Sullivan County PA Archives Biographies.....KENNEDY, William A. 1857 - living in 1899
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  Author: Biographical Publishing Co.
  
  WILLIAM A. KENNEDY, a thrifty and enterprising business man of Laporte, Pa., is
  foreman of the Union Tanning Company, of Laporte, a position for which he is
  well qualified, as he has been engaged in the tanning business nearly all his
  life, having learned the trade during his boyhood days. The gentleman whose
  biography we write was born at Camden, N. Y., August 21, 1857, and is a son of
  Jeremiah and Bridget (Luby) Kennedy and a grandson of Edward Kennedy.
  
    Jeremiah Kennedy, the father of our subject, was born and reared in Turbal,
  County Roscommon., Ireland, and was the first of this branch of the Kennedy
  family to locate in the United States, coming here when a young man. He first
  settled in Schoharie County, N. Y., where he pursued his trade as a tanner and
  at different times was foreman for the tanning companies at Camden, N. Y.; Moose
  River, N. Y.; Port Leyden, N. Y.; Ledgedale, Pa.; Thorndale, Pa., and at
  Laporte, where he resided until his death. In 1889 our subject's father
  purchased the building used by Dr. Fleshet as a drug-store and also his dwelling
  and remodeled and enlarged the same into a hotel and conducted what is known
  today as the Commercial Hotel, which is now managed by his son, Thomas E., who
  took charge of it in September, 1894, Mr. Kennedy retiring on account of poor
  health. He passed from this life September 21, 1894, at the age of seventy-nine
  years. Mr. Kennedy was united in marriage to Bridget Luby, who was born in St.
  Charles, County Roscommon. Ireland. Her father came to America and settled on
  Staten Island, where he -resided at the time of his death. The following
  children were the result of this marriage: Edward, a tanner by trade, wedded
  Maria Brown, and they are the parents of seven children, Raymond, Edward,
  Nellie, Robert, Donald, John, and Percy James, deceased; Mary, wife of Dr. E. S.
  C. Foster, with two children, Jeremiah and Solon; William A., the subject of
  this brief notice; Jerry, a tanner, of Titusville, Pa., joined in marriage with
  Lizzie Scanlon, with two children blessing their home, Genevieve and James
  Francis; Maggie, wife of George Nortz, and the following children have been
  reared by them, Lena, Ray, Ebe, Vincent, and Mary; John M., engaged in the
  laundry business; Thomas E., a prominent hotelkeeper, whose sketch may also be
  found in this Book of Biographies; and Annie, at home.
  
    Our subject was educated in the common schools and when a lad he began to
  learn the tanner's trade, serving an apprenticeship with his father; under the
  instructions of his father he soon became quite proficient in that line and upon
  attaining his manhood he was made foreman of the Shaw Bros.' tannery at Grand
  Lake, Me. He then accepted a position for the same firm at Lincoln, Me.; worked
  a short time for Ferdinand A. Wyman, of Kingman, Me.; then for Henry Poor & Son;
  later went to Brace Bridge, Ontario, Can., where he was foreman for the D. W.
  Alexander Company: he then returned to Maine, where he accepted the foremanship
  of the E. Church Tanning Company at Beddington. As the winters were very cold in
  Maine, Mr. Kennedy formed the habit of visiting his father during the cold
  months, and while on one of his visits, in 1893, he secured the foremanship of
  the Laporte Tanning Company, and has occupied that position to the present time,
  although the Laporte Tanning Company has been succeeded by the Union Tanning
  Company. This tannery is one of the best and largest in the state and gives
  employment to over two hundred hands; sixty hands are employed in the tannery
  and also over 150 woodsmen, who cut and bring to the tannery about 600 tons of
  bark every year. Thirty teams are also constantly in use. The tanning buildings
  cover about eighty acres of land and the tannery is operated by steam power and
  has one hundred and fifty boilers and seventy engines. The hides all come from
  South America and are tanned and finished by the best of skilled labor and
  marketed at Boston, New York and Philadelphia. Mr. Kennedy has established an
  excellent and enviable reputation as a foreman, giving entire satisfaction to
  the company, and is a favorite with the employees. He is also recognized as one
  of the valued members of the community and always supports enterprises that tend
  to advance the interests of his borough and county.
  
    Mr. Kennedy was united in matrimonial alliance with Rosanna Stubbs, a daughter
  of Bruce Stubbs, of Ontario, Can., and four children brighten and beautify the
  home of our subject and wife, namely: Roy, Thomas, Vincent and Mary.
  Politically, Mr. Kennedy is a solid Democrat and has served in the town council
  and as overseer of the poor. Religiously, he and his family are members of the
  Roman Catholic Church.
  
  
  Additional Comments:
  Extracted from:
  
  Book of Biographies of the Seventeenth Congressional District
  Published by 
  Biographical Publishing Company of Chicago, Ill. and Buffalo, NY (1899)
  
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