Jane Kirby (Davis) Senseny (1815 - 1896)

Born 21 Nov 1815 in Chambersburg, Franklin, Pennsylvania, United States

Ancestors

Wife of Abraham Hoover Senseny — married 16 Jan 1838 in Chambersburg, Franklin, Pennsylvania

Descendants

Died 11 Aug 1896 at age 80 in Chambersburg, Franklin, PA

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Biography

Name: Jane Kirby Davis. ^[1]

Born 21 NOV 1815. Chambersburg, Franklin, PA. ^[1]

Died 11 AUG 1896. Chambersburg, Franklin, PA. ^[1]

Residence 1880 Chambersburg, Franklin, PA. 1850 Chambersburg, Franklin, PA. 1860 South Ward Chambersburg, Franklin, Pennsylvania, United States. 1870 PA

Excerpt from 'The Davis Family' ^[2]

THE DAVIS FAMILY A History of the Descendants of William Davis and His Wife, Mary Means by Thomas Kirby Davis of Wooster, Ohio

Imprinted for the Family by The Plimpton Press Norwood, Massachusetts [1912]

p. 100

2. JANE KIRBY DAVIS, second child of W. S. and J. K. Davis, was born November 21, 1815. She received a good education, and was married, January 16, 1838, to Dr. ABRAHAM HOOVER SENSENY of Chambersburg. Dr. Senseny died July 17, 1879, in the sixty-eighth year of his age. Mrs. Senseny died in August, 1896, in her eighty-first year.

Sister Jane was a woman of a quiet but very pleasing manner. She had a superior mind, but the spiritual part of her nature as being the basis of disposition and character, was regarded by her as more important than the intellectual. Her mind was cultivated and stored with knowledge, but her spirituality was predominant. As a daughter, wife, mother, sister, friend, she was a model. She had far more than the ordinary share of affliction, in losing six of her children, four of them sons in the prime of their manhood, and a noble husband.

But no one would have known it from anything in her appearance or manner - such equanimity, such a kindly, cheerful spirit had she attained. In an obituary, which appeared in a Chambersburg paper, it was said: “Mrs. Senseny was a member of the Falling Spring Presbyterian Church, and very active in the work of the congregation. She was happy in possessing the esteem of a large number of friends. Sympathetic and helpful, there are many who remember with warmest gratitude the numerous kindly services she rendered them. . . . She was a woman of brilliant literary parts; an omnivorous reader, and assimilated all she read. She had written many essays and historical articles, which were marked by depth of thought and an ornate style which were thoroughly enjoyed by all who were privileged to hear them. Unfortunately these were few, for Mrs. Senseny depreciated her talents, and allowed only her very intimate friends to peruse the written pages. Her death is mourned by many.”

Dr. Alfred Nevin’s “Men of Mark of Cumberland

p. 101

Valley” contains a sketch of Dr. A. H. Senseny - a portion of which I will give. He was born in Chambersburg August 25, 1811, and received his education in the famous Academy of that town. He was graduated in medicine from the Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, in 1835, and began the active practice of his profession in his native town the same year. He continued to practise uninterruptedly for forty-three years, and won a reputation as wide as the state. His father and grandfather had practised in Chambersburg before him, for a great many years. “We have no doubt that he has had a larger and more varied experience than any other physician who has ever practised in his neighborhood. For more than forty weary years he has labored with scarce a relaxation, practising all the branches of his profession, adding luster to the family name, which for almost one hundred years has been renowned in the medical annals of Franklin County. He was an occasional contributor to the medical journals, was an habitual reader of new medical publications, and somehow found time for the perusal of leading works in literature, for which he had a decided taste.

“The peculiar characteristics of Dr. Senseny are quickness and acuteness of perception, promptness of action, and unwearying energy. With intuition he perceives the nature of a disease, and with great rapidity brings his resources to bear upon its relief.

“The Doctor is eminently a social personage of strong attachments and prepossessions. In the case of the seriously sick, he is all gentleness and affection, but emphatic and positive to the querulous and intermeddling. No member of his community is more quoted for racy anecdotes and quaint and pungent sayings. His great reputation fills his rooms with patients, takes him long journeys from home in consultations, and draws numbers of students to his office.”

p. 102

All business was suspended in Chambersburg on the occasion of Dr. Senseny’s funeral, and the whole town and county mourned his death.

The children of Dr. and Mrs. Senseny were as follows: 1. William D., 2. Alexander H., 3. Benjamin R., 4. Edgar N., 5. Kate E., 6. George M., 7. Alice D., 8. Jeannette.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Record for Benjamin Rush Senseny Link: http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1030&h=170183026398&indiv=try
2. ↑ https://archive.org/stream/davisfamilyhisto00indavi/davisfamilyhisto00indavi_djvu.txt Full text of "The Davis family; a history of the descendants of William Davis, and his wife Mary Means" by Thomas Kirby Davis.

• "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M4HX-F4D : 22 December 2020), Jane Senseny in household of Abraham H Senseny, Chambersburg, Franklin, Pennsylvania, United States; citing family , NARA microfilm publication (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
• Memorial: Find a Grave (has image)
  Find A Grave: Memorial #248991304 (accessed 6 April 2024)
  Memorial page for Jane Kirby Davis Senseny (21 Nov 1815-11 Aug 1896), citing Falling Spring Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Chambersburg, Franklin County, Pennsylvania, USA; Maintained by Aileen Dobson Speegle (contributor 48031524).