Mrs. Alice Jenkins, An Early Trustee of the Sandusky Library Association

Alice J. Johnson was the daughter of Leonard Beatty Johnson, a prominent business man who once owned Johnson’s Island. She was born in 1850 to Mr. Johnson and his wife, the former Permelia Nettleton. In 1868, Alice was a student at the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music. On December 28, 1875, Alice J. Johnson married Charles H. Jenkins. In 1880, U.S. Census records show that Alice and Charles Jenkins lived very close to Alice’s parents, on Columbus Avenue in Sandusky, Ohio. During the years of 1879 and 1880, Alice was a trustee of the Sandusky Library Association. This was before the construction of the Sandusky Library building on West Adams Street. Alice was part of a group of ladies who were interested in raising funds for the building of a public library in in the city. 

On January 24, 1881, Mrs. Alice Jenkins passed away at the age of 31. An obituary for Mrs. Jenkins appeared in the January 25, 1881 issue of the Sandusky Register. A transcription of the obituary reads:

Death of Mrs. Jenkins

It was with painful shock indeed that a large circle of friends yesterday learned of the death of Mrs. Alice J. Jenkins, wife of Mr. Chas. H. Jenkins, and elder daughter of one of the oldest and most respected families of our city. Mrs. Jenkins was seriously ill for several weeks. All that professional skill and the most careful nursing of a devoted family could do was done, but the time for the unseen messenger had come, and a lovely woman, beloved by family in the deepest affection of the human heart, and cherished by friends for an intelligence, grace and nobility of character whose impress was felt in all the broader circles of acquaintance, has been called to the other an better life, free from suffering and death. To a stricken family, the sympathy of many friends is extended.

Mrs. Alice Jenkins was buried in the Johnson family lot at Oakland Cemetery.