Son of Richard Kitchenman and Phoebe Foster Kitchenman.
Lived to age 84 years.
The life history of James Kitchenman is one to which his family and friends may point with pride, inasmuch as he never allowed obstacles and difficulties to bar his path when they could be overcome by honorable effort. He saw and recognized opportunities that others passed by unheeded and when unfaltering energy and unabating diligence were demanded in the accomplishment of any task he was found ready to meet the requirements. Thus gradually he worked his way upward, his path being marked by successful accomplishment at each point in his career until eventually he became one of the foremost manufacturers of Kensington.
He was born in Barnsley, England, November 19, 1825, and was a young lad when he accompanied his parents on the long voyage across the Atlantic to the new world. His financial resources in youth were very limited and necessitated his securing a position when a young lad that he might provide for his own support.
He therefore sought and secured a position in a dye house and as he became familiar with the business determined to engage in the same line some day on his own account. At length his unfaltering industry and careful expenditure made this course possible and he established a dyeing business, which he conducted for a considerable period in a most successful manner. In fact his prosperity in that connection enabled him to engage in the manufacture of carpets with Samuel Horner and his brother at Amber and Letterly streets. After the dissolution of that partnership he turned his attention to the manufacture of ingrain carpets and woolen and worsted yarns, having a large plant at Huntingdon and Jasper streets. Subsequently he was joined in a partnership by George M. Neal in the manufacture of body Brussels and Axminster carpets, the enterprise being conducted under the firm style of Kitchenman & Neal. With the growth of the business, he kept increasing his facilities, adding to his mill until he had one of the largest and finest manufacturing enterprises in Kensington. He also took up the manufacture of hosiery, which he carried on on a large scale at Amber and Letterly streets. The attractiveness of design and the excellence of quality in all of his manufactured products brought him substantial success, his sales annually increasing until he became recognized as one of the most prominent manufacturers of eastern Pennsylvania. About fifteen years prior to his demise, he retired from active business, although he still retained his mill at Jasper and Huntingdon streets. He has come to be classed with those men whose intelligently directed industry and effort have numbered them with the capitalists of Philadelphia.
Mr. Kitchenman was married in Philadelphia in the '50s to Miss Margaret Crawford, a daughter of William Crawford, an early resident of this city. They became the parents of live children but only two are now living, Anna, the first born, and Qara and Margaret, the two youngest of the family, having passed away. The others are Mary, now the wife of G. S. Coyne; and Miss Elizabeth Kitchenman, to whom we are indebted for the facts concerning her honored father.
Mr. Kitchenman was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at one time and he attended the Bethel Presbyterian church. His political allegiance was given to the democracy and he was a public-spirited citizen, as was manifested by his support of the various projects and movements instituted for the general good. Moreover, he was kindly and charitable, and few men have realized more fully the responsibility of wealth.
He never forgot in his later years the struggles of his boyhood and was ever willing and ready to aid and encourage young men who were starting out in life for themselves and bending every energy to the accomplishment of the tasks assigned them. He was ever approachable and kindly and his counsel proved of valuable assistance to many, while generous response to the needs of the indigent constituted one of his strong characteristics. His last years were spent in honorable retirement from business in an attractive home at No. 1024 West Lehigh Avenue, where he remained until his death, which occurred on Christmas day of 1909. Thus was closed the last chapter in his life history, but it will be long before his memory fades from the minds and hearts of those with whom he came in contact.
Lived to age 84 years.
The life history of James Kitchenman is one to which his family and friends may point with pride, inasmuch as he never allowed obstacles and difficulties to bar his path when they could be overcome by honorable effort. He saw and recognized opportunities that others passed by unheeded and when unfaltering energy and unabating diligence were demanded in the accomplishment of any task he was found ready to meet the requirements. Thus gradually he worked his way upward, his path being marked by successful accomplishment at each point in his career until eventually he became one of the foremost manufacturers of Kensington.
He was born in Barnsley, England, November 19, 1825, and was a young lad when he accompanied his parents on the long voyage across the Atlantic to the new world. His financial resources in youth were very limited and necessitated his securing a position when a young lad that he might provide for his own support.
He therefore sought and secured a position in a dye house and as he became familiar with the business determined to engage in the same line some day on his own account. At length his unfaltering industry and careful expenditure made this course possible and he established a dyeing business, which he conducted for a considerable period in a most successful manner. In fact his prosperity in that connection enabled him to engage in the manufacture of carpets with Samuel Horner and his brother at Amber and Letterly streets. After the dissolution of that partnership he turned his attention to the manufacture of ingrain carpets and woolen and worsted yarns, having a large plant at Huntingdon and Jasper streets. Subsequently he was joined in a partnership by George M. Neal in the manufacture of body Brussels and Axminster carpets, the enterprise being conducted under the firm style of Kitchenman & Neal. With the growth of the business, he kept increasing his facilities, adding to his mill until he had one of the largest and finest manufacturing enterprises in Kensington. He also took up the manufacture of hosiery, which he carried on on a large scale at Amber and Letterly streets. The attractiveness of design and the excellence of quality in all of his manufactured products brought him substantial success, his sales annually increasing until he became recognized as one of the most prominent manufacturers of eastern Pennsylvania. About fifteen years prior to his demise, he retired from active business, although he still retained his mill at Jasper and Huntingdon streets. He has come to be classed with those men whose intelligently directed industry and effort have numbered them with the capitalists of Philadelphia.
Mr. Kitchenman was married in Philadelphia in the '50s to Miss Margaret Crawford, a daughter of William Crawford, an early resident of this city. They became the parents of live children but only two are now living, Anna, the first born, and Qara and Margaret, the two youngest of the family, having passed away. The others are Mary, now the wife of G. S. Coyne; and Miss Elizabeth Kitchenman, to whom we are indebted for the facts concerning her honored father.
Mr. Kitchenman was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at one time and he attended the Bethel Presbyterian church. His political allegiance was given to the democracy and he was a public-spirited citizen, as was manifested by his support of the various projects and movements instituted for the general good. Moreover, he was kindly and charitable, and few men have realized more fully the responsibility of wealth.
He never forgot in his later years the struggles of his boyhood and was ever willing and ready to aid and encourage young men who were starting out in life for themselves and bending every energy to the accomplishment of the tasks assigned them. He was ever approachable and kindly and his counsel proved of valuable assistance to many, while generous response to the needs of the indigent constituted one of his strong characteristics. His last years were spent in honorable retirement from business in an attractive home at No. 1024 West Lehigh Avenue, where he remained until his death, which occurred on Christmas day of 1909. Thus was closed the last chapter in his life history, but it will be long before his memory fades from the minds and hearts of those with whom he came in contact.
Son of Richard Kitchenman and Phoebe Foster Kitchenman.
Lived to age 84 years.
The life history of James Kitchenman is one to which his family and friends may point with pride, inasmuch as he never allowed obstacles and difficulties to bar his path when they could be overcome by honorable effort. He saw and recognized opportunities that others passed by unheeded and when unfaltering energy and unabating diligence were demanded in the accomplishment of any task he was found ready to meet the requirements. Thus gradually he worked his way upward, his path being marked by successful accomplishment at each point in his career until eventually he became one of the foremost manufacturers of Kensington.
He was born in Barnsley, England, November 19, 1825, and was a young lad when he accompanied his parents on the long voyage across the Atlantic to the new world. His financial resources in youth were very limited and necessitated his securing a position when a young lad that he might provide for his own support.
He therefore sought and secured a position in a dye house and as he became familiar with the business determined to engage in the same line some day on his own account. At length his unfaltering industry and careful expenditure made this course possible and he established a dyeing business, which he conducted for a considerable period in a most successful manner. In fact his prosperity in that connection enabled him to engage in the manufacture of carpets with Samuel Horner and his brother at Amber and Letterly streets. After the dissolution of that partnership he turned his attention to the manufacture of ingrain carpets and woolen and worsted yarns, having a large plant at Huntingdon and Jasper streets. Subsequently he was joined in a partnership by George M. Neal in the manufacture of body Brussels and Axminster carpets, the enterprise being conducted under the firm style of Kitchenman & Neal. With the growth of the business, he kept increasing his facilities, adding to his mill until he had one of the largest and finest manufacturing enterprises in Kensington. He also took up the manufacture of hosiery, which he carried on on a large scale at Amber and Letterly streets. The attractiveness of design and the excellence of quality in all of his manufactured products brought him substantial success, his sales annually increasing until he became recognized as one of the most prominent manufacturers of eastern Pennsylvania. About fifteen years prior to his demise, he retired from active business, although he still retained his mill at Jasper and Huntingdon streets. He has come to be classed with those men whose intelligently directed industry and effort have numbered them with the capitalists of Philadelphia.
Mr. Kitchenman was married in Philadelphia in the '50s to Miss Margaret Crawford, a daughter of William Crawford, an early resident of this city. They became the parents of live children but only two are now living, Anna, the first born, and Qara and Margaret, the two youngest of the family, having passed away. The others are Mary, now the wife of G. S. Coyne; and Miss Elizabeth Kitchenman, to whom we are indebted for the facts concerning her honored father.
Mr. Kitchenman was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at one time and he attended the Bethel Presbyterian church. His political allegiance was given to the democracy and he was a public-spirited citizen, as was manifested by his support of the various projects and movements instituted for the general good. Moreover, he was kindly and charitable, and few men have realized more fully the responsibility of wealth.
He never forgot in his later years the struggles of his boyhood and was ever willing and ready to aid and encourage young men who were starting out in life for themselves and bending every energy to the accomplishment of the tasks assigned them. He was ever approachable and kindly and his counsel proved of valuable assistance to many, while generous response to the needs of the indigent constituted one of his strong characteristics. His last years were spent in honorable retirement from business in an attractive home at No. 1024 West Lehigh Avenue, where he remained until his death, which occurred on Christmas day of 1909. Thus was closed the last chapter in his life history, but it will be long before his memory fades from the minds and hearts of those with whom he came in contact.
Lived to age 84 years.
The life history of James Kitchenman is one to which his family and friends may point with pride, inasmuch as he never allowed obstacles and difficulties to bar his path when they could be overcome by honorable effort. He saw and recognized opportunities that others passed by unheeded and when unfaltering energy and unabating diligence were demanded in the accomplishment of any task he was found ready to meet the requirements. Thus gradually he worked his way upward, his path being marked by successful accomplishment at each point in his career until eventually he became one of the foremost manufacturers of Kensington.
He was born in Barnsley, England, November 19, 1825, and was a young lad when he accompanied his parents on the long voyage across the Atlantic to the new world. His financial resources in youth were very limited and necessitated his securing a position when a young lad that he might provide for his own support.
He therefore sought and secured a position in a dye house and as he became familiar with the business determined to engage in the same line some day on his own account. At length his unfaltering industry and careful expenditure made this course possible and he established a dyeing business, which he conducted for a considerable period in a most successful manner. In fact his prosperity in that connection enabled him to engage in the manufacture of carpets with Samuel Horner and his brother at Amber and Letterly streets. After the dissolution of that partnership he turned his attention to the manufacture of ingrain carpets and woolen and worsted yarns, having a large plant at Huntingdon and Jasper streets. Subsequently he was joined in a partnership by George M. Neal in the manufacture of body Brussels and Axminster carpets, the enterprise being conducted under the firm style of Kitchenman & Neal. With the growth of the business, he kept increasing his facilities, adding to his mill until he had one of the largest and finest manufacturing enterprises in Kensington. He also took up the manufacture of hosiery, which he carried on on a large scale at Amber and Letterly streets. The attractiveness of design and the excellence of quality in all of his manufactured products brought him substantial success, his sales annually increasing until he became recognized as one of the most prominent manufacturers of eastern Pennsylvania. About fifteen years prior to his demise, he retired from active business, although he still retained his mill at Jasper and Huntingdon streets. He has come to be classed with those men whose intelligently directed industry and effort have numbered them with the capitalists of Philadelphia.
Mr. Kitchenman was married in Philadelphia in the '50s to Miss Margaret Crawford, a daughter of William Crawford, an early resident of this city. They became the parents of live children but only two are now living, Anna, the first born, and Qara and Margaret, the two youngest of the family, having passed away. The others are Mary, now the wife of G. S. Coyne; and Miss Elizabeth Kitchenman, to whom we are indebted for the facts concerning her honored father.
Mr. Kitchenman was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at one time and he attended the Bethel Presbyterian church. His political allegiance was given to the democracy and he was a public-spirited citizen, as was manifested by his support of the various projects and movements instituted for the general good. Moreover, he was kindly and charitable, and few men have realized more fully the responsibility of wealth.
He never forgot in his later years the struggles of his boyhood and was ever willing and ready to aid and encourage young men who were starting out in life for themselves and bending every energy to the accomplishment of the tasks assigned them. He was ever approachable and kindly and his counsel proved of valuable assistance to many, while generous response to the needs of the indigent constituted one of his strong characteristics. His last years were spent in honorable retirement from business in an attractive home at No. 1024 West Lehigh Avenue, where he remained until his death, which occurred on Christmas day of 1909. Thus was closed the last chapter in his life history, but it will be long before his memory fades from the minds and hearts of those with whom he came in contact.
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