Author: Kennedy, Thomas
Biography:
KENNEDY, Thomas (1776-1832: Hollis)
pseudonym Mr. York
One of the twelve children of Grizzel (possibly Grizal) and William Kennedy, he was born in Paisley, Scotland, and emigrated to America to join his elder brother in 1796. He found work as a bookkeeper, first for a merchant in Georgetown and then with a building contractor. He married Rosamond Thomas of Maryland; they settled near Hagerstown MD and had at least six children. In 1817, Kennedy was elected to the state House of Representatives as a delegate for Washington County. There he undertook the great campaign of his life by introducing a bill to remove political restrictions against Jews on the ground that such restrictions were unconstitutional. The "Jew Bill" failed in 1819 and 1820 and Kennedy lost his seat, but support grew and the bill was brought up every year until it finally passed into law in 1826. In 1827, Kennedy was elected to the State Senate, but he died of cholera a few years later. (Robert Mehlman, "The Poems of Thomas Kennedy of Maryland," Journal of the Rutgers University Library 33:1 [1969] 9-19; Kenneth Lasson, "The Gentleman from Hagerstown," Baltimore Jewish Times [29 Feb. 2008] 36-9; ancestry.com 7 July 2019; Joseph R. Stonebraker, Rebel of '61 [1899, repr. 2016]; washingtoncountyhistoricaltrust.org 15 Mar. 2021)