Editing Jonathan Jennings (section)

===Family background===
Jonathan Jennings, the son of Jacob and Mary Kennedy Jennings, was born in either [[Readington, New Jersey|Readington Township]], [[Hunterdon County, New Jersey]], or [[Rockbridge County, Virginia]], on March 27, 1784.<ref>Cayton, p. 277</ref><ref name=m8>Mills, p. 8</ref> He was the sixth of the Jennings's eight children.<ref name=r223>Riker, p. 223</ref><ref name=g40>Gugan and St. Clair, p. 40</ref> His father was a doctor, [[Presbyterian]] missionary, and an ordained [[preacher|minister]] in the Dutch Reformed Church.<ref name=r223/><ref>Mills, pp. 7-8</ref> His mother, who was well educated and practiced medicine, was the daughter of Samuel Kennedy, a [[Presbyterian]] minister at [[Basking Ridge, New Jersey]].<ref name=r223/> Mary, who may have had a medical degree, assisted her husband in his practice.<ref>Mills, p. 2</ref> Around 1790, Jennings's father moved the family to Dunlap Creek in [[Fayette County, Pennsylvania]], where Jennings remained until his adulthood. After his mother's death in 1792, Jennings was raised by his older sister, Sarah, and his brother, Ebenezer.<ref>Mills, p. 4</ref> Jennings was particularly close to Ebenezer and his younger sister, Ann, and her husband, David G. Mitchell, who was a physician.<ref>Riker, pp. 223-224</ref><ref>Mills, p. 5</ref> Jennings was schooled at home, then attended the nearby [[grammar school]] in [[Canonsburg, Pennsylvania]], where he received a basic education. Two of his classmates, [[William Hendricks]] and [[William W. Wick]], would later become his political allies.<ref name = w29>Woollen, p. 29</ref><ref name=m8/> Jennings studied law in Washington, Pennsylvania.<ref name=g41>Gugin and St. Clair, p. 41</ref> By 1806, Jennings had left Pennsylvania and moved to [[Steubenville, Ohio]], where his brother, Obadiah, had a law office.<ref name=r225>Riker, p. 225</ref> Jennings helped Obadiah in cases before the [[Ohio Supreme Court]].<ref>Mills, p. 12</ref>

In 1806, Jennings headed west to [[Jeffersonville, Indiana|Jeffersonville]] in the Indiana Territory, but stayed only briefly. He moved to [[Vincennes, Indiana|Vincennes]], the capital of the Indiana Territory, in early 1807 to open his own law practice and was admitted to the bar in April.<ref name=g41/><ref name=r225/><ref>Mills, p. 76</ref> Jennings had difficulty earning an income as a lawyer, finding there were too few clients in the territory to keep him busy.<ref name = w29/> In July 1807, Nathaniel Ewing, the federal land receiver at Vincennes and a friend from Pennsylvania, invited Jennings to take a job as assistant to John Badollet, the registrar at the federal land office in Vincennes.<ref>Mills, pp. 59-60 and 71-72</ref> Along with Badollet, Jennings engaged in land speculation. He obtained significant land holdings and made substantial profits.<ref>Mills, pp. 38 and 76</ref> In 1807 Jennings became an assistant to the clerk of the territorial legislature and continued to speculate on the sale of public lands.<ref name=g41/><ref name=r22526>Riker, pp. 225-226</ref>