Jenkins

THE JENKINS FAMILY

William Stephen Jenkins and Jemima Lars were born in 1860 in Aberavon, County of Glamorgan, South Wales where they were married in 1882.

To this marriage were born twelve children. One, Fred James, their fifth child and second son, died as an infant in Aberavon, Port Talbot, South Wales and is buried there. They later named their seventh child and third son Fred James in his memory. Two, Muriel and Harry, died at an early age after coming to America. They are buried in Maple Hill Cemetery (Old Argentine Cemetery) in Kansas City, Kansas.

William worked in a tin shop in Wales. He learned landscape gardening in England and raised unusual flowers and vegetables. He was a gifted horticulturist. He also had a hobby of writing sermons based on the Bible. He couldn’t use either of these talents to support a family.

William decided to move to America to make a better life for his family. He went to Cleveland, Ohio where his sister Jenny lived and stayed eight months. He could not find work so he returned to Wales. While he was gone his family had a small bakery in their home which was sufficient for their needs. They came to America in 1898, settling in the Armourdale District of Kansas City, Kansas. Perhaps their friends, the Hughes, or others from Wales lived there.

William had a sister, Sophie, who sang in the choir of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London and she was buried in the churchyard there. However, in ensuing years that grave site was taken for expansion of the Cathedral and present burial site is unknown. Another sister, Elizabeth, lived with William’s family in South Wales eight years before marrying George Vaughn, who later brought his family to America.

Jemima Jenkins, who was called “Jem,” had one sister who had no children. Her sister’s husband, Hopkins, was an employee of the English Government, a traveling agent. She begged Jem to leave one child with her and her husband when William and Jemima moved their family to America. Gertrude was left behind. When the aunt’s husband died in 1914, she and Gertrude came to join the family. The aunt went to Excelsior Springs, Missouri, which was quite a resort at the time. There she met a man from Wichita Falls, Texas and they were married. He had some grown children.

Upon arriving in Kansas City, Kansas William went to work at the Armour Packing Company at Central and James Streets in Kansas City, Kansas, where he was employed 29 years until his sudden death in 1929. He supervised a group of Negroes who grieved his untimely death since he had treated them with kindness.

The Jenkins family were devout Christians. For 16 years before coming to America, William was superintendent of the Sunday School of the Baptist church. Upon settling in Armourdale they joined the Baptist Church, which was the leading Protestant church in the area. The popular pastor was Reverend Streeter. He married Rose Jenkins and Albert Shaumeyer. He also married Will Jenkins and his first wife. In Kansas City, Kansas they joined the Grandview Presbyterian Church where Irene Corcoran, who later married their son, Fred, had been a member since 1907. That is where Fred and Irene became acquainted, although they had been in the same First Grade in Morse School in 1901.

On Memorial Day in 1903 the Missouri River, at flood level, backed into the Kaw River and flooded all of Armourdale. All one story houses were completely covered with water. The Jenkins family lost everything and they moved out of the Armourdale District. They moved up on Ninth Street south of Central Avenue, near where the Shaumeyer family lived and that is where Edith met John and Rose met Albert, whom they later married.

Later, the Jenkins bought a home in the Quindaro area of Kansas City, Kansas at 2315 Farrow. They were near Quindaro Methodist Church and were in that church the rest of their lives, always willing to do their part.

They were a well organized and happy family with certain members having certain duties. The older children helped with the younger children. The father decided all the important matters, but not before consulting the mother first. He would say, “Jem, my girl, what do you think about it?”

William and Jemima looked forward to celebrating their Golden Wedding Anniversary in 1932 but they didn’t make it. William died of an accident from a fall on the ice in February 1929 and she died of a massive stroke in August 1930. She went into a coma and was dead within 24 hours. She died in her own home. They are buried in Memorial Park Cemetery in Kansas City, Kansas

Much of this information was supplied by Irene Corcoran Jenkins in November 1990.