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19 Philanthropist and War Democrat
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19 philanthrpist and war demcrat Toward the end of the telegraph wars Kendall was making conscious efforts to improve his family’s social standing. When Morse invited sixteen-year-old Fannie Kendall to visit his family at the Gramercy Park House in New York in 1855, Kendall gratefully accepted. He hoped that his daughter could remain under Morse’s “guidance” for several months and learn “what society you have” in New York. Not long after her return Fannie married rising young attorney Robert Fox of Washington. The Kendalls put on another elegant wedding and were disappointed that the Morses were unable to attend. In the fall of 1860 they ventured into New York society themselves, taking their youngest daughter , Marion, to the Princess Ball. Jane was resplendent, wearing an expensive reengagement ring that she had designed herself from a selection of diamonds brought down from Tiffany.1 Much of the Kendalls’ social standing depended on their country estate. Although a far cry from the Hermitage or Ashland, Kendall Green was something like Martin Van Buren’s Lindenwald and Francis P. Blair’s Silver Spring. After many improvements and additions, their farmhouse, set high on a ridge, had become a handsome mansion. Visitors drove up a broad driveway to a recessed front door set off by columns and flanked by tall windows. A balcony and two large wings gave the house an air of grandeur. The mansion was surrounded by an array of outbuildings, including cisterns, carriage houses, stables, woodsheds, and a bowling green.2 But the absence of the usual fields of grain and tobacco gave the estate what one observer described as a “skeleton look.” In spite of his many remarks 1. Kendall to Morse, 7 Dec. 1855, 14 Dec. 1856, Morse to Kendall, 29 Dec. 1856, Morse Papers; Ted Gold, History of Cornwall, Conn., in Hopson, notes for unfinished Ph.D. diss.. 2. William Stickney to Edward M. Gallaudet, 16 Mar. 1870, pictures and descriptions of Kendall Green, Gallaudet University Archives. Philanthropist and War Democrat 279 about the agrarian life and his stout defense of slavery, Kendall showed no interest in running a plantation. He preferred, instead, to use the land for some form of business. In 1854 he started a real estate development, called “Kendallville,” laying out lots, building houses, and offering horse-drawn omnibus service from Pennsylvania Avenue. When that failed, he and John decided to make money by planting grapevines and selling wine. He invested $10,000, hired several farmhands, and built a gardener’s cottage, a brick and glass greenhouse, and a brick wine vault. Kendall worked occasionally in the vineyard, but John remained in New York tending to his new duties in the American Company.3 Amos and Jane continued to care for an extended family. They shared the mansion with their daughters Mary Anne and Marion and five grandchildren. One of the unsold houses was rented to Jeannie and William Stickney, who had a baby son, and a new house was being built for John and Lizzie. John wanted it placed up on the ridge, but his father insisted on putting it down near the vineyard, where John could “live among the vines.” In the end it did not matter because John and Lizzie decided to stay in New York, and the house went to Fannie and Robert Fox.4 Kendall now had the wealth as well as the inclination to become a philanthropist . He had inherited the urge to do good from his father and had shown an interest in a variety of reforms. His concern for the deaf, which had been piqued by his acquaintance with Sarah Morse, was rekindled in 1856 when a man from New York solicited him for funds to support five deaf-mute children . After giving the man money, Kendall was shocked to discover that the man was exploiting and abusing his wards. Acting quickly, he won a court order giving him control of the children and brought them to live in another of his empty houses. Early in 1857 he secured an act of Congress establishing the Columbia Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb and the Blind, with a grant of $150 a year for each student. Kendall was elected president and began looking for a superintendent.5 3. Kendall never became a successful winegrower. Hudson, Journalism, 246 (quotation); Wilhelmus B. Bryan, A History of the National Capital, 2 vols. (New York, 1914), 2:369–70; Gold, History of Cornwall...