member so well, died after a lingering sickness, on 

 account of which he ceased from active instruction. 



The subject of my sketch, John Whipple Potter 

 Jenks, was a native of Massachusetts. He de- 

 scended from a family not unknown to fame in the 

 annals of Rhode Island. Joseph, his great ancestor, 

 migrated from Buckinghamshire in England, and be- 

 came the founder of Pawtucket. Each of his four 

 sons was prominent in the history of the Colony. 

 Joseph, the eldest, of "happy memory," was a lead- 

 ing member of the Baptist church in Providence, for 

 several years Governor of the State, and at one time 

 a representative at the Court of St. James. The 

 second son became the military leader of all the 

 forces in the Colony. The third son, Ebenezer, was 

 an Elder in the church. His son Daniel, familiarly 

 known as "Judge Jenckes," was a wealth} 7 merchant 

 of Providence, and a patron both of the College and 

 the church. For many years he was a prominent 

 member of the General Assembly, where he ren- 

 dered essential service in the matter of the College 

 Charter. His daughter Rhoda, it may be added, 

 married a Brown, and thus became the mother of the 

 noted benefactor who gave to the University its 

 name. The fourth son, William, the direct ancestor 

 of the Massachusetts branch of the family, became a 

 Chief Justice, and died at the advanced age of ninety- 

 one. 



Professor Jenks was the sixth child and eldest son 

 of Doct. Nicholas and Betsey (Potter) Jenks, and 

 was born in West Boylston, on the first day of May ? 



