Martha Jane “Mattie” [Payne] Jenkins (1839-1917)
Names Detail
First Name
MarthaMiddle Name
JaneNick Name/Preferred Name
MattieMaiden Name
PayneLast Name
JenkinsBirth and Death
Birth Date
September 30, 1839Death Date
January 22, 1917Age at Death
77 year(s), 3 month(s), 22 day(s)Cemetery Location and Disposition
Cemetery Location
Row 06, Grave 08 | MapDisposition Type
BurialRelationships to Others at the Cemetery
- Wife of Richard Thomas Jenkins (1830-1903)
- Mother of Mary Evelyn “Eva” [Jenkins] Hunt (1868-1934)
- Mother of Richard B. Jenkins (1875-1892)
External Links
Notes
The daughter of Barzilla Payne (1808-1863) and Susan Jane Davis (1820–1864), Mattie was born in Paoli, Indiana, on September 30, 1839. Mattie married Richard T. Jenkins (1830-1903) on September 30, 1858, in Lampasas, Texas, a few years after her family moved to the Payne Gap area. By the 1860 census, Martha and her husband were living and farming near her parents. At the time, Martha was twenty and Richard was twenty-nine, and they had no children. Their first child, Walter Arthur Jenkins (1860-1944), was born on October 10, 1860. By 1870, Martha and her husband, along with their children, which included Walter, Davis, Zachariah, and Eveline [sic], had moved to Georgetown, Texas, where Richard worked as a carpenter. Still living in Georgetown in 1880, the family had grown to eight members, and they were farming and ranching in the area. Her son Richard B. Jenkins was five years old at the time. The family returned to Payne Gap in 1885, a few years before Richard was appointed as Payne Gap’s first postmaster on August 18, 1888 (a role he held until his death). By the 1900 census, Martha and Richard shared a home with their son-in-law Silas A. Hunt (1878-1950) and their daughter Maggie Bell [Jenkins] Hunt (1884-1954) near the Chester Esterwood and Hiram D. Welleman families in the Payne Gap area. The 1910 census reports that Mattie was living with her son, William Madison Jenkins (1871-1940), and his family near the Samuel P. Higgins and Joseph S. Branon households. Mattie died on January 22, 1917, in Payne Gap.
Images and Documents
What a wonderful story of our family that you have researched with my mom, Mary, Alice Barton Hobbs Scroggins. It brings to life for our next generation about their heritage and thank you for taking the time to do this.
Melanie Francis Hobbs Weiner
Melanie, without your mom’s tremendous amount of work, it just couldn’t have happened. I’m only building on her foundation.
One of my grandmother’s many cousins was named Mattie ‘Iris’ Scoggin/Scoggins and she was married to William Arthur ‘Will’ Jenkins (1889 Mullin TX – 1979 Hico TX) who is bound to be a relative of this Payne Gap couple with such-similar names, but I don’t know how. I’m sure you could help me with that.
Hi Peggy, you’ve probably already located his Find a Grave record. I think I’m right that his grandfather was William Jenkins (1825-1860), and he has an interesting story. “William Jenkins was born in North Carolina. He moved to Texas and first settled in Williamson County. He moved to Hamilton County near the community of Center City, which is now Mills County, in 1866. In that year, Jenkins and a Mr. Willis got into a fight with Indians near the Lampasas mountains. Jenkins was shot clear through his body by an arrow. He thought his wound was minor and rode his horse to his home. He died three days later. This story is recorded in the book “Indian Depredations In Texas” by J. W. Wilbarger.” I strongly suspect, but I find no conclusive evidence right now, that he was a brother of Richard Thomas Jenkins (1830-1903), my great, great grandfather. Both were born in Granville, North Carolina, and they both lived in Williamson County. Check my work!! R.T. was Payne Gap’s first postmaster, appointed in 1888, and ran the post office and a general store when Payne Gap was located a bit south of where I live. When Payne Gap relocated to west of the PG cemetery after R.T. died, Sam Higgins ran the store and post office, and Moline denizens got their mail and supplies through his operation.