Newspapers / The Chowan Herald (Edenton, … / Aug. 28, 1952, edition 1 / Page 14
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Page 2 Charles H. Jenkins Successful in Political Field Auto Dealer's Career Includes Teaching, Farming, Politics Charles H. Jenkins, who heads a business organization with a half million dollar annual payroll has been equally zealous in his political activities in the state and the communities in which he has served. This may come as a surprise to many who know him, for although he kept his name prominent on the eight automobile agencies he owns and operates in five East ern North Carolina cities, he avoided publicity in the political activities which have occupied much of his life. The four major items in which Mr. Jenkins figured cither as state senator from Bertie Coun ty or a member of the governor’s committee were: 1. —The improvement of sec ondary roads in the state as a whole and in the Roanoke- Chowan area in particular. 2. —lncreased salaries for teach ers of the state school system. 3. —State aid for rural area hos pitals. , 4. State cooperation for Federal aid in hydro-electric plants. Mr. Jenkins was a charter member of the 1948 North Caro lina Good Roads Commission which advocated the improve ment of the secondary road sys tem, and he was the second mem ber to sign the charter authoriz ing the better campaign roads, [n fact, he directed the campaign in the Roanoke-Chowan area. As far back as 1920, he was a mem ber of the Bertie Highway Com mission which made the first ef fort to improve county roads un der that commission. As a former school teacher himself and as former president (1910) of the Grammar School Principals of the North Carolina Education Association, Mr. Jen kins took an active interest in teachers and their pay. As a member of the State Senate, he took an active part in the legis lation which led to reasonable salaries for teachers. In 1945, Senator Jenkins in troduced the first bill in the North Carolina Legislature for rural area hospitals. This was the first legislative step after the formation of the Medical Care Association and led the way for the passage of the Medical Care program under the 1947 act which made available funds for the* completion the RoanoKfe- Chowan Hospital in Ahoskie and —ite -£M-Hi*-Ct;Sun> frferfriwiM ■■Hctr’ - pital in Windsor. Ms- Jenkins has always been an advocate of state cooperation for Federal aid in the develop ment of Hydro-electric plants. In 1947, he introduced a resolution in the State Senate, pledging co operation with the building of the Buggs Island Dam, now known as the John H. Kerr dam. He still believes in government support of flood control, and hydro-electric power. Charles Henry Jenkins was born in Menola, Hertford Coun ty, on October 8, 1881, the son of Farmer Joseph H. Jenkins and his wife, the former Olivia Fran ces Benthall. He was educated at Menola High School and Wake Forest College, getting his degree from ;he latter institution in 1904. He continued his education at the Wake Forest Law School and the University of North Carolina Law School. His law studies, however, were : coupled with a teaching career. He started teaching at Kinston in 1904 and continued as a teacher 1 in Kinston and Durham until 1913, a year after he started his automobile business. He was the principal of the grammar school in both cities and high school principal in Durham. It was dup ing this period that he was pres ident of the state grammar school principals. While young Jenkins was be ginning his career, his parents ' moyed to Aulander in Bertie 1 County, and it was there that he 1 returned on vacations to help 1 with the farming. It was during ' such a visit that he decided to ! start the Charles H. Jenkins Co. 1 which now is celebrating its 40th anniversary. In August of 1912, he opened his business in a ' livery stable shed, with his brother Wayland as his chief me chanic and assistant. It was a rather venturesome undertaking I for the young school teacher, 1 since at that time Bertie County 1 did not boast a single foot of paved highway. By 1913, the business had grown large enough that Jen kins felt justified to stop his teaching career and return to Aulander. Os course, he main tained the farming interests which he still operates, and for a while he also spent some time in the mercantile business, but in the past 38 years most of his business time has been devoted to the various agencies of Ch&les H. Jenkins and Co. His political career began in 1020 when he was chairman of the Bertie Highway Commission. Since then he has been afctive in state Democratic political circles. He served as a state senator from Bertie for the 1945 and 1947 terms. He was chairman of the Gen'l Motors 4 Years Older Than Jenkins Four years before the Charles H. Jenkins and Company was founded, the General Motors Cor poration came into being. Incor poration papers of the General Motors Company, organized by W.; C. Durant, were filed in New j Jersey on September 17, 1908. j Within a few months Buick and j Oldsmobile joined General Mo tors, and early in 1909 the Oak land Motor Car Company was added, followed by Cadillac in July. These four companies form ed the nucleus of what is today General Motors Corporation. In 1911, Louis Chevrolet, a racing car driver designed a new car, and with the aid of Durant formed the Chevrolet Motor Company of Michigan in Detroit. The company was later moved to Flint, Michigan, and in 1914 brought out the “Baby Grand” and “Royal Mail” models. Within a few years after the Company was founded, assembly plants wore placed in operation in several cities, including Tarrytown, New York; St. Louis, Missouri, and Oakland, California. General Motors put a new model on the market in 1926. It was the Pontiac. At the time the Pontiac made its appearances, the Chevro let was a four-cylinder car, and it was felt that a market existed for a six-cylinder automobile selling at a price between the Chevrolet and the Oldsmobile. The Pontiac sales increased so rapidly that the Oakland plant concentrated on the production of the vehicle. General Motors has not limited its production to automobiles. It also manufactures trucks, buses, and Diesel-powered locomotives. What is now General Motors trucks was incorporated into the •GStfgrar MjEfts-Compiftfr sh 1088; ‘ It was in that year the Rapid Mo tor Vehicle Company joined Gen eral Motors. And in the same year Reliance Motor Company also came into the fold of the General Motor Company. The two com panies were consolidated in 1911 to form the General Motors Truck company. The General Motors Truck Company was merged with the Yellow Cab Manufacturing Com pany to form the Yellow Truck and Coach Manufacturing Com pany. General Motors obtained total ownership of the Yellow Truck and Coach Manufacturing Company in 1943 and formed the present General Motors Com pany Truck and Coach Division. The General Motors Research Laboratories started on a long trail of experimentation with the Diesel engine in 1928. Today the General Motors Company pro duces Diesel - powered loco motives, and Diesel engines for industrial, marine and oil field installations as well as for coach es, tractors and all types of port able and stationary applications. PRODUCTION RECORD In 1950 General Motors set a new production record. Sales from its U. S. plants totaled 3,- 653,358 vehicles. This figure was greater by far than the total for any previous year. Bertie Democratic Executive Commitee in 1922 and 1924, and is now a member of the State Democratic executive committee. He was a North Carolina dele gate to the Democratic National Convention in 1936, 1940 and 1948. He was a member of the State Board of Conservation and De velopment from 1941 to 1944 and was reappointed to that Board in 1951 and still serves. He is the present chairman of the N. C. Commission for Interstate- Co operation. Active in religious circles, Mr. Jenkins has served as a member of the Board of Deacons of the First Baptist Church of Durham and of the Aulander Baptist Church. He was moderator of the West Chowan Baptist Association for five years. He is president of the Roanoke* Chowan Broadcasting Co. which operates Station WRCS in Ahos kie, and chairman of the North Carolina Small Business Com mittee. His other affiliation*. in clude the North Carolina Auto* mobile Dealers Association and the Ahoskie Kiwanis Club of which 1* was a charter member. A bachelor, Mr. Jenkins divides his time between his home ill Au lander and his operations in Ahoskie, Aulander, Windsor Edenton and Williamston. r * -1 • BiBSiHHHH EraHH Wmmm-M BEFORE THE FlßE— Here is the Charles H. Jenkins & Co. building in Aulander before it was destroyed by fire in 1923. CHEVROLET Division Os GENERAL MOTORS * *. » V t --.-g-w- XZ-Z- , iM—« - - M ■ Extends * 1 ( LOWEST PRICED 1 I~* ~i ffi H ::^ v " Thi* big, beautiful Chevrolet Bel Air—like *o ~ many other Chevrolet body typet-listf for ■' les« than any comparable model in its fieldl Heartiest Congratulations To \ Marsh Chevrolet Co. and Standard Chevrolet Co. * j On Their ANNIVERSARY Chat. H. Jenkins & Co. Anniversary Section Appreciation : ■* \ We are both proud and humble as we take this means of announcing the fortieth anniversary of the founding of Charles 11. Jenkins and Co. We are proud because you, our friends and customers have seen fit to deal with us, and ice are humble because we realize that without your help Charles H. Jenkins and Co. could not have survived. But more than this, there is a deep sense of appreciation for the friendship and patronage which have been given this company during the forty years of its existence. Our business has been built since its beginning on a foundation of customer-service nml confidence. We consider our forty-year rec ord of steady growth upon this foundation to be the greatest asset of our business. Believing that our business ivill continue to go forward upon this principal, we use the occasion of our fortieth anniversary to renew our faith in the continuance of your friendship and patronage upon this basis. With deepest appreciation for your support in the past, we solicit the oppor tunity to serve you now and in the future. ♦ Charles H. Jenkins president
The Chowan Herald (Edenton, N.C.)
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Aug. 28, 1952, edition 1
14
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