The Denver Jewish news., 1919-07-09
MEMORIAL TO CHAMPION OF
JEWISH RIGHTS.
Dedicated as H.serstowu, Md.


A monument commemorative of one
Of the most prOtraeted and bitter strug-
gle for the extension Of equal political
rights in this country was unveiled in
Hagerstown, Maryland, June 1, at the
grave of Thomas Kennedy, the Mary
land legislator who led the fight to
have the oath required of office-hold-
ers and trustees modified by substitut'
ing declaration of belief in "A future
state of rewards and punishments" for
belief in the Trinity, when the at
testant was u person belonging to the
Jewish faith.
The battle for the adoption of the
measure, introduced by Kennedy in
1918, was not won until 1926. The
question involved was the chief issue
in at least one Statewide campaign,
in which Kennedy was assailed with
contemptuous epithets and accused of
making a shameful attack Oh the
Christian religion. Tho defeated one
year on account of his espousal of the
cause in which he enlisted, Kennedy
again was u member Of the Legisla-
ture when Maryland removed the re-
strictions that We're Inconsistent with
her reputation for freedom from re-
ligiOus intolerance.
Only $50 Jews lived in Maryland in
1918, of whom not one was u resident
Of Washington County, which Ken
nedy represented, but in the fall of
the year of 1926 when the bill for
the relief of the Jews in Maryland
became law, two citizens of Jewish
faith, s. Etting and j. s. Cohen, were
elected members Of the city council
of Baltimore and since then some OF
the most distinguished statesmen in
Maryland have been of the faith pro-
scribed by the statutes of century
ago.
The monument, n tall granite shaft.
in Rose Hill Cemetery, was erected
Last year, the centenary of the intro
uuCtloh u thG JSWlSh ll6htS ehA~
funds being contributedby few Jews.
nearly all living in HagerstOwn, who
Iefrained from giving publicity to their
enterprise until u few days ago, when
plans for the indication were fOrmu-
lated. To Isador 8. Kahn, mer-
chant, Of Hagerstown, belongs the cred
it of engineering the project. He had
resolved to undertake the recognition
Of Kennedy's services when scarcely
out Of his teens, and to that end sew
eral, Iasrs ago awarded a sul6tsnttal
cash prize for the best essay on Ken
nedy's life and achievements, the sue
cessful essayist having been Miss Clara
Tucker Riley, Of Annapolis.
Kennedy was Scotchman, descend
ed from the noble families of Cassilis
and Lindsay. He emigrated in 1896
when twenty years old, to eat his first
republican neal OF corn poan" with
brother in Georgetown, ID. c.. and
become an employee in a Georgetown
store. Three years later he moved
tc Williamsport, Nd. and it was in
Williamsport, along the Potomac River.
that he became prosperous merchant.
sending the first cargo of flour to
Georgetown by canal and doing an ex-
tensive pack horse trade with frontier
settlements, probably as far west as
Kentucky and Ohio. -
He became the owner Of several
farms, statesman and "a poet. His
poems included sentimental ballads,
hymns, elegies, and patriotic songs.
Some of the patriotic songs were very
popular thruOut the country during the
war of 1872 Kennedy wrote the ode
Of welcome to Lafayette in behalf OF
the State Legislature when the dis
tinguished French patriot visited An
napOlis. He spent the last few years
of his life in Hagerstown as editor of
a newspaper established to support the
principles of Andrew Jackson.
Kennedy not only fought for the eX-
tension of political rights, but he ad-
xocated the cause Of caring for the
veterans of the Revolutionary War. the
theme of one of his poems. and it is
most fitting that the memorial attest
ing his services as "A champion of jus
tice should be dedicated at II period
when the young veterans of another
war for independence are returning by
thousands to resume their places in
the industrial ranks.-American He
brew.
Albert Robertson, who died in New
NOrE Cify IN Nav z bpnIieo tbad Olt-