User:Richard Arthur Norton (1958- )/James Joseph Kennedy
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James Joseph Kennedy (July 1866 - December 13, 1926) emigrated from Ireland to USA in 1885 and worked as a plasterer where he died of a heart attack at the future site of the Chrysler Building.
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[edit] Birth and emigration
James was born in Sligo, Ireland to Richard Kennedy (c1830-c1871) and Mary Malloy (1830-1901). His siblings include: Mary Kennedy (1866-1949) who married a Brennan and died in Cincinnati in Ohio; Patrick Kennedy (c1865-1938); and Thomas Kennedy (c1865-1929). James emigrated from Ireland to the US between 1885 and 1888 and lived in New York City.
[edit] Marriage and children
Around 1895 James married another Irish immigrant, Katherine Carr (1865-1951). Katherine was the daughter of Thomas Carr (c1840-?) and Bridget Conboy (c1840-?) of Hollygrove, Athleague, Killeroran on the County Roscommon and County Galway border. Katherine and James had seven children with five living to adulthood: Kathryn Kennedy (1897-1974) who married Joseph O'Malley (1893-1985) who was the uncle of Walter Francis O'Malley (1903-1979) the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1950 to 1979; Mary Frances Kennedy (1898-1982) who married Walter M. Hill (1893-1965) who was a taxi driver and movie projectionist; Josephine Kennedy (1899-1900) aka Sarah Kennedy, who died as an infant; Thomas Kennedy (1901-1972) who never married; James Gerard Kennedy (1902-1903) who died as an infant; Joseph Kennedy (1905-1983) who never married; and James Gerard Kennedy I (1907-1997) aka James G. Kennedy, Sr. who married Antoinette Granato (1916-1942) and who later married Rita Masset and was the owner of an eponymous construction company. In 1900 James and Katherine were living on 8th Street in the Harlem section of Manhattan, Katherine was listed as "Kate Kennedy" and James was working as a plasterer. In 1920 they were living at West 160th Street in Harlem, and he was still working as a plasterer. His son James Gerard Kennedy would start out his career as a plasterer also.
[edit] Death and burial
He died of heart attack at future site of the Chrysler Building on December 13, 1926 at 43 Street and Lexington Avenue, Manhattan. The groundbreaking for the Chrysler Building was on September 19,1928. He was buried at Saint Raymonds Cemetery in the Bronx with Katherine and two of his children that died as infants: Sarah Josephine Kennedy; and James Gerard Kennedy I.
