John Pendleton Kennedy was an American novelist, lawyer, and Whig politician who served as Secretary of the Navy from July 26, 1852, to March 4, 1853, during President Millard Fillmore's administration, as well as a U.S. Representative from Maryland's 4th congressional district, where he encouraged the United States government to study, adopt, and implement the telegraph. Kennedy, a lawyer who became a lobbyist and director of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, also served in the Maryland General Assembly for numerous times, eventually becoming Speaker in 1847. Kennedy later led the drive to abolish slavery in Maryland, which, as a non-Confederate state, was not impacted by the Emancipation Proclamation and required a state statute to free slaves within its borders and prohibit the practice's continuation. Kennedy also promoted religious tolerance and expanded research into Maryland history. He contributed to the preservation or establishment of Historic St. Mary's City (the site of Maryland's colonial founding and the birthplace of religious freedom in America), St. Mary's College of Maryland (then St. Mary's Female Seminary), the Peabody Library (now part of Johns Hopkins University), and the Peabody Conservatory of Music.