Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1892, volume 3).djvu/556

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KENSETT
KENT

trouble, and with a large quantity of unimproved real estate, but, as the result of his efforts, it was soon freed from debt. It comprised, when he be- came coadjutor, several states and territories, from which so many new sees have been made that at present it embraces only the eastern part of Mis- souri. Bishop Kenrick gave a great impetus to the work of building churches. He delivered a series of lectures in St. Louis on the doctrines of his church, founded a magazine called the " Catho- lic Cabinet," and established various schools. In 1847 St. Louis was created an archiepiscopal see by Pius IX., and Dr. Kenrick became archbishop. In 1858 he received large bequests that afterward enabled him to carry out successfully his plans for endowing charitable and other institutions in St. Louis. During the civil war the archbishop de- voted his energies to the relief of the sick and wounded of both sides. When, after the war, a constitution was adopted by the state of Missouri, one of whose articles required all teachers and cler- gymen to take a stringent oath, he forbade his priests to do so, and the oath was afterward de- clared unconstitutional. In the Vatican council he was one of the ablest opponents of the dogma of papal infallibility ; but as his objection was not to the truth but the opportuneness of this doc- trine, he at once accepted it when it was defined. Archbishop Kenrick has introduced into his diocese numerous religious orders, which have charge of four industrial schools and reformatories, and 88 parochial schools with 17,180 pupils. The ceme- tery of St. Louis, laid out by him, is one of the finest on the continent. Among his works are " The Holy House of Loretto, or An Examination of the Historical Evidence of its Miraculous Translation " ; and " Anglican Ordinations."


KENSETT, John Frederick, artist, b. in Cheshire, Conn., 22 March, 1816 ; d. in New York city, 16 Dec, 1872. He was apprenticed to his uncle, Alfred Daggett, an engraver of bank-note vignettes, and de- voted his leisure to painting. In 1840 he went to Eng- land, where he stud- ied art for five years, supporting himself by engrav- ing. In the spring of 1845 he exhib- ited in the Royal academy, London, his first picture, a distant view of Windsor castle, the purchase of which encouraged him to persevere in his pro- fession. He spent

the following two

years in Rome, painting views of Italian scenery, several of which became the property of the American art union. His " View on the Arno " and " Shrine," exhibited at the National academy in New York in 1848, established his reputation. In 1848 he returned to New York, where he re- sided till his death. He was elected an associate in 1848, and in 1849 a member of the National academy of design. In 1859 he was appointed a member of the National art commission to direct the ornamentation of the capitol in Washington, and to superintend the works of art that were placed there. His pictures are singularly equal in merit, facile and pure in feeling, and are popu- lar. George Bancroft wrote of him : " The works of his hands will make John F. Kensett familiar to posterity; the loveliness of his character and his virtues live in the memory and affection of his friends." His works are chiefly landscapes, and include " Mount Washington from North Conway" (1849); "Sketch of Mount Washington" (1851); " Franconia Mountains " (1853) ; " High Bank on the Genesee River " (1857) ; " Sunset on the Coast * (1858); "Sunset on the Adirondacks " (1860) ; "Au- tumn Afternoon on Lake George" (1864), in the Corcoran gallery, Washington ; " Glimpse of the White Mountains" (1867); "Afternoon on Con- necticut Shore"; "Noon on the Seashore"; "Lake Cohesus "; " Coast of Massachusetts "; " New Hamp- shire Scenery," owned by the Century club ; " Lake George " ; and " Narragansett." Thirty-eight of his paintings were presented to the Metropolitan mu- seum of New York by his brother Thomas in 1873. Others were sold in New York in 1887.


KENT, Aratus, clergyman, b. in Suffield, Conn., 15 Jan., 1794; d. in Galena, 111., 8 Nov., 1869. He was graduated at Yale in 1816, and he was licensed to preach in 1820. In 1822-'3 he studied in Princeton theological seminary and in 1825 was ordained pastor of a church in Lockport, N. Y., which charge he held till 1828. He then applied to the Home missionary society for "a place so hard that no one else would take it," and in 1829 was sent to the Galena, 111., lead-mines, where he established a Sabbath-school and a day- school. He organized the first Presbyterian church in Galena in 1831, and was its pastor till 1848, when he became agent for the Home missionary society in northern Illinois, serving till 1868. He was one of the founders of Beloit college and of Rockford female seminary, and although he had a small salary gave nearly $7,000 to the church.


KENT, Edward, governor of Maine, b. in Con- cord, N. H., 8 Jan., 1802 ; d. in Bangor, Me., 19 May, 1877. He was graduated at Harvard in 1821, studied law, and began to practise in Bangor in 1825. In 1827 he was appointed chief justice of the court of sessions for Penobscot county, and from 1829 till 1833 he was a member of the legis- lature. He was mayor of Bangor from 1836 till 1838, and governor of the state from 1838 till 1840. His election as governor was the first indi- cation of the defeat of the Democratic party throughout the country in 1840, and gave rise to a famous political song —

" Have you heard the news from Maine ? "

In 1843 Gov. Kent was appointed by the legislature a commissioner to settle the Maine boundary-line under the Ashburton treaty. He was a delegate to the National Whig convention of 1848, that nomi- nated Gen. Zachary Taylor to the presidency, and in 1849-'53 was U. S. consul at Rio Janeiro. In 1859 he was appointed associate justice of the state supreme court, and on his retirement in 1873 he was chosen president of the constitutional com- mission of Maine. Waterville college (now Colby university) gave him the degree of LL. D. in 1855.


KENT, Edward Augustus, Duke of, British soldier, b. 2 Nov., 1767; d. 23 Jan., 1820. He was the fourth son of King George III., and father of Queen Victoria. He studied at Gottingen and Geneva, and entered the army in 1790. Three years later he served under Sir Charles Grey in the at- tack on the French West India islands, and in compliment to him the name of Fort Royal in Martinique was changed to Fort Edward. In 1796 he was appointed governor of Nova Scotia, created Duke of Kent and Strathearne and Earl of Dublin, with a seat in the house of lords, and was appointed