Thomas Allen Jenckes was a United States Congressional representative for the State of Rhode Island

Rhode Island

The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...

. Jenckes was best known for introducing a bill that created the United States Department of Justice

United States Department of Justice

The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...

. President Ulysses S. Grant

Ulysses S. Grant

Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...

 then signed the bill into law on June 22, 1870. Jenckes was also an avid supporter of civil service reform.

Jenckes graduated from Brown University

Brown University

Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...

 in 1838. Jenckes was admitted to the Rhode Island state bar in 1840. He was clerk in the Rhode Island state legislature from 1840 until 1844. From 1854 until 1857 he was a member of the State house of representatives. He was elected as Republican to the United States Congress

United States Congress

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

 in 1863 and served until 1871 when he lost a bid for reelection. He then resumed the practice of law in Cumberland, Rhode Island

Cumberland, Rhode Island

Cumberland is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States, incorporated in 1746. The population was 33,506 at the 2010 census.-History:...

.

External links

• Bibliographical Directory of the United States Congress