I had published a page to this blog regarding the family that our Head of the Table married into—the Johnsons. I’ve been thinking about revamping it, and this is a good moment to share what the records and family memory show about this branch of the tree. We start with my great-grandmother Georgia Johnson Jenkins, the point where my line diverges. Georgia was born to John Wesley Johnson and the former Margaret Henderson on August 28, 1891. Her obituary lists the birthplace as Mendal, Louisiana. That town does not appear on maps or in standard gazetteers. The most plausible candidates are Minden (Webster Parish) or Mandeville (St. Tammany Parish). Neither sits directly on the path the family later took, so the place name may simply be a phonetic rendering of a rural settlement or plantation community that has since disappeared. The official family history records that John and Margaret married in Alabama (John’s home state; his death certificate gives Selma). After the marriage they mo...

Our Common Connection Garrison and Delia Jenkins are my great-great-grandparents—the parents of my great-grandfather Tom Jenkins. They form the shared roots for many of us in the family. What first led me to them was the paper trail. An uncle mentioned our McComb, Mississippi origins. That tip led me to the 1900 U.S. Census, where I found Uncle JayGou (Jay Gould) living with his parents, brothers, and sister. Those brothers included Will and Tom. DNA matches and the couple’s death certificates came later and confirmed what the records had already suggested. Garrison Jenkins We do not have a photograph of Garrison, but we do have a clear visual record of Mama Delia. Garrison was a farmer and said to be a hard worker. His 1933 death certificate states he was born in 1827 in Marion County, Mississippi. Marion County is home to the Foxworth plantations. Family lore holds that Fox or Foxworth may have been the original surname of our line. The origin of the Jenkins name and any possible co...

I started writing this after our wonderful reunion event at Cedar Hill Farms in Hernando, Mississippi. The drive through the country roads from our hotel in Southaven, MISS was an adventure. Another memorable gathering! Families Who Attended Tom and Georgia Jenkins – Heads of the Table: I met Willie B. Jenkins’s family from Portland, Oregon, for the first time. His daughter shared stories about her father, a WWII veteran. A retired teacher (granddaughter of Delia Jenkins) presented the family history booklet and gave us a photo of Delia. The church service at Citadel of Deliverance in Memphis where the grandson of David Jenkins is an assistant pastor. I represented my grandfather Levi Jenkins Sr. The reunion were mainly organized by the families of David and Augusta (Uncle Gus) Jenkins. Uncle Will Jenkins: Representatives from Hollis Jenkins, Clementine (Clemmie) Jenkins, and Austine Jenkins’s lines attended. Austine’s family shared a lovely newlywed photo of him and Callie Mae. I ...

 I had the pleasure of speaking to quite a few members of Uncle Levi's descendants earlier this year. They gave me a plethora of information regarding their grandfather or great-grandfather. They gave me some great pictures and information of their respective families. I wanted to share this family history that I had just found on Ancestry which tells me a lot about the man. The person who posted it to their family tree unfortunately isn't allowing any messages, which is a bummer since they are family. I think this gives me a great portrait of Uncle Levi Jenkins his wife the former Annie Downs and their 14 children (7 boys and 7 girls). As well as his parents and his brothers & sisters. Levi Jenkins Sr. The life & history of Levi and Annie Jenkins The information below was translated via A.I. on Ancestry.com, I won't make many edits other than for spelling. The actual graphic where this information comes from is shared below as it was written. The graphic will be sh...

The people involved with the planning of the Jenkins Family Reunion in Memphis, TENN had asked me to get some information on some of our key ancestors to be shared in a booklet for this year's reunion. So here's what I have on Uncle JayGou Jenkins . To start I'm giving credit to his granddaughter who at the start of this journey gave me a lot of family background and especially informed me of family I didn't know about. She at least provided the basic story as far as how our "Head of the Table" Tom Jenkins arrived in the Mississippi Delta. JayGou Jenkins (1894 - 1984) I heard so much about Uncle JayGou (son of Garrison Jenkins & the former Delia Newman) and until fairly recently I had little idea about his relationship to the family. I never knew he was an uncle to my grandfather Levi Jenkins and thus a brother of his father (my great-grandfather) Tom Jenkins. His full name was Jay Gould Jenkins and was said to be named for a 19th century financier and ...

If I had to write this Jenkins' line family history the only way I could talk about it is through the lens of this branch - the Tom Jenkins branch. To be honest a lot of the information shared here was very new to me. Long before starting this project for all I knew Tom just came to be. He was so far in the past, him having parents or even a brother or sister wouldn't have even occurred to me. And to find so much information on his family before even my grandfather (his oldest son) came into the picture it's been amazing. And to be able to meet and speak with so many of his great-neices and nephews who know a lot more about the history than I do has been very awesome. Also to know, that Tom has been remembered over the years leading me to believe he left with something of a reputation. Anyone I ever spoke to about our family history whether I'm speaking to the descendants of Uncle Levi, JayGou or even Aunt Catherine every one seems to know about their uncle Tom. Tom Jen...