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Elder Garrison Jenkins

Garrison Jenkins
1838? - 1933

I can confidently identify Mr. Garrison Jenkins as my great-great grandfather. The evidence shows that he died on January 21, 1933. He died at least one year before his son Tom Jenkins - "Head of the Table".

As explored in the most recent post regarding JayGou Jenkins finding him in the 1900 US Census out of Pike County, Mississippi shows him the father of Tom, Will, and JayGou.

I got a listing of deaths in early 1933 which was published in the Magnolia Gazette with help from the blog Pike County Deaths. Look at the eighth name listed under colored.

In my research I've seen some discrepancies as far as his birthdate. His gravestone in the Spring Beulah Baptist Church Cemetery in Ruth, MISS shows his birth year as 1820 which would make him 113-years-of-age at his death. It also misspelled his name as Garson.

Other birth years might be 1827 or 1835 likely found in other US Censuses where he's counted. In 1900 his year of birth is recorded as January 1838. Reality we really don't know when he was born when there are some wild discrepancies around his year of birth.

In 1872 according to Ancestry - perhaps from other family trees - he married a Delia Newman who is the mother (thus my great-great grandmother) of the aforementioned Will, Tom, and JayGou Jenkins. She passed away in 1929 and is significantly younger than Garrison was in the 1900 US Census also her birth is listed as Apr. 1855. However as with Garrison there are varying accounts of her age, for example her gravestone also in Spring Beulah Baptist Church Cemetery shows her birth year as 1845. So again we really don't know.
Via FindaGrave photo by Crystal Freeman
One way of solving the issue of their respective ages is to find their death certificates. From 1912 to 1943 Mississippi publishes a death index and there are numbers next to the respective names of the deceased which should correspond to a death certificate. I hope to be able to figure that process out in the near future.

Finally I would like to further share with you findings from whatever listings of Elder Garrison Jenkins in the US Census. For example in 1900 and 1910 but not 1920 he lists the origin of his parents as Virginia. In 1920 he lists his parents being born in Mississippi. He was himself born in Mississippi.

Also in 1900 there are other Jenkins recorded by the US Census in Pike County, MISS and they also record their parents as being born in Virginia. And for at least two of those families I may have some leads on who might be the Jenkins who came from Virginia.

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