumner and Tustin, all 
 Doctors of Divinity. To have attained the rank of 
 nine in such a class, under adverse circumstances, 
 indicates perseverance, and talent of no ordinary 
 character. 
 
 At length the last term of the Senior year drew to 
 a close, and he was led to recall the words of his
 
 mother in his Freshman year: "John, by being 
 faithful to your daily work as assigned you by the 
 Faculty, and by daily consecration of yourself as a 
 Christian, make the most of your college course, for 
 it ought to be the happiest period of your life. Your 
 daily work is planned by others, and you have only 
 to do your duty without care or anxiety. But after 
 graduation you will have to plan for yourself as well 
 as execute, and coming into contact with unreason- 
 able people, you will find life very different from 
 your present experience." Wise counsel this, show- 
 ing the home influences to which he had been sub- 
 jected in childhood, and giving a key to his character 
 and usefulness as afterwards developed. He had 
 indeed been faithful in the performance of every 
 allotted task, and he had daily sought the guidance 
 and blessing of Him to whom he had consecrated 
 his life. He had spent for his education just nine 
 hundred dollars, of which he had earned two thirds 
 by manual labor and teaching, borrowing from the 
 Education Society the remaining three hundred. 
 With this exception he had fulfilled the Apostle's 
 injunction, "Owe no man anything." While he was 
 planning for the future, President Wayland received 
 a letter from one Judge Warren, residing in a small 
 village in Southern Georgia, requesting him to send 
 them immediately a teacher who was both a gradu- 
 ate and a Christian. Knowing that Abolitionism 
 was an agitating subject in the land, the offer was 
 made to Jenks, who had spent a year in Virginia, 
 and was presumed to be more or less familiar with
 
 i6 
 
 slavery. Getting excused from the exercises of 
 Commencement, which occurred in September, and 
 procuring a suitable outfit, he set out for the South, 
 arriving at his place of destination in August. 
 Americus, which was the name of the village, was 
 then a small hamlet in the forest, consisting of about 
 a dozen families, who two years before had emigrated 
 from the Carolinas, and settled upon Government 
 land which had belonged to the Lower Creek Indians. 
 There were about forty families in the neighborhood, 
 and like other frontier communities, they exhibited a 
 civilization but little removed from that of the Abor- 
 igines. With but few exceptions they were poor and 
 wretched. Horse racing, drinking, swearing, cursing 
 and ignorance everywhere abounded. In the young 
 graduate they found indeed what they so much 
 needed, a Christian teacher. Devoting all his ener- 
 ,gies to the work before him he soon won respect, 
 and secured from the better class hearty co-operation. 
 Here he remained eighteen months, teaching in a 
 little log school house, preaching in the Court house 
 so called, attending funerals, visiting the sick, and in 
 various ways elevating the tone of society and infus- 
 ing into it the principles and restraints of Christianity. 
 The little hamlet has now become a flourishing city, 
 and near the spot where he ministered to an infant, 
 struggling church is now a fine brick meeting house, 
 which it was his privilege in later years (1890) to 
 assist in dedicating. 
 
 During the latter part of his stay in Americus, 
 there was a powerful revival of religion which ex-
 
 tended throughout the neighborhood far and wide. 
 Some of his older pupils and many of his hearers 
 were converted. One of the most prominent converts 
 was a man of powerful frame and wicked life, who 
 for months had dogged his path with a loaded gun, 
 intending to shoot him down for correcting a young 
 nephew in the school room. Indeed, he had once 
 seized his horse by the bridle while crossing a creek, 
 and struck him a violent blow. Now he became the 
 teacher's warmest friend. 
 
 In the beginning of the year 1840, he resigned his 
 position at Americus, to accept a call to become the 
 colleague of Dr. Mercer, the popular and beloved 
 pastor of the Baptist Church in Washington, Wilkes 
 County. This at the time was perhaps the wealthiest 
 and most aristocratic inland town of Georgia, having 
 three churches, a bank, a fine Female Seminary, and 
 Mercer University not far away. Here the Index, 
 still the organ of the denomination in the State, was 
 published. Dr. Mercer, who was now advanced in 
 years and in feeble health, was regarded as the most 
 noted preacher of his faith in all the South. He was 
 for several years editor of the Index, which he had 
 purchased of Dr. Brantly and transferred from Phila- 
 delphia, and he was the founder of the University 
 which bears his name. Among his hearers were 
 many wealthy planters, including Robert Tombs, 
 afterwards the famous secessionist, and Alexander H. 
 Stevens, the noted Vice President of the Southern 
 Confederacy. Here Mr. Jenks labored with success
 
 i8 
 
 eleven months, occupying the pulpit Sunday morn- 
 ings, conducting the prayer and conference meetings, 
 visiting the sick, and aiding in the publication of the 
 weekly paper. As he was intending at this time to 
 devote his life to missionary service in China he 
 studied medicine with Doct. Ficklen a noted phy- 
 sician of the place, whose daughter, it may be added, 
 was afterwards married to Dr. Boyce, a graduate of 
 Brown, and the founder of the Theological Seminary 
 at Louisville. 
 
 Dr. Mercer was now rapidly approaching his end, 
 and the church accordingly extended a formal and 
 unanimous invitation to Mr. Jenks to be ordained 
 and become their settled pastor. This invitation, so 
 flattering to a young man not yet twenty-one, and so 
 indicative of the high estimation in which his pulpit 
 talents and resources were regarded by an intelligent 
 community, he felt compelled to decline, not having 
 had a theological training. An invitation to become 
 co-principal of the Female Seminary, and also an 
 adjunct professor in Mercer University he also de- 
 clined, preferring to take charge for ten months of a 
 planter's school in Taliafere County. He returned 
 home in the early part of the year 1842, having 
 labored in the South three years and four months. 
 
 Peirce Academy, with which Mr. Jenks was 
 henceforth to be so prominently identified, and where 
 the prime of his life was spent, had been founded as 
 early as the year 1808, by Deacon Levi Peirce, for 
 the twofold purpose of securing a hall for public
 
 19 
 
 worship and rooms for a school. Like many other 
 institutions of a similiar character, the first few years 
 of its existence were years of struggle and varied for- 
 tunes. In 1828, a house of worship having been built 
 by Deacon Peirce on the lot adjoining the Academy, 
 both the house and the academy building, with the lots 
 on which they stood, were deeded to the Central Bap- 
 tist Society. Subsequently the Academy passed into 
 the hands of trustees, an act of incorporation 
 having been obtained from the State Legislature in 
 1835. The School was now in a languishing con- 
 dition, indeed, was almost defunct, so that its revival 
 to an ordinary mind seemed an herculean if not 
 a hopeless task. The number of its pupils had 
 dwindled down to fifteen, the building was old and 
 dilapidated, there were no funds, and there was no 
 apparatus, not even a blackboard upon the walls. 
 Under these discouraging circumstances the position 
 of Principal was offered to Mr. Jenks, with the un- 
 derstanding that he was to take the School into his 
 own hands, run it upon its merits, and pay all 
 expenses. Here was the great opportunity of his 
 life. He saw all the difficulties before him, but he 
 was not dismayed. He had been accustomed from 
 boyhood to habits of self-reliance. He had resist- 
 less energy, a courage that knew no danger, and a 
 boundless faith in the Supreme Ruler and Disposer, 
 to whom he had committed all his ways. Rejecting 
 flattering offers of other positions he accepted this 
 one, mainly, as he himself states, because this was a
 
 2O 
 
 private institution, founded under the auspices of a 
 denomination to which he was warmly attached, and 
 where he could cultivate without let or hindrance 
 the religious sentiments, as well as train the intellect. 
 It is no disparagement perhaps to add, that Middle- 
 boro was the home of one whom he had loved from 
 boyhood, and to whom on attaining to manhood he 
 had plighted his troth. 
 
 On the first Monday in March, 1842, he com- 
 menced the term with eleven pupils, closing with 
 thirty. The second term he commenced with sixty 
 pupils and closed with eighty. His success was now 
 assured, and he entered into matrimonial relations, 
 making it his permanent home with his father-in- 
 law, the late Major Elisha Tucker. His wife was 
 an only child, the granddaughter of the founder of 
 the Academy, and a lady of rare personal attractions 
 and moral worth. For nearly forty-two years they 
 walked in happy union such as is seldom accorded 
 to mortals in this present life, until in July, 1884, the 
 golden cord was severed. During all this period of 
 complete domestic bliss, their hopes, their joys, their 
 interests, their fortunes were one, and not a jarring 
 word of discord ever passed their lips. 
 
 Having by strict economy succeeded in obtaining 
 a valuable apparatus, and having a School of one 
 hundred pupils with a constantly increasing atten- 
 dance, Mr. Jenks now began to indulge his passion 
 for the study of nature, particularly in Ornithology, 
 taking lessons of a celebrated taxidermist in Boston
 
 21 
 
 for the purpose of making a collection. In this his 
 enthusiasm knew no bounds. It became no uncom- 
 mon thing for him to rise before daylight and spend 
 two hours with his gun, mounting his birds from 
 nine until midnight. In this manner, and by pur- 
 chase and exchange, he in the course of ten years 
 secured a Museum superior to that of any academy 
 in New England, and which attracted the attention 
 of men of science. It had cost him an outlay of 
 thousands of dollars, besides an infinite amount of 
 time and labor. Eventually he presented it to the 
 Academy. Upon the closing up of the Academy in 
 the year 1879, the trustees presented it to the South 
 Jersey Institute in Bridgeton, where it is now known 
 and designated as the " Peirce Collection." 
 
 At the second meeting of the American Associa- 
 tion for the Advancement of Science, Mr. Jenks be- 
 came a member, signing the constitution at the same 
 time with his beloved teacher in College, Dr. Cas- 
 well. The annual meetings of this Association he 
 attended with greater or less regularity up to the last 
 year of his life. I cannot learn from the published 
 proceedings that he was prominent on committees, 
 or that he often read papers. He was too busy a 
 man by far to make original investigations. His life 
 work as a scientist was that of a collector, and this 
 work he loved. His connection with this Associa- 
 tion brought him into pleasant relations with distin- 
 guished men, with some of whom, especially Pro- 
 fessor Baird of the Smithsonian Institution, and Pro-
 
 22 
 
 fessor Agassiz, who was not unfrequently his hon- 
 ored guest at Middleboro, he formed intimacies 
 which only death interrupted. To the latter he ren- 
 dered important service in the preparation of his 
 great work on the Embryology of the Turtle ; a ser- 
 vice which the author gratefully acknowledges in his 
 preface. About this time he was appointed Profes- 
 sor of Zoology in the Massachusetts Horticultural 
 Society, a position of honor without salary, the 
 duties being merely of consultation. The meetings 
 were held fortnightly in Boston. On one occasion a 
 member, who was at the same time State Senator, 
 presented a petition in favor of rescinding the law 
 that protected the Robin, saying he had found it very 
 destructive to fruits. Through Mr. Jenks' influence 
 the petition was laid upon the table, he promising to 
 ascertain the food of the bird for every month of 
 the year. This he did in a most satisfactory manner, 
 showing that the Robin was far more beneficial by 
 destroying worms and insects during ten months in 
 the year, than destructive by eating garden fruits in 
 July and August. The report was published in the 
 proceedings of the Society, and has often been 
 quoted as an authority upon the subject of which it 
 treats. 
 
 Time will not allow me to enter further into the 
 details of his career in Middleboro. During the 
 twenty-nine years of his administration as Principal 
 of the Academy, it attained to a very high rank, hav- 
 ing at one time a roll call of three hundred pupils of
 
 23 
 
 both sexes, averaging over eighteen years of age. 
 Among his corps of assistants were the noted 
 teachers, Charles C. Burnett, and John M. Manning, 
 both graduates of Brown. A new building was 
 erected and again and again enlarged, partly at the 
 Principal's expense. Distinguished divines were 
 invited to address the Society for Missionary Inquiry, 
 and distinguished orators and poets the Literary 
 Debating Society. Crowds of alumni and friends 
 attended the annual graduating exercises similar to a 
 college commencement, making the town joyous as 
 on a festive occasion. In 1858 occurred the semi- 
 centennial of the Academy, and it was made a 
 Jubilee Celebration, Hon. Benjamin F. Hallet, an 
 alumnus, giving the oration, George C. Burgess 
 the poem, and Mr. Jenks the historical address. 
 The year following he spent five months in travel 
 abroad, visiting the principal cities and places of 
 interest, and delighting in the great Cabinets and 
 Museums, to which a letter of introduction from Pro- 
 fessor Agassiz proved an open sesame. During the 
 Civil War many of his pupils enlisted, and the 
 School, like all other institutions of learning, felt the 
 depressing effects of domestic strife. Afterwards 
 high schools and normal schools, established and 
 maintained at the expense of the State, took the 
 place of academies, and private schools one after 
 another ceased to exist. Notwithstanding all this 
 Peirce Academy continued to flourish until the year 
 1871, when the Principal, having completed his
 
 2 4 
 
 allotted term of thirty-three years, or a generation 
 from the time of his graduation from College, and in 
 accordance with a determination previously ex- 
 pressed, handed in his resignation to the Board of 
 Trustees. In taking leave of him in this connection, 
 an incident which I find recorded in his journal may 
 be of interest, illustrating as it does the widespread 
 reputation and* influence of the man.* 
 
 Soon after the war, a fine looking gentleman in 
 middle life called at the Academy door, and 
 remarked that being on the way from Boston to New 
 Bedford, he thought he would stop long enough to 
 visit Peirce Academy, of the fame of which he had 
 heard at various times. Inviting him to a seat on 
 the platform, the Principal called up the first class, 
 which was in French. The stranger requested that 
 he might take a seat with the class and recite. 
 Humoring this singular whim, his request was 
 granted, and he was called upon in turn to translate, 
 which he did very creditably. The next class was 
 in Algebra, and keeping his seat the stranger desired 
 to try his hand at that. In this also he succeeded, 
 working out a problem on the blackboard. Till 
 
 *The Hon. John S. Brayton, Id/- D., a graduate of Brown University, 
 in the class of 1851, thus writes respecting his early instructor : 
 
 "I attended Pierce Academy in 1845, and have maintained the 
 acquaintance which I then formed with Professor Jenks up to his death. 
 He was a warm friend of mine. Mr. Jenks led a most active life ; he 
 was a great worker ; enthusiastic in everything in which he became 
 interested ; was never tired in doing good, and always ready to aid 
 and assist those who were deserving and needy. I regret that the 
 Corporation of the University did not, during his life time, bestow 
 upon him an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws, which he justly 
 merited."
 
 noon he kept his seat, with the several classes, and 
 was called upon in turn to recite. At the close of 
 the School he explained. My brother, he re- 
 marked, some years ago was a pupil here, and 
 fitted for the Academy at West Point, where he was 
 graduated. He was afterwards appointed one of the 
 Professors, continuing at the Institution until he died. 
 Of you he always spoke as laying the foundation of 
 his success in life. I am a surgeon in the Navy, and 
 for years have been sailing around the world, stop- 
 ping for weeks now in one port, now in another. 
 Our Commandants, while we are thus detained, are 
 in the habit of inviting the officers of our merchant 
 marine who may happen to be in port to a banquet 
 on board the man of war. On such occasions the 
 captains and mates are introduced to each other, and 
 naturally inquire for each others homes. One would 
 reply, " I am from Cape Cod." And another, " And 
 so am I." Well, "were you ever in Middleboro"? 
 "Yes, I went to school at Peirce Academy." "And 
 so did I." " And do tell me if Professor Jenks is 
 still Principal." "Yes, and as bright and active and 
 good as ever." Such conversations I have listened 
 to in every foreign port where my vessel has been 
 detained. For my part I could only say, I had a 
 brother taught by Professor Jenks, and only regretted 
 that I had not had that same privilege. Now I can 
 say I have been a pupil at Peirce Academy, and have 
 recited to Professor Jenks. (Whether the stranger 
 received a certificate of his proficiency in French 
 and Algebra is not stated.)
 
 26 
 
 The time seemed now to have arrived for him to 
 carry into execution a purpose which he had long 
 formed, of collecting for Brown University a 
 Museum of Natural History. Professor Agassiz 
 had once remarked in his presence that there were 
 more investigators than collectors. The thought 
 was to him an inspiration, and from that moment he 
 determined to spend the closing years of his life in 
 thus advancing the cause of science and religion. 
 On the same day when he sent in his resignation as 
 Principal, he addressed a formal communication to 
 his friend and former instructor, Professor Caswell, 
 now President of the University, off ering his services. 
 " For while," he said, " the College is one of the 
 oldest institutions in the country, there is no one half 
 as old that has not better facilities for illustrating 
 any branch of Natural Science, and I am positively 
 ashamed of my Alma Mater." The return mail 
 brought a reply saying, " Come and dine with me on 
 Saturday and we will talk Natural History." In 
 conversation the President was found to be keenly 
 alive to the existing deficiencies of the College, but 
 said, " There is not a dollar in the treasury that can 
 be devoted to the building up of a Museum." "And 
 there never will be," was the reply, "until a be- 
 ginning is made." The result was a beginning. 
 Contributions to the amount of a thousand dollars 
 were at once secured from friends of the enterprise. 
 Two floor cases for minerals, fossils and shells, and 
 an upright wall case for mounted birds were placed
 
 in Rhode Island Hall, and in three months time they 
 were filled and arranged by Professor Jenks in readi- 
 ness for the Commencement in June. 
 
 A pleasing incident maybe mentioned in this con- 
 nection. The Rev. Frederic Denison, a loyal 
 alumnus of Brown, had been for many years mak- 
 ing a collection of Indian relics in Connecticut and 
 Rhode Island, and was now preparing an account of 
 them for a history of Westerly, where he was settled 
 as pastor of a church. A paragraph in the Provi- 
 dence Journal referring to this collection caught the 
 eye of Professor Jenks, and soon he had an account 
 of it from the author himself. Before there was 
 time for a reply the Professor was in the pastor's 
 study, his face all radiant with joy as he gazed upon 
 the six hundred relics illustrating the history, manners 
 and customs of the aborigines. The owner could 
 have sold them for a handsome sum, but he gladly 
 gave them as a foundation for the new Museum, and 
 they were at once transferred to the cases in Rhode 
 Island Hall. The next day a collector from Yale 
 appeared on the ground, but he was twenty-four 
 hours too late. The relics had gone. To this col- 
 lection Mr. Denison and others have made additions, 
 until it now numbers upwards of a thousand speci- 
 mens, constituting a most interesting and valuable 
 part of the Anthropological department. 
 
 At the meeting of the alumni in June following, 
 the Professor made known his plans and purposes in 
 regard to the Museum, and solicited the hearty co-
 
 28 
 
 operation of all graduates and friends of the College. 
 He stated that during the past ten weeks he had 
 obtained and mounted as a beginning, three hundred 
 and forty-three specimens of birds, fifty birds' nests 
 with eggs fresh from the forest and field, twenty 
 reptiles, and quite a miscellaneous collection, includ- 
 ing Indian relics, and a few specimens of minerals 
 and shells that he had found stored away in the base- 
 ment. His remarks were received with applause. 
 President Caswell in his opening speech at the Com- 
 mencement dinner invited the guests before leaving 
 the grounds to visit the Hall, and see the beginning 
 that had been made in what he hoped might prove 
 an important means of culture. In his annual report 
 to the Corporation he referred to the subject again, 
 and spoke of the valuable labors of Professor Jenks, 
 whom he designated as a " well informed naturalist 
 and a most skillful taxidermist." 
 
 But though a favorable beginning had thus been 
 made, the Corporation was not yet prepared to 
 appropriate a dollar towards the continuance of the 
 work, much less to appoint a permanent Curator with 
 a salary. A special arrangement was therefore made 
 with President Caswell, he guaranteeing to furnish 
 funds through private subscriptions. In this he hap- 
 pily succeeded, securing during the year upwards of 
 six thousand dollars. The enterprise was now fairly 
 inaugurated. About this time the United States Fish 
 Commission received its first appropriation from Con- 
 gress, Professor Baird being the Commissioner and
 
 2 9 
 
 Woods Holl the place of operations. As Professor 
 Jenks was a warm personal friend of Baird, he was 
 naturally solicited to become his assistant. This of 
 course he could not now do. He, however, con- 
 sented to attach himself to the Commission as a 
 supernumerary, working as he had opportunity with- 
 out pay, and being allowed the duplicates for Brown. 
 This was a fortunate circumstance, as it gave him a 
 prestige at the outset, and a valuable collection of 
 Marine Fauna. Another fortunate circumstance: 
 John Cassin, a noted Ornithologist and author, hav- 
 ing just died, his collection, in skin and properly la- 
 belled, was on sale in Philadelphia. The Professor 
 saw the advertisement, and without waiting to write, 
 with his accustomed promptness, took the next train 
 for the City of Brotherly Love. The price was 
 three hundred dollars, and the number of skins was 
 twenty-five hundred more or less. The money was 
 at once paid, and the collection, numbering on count 
 upwards of four thousand, was expressed to Provi- 
 dence. The next day a letter was received from 
 Professor Agassiz wanting it for Harvard. He also, 
 like the Yale collector, was twenty-four hours too 
 late. The famous Blanding collection, to which 
 Dr. Carpenter of Pawtucket had made allusion at 
 the Alumni meeting in June, was through the perse- 
 verance and zeal of the new Curator, transferred 
 from its temporary quarters at the homestead in 
 Rehoboth to Rhode Island Hall. The founder of 
 this collection, Dr. William Blanding, was a native
 
 3 
 
 of Rehoboth, and a graduate of Brown in the class 
 of 1801. Having accumulated a competency in the 
 practice of his profession, he had devoted the closing 
 years of his life to his favorite study of Natural 
 History, and to the gathering from every quarter of 
 the globe of minerals, shells, fossils, birds, quadru- 
 peds, reptiles, coins, medals and relics, making a col- 
 lection believed at one time to be the largest of any 
 private collection in the United States. He died in 
 Rehoboth where he was born, leaving his treasures 
 to distant relatives, who were only too glad to place 
 them in the keeping of Professor Jenks. 
 
 But now the Corporation was in trouble in regard 
 to the Agricultural Fund, so-called, the income of 
 which had thus far been appropriated towards pay- 
 ing the tuition of beneficiaries designated by the 
 State Legislature, without any special provision on 
 the part of the College for instruction in Agriculture 
 and the Mechanic Arts. An Investigating Commit- 
 tee had been appointed by Congress to inquire into 
 the use each State was making of the funds created 
 by the sale of the Agricultural Lands. This Com- 
 mittee required that the Corporation create a Profes- 
 sorship of Agriculture, and give special instruction 
 to the beneficiaries, otherwise the State would be 
 impeached and a demand made for a return of the 
 Fund. In this emergency the Curator was earnestly 
 requested to add to his duties the work of a Profes- 
 sor of Agriculture, his familiarity with domestic ani- 
 mals, and his experience in farming admirably quali-
 
 3 1 
 
 fying him for the difficult and important position. 
 An outline of twenty lectures hastily prepared, 
 showing what he could do in this line, was read be- 
 fore the Joint Committees of the Legislature and the 
 College. All parties were satisfied, and at the 
 annual meeting of the Corporation, in June, 1872, he 
 was formally appointed Director of the Museum of 
 Natural History, and Lecturer on Special Branches 
 of Agriculture. Subsequently his title was changed 
 to Professor of Agricultural Zoology, and Curator 
 of the Museum of Natural History. This title he 
 retained until the day of his death, giving lectures 
 as proposed, attending the meetings of the Faculty, 
 and sustaining with increasing credit the important 
 department of instruction committed to his charge. 
 In his final report to President Andrews, published 
 since his decease, he says: "For the twentieth 
 time as Professor of Agricultural Zoology, I have 
 delivered my annual course of lectures on Agricul- 
 tural topics, each year revised and improved, to the 
 members of the Senior Class enjoying the benefit of 
 the State Agricultural Scholarships, and have only 
 words of commendation as to both the deportment 
 of the students, and the interest manifested in the 
 subjects treated." 
 
 It would be interesting did time allow, to trace 
 from these feeble beginnings the steady and continu- 
 ous growth of our present Museum of Anthropology, 
 and the Jenks Museum of Zoology. Through the 
 personal solicitations of the zealous and indefatigable
 
 32 
 
 Curator, and by means of circulars and letters, con- 
 tributions from alumni and friends have been received 
 almost daily during all the twenty-three years of his 
 administration. The Zoological Gardens of New 
 York, the Smithsonian Institution at Washington, the 
 Fish Commission at Woods Holl, and the Museums 
 of Harvard, Boston, and elsewhere, have all been 
 laid under contribution for their duplicate treasures. 
 Many of the finest and rarest specimens of Ornithol- 
 ogy he himself shot in the wilds of Florida. They 
 are all mentioned in detail in his annual reports to 
 the President of the University. In 1871 he states 
 that the collection in Rhode Island Hall numbered 
 some fifteen hundred specimens; in 1872, eight 
 thousand; in 1873, twenty-five thousand; in 1874, 
 thirty-four thousand; in 1877, thirty-nine thousand; 
 in 1878, forty-nine thousand. These figures give 
 only an approximate idea of its growth. Some of 
 the contributions have come from remote quarters of 
 the globe. Thus we find mentioned in his reports, 
 specimens of the various woods of Burma, neatly 
 prepared and labelled, from the Rev. Dr. J. N. Cush- 
 ing; specimens of Serpula, Pectens and Pottery, from 
 the Rev. A. A. Bennett, of Japan; and a unique and 
 valuable gift from the lamented Hartsock illustrating 
 the manners and customs of the natives in the interior 
 of Africa. From Horace F. Carpenter of Providence, 
 came a complete set of the shells of Rhode Island, 
 land, fresh water and marine; from Professor W. 
 W. Bailey an Herbarium, and specimens in Botany
 
 33 
 
 beautifully mounted; from the Smithsonian Institu- 
 tion a complete set of North American Herpetology. 
 The class of 1878 contributed a fine skin of a walrus, 
 weighing in its natural state fully three thousand 
 pounds. This the Professor stuffed at his home in 
 Middleboro. The Rev. Dr. E. R. Beadle, a Presby- 
 terian clergyman of Philadelphia now deceased, gave 
 most valuable fossils, and various gifts from year to 
 year, including a Royal Japanese Palanquin of most 
 exquisite gilt and lacquer finish, richly embellished 
 with the State seal and the Emperor's coat of arms. 
 The late Zachariah Allen contributed a genuine suit 
 of ancient metallic armor, with its accompaniment 
 of sword and halberd, cross bow and fire lock, 
 dating back to the year 1500. The family of Mr. 
 Allen also contributed a fine collection of shells with 
 cabinet case. From Professor Packard came instru- 
 ments of stone and bronze illustrating Prehistoric 
 Anthropology in Europe. These have all been 
 arranged and labelled by the Curator, and most of 
 the specimens in Zoology have been mounted, stuffed 
 and otherwise prepared by his own skillful hands. 
 
 In the Winter and Spring of 1874, Prof essor Jenks 
 spent five months hunting in the miasmatic swamps 
 and everglades around Lake Okechobee in Southern 
 Florida, a detailed account of which he afterwards 
 published. As a result of this tour he collected at 
 his own expense, and presented to the Museum, one 
 hundred rare birds, two hundred rare eggs, a miscel- 
 laneous variety of fishes, reptiles, animals, insects,
 
 34 
 
 and relics of the Seminole Indians. The year 1885, 
 following the lamented death of his wife, he spent 
 in travel, visiting every state and territory in the 
 Union, including Alaska, and also the Sandwich 
 Islands, Mexico, British Columbia, Manitoba and 
 Canada. Wherever he went he made collections of 
 specimens for the Museum, and arranged with 
 dealers for future correspondence. From this time 
 on until the close of life his winters were spent in 
 Florida, at a place which he termed Oak Lodge, on 
 the Eastern coast. 
 
 Suffer me a few words more. In the year 1874 
 an addition was made to Rhode Island Hall, giving 
 a separate room for the portraits, and enabling the 
 Curator to complete the wall cases. Eventually the 
 portraits were transferred to Sayles Memorial Hall, 
 the botanical specimens were given over to the care 
 of Professor Bailey, a department of Botany having 
 been established in the College, and the new or East 
 Room was devoted exclusively to Anthropology. 
 At the annual meeting of the Corporation, in Sep- 
 tember, 1891, the main or west room was designated 
 as the Jenks Museum of Zoology, to be recognized 
 as such in the catalogues, and in the future history 
 of the University. This was done in view not only 
 of the persevering and self-sacrificing efforts of the 
 founder, but also of his donations made from the 
 savings of a small salary, and amounting at that time, 
 according to his own statement, to upwards of six 
 thousand dollars.
 
 Professor Jenks now commenced in earnest the 
 work of fitting up at his own expense, the new or 
 East room for the rapidly accumulating stores of 
 Anthropological material. He employed a foreman 
 and four carpenters, constructed a large arch way 
 connecting the two rooms, made a skylight, and up- 
 wards of thirty glass cases. This he did in addition 
 to his previous donations. In his report for 1892, he 
 says : " This additional room makes it possible for 
 me to begin to realize what college museums of 
 Zoology and Anthropology should be; and I trust it 
 may please the All-wise Disposer of all earthly 
 events to spare my life till my ideal shall have an 
 approximate completion; for as God's works of 
 creation are infinite in variety and utility, so there 
 can never be more than an approximation to that 
 variety in any one museum collection." In his final 
 report to President Andrews, published since his 
 decease, he says: "There is urgent need of another 
 room for the Mineralogical and Geological cabinets, 
 both that they may have the display worthy of their 
 merit, and that the space they now anomalously 
 occupy in the Museum of Zoology, may be utilized 
 more legitimately, according to plans I have in mind, 
 for constructing at my own expense, extension cases 
 for specialties not yet attached to the Museum." 
 
 These cases he never lived to construct. His 
 work was finished. On Wednesday, September 26th, 
 he appeared in good health, attended to his duties, 
 and went to his dinner as usual. Returning he was
 
 36 
 
 seized with heart failure, and fell prostrate at the 
 foot of the stairs leading to the Museum, and there 
 he was found by some visitors. He had always de- 
 sired a sudden death, and his wish was granted. He 
 was able to work to the last; he was spared the 
 pangs of disease, and the anxieties of a prolonged 
 sickness. '" He was not for God took him." 
 
 The name of Professor Jenks seldom appears in 
 the catalogues of authors. About year 1876 he was 
 persuaded to prepare, as a part of Steele's fourteen 
 weeks series of text books in the natural sciences, 
 " Fourteen Weeks in Zoology." Having as he says, 
 a natural distaste from childhood for appearing before 
 the public in the role of an author, he refused to 
 allow his name to appear on the title page. The 
 book, which was published the year following, 
 proved, unexpectedly to him, a great success, and a 
 new edition was called for. In 1886 accordingly he 
 both revised and rewrote the book, making it alto- 
 gether a new work. In this second edition his name 
 appears as the author, Professor Steele having died 
 before its publication. So acceptable was the new 
 edition, which is entitled " Popular Zoology," that 
 the Chatauqua Assembly adopted it for their course 
 in 1889, taking thirty thousand copies. Had the 
 author's tastes so inclined, and his modesty not pre- 
 vented, his name might have been handed down as a 
 popular and instructive writer in Natural History. 
 A third edition of his Zoology, with an addition on 
 Practical Laboratory Teachings, by Dr. George W.
 
 37 
 
 Field, Associate Professor of Cellular Biology, is 
 now ready, I understand, for the press. 
 
 Prof essor Jenks possessed a remarkably cheerful 
 temperament, and a disposition so genial, that he was 
 always ready to do a friendly act, and never ready to 
 speak an unkind or ill word. Hence he made friends 
 wherever he went. He saw the types of Southern 
 feeling as developed in slavery, secession, and recon- 
 struction, and through it all preserved the most 
 cordial relations with his early associates in Virginia 
 and Georgia, as his journals and letters amply testify. 
 He was withal a popular and instructive lecturer, 
 and his services as such were in request by schools, 
 academies and societies. While some are respected 
 for their position, and esteemed for their abilities, he 
 was respected, esteemed and beloved by his associ- 
 ates in the Faculty, his pupils at the Academy and 
 College, and by all with whom he came in contact. 
 
 It may be interesting to know the views of Pro- 
 fessor Jenks as a naturalist, on the Darwin theory of 
 development, in relation to the origin of the human 
 race. He believed with the inspired Apostle, that 
 " God hath made of one blood v all the nations of 
 the earth; that man was the completed work of Cre- 
 ation; that he was made in the image of God, a little 
 lower than the angels, and crowned with glory and 
 honor; that he was made to have dominion over the 
 works of the Creator's hands ; that in the words of 
 the Psalmist, " all things were put under his feet, all 
 sheep and oxen, yea, the beasts of the field, the fowl
 
 38 
 
 of the air, the fish of the sea, and whatsoever pass- 
 eth through the paths of the seas." Monkeys and 
 apes were not, in his opinion, thus created; and 
 they formed no part of his anthropological collec- 
 tions. 
 
 While he saw the power and goodness of God dis- 
 played in the outward works of Creation, in the 
 heavens the work of His fingers, and the moon and 
 the stars which He had ordained, he also saw with 
 equal clearness the same power and goodness dis- 
 played in God's Most Holy Word, revealed to man 
 through inspired prophets, evangelists, and apostles. 
 This he regarded as the great Moral Creation, and 
 he received it with reverence and unfaltering trust, 
 taking it from Genesis to Revelation as the man of 
 his counsel and the guide of his life. At the last 
 meeting of the American Association for the Ad- 
 vancement of Science, held in Brooklyn only five 
 weeks before his decease, he was present, and took 
 a prominent part in a prayer and conference meeting 
 held Sunday afternoon by some sixty of the mem- 
 bers. Remarking that he was the oldest member 
 present, having attended the meetings of the Asso- 
 ciation from the beginning, he gave this testimony, 
 as reported in the columns of the New York World'. 
 " In all his travels," he remarked, " in the wilds, in 
 the jungle, and on the sea, he had always found a 
 church in his Bible. If Science had sometimes trav- 
 elled from the Bible truths, he had not. It was the 
 INSPIRED WORD, and he had been led on by that
 
 39 
 
 WORD in happiness and joy. Hold on to this Book," 
 he said, " Consult it every day, and the love and 
 goodness of the Lord will be manifest to you." In 
 conclusion he urged the younger members not to 
 give heed to the efforts of those who would disrupt 
 the INSPIRED WORD, and render void the the teach- 
 ings of Moses aud the Prophets. 
 
 John Whipple Potter Jenks may not have been 
 great, in the sense in which the world counts great- 
 ness, but he was a great worker, and the talents with 
 which Nature had endowed him, whether one, five 
 or ten, he improved until they yielded returns an hun- 
 dred fold. In the annals of his Alma Mater he must 
 always appear as a true benefactor, providentially 
 raised up for the work which he was permitted to 
 accomplish. As the years go by the alumni will 
 gaze with renewed interest upon his portrait, placed 
 by his loving children in the midst of the labors of 
 his hands, recognizing it as the portrait of one who 
 devoted his energies and strength to the founding of 
 a Museum which bears his name, and thus gave 
 facilities for instruction in one of the noblest and 
 most interesting of all studies, that of Natural His- 
 tory.
 
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