Converted to EAD3 : Encoded Archival Description (EAD), Version 3 : Release: 1.1.1 : Release Date: 2019-12-16. Validating against latest version of schema.
Contact information: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm78027755
Collection material in English
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the LC Catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically.
The papers of Thomas A. Jenckes, jurist, state legislator and adjutant general, and U.S. representative from Rhode Island, were given to the Library of Congress by his grandson, Thomas A. Jenckes, in 1949.
The Jenckes Papers were arranged and described in 1949. The finding aid was revised in 2012.
A brief description of the Jenckes Papers appeared in the
The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of Thomas A. Jenckes is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).
The papers of Thomas A. Jenckes are open to research. Researchers are advised to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to visiting. Many collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these items for research use.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container number, Thomas A. Jenckes Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The papers of Thomas Allen Jenckes (1818-1875) span the years 1836-1878 and consist of diaries, journals, correspondence, letterbooks, ledgers, account books, patent papers, legal briefs, photographs, and other material. The collection relates to Jenckes's life from his student days at Brown University, but is concerned principally with his legal and political career. Featured in addition to his pursuits in patent law are his services to Rhode Island as legislator, adjutant general, secretary to the state's 1842 constitutional convention and to the governor's council, and his four terms in the United States House of Representatives. Jenckes was a pioneer in civil service reform and a leader in the revision of bankruptcy, patent, and copyright laws. Some papers deal specifically with the prosecution of the Credit Mobilier fraud and with patent cases involving the Corliss steam engine, Goodyear rubber, and ventilation and refrigeration patents. The collection is organized into six series: General Correspondence ; Diaries, Journals, and Letterbooks ; Account Books ; Patent Papers ; Miscellany ; and Oversize .
Correspondents include Benjamin Vaughan Abbott, Charles Adams, Henry B. Anthony, Hugh Burgess, Alexis Caswell, Horace H. Day, Ezra D. Fogg, George Gifford, B. Benton Hammond, Alexander Hay, J. E. Hilgard, Charles R. Ingersoll, David Lyman, Dennis F. Murphy, Francis C. Nye, James H. Parsons, William Sprague, Charles C. Van Zandt, Henry E. Wallace, and Augustus Woodbury.
This collection is arranged in six series:
Letters sent and received.
Arranged chronologically with some overlapping of dates.
Diaries, journals, and letterbooks.
Arranged chronologically within type of material.
Account books and financial matter relating to Jenckes's law practice.
Arranged by type of material.
Patent applications, drawings, and related material.
Unarranged
Credit Mobilier papers, legal briefs, reports and arguments, court opinions, and photographs.
Arranged by type of material.
Patent certificate and patent drawings.
Described according to the series from which the material was removed.