P. J. Kennedy
| P. J. Kennedy | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| P.J. Kennedy , circa 1900 | |
| Massachusetts House of Representatives 2nd Suffolk District |
|
| In office 1884–1889 |
|
| Massachusetts State Senate 4th Suffolk District |
|
| In office 1889–1895 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born | Patrick Joseph Kennedy January 14, 1858 Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts |
| Died | May 18, 1929 (aged 71) Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Augusta Hickey |
| Relations | Patrick Kennedy and Bridget Murphy (parents) |
| Children | Joseph Patrick Kennedy, Sr. Francis Benedict Kennedy Mary Loretta Kennedy Margaret Louise Kennedy |
| Alma mater | Boston College |
| Occupation | Politician, Businessman |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Patrick Joseph "P. J." Kennedy (January 14, 1858 — May 18, 1929) was an American politician. He was the father of Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. and paternal grandfather to World War II casualty Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and Senator Ted Kennedy.
Contents |
Early life [edit]
P. J. was the youngest of five children born to Irish Roman Catholic immigrants Patrick Kennedy and Bridget Murphy, who were both from New Ross, County Wexford, and married in Boston on September 26, 1849. The couple's elder son, John III, died of cholera in infancy. 10 months after P. J.'s birth, his father Patrick also succumbed to the infectious cholera epidemic that infested the family's East Boston neighborhood. As the only surviving male, P. J. was the first Kennedy to receive a formal education. At the age of fourteen, P. J. left school to work on the Boston docks as a stevedore to help support his mother and three older sisters. In the 1880s, with money he had saved from his modest earnings, he launched a business career by buying a saloon in Haymarket Square downtown. In time, he bought a second establishment by the East Boston docks. Next, to capitalize on the social drinking of upper-class Boston, P. J. purchased a third bar in an upscale East Boston hotel, the Maverick House. Before he was thirty, his growing prosperity allowed him to buy a whiskey-importing business.
By the time he died in 1929, P. J. held an interest in a coal company and a substantial amount of stock in a bank, the Columbia Trust Company. His wealth afforded his family of one son and two daughters an attractive home on Jeffries Point in East Boston.[1]
He attended Boston College on scholarship and became a prominent businessman before entering politics.
Political career [edit]
"Likable, always ready to help less fortunate fellow Irishmen with a little cash and some sensible advice." P.J. enjoyed the approval and respect of most folks in East Boston, living on the hill a mixed Boston neighborhood of upscale Irish and Protestant elite. Beginning in 1884, he converted his popularity into five consecutive one-year terms in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, followed by three two-year terms in the state senate. Establishing himself as one of Boston's principal Democratic leaders, he was invited to give one of the seconding speeches for Grover Cleveland at the party's 1888 national convention in St. Louis.[1]
"But campaigning, speech making, and legislative maneuvering were less appealing to him than the behind-the-scenes machinations that characterized so much of Boston politics in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. After leaving the senate in 1895, P.J. spent his political career in various appointive offices—elections commissioner and fire commissioner—as the backroom boss of Boston's Ward Two, and as a member of his party's unofficial Board of Strategy.[1]
Marriage and children [edit]
On November 23, 1887, Kennedy married Mary Augusta Hickey, daughter of James Hickey and Margaret M. Field. [2] P. J. and Mary had four children.
| Name | Birth | Death | Age | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joseph Patrick Kennedy, Sr. | September 6, 1888 | November 18, 1969 | 81 years | Married on October 7, 1914, to Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald (July 22, 1890 – January 22, 1995); 9 children |
| Francis Benedict Kennedy | March 11, 1891 | June 14, 1892 | 1 year, 3 months | |
| Mary Loretta Kennedy | August 6, 1892 | November 18, 1972 | 80 years | Married on October 12, 1927, to George William Connelly (June 10, 1898 – August 29, 1971); one daughter |
| Margaret Louise Kennedy | October 22, 1898 | November 14, 1974 | 76 years | Married on June 14, 1924, to Charles Joseph Burke (August 23, 1899 – April 5, 1967); three children |
Ted Kennedy named his younger son Patrick Joseph Kennedy II to honor P. J.
Legacy [edit]
In 1914, their son Joseph married Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald, daughter of Boston Mayor John Francis Fitzgerald and Mary Josephine Hannon. The union of P. J.'s son and Fitzgerald's daughter created the Kennedy family. Together, they had nine children, including Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. (a World War II casualty), John F. Kennedy (35th President of the United States), Robert F. Kennedy (US Senator, Attorney General, and Presidential candidate), and Ted Kennedy (US Senator from Massachusetts).
The Patrick J. Kennedy School is a public grammar school located in East Boston.
References [edit]
- ^ a b c Dallek, Robert (2003). "Beginnings". An unfinished life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963. Little, Brown, and Co. ISBN 978-0-316-17238-7.
- ^ http://ksjs1.sjsu.edu/ta141/spring2006/aguond/extra_credit1/Trenholm/storage/Reunion%208/Reunion%208%20Manual/Samples/FGSSample/FG01/FG01_025.HTM
