Sacramento County
Biographies
GEORGE R. JENKINS
GEORGE R. JENKINS.--Few leaders in the Sacramento commercial and financial
world have a better understanding of the complicated problems of insurance than
George R. Jenkins, the energetic senior member of the well-known house of Geo
R. Jenkins Company, Inc., located at 613 J Street, in the building owned by Mr.
Jenkins. A Californian who has never ceased to talk enthusiastically for the
great Golden State, he was born at a beautiful spot in Monterey
County, July 16, 1875,
the son of Lewis R. and Lottie Elizabeth (Hegel)
Jenkins, the former a pioneer who came here first in 1852, then returned East to Iowa. During
the Civil War he served in the 4th Iowa Cavalry. and
when the war was over he engaged in farming, having returned to California. He also engaged in the livery business in Sacramento, located on K Street, between 6th and 7th Streets. He died, esteemed by all who
knew him, in 1912; but his devoted wife still enjoys life, the center of a
circle of admiring friends and prominent in the Eastern Star, the Amaranth, and
the White Shrine circles.
George R. Jenkins attended the public
schools in Monterey, held in the building used for the first State Capitol, and
he also attended night school and studied mechanical drawing; then he took a
correspondence course in law, but he did not take the bar examination. However,
he took up mining and worked in California, Arizona, and Nevada, spending eleven years in that line of activity and
meeting with the best of results in the various fields where he was employed. In
1910 he decided he could do better and came back to Sacramento and began in the real estate and insurance business. In
1920 he formed the Geo. R. Jenkins Company, and on January 1, 1923, the business was incorporated and Mr. Jenkins became its
president. The company specialize in insurance,
although they do a general real estate business in connection. The experience
of the projectors, their modern superior methods, and their never-failing
attention to the every want of a patron, have combined to yield them a handsome
patronage; and it is not surprising that no Sacramento firm has evidenced more interest in town and county. Mr.
Jenkins is a director of the Central California Funding Corporation, of which
he was also one of the organizers. Mr. Jenkins has been twice married, first to
Miss Mabel Farris, by whom he had two children: Farris, who was associated with
his father and was also playground inspector for the city of Sacramento, and who died July 2, 1922; and Clare, who graduated from the high school and is now
an assistant in her father's office. His second marriage united him with
Miss Ida M. Bowman, a native of Oakland, and their happy union has been blessed by the birth of a
son, George R. Jenkins Jr. For his recreation Mr. Jenkins enjoys fishing and
hunting for big game. He is a life member of the McKinley Athletic Club, Inc.,
in which he is also one of the trustees and he maintains a live interest in all
athletic sports. He is public-spirited and ready to assist in all
movements for the advancement of the community's prosperity.
Transcribed by Sally Kaleta.
Source: Reed, G.
Walter, History of Sacramento
County, California With Biographical Sketches, Page 316.
Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, CA. 1923.
© 2006 Sally Kaleta.