resting_place district death_date predecessor successor party term_end birth_date term_start image article_title state name occupation alma_mater
swan point cemetery 1st 4 november 1875 william paine sheffield , sr. . benjamin t. eames republican march 3 , 1871 2 november 1818 march 4 , 1863 thomas a jenckes member of congress from ri.jpg thomas jenckes
 rhode island thomas allen jenckes lawyer brown university
thomas jenckes

thomas allen jenckes -lrb- november 2 , 1818 - november 4 , 1875 -rrb- was a united states congressional representative for the state of rhode island .
jenckes was best known for introducing a bill that created the united states department of justice .
president ulysses s. grant then signed the bill into law on june 22 , 1870 .
jenckes was also an avid supporter of civil service reform .
jenckes graduated from brown university in 1838 .
jenckes was admitted to the rhode island state bar in 1840 .
he was clerk in the rhode island state legislature from 1840 until 1844 .
from 1854 until 1857 he was a member of the state house of representatives .
he was elected as republican to the united states congress in 1863 and served until 1871 when he lost a bid for reelection .
he then resumed the practice of law in cumberland , rhode island .
jenckes died on november 4 , 1875 and is interred at swan point cemetery in providence , rhode island .
