Individual Details

"20th Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Vote, p.69"
JENCKES, Joseph.....He was a land surveyor, and in this capacity was employed by the Rhode Island colonial government in the boundary disputes with adjoining colonies. He was said to have been of remarkable stature, measuring seven feet and two inches in height. He was elected to the general assembly in 1679, was clerk and speaker of the assembly until 1693, was commissioned to reply to a letter of the King as to the condition of affairs in Rhode Island, and to answer the questions of the lands of the Priory council. He was councillor, 1680-1712; state auditor in 1697 and 1704; chairman of a commission which compiled and published the laws of the colony in 1717; was again assemblyman, 1700-08, and deputy governor, 1715-21 during which time he was sent to England to bring before the king the boundary disputes between Rhode Island, on one hand, and Connecticut and Massachusetts on the other. On his return to Rhode Island he was re-elected deputy governor, in 1722, serving until 1727. He was elected governor of the state upon the death of Governor Cranston, in 1727 and held office until 1732. While in office he vetoed the act of the assembly to dispense with paper currency. He was married to Martha, daughter of John and Mary (Holmes) Brown, and granddaughter of Chad Brown. He died in Pawtucket RI, June 15, 1740.

Children included Joseph, who died young, Obadiah, Catharine married Turpin, Nathaniel who married Catharine Scott, Martha who married James Andrew and (2) Peleg Cook, Lydia married Mason, John, Mary married Herrenden, & Esther married Bucklin.

Headstone of this Joseph Jenckes III, has a plaque in the Joseph Jencks Lot (Defunct) in Pawtucket, Providence, RI, which reads:
Joseph Jenks
Pawtucket Pioneers
-----First-----
Joseph Jenks
Born England 1602
Died Lynn, Mass Mar 16, 1683
-----Second-----
Joseph Jenks
Born England 163 2
Died Pawtucket, RI, Jan 4, 1717
The first white man to build a home in Pawtucket.
Settled in Pawtucket in 1656.
Town Council from 1679 - 1680. Founder of Pawtucket, RI
-----Third-----
Governor Joseph Jencks
Born in Pawtucket 1656
Died PawtucketJune 15, 1740
Buried south of Reeds Street with his parents
Brought to Mineral Springs on June 2, 1831 and buried there.
Exact location of his grave is not known
Admitted as Freeman 5/3/1681
County Auditor 1697 - 98
Deputy Speaker of the House 1698 - 1708
Major for the Main 1707 - 1711
Governor 1727 - 1731
He was the first person elected Governor outside of Newport, RI

Wikipedia:
Joseph Jenckes (1656 – 15 June 1740)[1] was a deputy governor and governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.
Jenckes was the son of Joseph and Esther (Ballard) Jenckes who lived in Lynn, Massachusetts before coming to Rhode Island. His father, the son of an earlier Joseph Jenckes, operated a sawmill in Warwick, but shortly thereafter settled in Providence.[1] The subject Joseph Jenckes became a freeman in Providence in 1681, and ten years later began an extensive career of civil service to the colony.[1] For 12 years from 1691 to 1708 he was a Deputy from Providence, and for four of those years he was the Speaker of the House of Deputies.[1] From 1707 to 1712 he was assigned as Major for the towns of Providence and Warwick, and was also the Assistant from Providence during those years.[1] In 1715 he was elected as the deputy governor of the colony, and held this position every year but one until 1727 when he was elected as governor, which position he held for five consecutive one-year terms.[1]
One of the major issues concerning Rhode Island during Jenckes' terms of leadership was the boundary-line controversy with the neighboring Colony of Connecticut, and between his two terms as Deputy Governor Jenckes was in England with Richard Partridge to obtain royal intervention in this dispute.[1] Connecticut refused to observe the boundary between the two colonies that had been established by commissioners from both colonies who met at Stonington, Connecticut in 1703.[1] The Rhode Island colony was also having boundary line issues with Massachusetts, and Jenckes and his partner were able to get satisfaction from the crown, so that the Rhode Island colony "may not hereafter be molested, as they have hitherto been to their very great prejudice."[1] Several years later, in 1726, Jenckes was one of four commissioners from Rhode Island who met with Connecticut commissioners to settle the line of partition between the two colonies.[1] The following year he wrote a letter on behalf of the General Assembly to King George II thanking him for his protection of Rhode Island's "charter privileges".[2]
Jenckes' first wife was Martha, the daughter of John and Mary (Holmes) Brown, with whom he had nine children and at least 68 grandchildren.[2] Following her death, Jenckes married in 1727 Alice Dexter, the widow of John Dexter who was the son of Gregory Dexter, an early President of Providence and Warwick.[3] Alice was the daughter of John and Sarah (Whipple) Smith.[3] Jenckes died in 1740, "deemed to die intestate by reason of his insanity of mind," and his son Nathaniel was appointed as administrator.[4] Austin wrote that he is buried in the North Burial Ground in Providence,[4] but this is incorrect. The family cemetery in Pawtucket where he was buried is now defunct, with no trace of its existence remaining.[5]

Birth	1656	Pawtucket, Providence County, Rhode Island
Marriage	1680	Martha Brown
Marriage	3 Feb 1727	Alice Smith
Death	15 Jun 1740	Pawtucket, Providence County, Rhode Island

Spouse	Martha Brown (1658 - 1723)
Child	Obadiah Jenckes (1684 - 1763)
Child	Capt Nathaniel Jenckes (1686 - 1753)

Spouse

Alice Smith (1665 - 1736)

Father	JOSEPH JENCKES II ( - 1717)
Mother	ESTHER BALLARD ( - 1717)
Sibling	Elizabeth Jenckes (1658 - 1740)
Sibling	Sarah Jenckes (1660 - 1707)
Sibling	Nathaniel Jenckes (1662 - 1723)
Sibling	Esther Jenckes (1664 - 1720)
Sibling	Mary Jenckes (1666 - )
Sibling	Ebenezer Jenckes (1669 - 1726)
Sibling	Joanna Jenckes (1671 - 1756)
Sibling	Abigail Jenckes (1672 - )
Sibling	WILLIAM JENCKES (1674 - 1765)