Luther Martin KENNETT, Congress, MO (1807-1873)

KENNETT, Luther Martin, a Representative from Missouri; born in Falmouth, Pendleton County, Ky., March 15, 1807; attended private schools; deputy county clerk of Pendleton County in 1822 and 1823 and of Campbell County, Ky., in 1824; moved to St. Louis, Mo., in 1825; employed in a mercantile establishment; later engaged in lead mining and the manufacture of shot in Jefferson and St. Francis Counties, Mo.; returned to St. Louis in 1842; city alderman 1843-1846; declined to be a candidate for reelection; spent several years in Europe on account of ill health, returning to St. Louis in 1849; vice president of the Pacific Railroad Co.; mayor of St. Louis 1850-1853; president of the St. Louis & Iron Mountain Railroad in 1853; elected as an Opposition Party candidate to the Thirty-fourth Congress (March 4, 1855-March 3, 1857); unsuccessful candidate for reelection; retired to his home near St. Louis Mo.; went to Europe in 1867, where he remained until his death in Paris, France, April 12, 1873; interment in Bellefontaine Cemetery, St. Louis, Mo.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present