James D. McKenna

James Daly McKenna^[1] was born on October 10, 1874, in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia,^[2] to parents Peter and Elizabeth (née Thomas) McKenna.^[1] His family was Roman Catholic.^[3] After graduating from public school, McKenna began his career as a newspaperman and established the Dartmouth newspaper Atlantic Weekly in 1893.^[2] Upon the establishment of Sussex, New Brunswick in 1904, McKenna moved there and purchased the publisher which would later be known as the Kings County Record after renaming it. McKenna entered municipal politics, becoming the mayor of Sussex in the 1920s,^[4] and later served as a Liberal Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in the Kings district between 1922 and 1925. Additionally, he began serving as the New Brunswick Publishing Company's president in 1923.^[2] At the time, the company oversaw multiple local newspapers including the Telegraph-Journal.^[5] McKenna later moved to Saint John,^[4] serving as its mayor between 1944 and 1948.^[2]

On September 23, 1902, McKenna became married with Nellie McGivern.^[1] He later married a second time in Albert County with Margaret E. R. Archibald, on August 2, 1919.^[6] On March 16, 1949, McKenna died at his home in Saint John, at the age of 74.^[2][7]