is a son of John R. and Ellen Jane (Newnan) Kene. During his early childhood his parents removed to Westchester county, locating in Tuckahoe, town of East Chester, where he pursued his education in the public schools until 1867. He afterward studied in a private preparatory school in New York city, and subsequently continued his education in Baltimore and in Ilchester, Maryland, entering the law department of Columbia College in 1871. In May, 1873, he was graduated in that institution, and in December of the same year was admitted to the bar. He continued his studies for four years with the very prominent law firm of Close & Robertson, of White Plains, Westchester county, and spent the winters of 1876 and 1877 in the state legislature with Senator Robertson, as clerk of the senate judiciary committee, at Albany, and as assistant to Hon. Montgomery H. Throop, who was engaged in the work of preparing the laws of New York, being chairman of the commission on the revision of the statutes creating the code of civil procedure. All this tended to give Mr. Kene a very broad and thorough understanding of jurisprudence, and thus with an exceptionally thorough preparation he entered upon private practice. In 1877 he became a member of the firm of Banks, Keogh & Kene, with offices in New Rochelle and Portchester, New York. Since January 1879, he has practiced alone, and has an extensive and distinctively representative clientage. He was recognized as one of the leading members of the Westchester bar when in 1885 he opened an office in New York city. There he soon came into prominence, for his marked ability won recognition in the favorable opinions of the court in many litigated interests which he had in charge. He has been counsel in a large number of important suits involving large amounts arid most intricate legal questions. In Westchester county he has been elected police justice, civil justice and corporation counsel of New Rochelle, where he retains his residence. He has in an eminent degree that rare ability of saying in a convincing way the right thing at the right time. With a knowledge of the fundamental principles of law, he combines a familiarity with statutory law which makes him a formidable adversary in legal combat and has gained him marked distinction.
In June, 1887, Mr. Kene was united in marriage to Miss Emma C. Ehrhart, of New York city, and they have two children, — Cornelius E. and Juhan. Theirs is a beautiful home, located on Mayflower avenue, in Huguenot Park, on an elevated site which commands a fine view of the surrounding country from Long Island Sound to the Palisades. The Kene household is the center of a cultured society circle. Mr. Kene is a man of studious habits and scholarly tastes. He speaks several modern languages, has a broad acquaintance with the classics and is the author of poetical and prose productions. Master of the art of rhetoric, at once entertaining, logical and convincing, he is popular with his audiences and has delivered a number of interesting addresses.
HART, E. FRANK
E. Frank Hart is one of the substantial farmers of White Plains, Westchester county, and was born on the old family homestead in the town of Greenburg, September 27, 1847. While the origin of the family in America is not definitely known, the representatives of the name are probably descended from Edward Hart, who, history tells us, was a selectman of Flushing, Long Island, and reared a large family. He was imprisoned in 1657 because he would not expose the Quakers and deliver them to the Dutch governor. Captain Jonathan Hart, one of the direct ancestors of our subject, was a mariner. He married Hannah, daughter of John Budd, who was a resident of Long Island prior to 1664. Captain Hart settled at Budd Neck in 1685, and was a townsman of Rye in 1686. His son Monmouth married Sarah Ogden, resided at Rye Neck, purchased land in White Plains in 1712, and died in 1759 or 1761. He had three sons, Monmouth, James and Joseph. The eldest died in 1786. By his wife, Rachel Hart, he had the following children: Abraham, Hannah, Mary Ann, Rachel, Robert, James and Jonathan. James Hart, the second son of Monmouth and Sarah Hart, died in 1781, leaving three sons, James, Elisha and Jacob. The third son, Joseph, is said to have met death by drowning. He was given land by his father, who had purchased it of T. Merritt in 1740, and which had been proved by will in 1761. His children were Eleizar, of Long Island; Monmouth and John, of Greenburg; Joseph, who resided at the Leggett place; Josephua T., who made his home at the Horton place; Isaac; Mrs. Elizabeth Hatfield: Mrs. Sarah Purdy; Mrs. Deborah Merritt; and Mrs. Tamer Horton.
John Hart, the son of Joseph, owned what was afterward called the Allen Mead place, in Greenburg, and his children were Stephen, Isaac, William, Sarah, Eleizar, Andrew, Hannah and Patterson, and of this family, Eleizar married Rhoda Tompkins, and their children are Elisha, Asbury and John Hunter, the last named a resident of Hartsdale.
Monmouth Hart, born in 1752, was the great-grandfather of our subject. He was married in 1778 to Mary Gedney and resided at Hartsdale. Their children were Elizabeth, John, Cynthia, Elijah, Deborah, Joseph, Peter and Monmouth. The last named married Julia Ann Tompkins, and of their children, Joseph resides in the west, and Thomas and Lemuel reside at Hartsdale. John, a son of Monmouth and Mary (Gedney) Hart, and the grandfather of our subject, was born in 1781, and about 1805 married Phebe Fisher, by whom he had the following children: Phebe, Dorothea, Maria, Elijah Gedney, Elizabeth and Abigail Jane.
Elijah Gedney Hart, father of our subject, was born in the village of Hartsdale, Westchester county, in 1817, and died in 1885. He was a prominent and successful farmer and general business man, and was highly esteemed by all who knew him. In politics he was a stanch Democrat, and in religious belief was a Presbyterian, contributing liberally to the support of the church. In 1840 he was united in marriage to Miss Hanna Downing, who was born in the city of New York in 1821, and died in Westchester county in 1888. She was a daughter of Jordan and Elizabeth (Lord) Downing, and when a small child came with her parents to the town of Greenburg. Her remains were laid to rest in the Rural cemetery at White Plains. To Gedney and Hannah Hart were born five children: John Jay, born November 20, 1841, was married in 1866, in Salem, Nebraska, to Alvirdia Kinniison, and now resides in Warsaw, Missouri; Josephine, born March 20, 1844, married Jacob C. Horton, and died September 9, 1869, leaving two children, Cornelius J. and Jennie E. ; Elias Franklyn is the subject of this record; Monmouth G. , born December 3, 1850, was a prominent attorney and died December 7, 1895; and Elizabeth, born July 18, 1855, is the wife of Thomas Gibson, who resides in North street. White Plains, and they have five children, Alice, Ellen, James, Frank Hart and Fannie.
When a child E. Frank Hart attended the district schools and later became a student in the White Plains Academy. The three years immediately following his school days were spent in Nebraska. Returning to his. native county, he engaged in farming, and in 1879 purchased the Cornelius Horton farm, containing sixty-three acres, which is a part of the old Horton homestead. He now has a well improved place upon which are three good' barns, a number of other substantial outbuildings and sheds and a handsome residence of modern architecture. Everything about the place is characterized by neatness and thrift and indicates the careful supervision of a progressive and practical farmer.
In 1875, Mr. Hart was united in marriage to Miss Amelia McCord, a daughter of Albert and Adelia McCord. She died nine years later, leaving a daughter, who died at the age of eleven years. In 1886 Mr. Hart led to the marriage altar Miss Sarah Shute, a daughter of James L. and Mary (Fowler) Shute, of White Plains. She is a member of and earnest worker in the Methodist Episcopal church, and is a most estimable lady. Mr. Hart is a communicant of the First Presbyterian church, of White Plains, and is serving on its board of trustees. In his political affiliations he is a Democrat and takes an intelligent interest in the affairs of his party. He is ever ready to advance any movement or measure for the betterment of the community, and is a valued citizen of White Plains.
HART, MONMOUTH G.
The subject of this memoir was the third son of Gedney and Hannah (Downing) Hart, and was born December 3, 1850, in the town of Greenburg, in a house now standing on Chatterton Hill road. During his boyhood his parents removed to a farm on Central avenue, and there he spent the greater part of his life. He pursued his education in the old brick school-house, which is still standing, on the road between White Plains and Elmsford, and also spent one term in Professor Moody's select school, at White Plains. At sixteen years of age he put aside his text-books, and entered upon an independent business career by accepting a position as clerk in the dry-goods
