John Dryden Kuser

John Dryden Kuser also known as Dryden Kuser (September 24, 1897 – March 3, 1964) was a New Jersey politician and a member of an influential New Jersey family. He was the son of Colonel Anthony R. Kuser and grandson of Senator and Prudential Insurance founder John Fairfield Dryden. Early life John Dryden Kuser was born in Newark, New Jersey on September 24, 1897 to Susan Fairchild Dryden (d. 1932) and Colonel Anthony R. Kuser (1862–1929). Kuser's father, the past President of the South Jersey Gas and Electric Lighting Company and one of the original investors in Fox Movie Studios, had served on the staffs of three New Jersey governors in the late 19th century, and in 1923, donated his estate to become High Point State Park, the largest public park in New Jersey. John Dryden Kuser's grandfather, John Fairfield Dryden (1839–1911), was the founder of Prudential Insurance Company and a United States Senator from 1902 to 1907. He graduated from Princeton in 1918, where he was managing editor of The Daily Princetonian. During World War I, he served in the Naval Reserve. Career Kuser launched his political career in 1922, at age 25, winning election as a Bernardsville, New Jersey Councilman. He was elected to the New Jersey General Assembly two years later, and won a seat in the New Jersey Senate in 1929. His wife filed for divorce shortly after the Senate election.