William Kennedy (December 19, 1854 – June 19, 1918) was a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

. Born in Naugatuck, Connecticut, Kennedy attended the public schools, and later studied law. He was admitted to the bar in 1879 and commenced practice in Naugatuck, Connecticut, handling criminal cases, in particular. Kennedy was the Chairman of the Naugatuck Democratic Town Committee and Clerk of the Borough Court. In 1895, he was appointed Borough Attorney, staying in this position until 1918. Kennedy also served as member on Naugatuck's Board of Education from 1901-1918. Kennedy served as Member of the State Senate from 1899–1901, and a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions in 1896, 1900, 1908, and 1912. He was the Chairman of the Democratic State Committee. He was elected as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

to the

63rd United States Congress The 63rd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1913, to ...

in 1912 and represented

Connecticut's 5th Congressional District Connecticut's 5th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Located in the western part of the state and spanning across parts of Fairfield, Litchfield, New Haven, and Hartford Counties, the distric ...

from March 4, 1913, to March 3, 1915. Kennedy was an unsuccessful candidate for re-election in 1914 and resumed his law practice. He is known to have corresponded with

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

on policy matters, particularly during Wilson's presidential election campaign and during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Kennedy died on June 19, 1918, and was interred in St. James' Cemetery in Naugatuck, Connecticut. His obituary was published in the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

References

External links

* http://www.naugatuckhistory.com/hi-irish-influence-in-naugatuck.htm * https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/06/20/106215385.pdf {{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, William 1854 births 1918 deaths School board members in Connecticut Connecticut local politicians Democratic Party Connecticut state senators People from Naugatuck, Connecticut Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Connecticut 19th-century American politicians