NameMartha Jenkins
Birth4 Jul 1805, Lancaster, PA
Death13 Jan 1890, Lancaster, PA
Misc. Notes
Parents and 7 children listed.


Martha was born 4 Jul 1805, the daughter of Robert Jenkins and Catharine Carmichael. Her father, Robert Jenkins, was a member of the State Legislature and of the National Congress. Catharine, her mother, was the daughter of Rev. John Carmichael, pastor of the Brandywine Manor congregation.
She married Rev. John Williamson Nevin 1 January 1835. "The marriage was solemnized by the Rev. John Wallace, pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Pequea, on New Year's Day of the year 1835."[1]
"Her home was a happy and cheerful one, modeled after that to which she had been accustomed at Windsor Place. Mrs. Nevin, in addition to great personal refinement, was versed in literature, and could write for the press when occasions called for it; but she devoted herself mostly to her sphere in the family circle, and drew around her people of cultivation and superior social standing. At the time we write these lines, a widow indeed, over four-score years of age, at her pleasant residence, "Caernarvon Place," near Lancaster city, she retains much of the vivacity of youth and feels herself at home in the society of professors, students, and cultured people generally, with feelings deeply in sympathy with the poor in their trials. Bearing enshrined in her heart the memories of loved ones who live din the past, she looks forward to a happy reunion with them in the better land in the great hereafter."[2]
"The children of this branch of the Nevin family, useful and honored in different sphere of life, social, literary and artistic, are as follows; William Wilberforce, Esq.; Robert Jenkins, D.D., LL.D.; Miss Alice; Miss Blanche; Martha Finley, wife of Robert Sayre, Esq., of Bethlehem, Pa; Cecil and John, who died in their youth, when they had excited high hopes of future usefulness, leaving behind sad but sweet memories; and Hurbert, who died in infancy."[3]
Martha Jenkins Nevin died 13 January 1890 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, at the age of 84.[4]
Obituary:[5]
Martha Jenkins Nevin Death of the Distinguished Widow of an Illustrious Theologian
Mrs. Nevin Departed This Life Peacefully at Caernarvon Place, Granddaugther of a Preacher, Daughter of a Congressman, Wife of a Great Divine and Mother of a Family of Famous Children.
"Mrs. Martha Jenkins Nevin, widow of the late Rev. Dr. John Williamson Nevin, and one of the best known ladies in this section of the state, died between 4 and 5 o'clock this morning at her residence, Caernarvon Place, on the Columbia turnpike, west of this city. Although of advanced years, Mrs. Nevin had generally enjoyed good health. She was sick about a week and died from a general breaking up of her system. She was in her 85th year."
"Mrs. Nevin was the second daughter of the late Hon. Robert Jenkins, deceased, a distinguished citizen of this county, who represented the district in the state Legislature and in the Federal Congress away back in 1807, being a member of the Tenth and Eleventh Congresses. He was the great-grandson of that David Jenkins who had emigrated from Wales and settled near the point where Chester, Berke, and Lancaster counties join. His son received, by a Penn grant, a large tract of land lying along the Conestoga in the neighborhood of Churchtown, this county, and the family early became identified with the iron-making industry in this commonwealth. An English company had started and was operating the Windsor iron works, but after the Revolution they passed into the control of John, son of David and father of Robert Jenkins; upon his death they passed to Mrs. Nevin's father. The mother of the subject of this present sketch was Catharine, daughter of Rev. John Carmichael, pastor of the Brandywine Manor Presbytrian church, a man eminent for his Christian character and intellectual abilities."
"Mrs. Nevin was a woman of rare attainments and versatility; and for many years was a frequent contributor to the public prints; her reminiscences of Northeastern Lancaster county published in the Intelligencer some years ago were highly entertaining and were widely read. She often engaged in correspondence with people of eminence and distinction and as a letter writer her style was original, eloquent, and altogether charming. Her sketch of Caernarvon township in Evarts & Pack's history of Lancaster county constitutes the most sprightly reading in that heavy volume."
Spouses
Birth20 Feb 1803, Franklin CO., PA
Death6 Jun 1886, Beaver Falls, Beaver, PA
FatherAllEmbeds John Sayre
Marriage1 Jan 1835
ChildrenMartha Finley (1844-1918)
Last Modified 8 Nov 2019Created 7 May 2020 using Reunion for Macintosh