Providence, Rhode Island Biographies

KENDRICK. John Edmund, of Providence, United States Marshal for Rhode Island, and prominent as a manufacturer, was born in Providence, June 17, 1854, the son of John and Lurana D. (Cook) Kendrick. His ancestry on both sides were among the earliest settlers in Massachusetts; on his mother’s side he is connected with the family of Gen Joseph Warren, who fell at Bunker Hill, and on his father’s he is descended from Oliver Kendrick, who served in the Revolutionary army. He received his early education in the public schools and in Mowry & Goff’s Classical School of Providence. He matriculated at Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn., in the class of 1876. After graduation he was for three years in the wholesale drug business, and since 1877 he has been connected with the Kendrick Loom Harness Company and the American Supply Company, of which he is now the Vice-President. He has .taken a warm interest in educational affairs and since 1887 has been a member of the School Committee of Providence, serving on many sub-committees. He has been a member of the Common Council since 1890, and is now, 1896, it’s President, and served as a Representative in the General Assembly in 1891-92. He was appointed by President Harrison United States Marshal for Rhode Island in 1892, which office he now holds. He was one of the active organizers and for many years President of the Young Men’s Republican Club of Providence, is President of the Mowry & Goff Alumni Association, Vice-President of the Delta Kappa Epsilon Brown University Alumni Association, and is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution, the Masonic Order to the thirty-second degree, and various social clubs. In politics he is a Republican. He married, October 24, 1877, Miss Phoebe Elizabeth Champlin of Westerly, R. I., who died in 1892. In 1894 he married Miss Helena Boyce of Fairfax, Vt, and they have one son, John Boyce Kendrick.

Source: Rhode Island Men in Progress - Submitted by Marie Miller

KENNEY, William Francis, M. D., Providence, was born in Brooklyn, N. Y., February 19, 1854, son of Francis W. and Margaret M. (Daley) Kenney. His father came to this country from Dublin, Ireland, in 1834, and was engaged in the copper, sheet-iron and tin trade, carrying on business in Hartford, Conn., for forty-five years. His early education was obtained in the public schools of Hartford, after which he attended Georgetown University, Georgetown. D. C, and graduated from the Bellevue Hospital Medical College, New York City, in 1877, with honors, being first toastmaster of his class. He acted as substitute house surgeon in the Bellevue and Charity hospitals in 1876-77, and after graduation located (April 1,1877) in Providence, where he has since continued in active practice of his profession. In 1879 he was appointed Surgeon of the Fifth Battalion of Infantry, Rhode Island Militia, serving in that capacity three years. He was elected a member of the Common Council from the Third Ward and was again elected to that body in 1895-96. He is a Democrat in politics. Dr. Kenney belongs both professionally and socially to various fraternal and social organizations. He has been Surgeon of Court Canonicus, Ancient Order of Foresters, 1889—93 Medical Examiner of Court Roger Williams, A. O. O. F. of America, 1893-95; Supreme Surgeon General of Supreme Conclave K S. F. of the World, 1893-95; is Medical Examiner St. George Lodge, No. 14, Knights of Pythias, and of Endowment Rank, Section Si, Knights of Pythias; Past Commander Knights of the Mystic Chain; also a member of the Select Castle of the last-named order, Westminster Lodge of Odd Fellows, and the Wolf Tone Literary Association. He is also a fellow of the Georgetown Alumni Association, a fellow of the Bellevue Hospital Medical College and member of the Rhode Island Medical Society. Dr. Kenney was married, July 17, 1876, to Miss Elizabeth M. A. Murray; they have eight children: Maud A. E, Blanche M., William F., Stephen C, Francis J., Margaret M., David A. and Elizabeth Kenney.