Tudor Storrs Jenks (May 7, 1857 – February 11, 1922)[1] was an American writer, poet, artist and editor, as well as a journalist and lawyer. He is chiefly remembered for the popular works of fiction and nonfiction he wrote for children and general readers. He was married to Amabel Jenks who was also a writer.
Life and family
Jenks was born on May 7, 1857, in
Brooklyn,
New York, the son of Grenville Tudor Jenks and Persis Sophia (Smith) Jenks. His older brother was
Almet F. Jenks, presiding justice of the appellate division of the
New York Supreme Court. His younger brother Paul E. Jenks served as American vice consul in Yokohama, Japan. He was a grand-nephew of
Wendell Phillips. He married, October 5, 1882, Mary Donnison Ford. They had three daughters, Dorothy, Pauline, and Amabel, the last of whom Jenks collaborated with on a play. He lived in
Bronxville,
New York, where he died at his home, of apoplexy, on February 11, 1922. He was survived by his wife and daughters.
The Century World's fair book for boys and girls; being the adventures of Harry and Philip with their tutor, Mr. Douglass, at the World's Columbian Exposition (1893) (Internet Archive e-text)
"The Baron's Victim: A Mellow Drama" (with Duffield Osborne) (1898)
"Diplomatic Reserve: a Dialogue" (1898)
"Parried" (1899)
"At the Door: a Little Comedy" (1899)
"Waiting for the Ring: a Monologue" (1902)
"The Lady and the Telephone" (1904)
Dinner at Seven Sharp; a comedy in one act (1917) (with Amabel Jenks) (Google e-text)
Poetry
"Bric-a-Brac" (1888)
"A Thank-ye-Ma'am (To J.W.R.)" (1889)
"A Reader's Choice" (1890)
"How Curious! Said One Little Girl to Another Little Girl" (1894)
"An Accommodating Lion" (ca 1894)
"A Christmas Song" (1895)
"Little Miss Pigeon" (1897)
"Punishment" (1897)
"Tidy Housekeeper" (1897)
"New Neighbor" (1898)
"King and Minstrel" (1899)
"Immortality" (1899)
"A Prayer" (1899)
"Two Valentines" (1900)
"Boast Fulfilled" (1900)
"On the Road" (1900)
"Pleased Customer" (1901)
"At Cupid's Counter" (1901)
"Interchange" (1901)
"Queen's Messenger" (1902)
"New Sentry and the Little Boy" (1902)
"A Merry-Go-Round" (1903)
"Little Elfin Nurse" (1903)
"Baby's Name" (1903)
"A Creed" (1903)
"The Battlefield" (1904)
"A Feat of Memory" (1904)
"Eternal Feminine" (1904)
"Three Lessons" (1905)
"June" (1905)
"Pastoral" (1905)
"The Very Earliest" (1905)
"Three Lessons" (1905)
"Waiting for the Train" (1905)
"Stop Thief!" (1906)
"Sold" (1906)
"N. E. W. S." (1906)
"Old Mammy Tipsytoes" (1906)
"Change of View" (1906)
"Modern Boy" (1906)
"Demon of Notre Dame" (1907)
"For Spellers" (1908)
"How We Say It" (1908)
"Months and the Jewels" (1909)
"The Rime of the Moderne Millionaire" (1909)
"Rien du Tout" (1910)
"Words Without Songs" (1910)
"Lucky Man" (1911)
"The Portrait and the Artist" (1912)
"Brave Little Girl" (1914)
"Little Supposing" (1914)
"After School" (1915)
"Portrait by Velasquez" (1916)
"Here's How!" (1916)
"Short Flight" (1916)
"In Italy" (1917)
"Way to the Fairies" (1917)
"A Timely Petition" (1917)
"The Song of the Collar-Button" (1917)
"Aquarellist Vision" (1918)
"Fairyland Fashions" (1919)
"A Summing Up" (1919)
"Words Without Songs" (1910)
"Small and Early"
"The Spirit of the Maine"
"In a Library"
"An Old Bachelor"
Nonfiction
Biography
Lives of Great Writers
In the Days of Chaucer (1904) (Google e-text) (Internet Archive e-text)
In the Days of Shakespeare (1904) (Google e-text) (Internet Archive e-text)
In the Days of Milton (1905) (Google e-text)
In the Days of Scott (1906) (Google e-text)
In the Days of Goldsmith (1907) (Google e-text)
In the Days of Bacon (1908)
Other
Captain John Smith (1904) (Internet Archive e-text)
Captain Miles Standish (1905) (Google e-text)
History
The Book of Famous Sieges (1909) (Google e-text) (Internet Archive e-text)
The Boys' Book of Explorations; true stories of the heroes of travel and discovery in Africa, Asia, Australia and the Americas. From the "Dark Ages" to the "wonderful century" (1900) (Internet Archive e-text)
Our army for our boys; a brief story of its organization, development and equipment from 1775 to the present day (1906)
When America Was New (1907) (Internet Archive e-text)
When America Won Liberty: Patriots and Royalists (1909) (Google e-text)
When America Became a Nation (1910)
Science
Electricity for Young People (1907) (Google e-text)
Photography for Young People (1908) (Google e-text)
Chemistry for Young People (1909; AKA Chemistry for Beginners (1910)) (Google e-text) (Internet Archive e-text)
Short works
"The Essay" (1893)
"Scraps" (1894)
"A Miniature Reference Library" (1894)
"Intercivic Humor" (1899)
"A Brief for the Philistine" (1906)
"The Best Books for Children" (1901)
"Can the Jury System Be Improved?" (1903)
"The 'American' Characteristics" (1905)
Edited
Tales of Fantasy (vol. IV of Young Folks' Library) (1902) (Google e-text) (Internet Archive e-text)
References
^"Tudor Storrs Jenks." Dictionary of American Biography. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1936. Gale Biography In Context. Web. March 30, 2011.
^"Tudor Jenks Dies Suddenly," New York Times, February 12, 1922.
Browne, William B. Genealogy of the Jenks family of America. Concord, N.H.?: W.B. Browne, 1952.
Herringshaw, Thomas William. Herringshaw's Encyclopedia of American Biography of the Nineteenth Century. Chicago: American Publishers Association, 1902.
Johnson, Rossiter, ed. Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans. Boston: The Biographical Society, 1904.
Kilmer, Joyce. "Too Many Books Spoil the Modern Child," article in The New York Times, February 6, 1916.
"Tudor Jenks Dies Suddenly," article in The New York Times, February 12, 1922.
Who's Who in America, a Biographical Dictionary of Notable Living Men and Women of the United States, 1903–1905. Chicago: A. N. Marquis & Company.
Who's who in New York City and State : a biographical dictionary of contemporaries. New York: W.F. Brainard, 1911.