Thomas Kennedy

(1776-1832)
Maryland

Thomas Kennedy was born in Paisley, Scotland in 1776. He came to the United States at age nineteen. In 1802 he married Rosamond Thomas from Frederick, Maryland and leased property for a mill on the Conococheague River. Two years later, he built a home in Williamsport. In 1817, he was elected to the House of Delegates representing Hagerstown. Kennedy served in the House of Delegates, 1817-25, and 1831-32, and then in the Senate from 1826-1830. [See: Early Arnett, et. al., Maryland: A New Guide to the Old Line State 540 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1976)(1999); Thomas Kennedy: Maryland Legislator Who Made A Difference][Kennedy is identified as a merchant, lawyer, and poet in Maryland: A Guide to the Old Line State 290 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1940).][Kennedy served for a number of years as Postmaster of Hagerstown. He died in the cholera epidemic in 1832. [In a biographical sketch of Kennedy in the Maryland Historical Magazine, vol. 2, pp. 350-351 (Baltimore: J.M. Furst Co. Printers/Maryland Historical Society, 1907), Kennedy is not identified as a lawyer.)]

Poetry

Thomas Kennedy, Poems (Washington City: Printed by Daniel Rapine, for the author, 1816) [online text]

_____________, Songs of Love and Liberty (Washington: Printed by Daniel Rapine, 1817)

Bibliography

Paul R. Kach, An Advocate of Tolerance: Thomas Kennedy, Mason, 34 The New Age Magazine (1934)(Scottish Rite)