The Final Round of 'Jack' Kennedy
A rough-and-tumble gold miner turned Seattle saloonkeeper leaves behind a legacy of generosity and the city’s complex, hard-drinking history.
John Kennedy, well known on Puget Sound and in British Columbia, died at his home in this city at three o'clock Friday morning, after an illness of about six weeks from a lung trouble. He was a native of Ireland and about 56 years of age. He came out to California in 1852, and remained in that state till 1868, when he came up to Victoria, and from there went to Cariboo and engaged in mining. He made a great deal of money, but spent it with a lavish hand. He remained in and about those mines till 1874, when he returned to Victoria and remained there a couple of years, after which he came to Seattle, and has since been engaged in the saloon business up to the time of his death. Though rough and unpolished, Jack Kennedy had within his breast a good heart, and was liberal to a fault. He leaves a wife but no children to mourn his loss. The funeral will take place from the Catholic Church at 1:30 Sunday afternoon.
“Though rough, and unpolished, Jack Kennedy had within his breast a good heart, and was liberal to a fault.”
Jack Kennedy’s life trajectory—from the gold rush mines to the boomtown saloons of early Seattle—echoes the city's long-standing identity as a place for ambitious transients. While his specific saloon is lost to time, the 'rough and unpolished' hospitality he provided remains a precursor to the dive-bar culture that still defines parts of Pioneer Square today.
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