David P. Jenkins (Colonel)

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David P. Jenkins

David P. Jenkins born in Ohio, (August 25, 1823), was a colonel in the U.S. Army during the American Civil War. He homesteaded Spokane, Washington and donated part of his homestead and $5,000 dollars for land and capital to build the Spokane County Courthouse. His daughter, Emma Rue, donated the eastern edge of their homestead to the city for use by the Coliseum (now the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena). He retired to Chewelah, Washington.

He served in the military during the Civil War under Union generals Grant, Pope, Sherman and Burnside. He was the first field officer to engage the Confederate Army.

Jenkins, a strong supporter of education, attempted twice to fund the first university in Spokane, which ultimately failed due to the economic Panic of 1893. The Colonel was also concerned about young men who had to forego higher education to work to support themselves and their families, so he created a trust of $50,000 to fund Spokane's first vocational school for adults, located in and directed by the Y.M.C.A. The Institute prospered, reaching its peak of popularity about the time World War I broke out. He is best known in Chewelah for donating the land and capital to build Jenkins High School in 1910.

Jenkins loved animals, he bought land in Chewelah partly to house his many pets including domesticated deer. He donated land in Spokane to establish a Humane Society (on which it stands today).

He was an acquaintance of Abraham Lincoln (they were both lawyers for the Illinois Circuit Courts), and a friend to Chief Spokane Garry and Chief Joseph the Younger. He admired these three men for their honesty and integrity. Jenkins kept a photograph of Chief Joseph on his mantle [1].