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P. J. Kennedy | |
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 Kennedy in 1900 | |
| Member of theMassachusetts Senate from the4th Suffolk district | |
| In office January 3, 1889 – January 3, 1895 | |
| Member of theMassachusetts House of Representatives from the2nd Suffolk district | |
| In office January 3, 1884 – January 3, 1889 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Patrick Joseph Kennedy (1858-01-14)January 14, 1858 Boston,Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | May 18, 1929(1929-05-18) (aged 71) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Relations | Kennedy family |
| Children | 4, includingJoseph Sr. |
| Parents |
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| Occupation |
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Patrick Joseph Kennedy (January 14, 1858 – May 18, 1929) was an American businessman and politician. He and his wife Mary were the parents of four children, including futureU.S. Securities and Exchange CommissionChair andU.S. Ambassador to the United KingdomJoseph P. Kennedy Sr. Their grandchildren through Joseph include U.S. PresidentJohn F. Kennedy,U.S. Attorney General and U.S. SenatorRobert F. Kennedy, and longtime U.S. SenatorTed Kennedy.
Aftercholera killed his father and brother, Kennedy was the only surviving male in his family. He started work at age fourteen and became a successful businessman, later owning three saloons and a whisky import house. Eventually, he had major interests in coal and banking as well. Kennedy was a major figure in theDemocratic Party in Boston. Though he served in both theMassachusetts House of Representatives and the stateSenate, he preferred to play a behind-the-scenes role as aparty boss.
Patrick Joseph Kennedy was born on January 14, 1858, in Boston, Massachusetts.[1] He was the youngest of five children born to Patrick Kennedy (1823–1858) and Bridget Kennedy (née Murphy) (1824–1888). His parents were IrishCatholic immigrants who were both fromNew Ross,County Wexford and emigrated to America together to flee theGreat Famine in Ireland. The couple's elder son John had died ofcholera in infancy two years before Kennedy was born. Ten months after P. J. Kennedy's birth, his father Patrick also succumbed to the infectiousepidemic that infested the family'sEast Boston neighborhood. As the only surviving male, Kennedy was the first family member to receive a formal education, attending Sacred Heart, a private Catholic school in Boston. His mother Bridget had purchased an East Bostonstationery and notions store where she had worked. The business took off and expanded into agrocery andliquor store.[2]
At the age of fourteen, young Kennedy left school to help support his mother and three older sisters, Mary, Joanna, and Margaret, as astevedore on theBoston docks. In the 1880s, with money he had saved from his modest earnings and help from his mother Bridget, he launched a business career by buying a saloon in theHaymarket Square neighborhood near downtown Boston. In time, he bought a second establishment by theEast Boston docks. Next, to capitalize on thesocial drinking of upper-class Bostonians, Kennedy purchased a third bar in an upscale East Boston hotel, the Maverick House. Before he was 30, his growing prosperity allowed him to buy a whiskey-importing business.[3]
On November 23, 1887, Kennedy married Mary Augusta Hickey.[1] The couple had four children and remained married until Hickey's death on May 20, 1923. His wealth afforded them a home onJeffries Point in East Boston.[4]
| Name | Birth | Death | Age | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joseph Patrick Kennedy Sr. | September 6, 1888 | November 18, 1969 | 81 years, 2 months | Married on October 7, 1914, toRose Elizabeth Fitzgerald (July 22, 1890 – January 22, 1995); 9 children |
| Francis Benedict Kennedy | March 11, 1891 | June 14, 1892 | 1 year, 3 months | Died of Diptheria |
| Mary Loretta Kennedy | August 6, 1892 | November 18, 1972 | 80 years, 3 months | 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, 23 days | Married on June 14, 1924, to Charles Joseph Burke (August 23, 1899 – April 5, 1967); three children |
Kennedy was, as Robert Dallek describes, "always ready to help less fortunate fellow Irishmen with a little cash and some sensible advice."[5] A sociable man who mixed comfortably with bothRoman Catholic andProtestant elites, Kennedy moved successfully into politics in 1884, when theDemocrats were a minority in theRepublican-dominatedMassachusetts General Court. Kennedy served five single-year terms in theMassachusetts House of Representatives, and then three two-year terms in theMassachusetts Senate. He became one ofBoston's leading Democrats, giving a seconding speech forGrover Cleveland at the1888 Democratic National Convention inSt. Louis. More drawn to behind-the-scenes political work, Kennedy left the Massachusetts Senate in 1895 and focused his energies on his role asboss in Boston's Ward Two, serving on the Democratic party's unofficial Board of Strategy and on the local elections and fire commissions.[5]
By the time of his death in 1929, Kennedy held an interest in a coal company and a substantial amount of stock in a bank, the Columbia Trust Company.[4]
In his later years, Kennedy developed degenerative liver disease. In April 1929, he was admitted toDeaconess Hospital to receive treatment.[6] He died there on May 18 at the age of 71. His funeral was held at St. John the Evangelist Church inWinthrop, Massachusetts, on May 21.The Boston Globe reported that hundreds of mourners lined the streets to watch Kennedy's funeral procession and businesses in East Boston closed to honor him.[7] Kennedy is buried inHoly Cross Cemetery inMalden, Massachusetts.[8]
In 1914, P. J. Kennedy's son Joseph marriedRose Fitzgerald (July 22, 1890 – January 22, 1995), the eldest daughter of Boston MayorJohn F. Fitzgerald (1863–1950).[9] Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. went on to become a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair[9] and a U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom.[10]
Joseph and Rose Kennedy had nine children, including World War II casualtyJoseph P. Kennedy Jr., U.S. PresidentJohn F. Kennedy, U.S. Attorney General and U.S. SenatorRobert F. Kennedy, and U.S. SenatorTed Kennedy.[11]
November 20, 1925 – June 6, 1968 | ||
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February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009 | ||
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