USA > New Jersey > Essex County > Newark > A History of the city of Newark, New Jersey : embracing practically two and a half centuries, 1666-1913 Volume III > Part 52
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THOMAS TALMADGE KINNEY
Thomas Talmadge Kinney, the eldest son of the Hon. William Burnet and Mary (Chandler) Kinney, was born in Newark, New Jersey, August 13, 1821. His first school work was done at the Newark Academy and his preparatory work done at the classical school taught by the Rev. William R. Weeks. The careful personal supervision at this school enabled him to go to the College of New Jersey at Princeton at a very early age. He was graduated in 1841 in. the class with the late Francis P. Blair, ex-Vice- Chancellor Dodd, Judge John T. Nixon, of the United States District Court; Theodore L. Cuyler, and others who won a name for themselves in after life. While in college Mr. Kinney showed a marked talent in the direction of scientific studies, so much so that the attention of the professor, Dr. Joseph Henry, was called to his ability and in his last year he was chosen to fill the position of assistant in the Department of Natural Sciences. This associa- tion was the origin of a friendship which continued for a lifetime. The
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BIOGRAPHICAL
degree of Bachelor of Arts was followed in due course by that of Master of Arts. He had ere this entered upon the study of the law in the office of the late Joseph P. Bradley, later one of the Justices of the United States Supreme Court. He was in 1844 admitted to the bar as an attorney, but he never practiced.
In 1851 William B. Kinney retired from the management of the Newark Daily Advertiser and gave up to his son, Thomas T. Kinney, the editorial supervision of the paper which he had raised to an exceedingly high standard. Though a young man to undertake a task of these propor- tions, young Mr. Kinney by his unflagging enthusiasm, his great energy, and an undoubted literary gift, succeeded in maintaining the pace set by the elder man. He paid especial attention to the organization of the news- gathering facilities of the paper, and these methods finally eventuated in the comprehensive system known as the Associated Press. He bought in 1860 the property at the corner of Broad and Market streets which has become one of the busiest centers of the business portion of Newark.
He was one of the foremost men in the organization of the Newark Board of Trade and was later sent by that body to the convention in Phila- delphia that originated the National Board of Trade. He was a founder and for a number of years the president of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. He was also deeply interested in and for a long time was a manager and trustee of the Asylum for the Indigent Deaf and Dumb Children of the State. His inclination towards the natural sciences followed him through life and he was made a member of the State Board of Geology as well as of the State Board of Agriculture, serving the latter body as its presiding officer four years. His interest in politics was keen, and when he was sent as a delegate to the Chicago Convention in 1860 he was a zealous champion for the nomination of Abraham Lincoln. He was a conspicuous and active figure in the business world of Newark. He served as a director of the National State Bank of Newark, the Newark City Ice Company, of the Stephens & Condit Transportation Company, and of several other corporations. He was one of the founders of the Newark Electric Light and Power Company, and of the Fidelity Title and Deposit Company, having served the latter organization as its president since its organization. He was also a member of the Board of East Jersey Proprietors, and a hereditary member of the Society of the Cincinnati of the State of New Jersey.
Mr. Kinney was identified with the Daily Advertiser until 1895, when he retired from active participation in business affairs. He was a Republican in his political views, and when James G. Blaine was Secretary of State he was offered the post of Minister to Italy, the position which his father had filled with such distinguished honor, but he declined the offer. . He had, indeed, throughout life shown a decided predilection for the retirement and leisure of a private citizen, and Steadily declined to be a candidate for office and also refused those posts to which he had been nominated without elec- tion. He was a man of a large circle of warm personal attachments, and of a peculiarly stimulating and healthful influence. He died in Newark, December 2, 1900.
He married, October 1, 1863, Estelle, daughter of Joel W. and Mar- garet (Harrison) Condit. They had five children: Mary Clementine, who married William Campbell Clark, of Newark; Margaret Condit, who mar- ried Carroll Phillips Bassett; Estelle Burnet, who married Frederick Freling- huysen, of Newark; William Burnet; Thomas Talmadge, Jr., born October 24, 1872, died February 14. 1885.
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364
HISTORY OF NEWARK
WILLIAM B. KINNEY (2d)
William Burnet Kinney (2d), son of Thomas Talmadge and Estelle (Condit) Kinney, was born in Newark, April 30, 1871. He was prepared for college in the schools of his native town, and entered Princeton Uni- versity with the class of 1894. After leaving college he entered upon the study of law in the offices of McCarter, Williamson & McCarter, and the New York Law School, and was admitted to the New Jersey bar in June, 1906.
At once he entered into partnership with Edward D. Duffield, under the firm name of Duffield & Kinney, for the general practice of law. On the death of Mr. Kinney's father in 1901, this partnership was dissolved, since which time he has devoted himself to the various interests with which he became identified. He is a manager of the Howard Savings Institution of Newark, and is a director of the National State Bank and the Firemen's Insurance Company of that city. He is secretary and treasurer of the Kinney Realty Company, which, among other landed interests, has recently com- pleted the Kinney building, a handsome modern office structure on the southeast corner of Broad and Market streets, the very heart of Newark. He is an hereditary member of the Cincinnati Society and is identified with many of Newark's charitable associations.
On June 8, 1901, he married Helen M., daughter of the Hon. Franklin Murphy, later Governor of New Jersey. They have four children: Janet, Mai, Constance and Margaret.
JOHN FAIRFIELD DRYDEN
The ability of a man to rise above the ranks and attain a position of prominence in the world presupposes a mental strength above the average, a stability of character that will endure all discouragement and disappoint- ments and in the end triumph over every impediment that obstructs the pathway to success. The late John Fairfield Dryden, founder of the Pru- dential and pioneer of industrial insurance in America, was a man who attained honor by personal merit, integrity of character and strict adherence to the highest standard of principles. For thirty years he was the president of the Prudential Insurance Company of America, and his pronounced execu- tive ability was the potent factor in the development of that well-known
corporation. His life record is well worthy of emulation, proving conclu- sively what intelligence and probity may accomplish in the way of success in life: His upright and honorable career gained for him the confidence and warm regard of his fellow citizens, and his genial manner and unfailing courtesy won for him a host of friends among all classes of people. That his work in establishing industrial insurance has met with the approval of the people is shown by the fact that there were over twenty-six million industrial policies in force in United States companies on December 31, 1912.
John Fairfield Dryden was born August 7, 1839, on a farm at Temple Mills, near Farmington, Maine, son of John and Elizabeth B. Dryden, of old New England ancestry. Entering Yale University in 1861, his health failed before graduation, but in honor of his subsequent attainments the university conferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts, and his name was entered in the Tri-Centennial Catalogue as one of the graduates of the class of 1865.
After leaving the university Mr. Dryden became interested in life insur- ance in its particular application to the practical solution of the economic problems of the poor, and in 1873 settled in Newark with plans for the
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BIOGRAPHICAL
establishment of an institution similar to the Prudential Assurance Company of London. Undaunted by the difficulties which confronted him, Mr. Dryden secured the hearty co-operation of a small group of able men, including Dr. Leslie D. Ward, a young physician, and Mr. Noah F. Blanchard, a leading leather manufacturer.
After obtaining a charter from the New Jersey Legislature, the initial organization was made under the title of the Widows' and Orphans' Friendly Society, this name being changed in 1875 to the Prudential Friendly Society. In 1878 the organization became the Prudential Insurance Company of America. It limited itself to the granting of insurance of sums payable at death. The wisdom of Mr. Dryden's plan has been attested by its phenome- nal success. Upon the organization of the company he was elected secretary, with Mr. Blanchard as president, but after the death of the latter, in 1881, Mr. Dryden was unanimously chosen as president and held the office con- tinuously to the close of his life.
Strenuous and absorbing as were the demands of the cause with which he was so intimately connected, Mr. Dryden yet found time to render many valuable services in the field of public life. In appreciation of this fact and in recognition of his distinguished ability, he was elected in 1896 and 1900 a presidential elector, and on January 29, 1902, became a United States Senator. Upon the expiration of his term he was the choice of voters at the general State primaries, but in consequence of impaired health he with- drew his candidacy. As a member of the Panama Canal Committee, Senator Dryden was a potent factor, in co-operation with Mr. Taft, then Secretary of War, in bringing about the majority vote which finally resulted in the legislation making possible the construction of the international waterway linking the two great oceans of the world. In the face of adverse committee reports, the distinguished service which he rendered by speech, vote and influence, at the crucial moment, has left an indelible impress on the country's history, one of Mr. Dryden's principal arguments being his desire to save $100,000,000 to posterity by the digging of a lock canal instead of a sea level canal.
In the midst of an extremely busy life, Mr. Dryden published a volume of his own papers and addresses on life insurance and other subjects which will always be a source of valuable information, suggestion and advice to those laboring to advance the cause of sound life insurance in the United States. He was at one time a member of the American Economic Association, and, at the time of his death, vice-president and director of the Fidelity Trust Company, Newark, and director of the Union National Bank, Newark; the Unites States Steel Corporation, the United States Casualty Company, New York; the National Bank of Commerce, New York; the Equitable Trust Company, New York, and the Public Service Corporation of New Jersey. He also belonged to a number of leading clubs.
The personal appearance of Mr. Dryden was strikingly dignified and impressive. Tall, erect, and of distinguished bearing, his clear-cut, high- bred face, accentuated by silvery beard and moustache and head crowned with snow-white hair, he was the ideal man of affairs. His keen but kindly glance expressed at once the thinker and executive. He was a man of remarkable courtesy. It was truly said of him that "His was not the courtesy only of a well-mannered man, a man of the world, but more . that of a Christian gentleman. It was not that of a man whose mind was absorbed in the cares of a great business. It was not cold nor perfunctory. It was
warm and kindly and earnest."
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Mr. Dryden married, in 1864, Cynthia Fairchild, and they were the parents of a son and daughter: Forrest F. Dryden, who succeeded his father as president of the Prudential; and Susie, who became the wife of Colonel Anthony R. Kuser, of Trenton, New Jersey. Senator Dryden was devoted to his home and family and was peculiarly happy in his domestic relations.
On November 24, 1911, Mr. Dryden died, "full of years and of honors." The event was regarded as a national loss, and messages of sorrow and appreciation were received from former Presidents Taft and Roosevelt, Vice-President Sherman, and many men of exalted political station and high standing in the business world. The minute adopted by the board of directors of the Prudential Insurance Company of America said:
"He not only founded the company, but guided its policies and led its activities from the hour of its birth until the day of his death. . Whatever of success it has achieved or of good it has accomplished is due primarily to his clear vision, sound judgment and untiring zeal. . In his personal intercourse Mr. Dryden was the personification of gentle- manly courtesy. This he constantly exhibited toward the members of the board and, in even a more marked degree, toward the employees of the company. How the latter responded to it is shown by a record of devoted service rarely equalled and probably never excelled."
The following extract from a tribute written in honor of the seventieth birthday of Mr. Dryden and published in the Newark Expositor, expressed, at the time of his death, the universal feeling:
"To have had faith in a new idea is not rare, for the world is full of day dreamers who hopelessly struggle against overwhelming odds. But to have had an abiding faith in an almost hopeless aim and effort and to have carried the idea through the years, against all odds, to a successful termina- tion, is given to few men, and of these few John F. Dryden ranks foremost as a truly great man of his time."
Jacob Haussling, Mayor of Newark, at the time of Senator Dryden's death, said: "Senator Dryden was the greatest man Newark ever had." Former United States Senator James Smith, Jr., paid this eloquent tribute: "A pillar of the State has fallen; a really great man has passed away. Such men as he are the geniuses of States and nations. They are creators and benefactors. We cannot too highly honor the memory of this remarkable man, who so signally honored his city, State and country."
FORREST FAIRCHILD DRYDEN
When a man of experience and equipment succeeds to a position of honor and responsibility the world recognizes the fact that he "has come to his own" and accords him loyal and enthusiastic co-operation. A striking illustration of the truth of this statement is furnished by the career of Forrest F. Dryden, president of the Prudential Insufance Company of America, who succeeded his father, the late John Fairfield Dryden, founder of the company. Mr. Dryden has been for a third of a century a resident of Newark, and is prominently identified with many of the leading interests of his home city and of the State of New Jersey.
Forrest F. Dryden, son of John Fairfield and Cynthia (Fairchild) Dry- den, was born December 26, 1864, at Bedford, Ohio. He received his educa- tion at Phillips' Academy, Andover, Massachusetts. At the age of eighteen he entered the service of the company founded by his father, serving first as clerk and then as field representative, thus gaining wide experience both in the home office and in the field. Eventually he succeeded to the secretary- ship and then to the several vice-presidencies of the company.
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Early in his career Mr. Dryden developed distinctive business ability and gradually acquired a national reputation in the insurance business. During many years his duties have obliged him to make frequent trips throughout the country and everywhere his work results in a remarkable development of the Prudential's business and a strong bond of personal esteem between territorial and local managers and himself. Progressive in · his methods, yet at the same time conservative, one of his most distinct attributes is an unusual capacity for judging the motives and merits of men. This has enabled him to fill the many branches of the business with assist- ants who seldom fail to meet expectations. It has been said of him that he knows practically every field-worker he has ever met, and never does he make the mistake of regarding these men merely as parts of a great machine. On the contrary, he recognizes their individuality, making it a rule that faithful and efficient service shall be promptly rewarded with promotion as opportunity offers.
In January, 1912, Mr. Dryden was elected to the presidency of the Prudential, thus succeeding to a commanding position in life insurance and finance. His election was a source of great satisfaction to the rank and file of the company and demonstrated the confidence in the sound judgment and clear-sighted sagacity held for the new president by the board of direc- tors. The company has now eleven million policies in force and over two billion two hundred and eleven million dollars of insurance.
Notwithstanding his arduous duties as president of the Prudential, Mr. Dryden is able to give attention to a variety of interests. He is a director of the Fidelity Trust Company and the Union National Bank and a member of the executive committee of each of these institutions. He is a director of the United States Casualty Company, the South Jersey Gas, Electric and Traction Company, the People's Gas Improvement Company of Trenton, and the Public Service Corporation of New Jersey. He is also a director of the American Insurance Company and a member of its executive committee.
A man of action, Mr. Dryden thus demonstrates his public spirit by actual service which redounds to the welfare of the community. He has taken an active interest in the National Guard of New Jersey and on Feb- · ruary 11, 1913, resigned his commission as lieutenant-colonel and deputy commissary-general. As a citizen with ideas of good government he stands in the front ranks. He is a member of the executive committee of the Asso- ciation of Life Insurance Presidents and the Newark Board of Trade. He is vice-president and a director of the New Jersey State Chamber of Com- merce and chairman of its executive committee. He also belongs to the North Jersey Society for the Promotion of Agriculture and the National Citizens' League, and is a life member of the Newark Museum Association and the Academy of Political Science in the city of New York. He is first vice-president and a director of the U. S. Boy Scout, and holds membership in the Civic Forum, New York. He belongs to the Essex County Country, the Somerset Hills Country, the Morris County Golf, the Baltusrol Golf and the Essex Clubs; also to the Essex Fox Hounds, the Economic Club of New York and the Down-Town Club, Newark.
The personality of Mr. Dryden is that of a man of great force of char- acter, inexhaustible energy and extraordinary tenacity of purpose. He pos- sesses marked administrative ability and many of the most useful methods now universally in operation in the industrial insurance business were origi- nally introduced by him. He possesses much personal magnetism and this, in combination with his business qualifications, has been a potent factor in his success. He keeps fully abreast of the times and in touch with the best
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HISTORY OF NEWARK
thought of the day, and is in the van of progress. His dominant character- istics are stamped upon his countenance and of his personal appearance it is sufficient to say that he looks the active, earnest executive that he is. To whatever he undertakes he gives his whole effort, paying to the many inter- ests intrusted to his care close and able attention. He is a loyal friend and a genial, kindly gentleman.
Mr. Dryden married Grace, daughter of Dr. Isaac N. Carleton, of Brad- ford, Massachusetts, and they are the parents of three children: John F. Dryden, 2d; Dorothy Dryden, and Elizabeth Butterfield Dryden. Mr. Dryden has a town house in Newark and a country home at Bernardsville, New Jersey.
The Prudential Insurance Company of America was founded and devel- oped by a man of great brain and large heart, John F. Dryden. It is now under the guidance of his son, Forrest F. Dryden, who will enlarge the scope of its work, uphold its high standards of honor, and make its future even more illustrious than its past.
JAMES M. REILLY
James M. Reilly was born in the Fifth Ward of the city of Newark. After studying under a member of the Christian Brothers, he graduated at the head of his class from St. James' Parish School and later took a course of private instruction. He read law for a time with students in the office of Vice-Chancellor Howell, while employing his time as clerk with the Board of Trade.
Entering the offices of the Board of Trade when a lad in his teens, he has made his life's work a part of the history of Newark during the past quarter of a century, and is recognized to-day as one of the men of the city whose civic pride and personal worth can always be counted on to undertake a public service for the public good without regard to personal gain.
From 1882, as superintendent of exhibits of the New Jersey State Agri- cultural Society, he demonstrated an executive ability which made him the practical director of its affairs, and he was elected to the board of managers in recognition of his services. In 1892 he was also elected secretary of the New Jersey State Lumbermen's Association. In this office he became a force in the lumber trade of the United States, achieving a renown among lumber- men in all parts of the country by his able advocacy of a policy of protection and the establishment of a code of trade ethics. His success led to the institution of a suit by the Department of Justice under the Sherman Act to cause a dissolution of the various State and local associations, approving and adopting the principle of "Selling through dealers only" advocated by him, which suit is now pending a decision in the United States Supreme Court.
While performing all the duties of the office of secretary of the Board of Trade of the city of Newark, for many years he refused to accept the office until 1900. Under his direction and able management this body has advanced from a debating society to a substantial body now recognized in official circles, municipal, State and even national, as one of the most important, efficient and substantial of the commercial bodies of the country. Incidental to his service in this body, he has given to the press various valuable contributions. His "Historical Review of the Development and Progress of Industry in the City of Newark," in the first volume of this his- tory, is highly creditable to him, not only as an authority on the subject, but also as. a writer.
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His capacity for organization work has earned him a wide reputation. He helped to organize many boards of trade, lumber associations and other form of organizations among business men in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Jersey. Holding office as secretary to the several organizations jointly, he has been successful in directing their work, always finding the time and energy to assume extra additional duties-in 1893 serving the Citizens' Aid Committee in relieving distress among the thou- sands of unemployed during the panic of that year, for which the sum of $47,000 was disbursed; in 1898 directing the plan of campaign to care for the wives and children of the First Regiment Volunteers, distributing in this work $15,000; in 1910 planning the raising of a fund of $43,000 for the relief of the sufferers from the High street fire; and during the year 1913 leading the work of subscription for the flood sufferers in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky, for which the sum of $22,386 was raised.
His activity as a worker for river and harbor improvement commenced in helping to organize the National Rivers and Harbors Congress at its first convention held in the Johns Hopkins Institute of Baltimore in 1901. He is one of the reliable leaders with Hon. J. Hampton Moore, of Philadelphia, and Hon. Frederick W. Donnelly, Mayor of Trenton, in the Atlantic Deeper Waterways Association in the movement to secure the construction of a system of intra-coastal canals along the Atlantic coast from Cape Cod to Jacksonville.
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