George Augustus JENKS, Congress, PA (1836-1908)
JENKS, George Augustus, a Representative from Pennsylvania; born in Punxsutawney, Jefferson County, Pa., on March 26, 1836; attended the public school; learned the carpenterâs trade; taught school; was graduated from Jefferson College, Canonsburg, Pa., in 1858; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1859 and commenced practice in Brookville, Pa.; elected as a Democrat to the Forty-fourth Congress (March 4, 1875-March 3, 1877); chairman, Committee on Invalid Pensions (Forty-fourth Congress); one of the managers appointed by the House of Representatives in 1876 to conduct the impeachment proceedings against William W. Belknap, ex-Secretary of War; unsuccessful Democratic candidate for the State supreme bench in 1880; Assistant Secretary of the Department of the Interior in 1885 and 1886; Solicitor General of the United States from 1886 to 1889; unsuccessful Democratic candidate for Governor of Pennsylvania in 1898; unsuccessful Democratic candidate for United States Senator in the joint legislative convention of 1899; resumed the practice of law; died in Brookville, Pa., February 10, 1908; interment in the Brookville Cemetery.
Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present
