JAMES KENNEDY was appointed to the Camden Fire Department as a Stoker with Engine Company 1 on April 5, 1882. He replaced George Hunt. James Kennedy served with the Fire Department for two years. 

James Kennedy was born in New Jersey in October of 1845, the oldest son of James and Margaret Kennedy. His father was in the show business. After James came Martha, twins Louisa and Margaret, Charles, Rebecca, and Laura. The Kennedy family was living in Newton Township when the census was taken in 1870. Newton Township was merged into Camden the following year. James Kennedy was then working as a laborer.  The family eventually took up residence at 630 Walnut Street.

James Kennedy's father, also named James Kennedy, was a prominent politician in the 1870s, serving as the first City Councilman from the Seventh Ward, and also serving as a county freeholder and two terms on Camden's Board of Education. He died in January of 1890.

The 1878 and 1879 City Directories show James Kennedy at 318 Chestnut Street. When the census was taken in 1880 James Kennedy had married Emma Brown and was a father. He, wife Emma, and son Thomas Kennedy lived at 260 Walnut Street in South Camden. The Kennedys stayed at that address through 1885.

The 1885 Camden City Directory shows James Kennedy had moved to 822 South 3rd Street. They relocated to 921 St. John Street in the late 1880s. By 1888 James Kennedy had a job as a fireman at the U.S. Arsenal in Philadelphia, possibly the Frankford Arsenal. He held this position through at least 1910. He moved to 935 Broadway by the latter half of 1890 and was still there in 1894. The 1896, 1897, and 1898 City Directories show James Kennedy at 516 Walnut Street. 

The 1899 City Directory and the 1900 Census lists James and Emma Kennedy at 624 Walnut Street. The couple was by this time childless, both Thomas and another child had died. James Kennedy's 86 year-old mother-in-law, Margaret Brown, lived with them. The Kennedys stayed at 624 Walnut Street into 1906.

By 1910 James and Emma Kennedy had moved around the corner to 625 Mount Vernon Street. They were still residing at that address when the 1914 Camden City Directory was compiled. On February 7, 1914 James Kennedy passed away. His widow Emma was still living at 625 Mount Vernon Street as late as 1920.