John Kinsey (Quaker leader)

John Kinsey
Presiding Clerk of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
In office
1730–1750
Speaker of the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly
In office
1739–1745
Preceded byAndrew Hamilton
Succeeded byJohn Wright
In office
1745/1746 – May 11, 1750
Preceded byJohn Wright
Succeeded byIsaac Norris
Attorney General of Pennsylvania
In office
1738–1741
Preceded byJoseph Growden Jr.
Succeeded byTench Francis Sr.
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
In office
1743 – May 11, 1750
Member of the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly
In office
January 19, 1731 – ?
Preceded byDavid Potts
Speaker of the New Jersey Assembly
In office
1730–1733
Preceded byJohn Johnstone
Succeeded byJoseph Bonnell
Member of the New Jersey Assembly
In office
1727–1733
Personal details
Bornc. 1693
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US
DiedMay 11, 1750(1750-05-11) (aged 56–57)
Children7 (including James)
Occupation
  • Politician
  • Quaker leader
  • lawyer

John Kinsey (c. 1693 – May 11, 1750) was an American lawyer, politician, and Quaker leader. After being admitted to the bar in Philadelphia and in New Jersey, he was elected to the New Jersey Assembly and as speaker before moving to Philadelphia. A member of the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly, he served as speaker near-continuously from 1739 until his death. He also served in other positions in colonial politics, including attorney-general (1738–1741), chief justice (1743–1750), and presiding clerk of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (1730–1750). Since his death, he has risen from obscurity for his important role in Quaker history.

Early life and career

Kinsey was born circa 1693 in Philadelphia, to Sarah (née Stevens) and John Kinsey.[1] Raised in a Quaker family, he was the son of a Quaker minister (who was also speaker of the New Jersey Assembly[2]) and attended the local Friends' School before family moved out of the city in the early 1700s, settling in Woodbridge, New Jersey.[1] He worked as an apprentice for a New York joiner, but went for a law career due to his "Inquisitive disposition, and a Genius for something above his then employ".[1]

After presumably studying law in Philadelphia under David Lloyd,[1][2] Kinsey was admitted to the bar in Philadelphia (1724) and in New Jersey (1725).[2]

Political and Quaker career

Kinsey joined the New Jersey Assembly in 1727 and became speaker in 1730.[3] In 1730[3] or 1731[2], he moved to Philadelphia, though he still held both New Jersey legislative positions until 1733.[3] On January 19, 1731, he was elected a member of the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly to succeed David Potts.[3] With the exception of a brief period in 1745 and possibly 1746,[4] he served as speaker from October 15, 1739[3] until his death.[2]

Kinsey served as attorney-general from 1738 until 1741,[2] when the colonial deputy governor Sir George Thomas, 1st Baronet fired him after the assembly refused to provide Thomas' gubernatorial salary.[1] Kinsey reconciled with Thomas in 1743 on several conditions: the assembly would release Thomas' salary; Thomas would reverse his opposition to passing several laws; and Kinsey would become chief justice, a position he served until his death.[1] He was also trustee of the Pennsylvania General Loan Office trustee from 1739 until 1750.[2]

Outside of politics, Kinsey became a prominent Quaker leader within the city, becoming known among the community's "men of renown".[5] He led the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting as presiding clerk from 1730 until 1750 and served as a correspondent for the London Yearly Meeting.[2] Kinsey was part of a 1737 commission on the Maryland–Pennsylvania border and chaired a 1745 commission to negotiate an alliance with the Haudenosaunee during the French and Indian Wars, and he his leadership positions to oppose the province's involvement in King George's War.[1]

Thomas Wendel remarked in a 1973 Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography article that "Kinsey, by virtue of his leadership in Quaker affairs and his positions of attorney general and afterwards of chief justice, had a near monopoly on the reins of power until his death".[6]

Personal life, death, and legacy

In 1725, Kinsey married Mary Kearney; they had seven children,[3] including James Kinsey.[7]

Kinsey died on May 11, 1750, after falling ill while litigating before the New Jersey Supreme Court in Burlington. Edwin B. Bronner and Susan A. Hoffman argue that this illness may have been a stroke.[1][2] He was buried two days after his death,[2] though his exact burial place has been lost.[3] It was discovered that Kinsey had been engaging in embezzlement, with a £3,000 debt to the General Loan Office; this was a blow to the Quaker community amidst their warnings against poor behavior and he fell to obscurity afterwards.[1]

Despite his obscure nature, Kinsey has been subject to academic study, with Bronner calling him "one of the most important Quaker political figures in the colonial era since William Penn".[1][2] He has widely received credit for several political reforms within New Jersey, including the first compilation of the state's laws.[1][2]

Works

  • The Acts of the General Assembly of the Province of New-Jersey (1732)[8]
  • The Charters and Acts of Assembly of the Province of Pennsylvania (1742)[8]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Bronner, Edwin B. (1990). "KINSEY, John". In Garraty, John Arthur; Carnes, Mark C. (eds.). American National Biography. Vol. 12. Oxford University Press. p. 735.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Hoffman, Susan A. (September 23, 2004). "Kinsey, John (1693–1750), politician and lawyer". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/68175.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "House Speaker Biographies | John Kinsey | 1739 - 1750 - PA House of Representatives". Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Retrieved May 8, 2026.
  4. ↑ "Speakers of the Provincial Assembly (1682-1790) (page 14/28)" (PDF). The Pennsylvania Manual, Volume 117 (2005-2006 General Assembly). Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Bureau of Publications. Archived from the original on March 27, 2009. Retrieved May 7, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  5. ↑ Rediker, Marcus. "The "Quaker Comet" Was the Greatest Abolitionist You've Never Heard Of". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved May 8, 2026.
  6. ↑ Wendel, Thomas (1973). "The Speaker of the House, Pennsylvania, 1701-1776". The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. 97 (1): 3–21. ISSN 0031-4587. JSTOR 20090705.
  7. ↑ Field, Richard Stockton (1849). The Provincial Courts of New Jersey: With Sketches of the Bench and Bar. p. 307.
  8. 1 2 "Chief Justice John Kinsey (1693-1750)" (PDF). www.pacourts.us. Retrieved May 8, 2026.
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