Some Early Niagara Covers

Quote:
David S. Kennedy, 23rd President of St. Andrews Society (1840-1842)

David Sproat Kennedy was the son of Captain John Kennedy, mariner, and Mary Lenox, and was born in the year 1791, at Kirkcudbright, a small town located on the seacoast of Scotland. He died on the 2d February, 1853, at his residence on Fifth Avenue, in New York City, aged sixty-two years.

His father doubtless made frequent voyages to this country, and had been elected an Honorary Member of Saint Andrew's Society as early as 1791. His mother was a daughter of James Lenox and Elizabeth Sproat and sister of Robert Lenox, the eminent merchant and Fifteenth President of the Society, and Air. Kennedy thus was of close kin to the Sproat and Lenox families, so well and widely known during the Revolutionary War.

After receiving a modest education in the parish school of his native town, Mr. Kennedy decided to try his fortune in the new land, where his relatives had already attained a position of influence and wealth, and he sailed for New York about 1807. Upon his arrival he was cordially received by his kinsfolk and their friends, who secured for him a clerkship in the rising commercial house which his uncle, James Lenox, and William Maitland had founded in 1796. There his interest, energy and devotion to business soon won the respect and attention of the heads of the house and ultimately resulted in his admission as a partner in 1812. The firm at that time was known as Lenox, Maitland & Company, but in 1818 the name was changed to Kennedy & Maitland, when James Lenox, Mr. Kennedy's uncle, retired from the business and returned to take up a permanent residence in Scotland.

At this period the firm was known as one of the greatest commercial houses in the United States, and Mr. Kennedy held a commanding position in the financial and social community, which he strengthened by his marriage with his cousin, the daughter of Robert Lenox. Thereafter the firm was known as Maitland, Kennedy & Company, about 1824; later as Maitland, Comrie & Company; as Maitland, Phelps & Company; and finally at the present time as Maitland, Coppell & Company. Unfortunately, his firm, "Maitland & Kennedy," met with heavy losses and reverse of fortune about 1814, but Mr. Kennedy and his associates bravely set out to retrieve their position and eventually retired from business with handsome fortunes.

Upon his father-in-law's death he succeeded to the management of part of the large estate, and also inherited a considerable personal property from his uncle, James Lenox, who died unmarried in Scotland during 1839. In later years Mr. Kennedy became the agent for the Bank of Montreal and several other leading banks of Canada, and enjoyed the full confidence of those British capitalists who had extensive investments in the Dominion of Canada and the United States. He was identified with many of the leading financial institutions of his day and took an active interest in the then religious, charitable and social organizations.

In his will, dated the 3d March, 1848, and recorded in the New York City Surrogate's Office on the 12th February, 1853, he calls himself "Banker of the City of New York," and mentions after his wife and four children, his "brother, James Lenox Kennedy," and his "aunt, Mrs. Margaret Wilson, residing at Kirkcudbright, Scotland."

He joined the Saint Andrew's Society in 1817; served as a Manager from 1823-1824, and from 1825-1826; as Second Vice-President from 1827-1828; and as President from 1840-1842. He was also a member of the Standing Committee in 1835, and on the Committee of Accounts in 1845, 1846 and 1847.

He married on the 22nd May, 1822, his cousin, Rachel Carmer Lenox, daughter of Robert Lenox and Rachel Carmer, and had issue: (1) Robert Lenox, (2) Rachel Lenox, (3) Mary Lenox, (4) James Lenox.

His portrait (shown below) is reproduced from an oil painting by Trumbull, now in the possession of his daughter, Miss Mary Lenox Kennedy.