Butte County
Biographies
AUSTIN JENKINS
AUSTIN JENKINS.—A
successful rancher who was once a well-known educator in the service of the
United States Government, and who is proud of his relation by marriage to one
of the most historic families in all America, is Austin Jenkins, a native of Cocke County, Tenn., where he was born on May 9, 1870. When
ten years old, he moved with his family to Reno County, Kans., being reared on
a farm near Hutchinson, and after finishing the public school courses he
entered the Central Normal College at Great Bend, Kans., where he was graduated
in 1898 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Engaging in the profession of
teaching, he was principal of the schools at Parsons, Kans.
At the beginning of this century, in 1901,
Mr. Jenkins became a teacher at Warmsprings Indian
School, in Oregon, continuing until 1904, and then, for the following seven
years, he was an instructor in the Philippine Islands, teaching the natives and
having under his supervision the work of a corps of American and native
teachers. The position he filled there, full of responsibility, was that of
supervising principal, and he was located in three different provinces, namely,
Bohol, Ilocos Norte and Nueva Eeija.
At times, he had as many as fifty teachers working according to his direction.
During his Philippine experience, he bought a farm in Woods County, Okla., near
Carmen, which he still owns and which is planted to grain.
Mr. Jenkins bought his present ranch of
eighty acres, four miles southeast of Gridley, in 1911, and in the intervening
years he has greatly improved his place. He has set out a variety of choice
trees, forming an orchard, and established a dairy with thirty-five cows.
Having a registered bull, he has bred with success high grade Holstein cattle.
He has a silo with a capacity of two hundred fifty tons, and grows alfalfa on
sixty acres or more of his farm. His orchard bears several varieties of fruit,
while turkeys, ducks and chickens contribute to the variety of his table. He
reseeds his alfalfa land every five years, plowing up the old sod, and has
found this the most satisfactory method. Kansas farmers hold a high place among
the agriculturists of the nation, and there is every reason to believe that
Austin Jenkins learned there the most up-to-date methods, for they are on the
scientific order and generally are “the last word” in
agriculture. The ranch has been appropriately named “Rancho El Verde,” by Mrs.
Jenkins, for its fields of green alfalfa.
One of Mr. Jenkins’ experiments is
particularly interesting. He is making tests of the Catalpa tree, which has
proven so successful in the Orient, and has planted no less than one thousand
of them on his ranch. The tree grows very rapidly, and
straight up; and is quite as satisfactory for posts as the locust. It also has
the advantage that, after being cut, the tree starts growing again.
As to his alfalfa ventures, Mr. Jenkins is
no less successful. He gets five cuttings a year, and in 1913 sold two hundred
tons or more. Each cutting averages a ton to an acre, and he has no difficulty
in disposing of all that he raises. He also breeds some fine horses and mules.
In Manila, Mr. Jenkins married Emma E.
Calvert, a native of Nottingham, Prince Georges County, Md., and a direct
descendent of Cecelius Calvert (Lord Baltimore), the
famous founder of the state of Maryland. Mrs. Jenkins is a daughter of Major
George and Sarah (Hungerford) Calvert, who were born at Mount Airy and
Baltimore, Md., respectively. Her father was Inspector of the Port of Baltimore
for many years and held the commission of Major in the State Militia. As a
young man he had served in the Seminole Indian War. Mrs. Jenkins was a
graduate of Miss Hansen’s School, Washington, D. C., engaging in educational
work. She became an instructor under the government in the Indian schools in
the States and Philippine Islands.
Mr. Jenkins is a member of the Woodmen of
the World, the Modern Woodmen of America, and, with his wife, is a member of
the Royal Neighbors. Both Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins enjoy to an exceptional degree
the esteem and good will of those in the community in which they live.
Transcribed by Marie Hassard
16 October 2008.
Source:
"History of Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages
1060-1063, Historic
Record Co, Los Angeles, CA, 1918.
© 2008 Marie Hassard.
Golden Nugget Library's
Butte County Biographies