Representative Charles Kinsey

Charles Kinsey (1773 – June 25, 1849) was an American businessman, inventor, jurist, and politician who served two terms as a U.S. Representative from New Jersey from 1817 to 1819, and again from 1820 to 1821. A member of the Republican Party, then commonly known as the Democratic-Republican Party, he participated in the legislative process during a significant period in the early national history of the United States, representing the interests of his New Jersey constituents in the post–War of 1812 era.

Kinsey was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1773. He attended the common schools, receiving a basic formal education typical of the period. In early life he engaged in the manufacture of paper, entering what was then a developing and technically demanding industry. Seeking opportunities in this field, he moved to New Jersey, first settling in Bloomfield Township in Essex County. He later relocated to Paterson, an emerging industrial center, and subsequently to New Prospect in Bergen County, a community now within the borough of Waldwick, where he continued his involvement in paper manufacturing.

An innovator as well as an industrialist, Kinsey made a notable technical contribution to his trade. In 1807 he invented a machine that allowed paper to be produced in one continuous roll, a significant advance over traditional sheet-based production methods and an important step in the mechanization of papermaking in the United States. His prominence in the field and his engagement with national issues are reflected in his correspondence with James Madison, portions of which are preserved in the Library of Congress, indicating his connection to leading figures of the early republic and his interest in matters extending beyond his immediate business concerns.

Kinsey’s public career began at the state level in New Jersey. He was elected to the New Jersey General Assembly in 1812 and 1813, participating in state governance during the closing phase of the War of 1812 and its aftermath. In 1814 he served in the New Jersey Legislative Council, the upper house of the state legislature and the body now known as the New Jersey Senate. He returned to the General Assembly in 1819 and again in 1826, reflecting the confidence of his constituents and his continuing role in shaping state legislation during a period of economic expansion and political realignment.

At the national level, Kinsey was elected as a Democratic-Republican to the Fifteenth Congress, serving from March 4, 1817, to March 3, 1819. After a brief interval out of federal office, he was elected to the Sixteenth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Representative John Condit. In this capacity he served from February 2, 1820, to March 3, 1821. During these two nonconsecutive terms, he took part in the deliberations of a Congress that confronted issues of postwar economic policy, internal improvements, and the evolving balance between federal and state authority. As a Republican representative from New Jersey, he contributed to the legislative process and participated in the democratic governance of the young nation during what has often been described as the Era of Good Feelings.

Following his service in Congress, Kinsey resumed and continued his work in the paper industry, maintaining his longstanding connection to manufacturing and commerce in New Jersey. His experience as a businessman and legislator eventually led him into the judiciary. From 1830 to 1845 he served as a judge of the New Jersey Court of Common Pleas and of the orphans’ court of Bergen County. In these judicial roles he presided over civil matters and issues relating to estates and guardianships, applying state law in a period of growing population and economic change in northern New Jersey.

Charles Kinsey spent his later years in New Prospect, Bergen County, where he had long resided and remained active in local affairs. He died there on June 25, 1849. He was interred in Union Cemetery, near New Prospect, in what is now Waldwick, New Jersey. His career combined industrial innovation, state and national legislative service, and judicial responsibility, marking him as a significant figure in the political and economic development of early nineteenth-century New Jersey.