Seth Jenkins
b. November 10, 1735 Nantucket, MA d. July 30, 1793 Hudson, NY
Revolutionary Service: Loaned money to Continental government; carried messages to Benjamin Franklin and others from the French government.
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Nantucket Sea Captain, Friend of Benjamin Franklin, Hudson Proprietor
View of the House of Peers [Lords], Benjamin Cole, Engraved for William Maitland's "History of London," 1756, British Museum.
Jenkins was a sea captain in Nantucket often traveling to London where he argued before the House of Lords for the rights of the colonists’ maritime trade activities.
Along with Alexander Coffin, He was instrumental in carrying important messages from France to the Founding Fathers. He also loaned money to the Continental government.
“The vessels of Nantucket…played an important part in the early days of the Revolution through being used as the medium of the conveyance of important letters to the Colonial authorities.”
The History of Nantucket, Alexander Starbuck
In spring 1783 Seth and his brother Thomas Jenkins purchased the Hudson River port of Claverack Landing on behalf of a group of proprietors. Along with other families, Seth returned in the fall with his wife Dinah, her mother Dinah Coffin Folger and their four children, to begin the settlement. They lived on their boat while their house was built.
Proprietors of Hudson Articles of Agreement, copied from original, 1883, City of Hudson collection, Hudson Area Library
On May 14, 1784, the first meeting of the Proprietors was held in Seth’s house. He was on the committees that laid out the streets of the city and had the city incorporated by the state. He headed a project to build a bridge over the great hollow on Main Street. He was the first mayor of Hudson and served from 1785 until his death in 1793 whereupon his brother Thomas became mayor and then was followed by his son Robert.
Seth and Stephen Paddock began a sailmaking business and Seth was involved in other businesses in Hudson.
Seth Jenkin's grave, Section 1/2B, Hudson Cemetery
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Additional Resources:
Article summarizing Seth Jenkins' speech before the British House of Commons in London on the fishery bill (Links to PDF)
Massachusetts Sun, May 3, 1775.
Loan Office Certificates of 200 Dollars Issued (links to PDF)
Certificate indicating Seth Jenkins lent $200 in 1779 to the Continental government.
From the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
From the Proprietors Minutes, list of proprietors and original layout of the city of Hudson (Links to PDF) Copied from original text of 1785 by Alec L. Robinson, 1883.
City of Hudson Collection, Hudson Area Library History Room, Hudson, NY.
Manumission of Sary by Seth Jenkins (Links to PDF)
Columbia County Deed Book Collection, Columbia County Clerk’s Office, Hudson, NY