Jeremiah Elkins (1795–1854), attorney, was born in Andover, New Hampshire, and graduated from Dartmouth College in 1817. He studied law afterward in Virginia and practiced from 1823 until 1833 in Washington, D.C. In 1823 James Monroe appointed Elkins surveyor and inspector of the revenue at Saint Marks, Florida, but he resigned early the next year and likely never filled the post. He was named a justice of the peace for Washington in 1831. Two years later Elkins removed to Gilford, New Hampshire, where he resumed his legal practice. A few years later he moved within that state, locating first in Barnstead and later settling permanently in Meredith Bridge, where he owned real estate worth $6,000 in 1850. Elkins addressed a meeting opposing the abolition of slavery in 1835 (John R. Eastman, History of the Town of Andover, New Hampshire, 1751–1906 [1910], part 2, 132, 134; Dartmouth Catalogue description begins General Catalogue of Dartmouth College and the Associated Schools, 1769–1925, 1925 description ends , 127; Charles H. Bell, The Bench and Bar of New Hampshire [1894], 338; Concord New-Hampshire Patriot & State Gazette, 15 Apr. 1822, 16 Dec. 1833, 28 Sept. 1835; Hallowell [Me.] Gazette, 2 Apr. 1823; Washington Daily National Intelligencer, 11 Aug. 1823; JEP description begins Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States description ends , 3:357, 4:178, 247 [20 Jan. 1824, 7 Dec. 1831, 30 Apr. 1832]; DNA: RG 29, CS, N.H., Stafford Co., Barnstead, 1840, Belknap Co., Meredith, 1850; Concord New Hampshire Statesman, 4 Mar. 1854; gravestone inscription in Meredith Bridge Cemetery, Laconia).

Elkins does not appear to have published his work in hand. On 9 Feb. 1824 he presented a memorial to the United States Congress proposing to create a complete index of state papers, to be combined with important documents, extracts of proceedings from the Stamp Act and Continental congresses, and the presidents’ messages at the start of each congressional session. Such a compilation, Elkins argued, would greatly assist members of Congress seeking to navigate “the present confused state of the public records and documents,” in which “whole days are often wasted in a fruitless search for the documents to which members wish to refer.” He estimated that the work would fill two volumes of about 400 pages each and cost four dollars apiece. Elkins asked that Congress support his project by purchasing 1,000 copies, “or such number as they may deem expedient.” On 25 Feb. 1824, after hearing a report of the Joint Library Committee, the House of Representatives tabled his memorial (Memorial of Jeremiah Elkins, of Washington City [Washington, 1824]; JHR description begins Journal of the House of Representatives of the United States description ends [1823–24 sess.], 212, 270).