John Pendleton Kennedy (1795-1870)

man

Died aged 74

John Pendleton Kennedy (October 25, 1795 – August 18, 1870) was an American novelist, lawyer and Whig politician who served as United States Secretary of the Navy from July 26, 1852, to March 4, 1853, during the administration of President Millard Fillmore, and as a U.S. Representative from Maryland's 4th congressional district, during which he encouraged the United States government's study, adoption and implementation of the telegraph. A lawyer who became a lobbyist for and director of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, Kennedy also served several terms in the Maryland General Assembly, and became its Speaker in 1847. Kennedy later helped lead the effort to end slavery in Maryland, which, as a non-Confederate state, was not affected by the Emancipation Proclamation and required a state law to free slaves within its borders and to outlaw the furtherance of the practice. Kennedy also advocated religious tolerance, and furthered studies of Maryland history. He helped preserve or found Historic St. Mary's City (site of the colonial founding of Maryland and the birthplace of religious freedom in America), St. Mary's College of Maryland (then St. Mary's Female seminary), the Peabody Library (now a part of Johns Hopkins University) and the Peabody Conservatory of Music (also now a part of Johns Hopkins).
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Baltimore, MD, United States

The Latrobe House. On an evening in October, 1833, three of Baltimore's most discerning gentlemen were gathered around a table in the back parlor of this house. Fortified with "some old wine and some good cigars," John Pendleton Kennedy, James H. Miller and John H. B. Latrobe poured over manuscripts submitted in a literary contest sponsored by the Baltimore Sunday Visitor. Their unanimous choice for best prose tale was "M8. Found in a Bottle," a curious and haunting tale of annihilation. The fifty dollar prize was awarded to the story's unknown, penniless author Edgar Allan Poe. Poe had come to Baltimore in the spring of 1831, after his dismissal from West Point. He had no money, no trade and no reputation. The four years he spent in Baltimore were a period of intense creativity. His major effort during those years were sixteen tales he wrote for the Folio Club, an imaginary literary club of his creation. One of these sixteen tales was "M8. Found in a Bottle." The prize for this story, the public recognition that it brought and the lifelong friendship it generated between Poe and literary patron Kennedy helped to launch Poe on his brilliant career. He left Baltimore in 1835 to become editor of the Southern Literary Messenger.

, Baltimore, MD, United States where they was (1833)