Quick Facts
Biography
James Kitchenman (November 19, 1825, Barnsley, England – December 25, 1909, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA) was one of the foremost manufacturers of Kensington, Philadelphia in the 1800s.
Early life
James Kitchenman was born in Barnsley, England, on November 19, 1825, to Richard Kitchenman and Phoebe Foster Kitchenman. He was a young ladwhen he accompanied his parents on the long voyage across the Atlantic to thenew world. His financial resources in youth were very limited and necessitatedhis securing a position when a young lad that he might provide for his ownsupport.
Career
Dyes
Kitchenman therefore sought and secured a position in a dye house and as hebecame familiar with the business determined to engage in the same line some dayon his own account. At length his unfaltering industry and careful expendituremade this course possible and he established a dyeing business, which heconducted for a considerable period in a most successful manner.
Carpets
In fact hisprosperity in that connection enabled him to engage in the manufacture ofcarpets with Samuel Horner and his brother at Amber and Letterly streets. Afterthe dissolution of that partnership he turned his attention to the manufactureof ingrain carpets and woolen and worsted yarns, having a large plant atHuntingdon and Jasper streets.
Subsequently, he was joined in a partnership byGeorge M. Neal in the manufacture of body Brussels and Axminster carpets, theenterprise being conducted under the firm style of Kitchenman & Neal. With thegrowth of the business he kept increasing his facilities, adding to his milluntil he had one of the largest and finest manufacturing enterprises inKensington. He used the Markland loom of 1868, and later the more efficient Crompton & Knowles ingrain looms.
Hosiery
He also took up the manufacture of hosiery, which he carried on alarge scale at Amber and Letterly streets. The attractiveness of design and theexcellence of quality in all of his manufactured products brought himsubstantial success, his sales annually increasing until he became recognizedas one of the most prominent manufacturers of eastern Pennsylvania. Aboutfifteen years prior to his demise he retired from active business, although hestill retained his mill at Jasper and Huntingdon streets. He has come to beclassed with those men whose intelligently directed industry and effort havenumbered them with the capitalists of Philadelphia.
Family
Mr. Kitchenman was married in Philadelphia in the 1850s to Miss Margaret Crawford, a daughter of William Crawford, who was an early resident of this city. They became the parents of five children: Anna, Clara, Margaret, Elizabeth and Mary. Mary married G. S. Coyne of the George S. Coyne Chemical Co. Among their descendants are the artist Elizabeth Kitchenman Coyne and Republican former member of the U.S. House of Representatives James K. Coyne III.
James Kitchenman was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at onetime and he attended the Bethel Presbyterian church in North Philadelphia. His political allegiancewas given to the Democratic party.In 1885, he was proposed as a candidate for Sheriff of Philadelphia, by a committee from the Knights of Labor, who applauded him as a Democrat, businessman, and "friend of labor" who sought to protect workingmen's rights to fair wages. He was a public-spirited citizen, as wasmanifested by his support of the various projects and movements instituted forthe general good. Moreover, he was kindly and charitable and few men haverealized more fully the responsibility of wealth.
His last years were spent in honorable retirement frombusiness in an attractive home at 1024 West Lehigh Avenue, Philadelphia, where heremained until his death, which occurred on Christmas Day of 1909. He is buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery.
Hexamer General Surveys
The Hexamer General Surveys document the floor plans for a number of Kitchenman's factories over time.
- Hexamer General Surveys, Volume 6, Plate 464: James Kitchenman's Carpet Manufactory
- Hexamer General Surveys, Volume 7, Plate 648: James Kitchenman's Worsted Factory
- Hexamer General Surveys, Volume 12, Plate 1085: James Kitchenman's Worsted Factory
- Hexamer General Surveys, Volume 13, Plate 1200: James Kitchenman's Worsted Factory
- Hexamer General Surveys, Volume 17, Plate 1629: James Kitchenman's Carpet Factory
- Hexamer General Surveys, Volume 30, Plate 2941: James Kitchenman's Carpet Factory
Sources
This article incorporates text from a free content work.Oberholtzer, Ellis Paxson (1912). Philadelphia, A History of the City and its People; A Record of 225 Years. 4. Philadelphia: S. H. Clark. p. 418.
