President of the Board.

Until President Murphy passed away he was vice president of the Board. After the death of Mr. Murphy his associated, by common consent, looked upon his as pre-eminently the man for he succession, and he was chosen by a unanimous vote and accepted in 1882. So familiar was he with the details of the work that he was able to grasp without embarrassment the enlarged responsibility placed upon him. With marvelously close observation and unerring precision he followed the workings of his subordinates and exhausted the usefulness of our aerial highway. Whatever complaints have been made were in no wise chargeable to any failure of his to perform the full measure of his duties in his connection with the bridge. Among the engineers and others engaged in the practical work of construction Mr. Kingsley was regarded almost with reverence because of his uniform kindness, courtesy and generosity. On January 2 of the present year, when he resigned the presidency and membership of the Board of Trustees. Until President Murphy passed away he was vice president of the Board. After the death of Mr. Murphy his associated, by common consent, looked upon his as pre-eminently the man for he succession, and he was chosen by a unanimous vote and accepted in 1882. So familiar was he with the details of the work that he was able to grasp without embarrassment the enlarged responsibility placed upon him. With marvelously close observation and unerring precision he followed the workings of his subordinates and exhausted the usefulness of our aerial highway. Whatever complaints have been made were in no wise chargeable to any failure of his to perform the full measure of his duties in his connection with the bridge. Among the engineers and others engaged in the practical work of construction Mr. Kingsley was regarded almost with reverence because of his uniform kindness, courtesy and generosity. On January 2 of the present year, when he resigned the presidency and membership of the Board of Trustees, the employees regarded it almost as a calamity, and in touching language expressed their esteem, admiration and gratitude for him. Mr. Kingsley was a conspicuous figure at the formal opening exercises of the bridge on May 24, 1883, and his appearance was the signal for the most enthusiastic cheering. His address on that occasion, formally turning the structure over to the control of the two cities, was wholly free from any suggestion of self consciousness, and was devoted chiefly to eulogy of the engineers to contributed their genius and some of them their lives to the prosecution of the enterprise. He was not there, he said, as the spokesman of his associates in the Board of Trustees. "They are," he added, "well content to let this great structure speak for them, and to speak more fittingly and eloquently yet for the skillful, faithful and daring men who have given so many years of their lives - and in several instances even their lives - to the end that the natural barrier to the union, growth and greatness of this great commercial center should be removed, and that a vast scientific conception should be matched in the skill and courage and endurance upon which it depended for is realization. With one name, in an especial sense, this bridge will always be associated - that of Roebling." Mr. Kingsley then proceeded to pay a high compliment to the Roeblings, father and son, heartily eulogized the associate and assistant engineers, and offered a glowing tribute to the memory of Mr. Murphy. In concluding his admirable address he said: "It has always seemed to the trustees as if the highest and humblest workmen engaged on this work were alike influenced by the spirit of enterprise in which the bridge had its origin. Men whose daily compensation was not more than sufficient to provide them and their families with their daily bread were at all times ready to take their lives in their hands in the performance of the imperative and perilous duties assigned them. In the direct prosecution of the work twenty men lost their lives. Peace hath its victories, and it has its victories and its martyrs, too. Of the seven consulting engineers to whom the matured plans of the elder Roebling were submitted - all men of the highest eminence in their profession - three have passed away, and four are living to witness, in the assured success of this structure, the one ratification of their judgement which cannot be questioned. It remains for me to say in conclusion, that the two cities rose at all times to the level of the spirit of our time and country. Their citizens staked millions on what seemed to many to be an experiment - a structure, it was often said, that at its best would not be of any actual use. How solid it is; how far removed it is from all sense of apprehension; how severely practical it is in all its relations, and how great a factor in the cooperative lives of these cities it is destined to be, we all now realize. This bridge has cost many millions of dollars, and it has taken many years to build it. May I say on this occasion that the people whom you represent (turning to where the mayors of the two cities stood together) would not part with the bridge today for even twice or thrice its cost. And may I remind those, who, not unnaturally perhaps, have been disappointed and irritated by delays in the past, that those who enter a race with time for a competitor have an antagonist that makes no mistake, is subject to no interference and liable to no accident." On this same occasion - that of the opening ceremonies - the Rev. Dr. Richard S. Storrs, one of the orators, referred to Mr. Kingsley and his associate and successor, Mr. Stanahan, as men "to whom the work had brought its burdens of labor, care and long solicitude, sometimes, no doubt, public criticism, whose imperious sharpness they may have felt, but who have followed their plans to completion without wavering or pause; who have, indeed, expanded those plans as the progress of the work suggested enlargement, and who today enter the reward which belongs to those, who, after promoting a magnificent enterprise, see it accomplished. "The judgement cannot be mistaken," added the reverend gentleman, "which affirms that to these men, more than to any other of our fellow citizens remaining among us, the prosecution of this work to its crowning success is properly ascribed. They are the true orators of the hour. We may praise, but they have builded. On the tenacity of their purpose, of which that of these combining wires only present the physical image - on the lift of their wills, stronger than these connecting cables - the immense structure has risen to its place. No grander work has it been given for man to do, for the city will feel the unfailing impulse of their foresight and courage, their wisdom in counsel and their resolute service to the end of history." Mr. Kingsley gave his services as president of the Board of Trustees to the public without compensation. The annual salary of $5,000 attaching to the office he declined to draw, permitting it to be covered into the bridge fund. To the last he seemed to look upon the magnificent structure which he had done so much toward creating with something of the affection that the father regards his favorite child. He resigned from the bridge to seek needed rest and to attend to his numerous, extensive, and long neglected private interests. His retirement was quite unexpected by the general public as it was regretted, and his services were fittingly recognized by the press, the public and his associate officials. During the latter part of his association with the Board, Mr. Kingsley devoted much thought to the question of tolls and other problems bearing on the future management of the river highway. He uniformly opposed every attempt at radical reduction in the revenue of the bridge, although it is hardly doubtful that he looked forward to ultimately making the promenade free for foot passengers. In the debates of the trustees he rarely participated, preferring to let others talk while he worked. At intervals, however, he was heard from, and when he spoke he commanded the closest attention of his auditors and exhibited a capacity that carried conviction with his well chosen words. Many exciting discussions occurred in the Board room, but through all of these he bore himself with the utmost dignity, always holding his temper in check and never descending to the level of personal controversy. Even the most extreme opponents of his policy in the Board entertained the highest respect for his ability and manly characteristics, and those who cooperated with him found a trained and skillful leader, a vigorous and uncompromising champion, and an untiring, loyal and devoted friend. Mr. Kingsley in Politics. In his political belief and affliction, Mr. Kingsley was a Democrat of Democrats, rock rooted in the faith. His earlier struggles never affected his allegiance, but rather intensified his devotion to democracy. It was not, however, until he had been for several years a resident of Brooklyn that he rose to a prominent position in political management. When he entered actively into politics he immediately advanced to the front rank of leadership. For nearly a score of years no man has wielded a larger influence in the Democratic organization here. To him the other party leaders invariably looked for counsel in time of trouble. Years of adversity and defeat only served to quicken his affection for and confirm his allegiance to the party of Jefferson and Jackson. Campaign after campaign found him absorbed in the effort to purify, unite and strengthen the party. His was always the patriotic and progressive course. Wit abiding and abounding confidence in the devotion of the common people to Democratic principles he looked forward to a Democratic restoration in State and Nation with as much assurance as he did to rising of the sun. Hardly had he entered upon the stage of local politics when his influence began to extend throughout the state. When the party, through the exposure of the rascality's of the Tammany Ring, was threatened with shipwreck, the weight of Mr. Kingsley's influence was through with that of the Hon. Samuel J. Tilden and other reformers against the knavish crew who had betrayed the organization and plundered the public. To his determined action was largely due the overthrow of that corrupt combination and the regeneration of the party in the State. Mr. Kingsley was an early advocate of the policy of reconciliation and reunion, represented in the candidacy of the Hon. Horace Greeley for the Presidency. In 1872 he went to the National Democratic Convention at Baltimore and urged the endorsement of Mr. Greeley upon the delegates. Undismayed by defeat in the nation, he set about repairing damages. Upon the nomination, in 1874, of the Hon. Samuel J. Tilden for the governorship, Mr. Kingsley threw himself heartily into the fight. In him the ticket of the reform Democrats found an ardent and loyal supporter and it was largely by reason of his sound advice and competent management that the splendid majority of 14,000 was rolled up in Kings County against Governor Dix. Long before the opening of the subsequent Presidential canvass, Mr. Kingsley recognized in Governor Tilden the most available candidate of the Democratic party for the Presidency. In the preliminary state convention of 1876, with other influential Democrats from Kings, he urged the selection of a Tilden delegation. From 1874 Kings had become essentially a Tilden county, and a source of constant embarrassment and mortification to the reactionary wing of the party. Again and again the legions of Tammany hurled themselves against the solid Brooklyn phalanx, only to retire baffled and beaten before the resolute and unflinching lines of the reformers. Mr. Kinglsey, in 1876, was a delegate from the Third Congressional District of this State to the Democratic National Convention at St. Louis. The suggestion of Mr. Tilden's name for the Presidency encountered much opposition, and with his associate leaders from Kings, including High McLaughlin, Thomas Kinsella and John C. Jacobs, Mr. Kingsley set himself to work to counteract it. After Tilden and Hendricks were placed in the field he labored zealously for the success of the ticket, contributing by his exertions largely to the majority of twenty thousand which Brooklyn yielded in that memorable contest. The opposition to Governor Robinson by John Kelly and his braves in 1879 only strengthened the ties between him and the Brooklyn Democrats, who insisted upon his re-nomination and did their part in the subsequent campaign, which, had other sections done as well as Brooklyn, would have resulted in a Democratic victory. In the summer of 1880 Mr. Kingsley was again called upon by his constituents in the Third Congressional District to represent them in the national councils of the party. He went to Cincinnati, under the impression that Mr. Tilden was the most desirable nominee who could be named and sustained that view until the receipt of the ex-Governor's positive letter of declination. Then Mr. Kingsley turned his attention to other candidates, and, with some of the Brooklyn men, proposed the name of Judge Calvin E. Pratt, of the Supreme Court. Judge Pratt declined to stand, and with the rest of the Kings County men Mr. Kingsley swung round to the support of General Hancock. That the gallant soldier who headed the Democratic hosts in the subsequent canvass was not elected was not the fault of Mr. Kingsley, who contributed liberally of his means and personal influence in the canvass. During the campaign he visited General Hancock at Governor's Island, and a warm friendship sprung up between the two men. Two years later Mr. Kingsley joined with other Brooklynites in urging the claims of General Henry W. Slocum on the state convention for the governorship. He was thoroughly satisfied, however, with the choice of Grover Cleveland, whose election he hailed as the harbinger of Democratic success in the country at large. Last spring, when the plans and possibilities of the Presidential year were under discussion, Mr. Kingsley made no concealment of his preferences. Quietly, but vigorously and effectively, he presented to his party friends the available points in the character and career of Governor Cleveland and recommended his nomination. The delicate and skillful manipulation through which Kings County was enabled to hold and held the balance of power in the state convention of last year was attributable as much to his skill as that of anyone. He was named as one of the delegates to the Chicago July Convention, his colleague being the Hon. Augustus Van Wyck, the new city judge. Mr. Kingsley carefully and intelligently studied the presidential field during the weeks preceding the assembling of the National Council. He realized the importance of conciliating the Independent Republicans and the conservative men of all parties, and concluded that Governor Cleveland was most eminently qualified for that work. At Chicago he was a conspicuous factor, and it is the general opinion that he did more than any single man to bring about the nominations of Grover Cleveland for the Presidency. It was recognized by every one that the eight delegates from Kings held the key to the situation. Under the operation of the unit rule, had they sided with the anti-Cleveland men, the nomination of the Governor would have been impossible. Mr. Kingsley was most influential in holding the Brooklyn delegation unanimously for the reform candidate. His tall form and grave, thoughtful countenance was seen moving everywhere among the delegates, who were anxious to know what New York wanted, and he presented with much emphasis his reasons for believing that Mr. Cleveland was the one man to carry the Democratic standard forward to victory. By his cogent and forcible arguments be brought many wavering delegates over to the reform and progressive element, and when, through his agency the sovereign voice of the Empire State spoke for the President elect the battle was won. The success of the Cleveland men was a matter of supreme gratification to Mr. Kingsley, who warmly espoused his cause in the successful canvass of last Autumn. For himself, Mr. Kingsley cared nothing for office. he never held an elective position, although frequently urged by his party friends to become a candidate. Almost any nomination within the gift of the party here was at his disposal had be chosen to accept. After the completion of the bridge, in 1883, hundreds of the most public spirited citizens of Brooklyn expressed themselves in favor of his running for the Mayoralty, and it is not improbable that he would have been nominated had he not peremptorily forbade the use of his name. In the gossip about the intention of the incoming Administration his name has frequently appeared. It is no secret that almost any office within the grasp of the Administration was at his disposal, had he chosen he could probably have gone into the Cabinet. To every suggestion in this direction, however, he returned a resolute declination, saying that he wanted nothing and would accept nothing. During his long and intimate association with politics he made thousands of friends and not a few intense and bitter enemies. For the latter he had an abiding recollection. He did not strike often in expression of his antagonism, but when he struck a blow it was delivered to some purpose, and adversary was certain to find it out. Mr. Kingsley's friends were by no means confined to the Democratic party, some of the most his intimate associates being conspicuous and well known Republicans. For healers and time servers he had nothing but contempt; but for the bright honest, active members of the party he had a warm side and extended hearty encouragement to them at every opportunity. With the utmost care he avoided the details of ward politics, dealing with the larger affairs, and with them in a prompt, decisive way that commanded the admiration even of his antagonists.

Personal Characteristics.

Mr. Kingsley in personal appearance was probably as well known as any man in Brooklyn. His was a figure once seen not easily forgotten. He stood considerably over six feet in height, with a well proportioned, sinewy and upright figure, and head gracefully poised above broad shoulders and deep, strong chest. His athletic frame bore living testimony to the beneficial effect of his early exercise in the open air and to the soundness of his physical qualities. His face was one that at once struck the observer with the strong intellectual force of the man. His brown hair rippled in curls back from a singularly high forehead, and his keen blue eyes looked out with alert expression beneath well defined brows. his nose was prominent and full of character, his mouth expressive and indicative of determination, and the lower portion of the face was fringed with brown whiskers extending up toward the ears. his extraordinary stature enabled him to look over the head of his fellow without the elevation of an eyebrow, and he had a habit of looking down on his acquaintances with a quizzical expression that was the reverse of disagreeable. In dress he was as unassuming as he was in manners. He bore himself always with quiet dignity, never assuming the airs of arrogance nor descending to compromising familiarity with his intimates. Socially he was a man among a million. Careful about the formation of new friendships, the once established could never be severed through act of his; and his even, placid temperament and genial, whole soiled nature bound men to him as with hooks of steel. One of the most marked traits in his character was his generosity, which, when centered upon an object deemed worthy, know no bounds. Hundreds of his fellow citizens recall his unostentatious and unaffected liberality s they mourn his loss. Apart from his contracting business, his association with the bridge and his participation in politics Mr. Kingsley was a busy man. he was the principal founder of the American District Telegraph Company, in which corporation he continued a director up to the time of his death. He was also a director in the Atlantic Avenue Railroad Company, the Brooklyn Trust Company and the Metropolitan Gaslight Company. In the last named corporation he was one of the most active officers and was one of the largest holders of gas stock in this city. He was also a large stockholder and director in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. With the late colonel Keeney and other associates be built and rebuilt the Brooklyn Theater and the Clarendon Hotel adjoining, and was one of the principal owner in that property at the time of his death. He was an extensive real estate owner in Brooklyn and had considerable mining interests in the West. one of the earliest contributors to the Brighton Beach Railway and hotel enterprise, he always took a deep interest in the development of Coney Island as well as the establishment of Prospect Park and all other resorts that promised diversion and healthfulness for the people. In the construction of the incomparable system of boulevards which connect Brooklyn with the seashore he assisted by his advice and gave to Mr. Stranahan, his friend and coadjutor, most efficient co-operation.
For the frivolities of society Mr. Kingsley cared but little. His leisure was passed principally at his home or at his favorite resort, the Brooklyn Club. His late residence, at No. 176 Washington Park, corner of Willoughby avenue, is one of the finest in Brooklyn. The house is handsomely furnished and filled with beautiful works of art and everything could contribute to a cheerful home life. His family consisted of his estimable wife, a Long Island lady, to whom he was married after he came East; his eldest son, Mr. Jay Cooke Kingsley; his daughters, Miss Anna L. Kingsley and Mrs. Swan, the wife of Mr. Samuel Halstead Wan, and his youngest son, Major Henry S. Kingsley. for several years past he had been full of solicitude for his eldest daughter, Miss Anna, who has been an invalid, and who is at present sojourning at Mentone, in the south of France. There Mr. Kingsley visited her during the past summer, and he intended on going to see her again within a few weeks. At last accounts she was very ill, and it is feared that the shock of her father's death may produce serious results. Of the sons, Mr. Jay Cooke Kingsley is a successful mining engineer, and Major Kingsley is a broker in active business. The deceased gentleman delighted in his family and was a most devoted husband and father. When at the club Mr. Kingsley was the center of observation, and was always surrounded by a company of hearty, loyal and admiring friends. Hardly a day passed that he did not stop on his way from the bridge office or his business office in the Telegraph Building on Montague street, at the Club House to take luncheon. Mr. Kingsley was fond of manly sports, and had acquired a reputation as an expert fisherman. His favorite Summer resort for many years was at Alexandria Bay, Thousand Islands, where his vacation were usually passed with his family and some of his Brooklyn friends. Of late years he found Manhattan Beach much to his liking, and was a frequent guest at the Oriental Hotel. Mr. Kingsley's robust constitution was always a subject of remark among his associates. It had withstood the shock of several sever attacks of illness, in one of which, about ten years ago, it was feared he would die. His rugged physique had impressed upon all who knew him the idea that he would survive to a ripe old age. S, when he returned a few days ago from Old Point Comfort-wither he had gone on a pleasure rip-his friends looked upon the announcement of his illness without serious misgivings. The shock caused by his melancholy taking off is all the more keenly felt because of its sudden occurrence. His demise, in the full prime of life and manly vigor, falls like a pall upon the community. There is some consolation, however, in the knowledge that he lived long enough to see completed the superb and stupendous structure to which he freely gave the last years of his life, our stately and beautiful bridge; that through storms of detraction and over obstacles reared by envy and malice he found the avenue to the heart of a grateful people; that long before the hand of a mortal illness was laid upon him his fellow citizens had cheerfully accorded the recognition which was his just and chief reward; that he died famous throughout the length and breadth of the land as the benefactor of Brooklyn, the city of his home, his pride and devotion. By those who knew and loved him he will be remembered as the conscientious, painstaking adviser, the sincere and generous friend, the manly, courageous, far seeing and faithful champion of all who placed their confidence within his keeping. But by the busy world, the warming millions of this Republic, his name in history will forever be associated with the mighty structure which, as it spans, beneath the Winter sky, the current of the mighty flowing river, forms an enduring monument to the greatness and undying fame of 'builder of the bridge.'