The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1880-10-15
HON. GEORGE A. JENKS.


March 26, 1856. Fiis father, a physician, was
descended from = Welsh Quaker fau.ily who
were among theenrly settlers of Philadelphia.
His mother wRs ? daughter of tho Rev. -.
Barclay, a Scotch Presbyterian minister.
When Mr.. jerks was a child, his eldest
brother, D. 3. genks, who was tawyer, was
teaching lim'to count hundred, and casu-
ally asked him what business he would fol
low when he became a man. 1he reply was,
w ait i'll to morrow morning and ! will tell
ycU." DUFnC.the night the determination
was formed, and the next raUrning commu-
Hicated b. the subject of tiis sketch, that he
would besa lawyer. This purpose, so early
formed, was Unalterably fRed. Thence-for
ward his every labor and study was directed
TO the purpose Of his life. TO these early
studies IS largely to De xttributed his caps-
bility TO deal with origjnal legal questions,
such ts5 he manifested On the impeachment
of Secretary Belknap, She discussion of the
Louisiana and Oregon eases before the Elect
rCTalsJOmmission, and Che debate on the dis
tribution of the Geneva Award.
When attending TIE common school, one
Fol the readers then muse was the IntrodUc-
tjon to the English 2eader In this, one of
she lessons was the story Of the ''Noble BIAS
Sct-maFer-" From the story the mora, was
derived-that every man, no difference what
his circumstances a. position in life might be-
should learn trade This moral he deter
mined to act upen. When fourteen years
old, his father died. At sixteen he entered
upon an apprenticeship of two wears to the
carpenter and joiner trade. When his term
expired, he worked at his trade, tauglf school,
. and occasionally was employed at civil engi-
neering till he entered college. While en-
gagged in the latter vocation, in the spring Of
1885, he assisted to lay out Omaha in Nebras-
ka. In the fall OF that year he entered the
junior class at jefferson College, having in
the mornings and evenings, while teaching
and working, steadily pursued his literary
studies. He had been entered as q student
+ of law before he entered college, and the
Hon, W p. jerks, who was his guardian,
had from early boyhood directed kim in his
legal and literary reading lie graduated at
jefferson College in the class of 1853, and in
February, 1872, was admitted to the bar, in
Jefferson county, having finished lis legal
studies under his elder brother, W. p. jerks.
At the September term, 1889, he led in con-
ducting his first case in court, which was an
her minor children, whose all was their home
and that home was dependent upon the re
suit of the ease. He was opposed by the
leading legal talent at the bar, including
Hon. W p. jerks and Hon. @. ". Zeigler
He won the ease, and thence forward was
employed in most of the important causes in
/ his own county, and his name soon became
familiar in many of the courts Of western and
central Pennsylvania, to which he was called
FOR the trial Of important case6.
When not engaged in the courts, his life
has been one of constant study and prepara-
tion. lie never sought public position, but
was known as Democrat In the fall Of
1874 he was rendered the Democratic nOmi-
nation fer Congress in the 25tb district of
Pennsylvania, against General Harry White.
The district was heavily Republican, but his
personal popularity and the tidal wave elect
ed him TO the 18th Congress. Speaker Kerr
appointed him Chairman of the Committee
on Invalid Pensions. \ mastery report on
the condition aud working of the pension
bureau, derived from an investigation by or
der of the House. he soon made, and follow
ed this by 4 bill which was calculated TO pre-
vent future abuses. Bounty land warrants
ty, had become the plumber of a dishonest
ring, which at one single time had seized
upon over one hundred thousand acrcs of
land, were changed to realty, through his ef-
forts, and so guarded that only the rightful
owners. their legal heirs or assigns could Oh
tain them.
His forensic ability first became known to
the House in a discussion concerning the
character OF an Invalid Pension. lie had as
serted that an Invalid Pension, for death OF
disability Of n soldier in TIE service, in the
line OF his duty, was contract right. This
was denied by some of the leading Repubii-
cans Of the House, who alleged it was mere
gift or gTatuity, and a warm debate eusued,
at the conclusion Of which Mr. jerks made a
legal argument, tracing the legislation on the
subject from and since the Revolutionary
war, and establishing so cOnclusively the pO-
sition he assumed that it has not since been
denied This was soon succeeded by a legal
. discussion concerning the refusal of Hallett
Kilnourne to testify before committee OF
the House.
The legal prominence he had already at
tained led the House to elect him as one of
the seven Managers on part of the House to
conduct the impeachment of Secretary Belk-
nap, the others being Mcssrs. Lord, Knott,
Ivnde, McNIahOn, HOar and Bapham. On
that trial, before the Senate, the defendant
was represented by three leading lawyers OF
the nation-IIon. jeremiah ;. Black, Hon.
Matt ii. Carpenter and Hon. Montgomery
| Blair. Ir. jerks was selected by the mana
gers as one Of the committee to draw the
pleadings. lie was afterwards appointed to
make one of the arguments on the question
Of the jurisdiction of the Senate to impeaci
after the officer had resigned and subsequent
", in consequence of the illness of Mr.. Lap
ham, he was selected to discuss the facts.
/ His legal attachments weIe on this trial made
conspicuous to the Senate and the nation
and conceded to be unsurpassed by any in
+ the cause.
The subject Of the distribution of the Gen.
eva award came before the House on major
ity and minority reports from the Judiciary
Committee. Mr.. jerks offered an amend
ment to the ma jority report, in support of tht
amendment and report as amended, and made
an argument involving some of the most diff
ticult questions Of international law. The
report, as amended by him, was passed by
the House.
Soon after the meeting OF the second ses
sion he was appointed by Speaker Randall
onc-of the committee of fifteen, 70 investigate
the conduct of the elections in Louisiana
and on his return, was appointed by th,
chairman of tic Democratic Caucus, viii
Mr.. Field of New FORK aud Mr Tucker o
Virrinia "a r,.ir,,sept the Democracy OF thi