Lot was the son of Charles and Susan Hoppes Jenkins, the 5th child of his father's third marriage.

After his parent's divorce in 1893, Lot and his sister, Minnie, were sent to live with their mother's mute brother and sister, John and Bettie, on the Hoppes farm near Pawnee City, Nebraska. They were unhappy there, and within a year or so, ran away to Omaha. Lot found work in a livery stable, and, later, at the stockyards. Minnie worked as a hired girl and helped feed and clothe Lot. Sometime in 1900, Lot moved to Thurston County to work for Isaac Gustin as a farmhand. His first meeting with Bessie Gustin was in the kitchen, where she was standing on a soap box mixing biscuits. After their marriage, they farmed in Thurston Co. near Isaac and Lester Gustin's families. Lot's brothers, sisters, half-brothers and -sister, father, mother, and step-father eventually settled in Thurston Co. According to family stories, the Jenkins, Jump (and Gustin) families enjoyed dancing and "raising hell in general". Lot and Bessie and family moved to Osmond, Nebraska, in the spring of 1918, and to a farm west of Fullerton in Nance County in 1920.

During the depth of the Depression and "Dirty Thirties", Lot, Bessie, and two other couples loaded a touring car with provisions, camping gear, and set out for the 193? World's Fair in Chicago. Unknown to their wives, the three men had worked "off the books" for Nance County and each had $5. The couples went to see Marshall Field's Department Store, and while the women were looking through the "largest store in the world", the men slipped away to see Sally Rand's fan dancing at a hall across the street.

Lot suffered a series of strokes in the mid30's, leaving most of the heavy work to Gordon. They were able to raise money to pay the interest on the farm loans, but not enough to pay on the principle. After Lot's death, July 3, 1942, the bank foreclosed on the farm and Bessie, Gordon and Donna lost their home.