John Pendleton Kennedy

Born in Baltimore in 1795, John Pendleton Kennedy studied law, served in the War of 1812, and built a career that mixed literature with public service. He practiced as a lawyer, served in the Maryland legislature and the U.S. House of Representatives, and later became Secretary of the Navy under President Millard Fillmore.

Kennedy is remembered chiefly as a novelist and man of letters. His best-known books include Swallow Barn (1832), a portrait of Virginia plantation life, and Horse-Shoe Robinson (1835), a historical novel set during the American Revolution. He also played an important role in the literary world of his time and is often noted for encouraging the young Edgar Allan Poe.

He died in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1870. Today, he stands out as one of the early American writers who tried to create a distinctly national literature while remaining deeply involved in the political life of the young republic.