STOUT, COLONEL JOHN KENNEDY
Copyright 2011-2017 John N. Lupia, III
Colonel John Kennedy Stout (1849-19--), was born on November 29, 1849, at Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, son of Asher Miner Stout (1822-1860), an attorney from Yale, and Ellen Coell Gildersleeve (1824-1908) of Elizabeth, New Jersey. His great-great-grandfather Seth Miner (1742-1?) fought as a Commissioned Officer June 14, 1776 in the Revolutionary War at Breed's Hill, and as an Orderly Sergeant to Colonel Jedediah Huntington at the siege of Boston; Ensign of the First Company, Twentieth Regiment, Connecticut Militia. He was elected a member of the Sons of the American Revolution, March 29, 1905. He is also a member of the Society of Colonial Wars. He served as a Delegate to the General Society of Colonial Wars, State of California. He was also a member of the Pennsylvania German Society.
He was educated at Mr. Everest's School, Hamden Connecticut. In 1870, he graduated Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut. He is a member of the Psi Upsilon Fraternity. He then began to study law in his father's footsteps, but interest in writing and journalism took precedence and he pursued that putting law on hold. He graduated with his masters degree in 1873. For two years he served as the editor of the Eastern Pennsylvania Daily Express. He then worked for three years for the New York Tribune. He resumed his legal career and in 1877 was admitted to the New Jersey bar and moved to his mother's city of Elizabeth, New Jersey. In the city of Elizabeth at this time lived Bauman Lowe Belden (1862-1931), of ANS fame. Odds are the two never met since Stout soon moved to the state of Washington by 1880. His career in New Jersey was at 240 Washington Street, Jersey City working as Master of the Chancery 1878-1880. In 1881, he settled at Spokane where he practiced law. He served as the City Attorney 1882-1884. In 1886, he was a Trustee of the Spokane Public Library Association. He was appointed First Lieutenant of Company G, National Guard of Washington. Later he was appointed Major to the staff of Governor Semple. His commission continued on the staff of Governor Moore. He was made a Colonel by Governor Ferry. He was also appointed Chief Signal Officer. He was a member of the Cosmos Club. He was also a member of the Aztec Club of 1847.
He continued his career as a journalist as an aside becoming the theatre critic for the Spokane Review.
On October 29, 1892 he married Ida T. Homan (1868-), a native of New Orleans. Her mother was born in Germany and is a blood relative of the German poet Schiller. They had a son Miner Kennedy Stout (1901-1975).
In 1893 he became a member of the Washington State Society, Sons of the American Revolution.
Fig. Ernest F. Gambs (1858-1902), coin dealer correspondence with Stout registered mail postmarked San Francisco, California, October 13, 1894. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic Library.
In 19o0, he worked for the Federal Trade Commission, Washington, D. C. By 1920, he was made the Law Librarian of the Federal Trade Commission, Washington, D. C.
He died on March 3, 1922, Washington, D. C. His funeral was well attended by top ranking officials of the Sons of the American Revolution.
Bibliography :
Harvey Kimball Hines, An Illustrated History of the State of Washington: Containing Biographical () : 418-419