McDonough ILGenWeb

JENKINS, Benjamin D., M. D., who is successfully engaged in the practice of medicine in Macomb, McDonough County, Ill., was born in Delaware County, Iowa, on February 25, 1868. His father, William Duane Jenkins, was born in 1822, in Butler County, Ohio, and his mother, Martha (Freeman) Jenkins, was a native of New York. The family is of Welsh descent, the paternal grandfather having emigrated from Wales, and settled in Virginia in 1799. After completing his primary mental training in the public schools of his neighborhood, the subject of this sketch pursued a course of study in Lenox College at Hopkinton, Iowa. He then entered Northwestern University at Chicago, from which he was graduated in medicine on June 13, 1895. Dr. Jenkins began the practice of his profession in Bushnell, Ill., where he remained five years. In 1900 he moved to Macomb, and in a comparatively brief period has acquired a large practice. He holds the position of assistant surgeon in St. Francis Hospital, and is President of the local board of pensions. His standing in the medical fraternity of McDonough County is high, and he enjoys to an unusual degree the confidence and esteem of his patrons.

On October 28, 1894, Dr. Jenkins was united in marriage with Joanna Whitenack, who was born in Clinton, Mo., in 1872, and attended college at Bushnell, Ill. Four children have resulted from this union, namely: Gertrude, William Duane, and two who died in infancy. In politics. Dr. Jenkins gives his support to the Republican party. Fraternally, he is identified with the Macomb Lodge No. 17, A. F. & A. M., K. of P. Lodge of Bushnell, and several insurance orders.

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Source: The Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of McDonough County, compiled by Dr. Newton Bateman, and Paul Shelby, 1907, volume 2, pages 920-921, extracted 11 May 2019 by Norma Hass.