Historical Data

The Jenkins family a has rich history and legacy that dates back to the year 1054. According to genealogical research, the Jenkins clan and family circle was said to include over a thousand immigrants from Wales, London and France to the New World in New Orleans, the Carolinas, Virginia and Mississippi.

Ancestral History

In 1791 the Jenkins were sent to London and France where the slave trade market was in demand by the United States. The slaves that were purchased from the black tribes in South Africa by the Jenkins, included a man named Hodsbia, and a woman named Babwebia. There were also four black girls in this tribe. The oldest was named Yatta and her three sisters were Sudnesi, Runda and Zania. Their father was Bia and their mother was Bab and they also became slaves in the Untied States.

Family Reunion Information

Some of the brothers and sisters of the Jenkins family were together for a funeral on a Sunday in 1936. The oldest of the sisters, Martha Jenkins Byrd who was one of the twelve brothers and sisters of the late J.B. Jenkins, Delia Johnson Jenkins and Daisy Shuler Jenkins, suggested to some of the brothers and sisters that they should have a family reunion.

The idea of a family reunion was agreed upon and an annual date was set for the fourth Sunday in August each year thereafter. It was also agreed that family members should bring food and enjoy each other’s company by laughing and talking together as usual.

This agreement to have a family reunion happened in the spring or summer of 1936. The following year, in 1937, on the fourth Sunday of August, the Jenkins family reunion began.

Since 1937, the Jenkins family reunion has spread like an old oak tree. Its branches spread out and sprouted many other small trees that grew up from that original oak tree. Its roots and branches are extended to many. The Jenkins family reunion is in the same likeness.