Charles J. Jenkins
Charles Jones Jenkins (January 6, 1805June 14, 1883) was an American politician from Georgia. A Democrat, Jenkins served as Attorney General of Georgia from 1831–1834. He then went on to serve as Governor of Georgia from December 14, 1865 to January 13, 1868. He was removed from office and replaced by Thomas H. Ruger as military governor after Jenkins refused to allow state funds to be used for a racially integrated state constitutional convention. Jenkins remained a respected figure in Georgia, and despite not running for the office, he received two electoral votes in the 1872 United States presidential election, due to the premature death of candidate Horace Greeley. Early life Jenkins was born in South Carolina. His family moved to Jefferson County, Georgia, and he attended the University of Georgia in Athens at a young age; his exact dates of attendance are not known. Jenkins left the university before graduating and finished his education in 1824 at Union College in Schenectady, New York. In 1831 Jenkins succeeded George W. Crawford as attorney general for the State of Georgia, himself succeeded in 1834 by Ebenezer Starnes. Political life Jenkins first gained widespread attention as the author of the Georgia Platform,