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George A. Jenks
4th Solicitor General of the United States
In office July 1886 – May 1889
Appointed by	Grover Cleveland
Preceded by	John Goode
Succeeded by	Orlow W. Chapman
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 25th district
In office March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1877
Preceded by	District re-established
Succeeded by	Harry White
Personal details
Born	(1836-03-26)March 26, 1836 Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, US
Died	February 10, 1908(1908-02-10) (aged 71) Brookville, Pennsylvania, US
Education	Jefferson College
Occupation	U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 25th congressional district, United States Solicitor General,

George Augustus Jenks (March 26, 1836 – February 10, 1908) was an American politician from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He served in Congress and as Solicitor General of the United States.

Life and career

George Jenks was born in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, on March 26, 1836. He graduated from Jefferson College (now Washington & Jefferson College) in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1858. He was a member of Phi Kappa Psi.

After college, he married Mary A. Mabon, and they had one daughter, Emma Jenks (1862–1926), who married Benjamin F. Shively. Jenks first worked as a lawyer before beginning a career as a judge and politician.

Congress

He served as a Congressman for Pennsylvania from 1875 to 1877, in the 44th Congress. He served as chairman of the United States House Committee on Invalid Pensions during the Forty-fourth Congress. He was also 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.

Later career and death

Following his tenure in Congress, Jenks was nominated by the Democrats for judge of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in 1880. He was defeated by Henry Green, of Easton, Pennsylvania. He was later selected as U.S. Assistant Secretary of Interior; a position which he held from 1885 to 1886.

From 1886 to 1889 Jenks served as United States Solicitor General, during President Grover Cleveland’s first term. He was the Democratic nominee for governorship of Pennsylvania in 1898, as well as the Democratic nominee in the 1899 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania, during the Quay deadlock .

Jenks's son-in-law (husband of his daughter, Laura) was Benjamin Shively, a U.S. Senator from Indiana.

Jenks died February 10, 1908, at his home in Brookville, Pennsylvania.

References

1. "Ralston Praises Work of Shively For Public". The Indianapolis News. March 15, 1916.

Sources

• United States Congress. "George A. Jenks (id: J000091)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• The Political Graveyard

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Solicitor General of the United States.

v t e United States solicitors general
Bristow Phillips Goode Jenks Chapman Taft Aldrich Maxwell Conrad Richards Hoyt Bowers Lehmann Bullitt Davis King Frierson Beck Mitchell Hughes Thacher Biggs Reed Jackson Biddle Fahy McGrath Perlman Cummings Sobeloff Rankin Cox Marshall Griswold Bork McCree Lee Fried Starr Days Dellinger Waxman Underwood Olson Clement Garre Kneedler Kagan Katyal Verrilli Gershengorn Francisco Wall Francisco Wall Prelogar Fletcher Prelogar
Acting officeholders shown in italics

• 1836 births
• 1908 deaths
• People from Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania
• Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania
• Pennsylvania lawyers
• Washington & Jefferson College alumni
• Solicitors general of the United States
• 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives