ca. 1845-1920
Guide to the Photograph Collection
Abstract
This collection consists of 245 photographs, primarily individual and group portraits of members of the family of Rev. William Jenks, including daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, cartes de visite, cabinet cards, and tintypes.
Biographical Sketch
Clergyman, biblical scholar, and social reformer William Jenks was born in Newton, Massachusetts in 1778, the son of Capt. Samuel and Mary (Haynes) Jenks. A 1797 graduate of Harvard College, Jenks married Elizabeth "Betsy" Russell of Boston in 1799, with whom he had 16 children. Jenks occupied Congregational pulpits in Bath, Maine, and Boston, was involved in charitable and historical organizations, and was the author of many works including his Comprehensive Commentary on the Holy Bible (1834). Jenks died in Boston in 1866.
Collection Description
Photographs of William Jenks; his children Theodore, Sarah (later Merritt), Lemuel, Joseph, John Henry, Cornelia Hood (later Wright), and Craigie Phillips; and their children and grandchildren. The collection primarily consists of portraits, but also contains photographs of homes associated with Jenks family members, as well as travel photographs of England taken around the turn of the twentieth century. Identified Massachusetts photographers include Elmer Chickering, Partridge, Frank Rowell, and Antoine Sonrel, all of Boston; Charles N. Denault of Watertown; and Pach Brothers of Cambridge, among many others.
Acquisition Information
Deposit of Miss May Thacher Mellus.
Detailed Description of the Collection
I. Portraits, ca. 1860-1920
Arranged alphabetically. See also Series III, Cased photographs.
Four mounted photographs, taken by unidentified photographers, of Agnes Jenks and her horse "Fanny."
Photograph of women seated on the rocks at Lake Assawompsett. Identifications from verso of photo.
Photograph of women posed in front of Lake Assawompsett. Identifications from verso of photo.
Group photograph of Agnes Jenks, the "Garland girls & Josephine Hosmer & Sadie [Sarny?]."
Two photographs, one mounted, of a man with beard on a farm. The mounted photograph is inscribed in ink "Abou Ben Adhem."
Tintype album produced by Abraham Taber & Brother of New Bedford, Mass., containing 32 tintypes, mostly of unidentified children. There is one tintype of a china doll and an identified tintype of Mary Emily (Lord) Jenks. Some of the tintypes are hand tinted.
Tintype album containing 21 unidentified tintypes, primarily of adults.
II. Views, ca. 1870-1900
Black and white photographs of a trip to England. Shipboard photographs and views of various sites in England, including cathedrals and Stonehenge. Most of the prints have the initials "CRW" on the back, suggesting that this was a trip taken by Cornelia Russell Wright and her family.
Small mounted black and white photographs of English colleges taken by an unidentified photographer in July and August of 1897.
III. Cased photographs, ca. 1845-1861
A. Daguerreotypes, ca. 1845-1855
12 photographsArranged alphabetically.
To request this item, follow this link to the MHS catalog and click on the red "Place Request" button.
To request this item, follow this link to the MHS catalog and click on the red "Place Request" button.
To request this item, follow this link to the MHS catalog and click on the red "Place Request" button.
To request this item, follow this link to the MHS catalog and click on the red "Place Request" button.
To request this item, follow this link to the MHS catalog and click on the red "Place Request" button.
To request this item, follow this link to the MHS catalog and click on the red "Place Request" button.
To request this item, follow this link to the MHS catalog and click on the red "Place Request" button.
To request this item, follow this link to the MHS catalog and click on the red "Place Request" button.
To request this item, follow this link to the MHS catalog and click on the red "Place Request" button.
To request this item, follow this link to the MHS catalog and click on the red "Place Request" button.
To request this item, follow this link to the MHS catalog and click on the red "Place Request" button.
To request this item, follow this link to the MHS catalog and click on the red "Place Request" button.
B. Ambrotypes, ca. 1861
1 photographTo request this item, follow this link to the MHS catalog and click on the red "Place Request" button.
Preferred Citation
William Jenks family photographs, Massachusetts Historical Society.
Access Terms
This collection is indexed under the following headings in ABIGAIL, the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should search the catalog using these headings.