John Joseph Kennedy (c. 1813–1880) was a Scotch-Irish American lawyer and sheriff of Harrison County, Texas that helped end the Regulator-Moderator War in East Texas. He was an artillery officer in the United States Army and a cavalry captain for the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. Kennedy was also a Freemason and member of Marshall Lodge #22.[1]
Biography
He served as a first lieutenant in the United States Army under General Abraham Eustis in the Black Hawk War and Second Seminole War. In 1836 he immigrated to the Republic of Texas receiving a 1,240 acre land grant from Anson Jones.[2] He and his brother-in-law, Joseph Upton Fields, ended the Regulator-Moderator War while he was sheriff of Harrison County, Texas.[3] Kennedy was also a Harrison County commissioner.[4]
Kennedy ran for the Texas Senate campaigning against the Compromise of 1850. He was initially declared the winner, but then was defeated.[5] According to the 1860 United States Census Kennedy owned 21 slaves, making him a planter.
During the American Civil War Kennedy served as Captain of Company K, 17th Texas Cavalry, also named Clough Rangers.[6][7] He fought in the Battle of Arkansas Post where he evaded capture.
Notes
- ^ "TXHarrison/Civic/1857GrandLodge22". txgenes.com. Retrieved 2015-01-01.
- ^ "GLO Home Page". glo.texas.gov. Retrieved 2015-01-01.
- ^ Southern Community in Crisis, 161
- ^ Turner Publishing (1995). Daughters of Republic of Texas -. Vol. 1. Turner Publishing Company. p. 80. ISBN 9781563112140. Retrieved 2015-01-01.
- ^ "Texas State Gazette. (Austin, Tex.), Vol. 2, No. 13, Ed. 1, Saturday, November 16, 1850, Sequence: 3 | The Portal to Texas History". texashistory.unt.edu. 16 November 1850. Retrieved 2015-01-01.
- ^ Southern Community in Crisis, 206
- ^ Grear, C.D. (October 2008). The Fate of Texas. University of Arkansas Press. p. 124. ISBN 9781610751476. Retrieved 2015-01-01.
Sources
- B. B. Paddock, History and Biographical Record of North and West Texas, 1906
External links
- "W. W. Fields". genealogymagazine.com. Retrieved 2015-01-01.
- Turner Publishing (1995). Daughters of Republic of Texas -. Vol. 1. Turner Publishing Company. p. 80. ISBN 9781563112140. Retrieved 2015-01-01.