- John F. Dryden
John Fairfield Dryden (
August 7 ,1839 –November 24 ,1911 ) was a businessman and aUnited States Senator fromNew Jersey . Born inTemple, Maine , he moved toMassachusetts in 1846 with his parents, who settled in Worcester. He attendedYale College and, in 1875, founded the Prudential Insurance Co. of America (nowPrudential Financial ) inNewark, New Jersey , becoming its first secretary and in 1881 its president, and served in the latter position until 1911. He was one of the founders of theFidelity Trust Company . He was involved in the establishment and management of various street railways, banks, and other financial enterprises in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, and was elected as a Republican to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death ofWilliam J. Sewell and served fromJanuary 29 ,1902 , toMarch 3 ,1907 . Dryden was a candidate for reelection, but withdrew because of a deadlock in the legislature, which at the time elected U.S. Senators. While in the Senate, Dryden was chairman of the Committee on Relations with Canada (Fifty-seventh Congress) and a member of the Committee on Enrolled Bills (Fifty-eighth and Fifty-ninth Congresses). He resumed his former business pursuits and died in Newark, in 1911; his interment was in Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Newark.His daughter married
Anthony R. Kuser , who would use part of the Prudential fortune to donate 10,500 acres for a state park at New Jersey's highest point.John Dryden Kuser , Dryden's grandson, was a state senator andBrooke Astor 's first husband.References
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