John Kennedy emigrated from Ireland to America at 14 years of age and initially lived in a home near Old Purity with his brother George Kennedy, who according to his grave monument on the same row arrived in three years or so before. Despite this Purity connection, John Kennedy was primarily a Baptist as an adult, whose last remains were still buried at Old Purity even after 1797 when John purchased a lot where one of the earliest homes were built in the newly established "Chesterville" or "Chester court-house" as it is sometimes denoted in the early decades. Due to this early connection with a barely existing county seat/county court-house site, a prominent positive civic attitude and longevity of a sort rare in the frontier areas, Major John Kennedy came to be called the "Father of Chesterville" during his last few decades.
John Kennedy helped raise company of men in response to the Mexican War in case there proved any local need and was elected their Major from which title Major Kennedy is now most commonly known
It seems clear Major John Kennedy was a noted and much-respected citizen of town and county. Upon his death on the 7th of April, 1867, presumably but not assuredly in his own bed in Chesterville, Major Kennedy returned to his childhood neighborhood and was buried with two of his children who died young and his brother and other family at Old Purity, then still just Purity Cemetery. The location of his wife's grave is undetermined. Likewise the likely kinship to the other Kennedy families at Purity is uncertain. The coincidences of so many of that surname locating in one small area of Chester District suggests possible kinship among them.
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Major John Kennedy (1770-1867) and Catherine Evans (1789-1872), married 1807
A handsome sky-reaching marble memorial at the Old Purity Presbyterian Church Cemetery, established in 1787 in Chester, South Carolina, is inscribed with the name Maj. John Kennedy. Born in Ireland 12 February 1770, John died 7 April 1867 in Chester where he spent most of his 97 years. He is said to have been given the title Major after raising a company of men should they be needed in the Mexican-American War.
The graves of four of John and Catherine's children are at Old Purity. George's stone tells us that he was the 'eldest son of John & Catharine Kennedy' and that he died 17 August 1825 at the age of 18. Hannah died 1 May 1827. Her stone is worn but she appears to have died at the age of 4? years, 2 months and 7 days. Margaret Kennedy Woods, 'Died 22 June 1886, in her 77th year,' and her husband Col James F Woods 'who departed this life the 26th of March 1831 aged 35 years' share a memorial slab. Richard E Kennedy's dates are 1811-1855 and his memorial is inscribed 'We sorrow not without hope.'
A slab memorial for George Kennedy, John's brother, is inscribed 'an emigrant from the County Antrim Ireland in the year [1781?] and departed this life the 7th of June 1827 aged 62 years.' George, who lived across the street from John on the road to Columbia, appointed him a guardian of his underage children in his Will, written in Chester in 1819.
'Chester churches at Christmas: Tour will celebrate holiday and history' (Shirley Gleicher, The Herald, Rock Hill SC, 22 November 2003) describes a tour of churches that includes Purity Presbyterian, 'the fifth house of worship for this congregation, which began before 1787,' and First Baptist, which is 'the host church for the tour. The church site has remained the same since it was established 1833. Major John Kennedy, "the father of Chesterville," donated the property on which the first church was built. This square building had a steeple with a weathervane topped with a fish. A sketch of Chesterville, done by Margaret Ann Kennedy in 1835, shows a church on this site. The twin tower brick church was built in 1885 but was destroyed by a cyclone and fire. The Sunday school building was built in 1930, the current church in 1958 and the education building in 1969.'
The history of the family is much enriched by women-written memoir. Catherine Kennedy (1829-1903), named after her mother and called Kate, wrote a family memoir that begins with her maternal grandparents Richard Evans and Catherine (or Catren) McCarter, whose birth is recorded as October 9th 1753 in an old leatherbound saddlebag Bible.
'Richard Evans was a Revolutionary soldier. . . . Grandmother had to make a living for the children, the eldest ten years of age. They were surrounded by Tories, some being near neighbors. Once when the children had small pox, the Tories came at night, smashed and put out the light, stripped the clothes off the bed and left the sick children without covering. Grandmother kept her spoons, knives and forks by taking up the stones of the hearth and hiding them there. They hid a jug of honey in the ground. The Tories could not find it so they told her little son, John, they would give him a gun if he would tell them where it was. Boy like, he wanted the gun, so he told, but they did not give him a gun.
'After the War, seated around the fireplace in their comfortable home, at night, the girls would card rolls to spin the next day. The boys would roast apples and potatoes and drink cider, while one would read . . . .
'Katie and Annie had benches inside the fireplace which was whitewashed. They could look up at night and see the stars from their seats. The boys made a big bench for Katie to walk on so she could spin on the big wheel.
'The old folks had a small plastered room for themselves, which was something in advance of the times, where they sat and read. Katie and Anna each owned a colt. They would run off to the pasture and make bridles of pea vines for the colts, and stand on their backs and gallop around the field. Katie was a grand rider when she was over seventy years of age.
'On Saturday they baked bread for the week. They filled the brick oven with bread, potatoes, and apples. They had coffee when the preacher came. They drank milk other times. They made their own butter and cheese. Grandma had an overhead shelf where the cheese was laid to dry. Saturday was spent rubbing the pewter which they kept as bright as silver. They traded in Charleston, and rolled their tobacco in hogsheads a distance of over 200 miles.
'The Evans sisters were a very handsome set. I have heard my father say that Aunt Hannah Curry was the most beautiful woman he ever saw. They were of the Grecian type, dark hair and eyes, fair complexion, splendid heads and almost perfect limbs. . . .
'I think Grandmother must have been superstitious. When one of her cows got sick she sent for one of her neighbors who professed to be able to cure cows. He would pass her cow through a blue bank [tank?] and she would be cured. . . .
'Katie married Major John Kennedy on 20 January 1807, when she was about eighteen years of age. They had nine children and raised them all but one. All settled in Chester but one. John Kennedy married Martha Potts and moved to Mississippi. My father and mother lived on the hill in Chester for 65 years. Father lived to be 97 years of age and mother 83. Grandfather Evans was a good Baptist. I have some of his writings—as good Baptist doctrine as I have ever read. I can recollect my Aunt Polly going to Woodward Church of which she was a member. Sunday morning she would mount old Jenny, a quiet old horse, and, buttoned up in her riding skirt until she looked like a sack of meal, and with her big black silk bonnet on, which was so big that she had no need of an umbrella, she would trot along the five miles to church, all alone most of the time. . . .
'I have a housewife made from a piece of calico of Grandma Evans' dress bought a short time after the Revolution. She paid 75 ¢ a yard for it. I also have a chest and table which was her dining table before the war. Uncle Curry brought from the Warm Springs the first hyacinths that ever were in Chester.
'My father hunted deer in the hills of Chester where the town now stands. There was no house except a blacksmith shop. The land was owned by a man of influence named Stewart and being the cross roads it was determined to have a town at that place. It is said that the community met at the Big Spring and had a jug of whiskey and that, influenced by Stewart and his guid whiskey, they decided the matter.
'Major Kennedy's house stood at the top of the hill in Chester, on Main Street. The front of the house remained the same as it was when Katie and her husband rode into the yard on the same horse. It was from the back piazza of this house that Mrs. Kennedy saw four cavalrymen come up the hill guarding Aaron Burr. The party stopped and Aaron Burr appealed for help. But the officer in command galloped off with him.
'Katie & Major Kennedy had Richard, who married Sarah de Graffenreid; Margaret, who married James Woods; Mary Ann, who married George Coleman; Catherine, who married Rev. L. C. Hinton; Jane, who married Dr. Girard Hinton and John who moved to Mississippi.'
Eugenia Coleman Babcock (1842-1929), the daughter of John and Catherine's daughter Mary Ann Kennedy and her husband George Washington Coleman, wrote a heartbreaking memoir called My Recollections of the War of Secession in which she describes the horrors of the Civil War and the toll it took on her family. A brief excerpt follows:
'But what were we, the women and girls doing at this time, knitting, spinning, weaving, scraping lint and to make money for our cause, the ladies would have entertainments, at one of these entertainments there were some beautiful tableaux, one I thought was particularly beautiful, it represented groups from all Nationalities. My sister was queen of one group, and very pretty she looked on her elevated throne. Daisy Robison a little girl about three years old, wearing the Confederate colors sang a patriotic song, Miss Ann Brady played the accompaniment of the song on the guitar. $600.00 in silver was realized that night. Committee's of ladies were formed some six or seven to a committee to take baskets of provisions to the depot, for, there were car loads of soldiers hastening, to the seat of war; Uncle Sam was mustering a tremendous army into the field, to whip the rebels, as we were called, back into the Union, and, Troops from all parts of the South were passing through here. The committee my mother was on was composed of: Mrs M.A. Coleman, my mother, Mrs. John Kennedy, my grandmother, Mrs. James Graham, Mrs. Middleton McDonald, Mrs. Jorden Bennett, Mrs. E.J. Hinton, my Aunt, Mrs. M. Woods, my Aunt and we girls. Our day was Friday. I always went, for, after the distribution of food, there was much flirting. I was shy about giving my name to the soldiers, but they would find it out, and I often received very gushing letters from them.'
Miss Hannah Wylie (1821-1882), the daughter of Peter Wylie and Annie Evans, Catherine's sister, wrote a brief memoir addressed to her 'Dear Relations' in 1860. Of her mother's family she writes:
'My grandfather Richard Evans had three brothers, John, Isaac, and Owen, and one sister. I think her name was Hannah. They were all Whigs and were in the army in the Revolution. They attended the Whig meeting at old Justice Gaston's and volunteered their services. They and I think three Walkers were all the Whigs that were in Sandy River, it being a hot bed of Tories. My grandfather married Katherine McCarter of a highly respected family. They were married before the Revolution and had several children. She was very much distressed and annoyed by the Tories. . . .
'My Mother's brothers and sisters. I don't remember who Uncle Isaac and Moses married. Moses has been married three times. Aunt Katie married John Kennedy. Hannah married William Curry. Mary, John, and Samuel died single.'
The Sketches and Reminiscences of Joshua Hilary Hudson, published in 1903, include as Chapter 8 'Recollections of Chester as It Was Sixty-five Years Ago.' Hudson writes that he loves 'old Chester, where my childhood and youth were spent.' He describes the large residence of George Kennedy bordering the square on the main hill. Across the street or road leading to Colombia, was the residence of Maj. John Kennedy whose house 'could not correctly be styled a hotel nor a regular boarding-house, but was the inn in which itinerant preachers, and especially Baptist ministers, and chosen friends and relatives were hospitably lodged free of charge. . . . Attached to the boarding-house of Maj. John Kennedy was a barroom presided over by his brother-in-law, Thomas Evans, who with his maiden sister, Mary, called Polly, were inmates of the family of their brother, Maj. John Kennedy, all being staunch members and, in fact, pillars of the Baptist Church.
'In his hall or entrance room Major Kennedy had a fine mahogany sideboard, on which sat his glasses and decanter. On the arrival of the way-worn preacher, he was warmly welcomed, and invited up to refresh himself with a glass of pure liquor, which was rarely ever refused, regardless of denomination or creed, for the travel-worn preacher needed it and liked it. But more faithful servants of the church are not now to be found than were the members of the household of Major Kennedy and the preachers he entertained. They were the brave pioneers in building churches and spreading the gospel—Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians and all whom he so hospitably entertained.
'Major Kennedy was indeed a man of public spirit, a friend to the poor, and charitable almost to a fault. He was a benefactor to my mother and family. I could relate many amusing incidents in his life falling under my own observation, and others resting in tradition, but time will not allow. He lived to a great old age . . . honored and beloved by all the people.' Regarding the women of Chester, Hudson makes 'special mention of Mrs. John Kennedy and her two daughters, then married—Mrs. Margaret Woods and Mrs. Mary Coleman. They were noted for kindness to the poor and fidelity to the church.'
Hudson remarks that he went to college with 'the Rev. Mr. Hinton, who married Catherine, daughter of Maj. John Kennedy, and a brother of Mr. Hinton, who married Eliza Jane, another daughter.'
The 1870 census for Chester, Chester County, South Carolina records that Catherine is 80 years old, the value of her real estate is 10,000 and the value of her personal estate 1,500, she was born in South Carolina and her mother was of foreign birth. She is living with her daughter Eliza Hinton (38) and her granddaughter Mary Hinton (18), Kate's daughter.
Jane Slaton, third great granddaughter of John and Catherine, writes that she became the unofficial family historian when she received a 'packet of over 200 letters and bits and pieces of written documents' from her aunt, Kitty Neff, in 2010. See Jane's article 'The Children of Major John Kennedy & Catherine Evans Kennedy,' Genealogy Trails, for photos, letters and reminiscences of Mary Jane 'Biggie' Coleman regarding Richard, Margaret, Mary Ann and Catherine.
'The Father of Chesterville' by Arthur Cornwall ran in The Chester News 5 March 1953:
Major John Kennedy was born Feb. 12, 1770, in county Antrim, Ireland. He came to America when he was 14 years old, and lived with his brother George Kennedy, whose home was in the neighborhood of Old Purity Church and near what would become Chesterville.
The Irish boy's pastime was spent in hunting wild animals that roamed the Chester district. One day he killed a deer near where the opera house stands. The boy grew to manhood and on Jan. 29, 1807 married Catherine Evans, a daughter of Richard Evans.
Major Kennedy's house built at the top of the hill was the second or third house in the town of Chester. He bought the property in 1797 from T.B. Franklin and built a modest home. It was small and unattractive at first, but through industry and energy, assisted by the thrift and good common sense of his wife, he accumulated property well to be proud of. It is said that the front of the house was never changed. He wanted it to remain just as it was when he and his wife rode into the yard on the same horse. Additions were made to the back of the house.
During the Mexican War John Kennedy raised a company of men in case they should be needed. He was elected Major and was ever after given that title. He was a man sensitive and unassuming in manner, with a quick Irish wit and full of jokes.
He was elected sheriff of Chester district on two occasions and with his son-in-law, George W. Coleman, organized the first Masonic lodge in Chester.
Though of limited education himself every one of his children received a college education. He also helped others outside of his family receive an education. One of these men was Judge Joshua Hudson.
Major Kennedy's house was the headquarters for all ministers regardless of denomination. Through his generosity the Baptist Church owns the property where a Baptist Church still stands in Chester. The deed states the property is to be used by the Baptist church as "a place of worship forever."
Major John Kennedy was also a collector of curios - some very valuable as historical relics. One was a silver bugle that had belonged to Lord Rawdon, one of the officers under Lord Cornwallis. It was captured in the Revolutionary war when General Francis Marion, with his brave and ragged soldiers, surprised the British camp at Camden, S.C. The British soldiers exited their tents in such haste that their belongings fell into the hands of Marion's men. In the tent of Lord Rawdon the silver bugle was found. In later years the bugle was sent to Major John by a friend from Camden. It was lost when the old family home burned.
In Old Purity Cemetery stands a tall, but simple shaft that marks the last resting place of one who gave generously and laid the cornerstone of Chester today.
lili li née Loretta McKay Masters, 4th great granddaughter of John and Catherine
9 August 2023
John Kennedy helped raise company of men in response to the Mexican War in case there proved any local need and was elected their Major from which title Major Kennedy is now most commonly known
It seems clear Major John Kennedy was a noted and much-respected citizen of town and county. Upon his death on the 7th of April, 1867, presumably but not assuredly in his own bed in Chesterville, Major Kennedy returned to his childhood neighborhood and was buried with two of his children who died young and his brother and other family at Old Purity, then still just Purity Cemetery. The location of his wife's grave is undetermined. Likewise the likely kinship to the other Kennedy families at Purity is uncertain. The coincidences of so many of that surname locating in one small area of Chester District suggests possible kinship among them.
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Major John Kennedy (1770-1867) and Catherine Evans (1789-1872), married 1807
A handsome sky-reaching marble memorial at the Old Purity Presbyterian Church Cemetery, established in 1787 in Chester, South Carolina, is inscribed with the name Maj. John Kennedy. Born in Ireland 12 February 1770, John died 7 April 1867 in Chester where he spent most of his 97 years. He is said to have been given the title Major after raising a company of men should they be needed in the Mexican-American War.
The graves of four of John and Catherine's children are at Old Purity. George's stone tells us that he was the 'eldest son of John & Catharine Kennedy' and that he died 17 August 1825 at the age of 18. Hannah died 1 May 1827. Her stone is worn but she appears to have died at the age of 4? years, 2 months and 7 days. Margaret Kennedy Woods, 'Died 22 June 1886, in her 77th year,' and her husband Col James F Woods 'who departed this life the 26th of March 1831 aged 35 years' share a memorial slab. Richard E Kennedy's dates are 1811-1855 and his memorial is inscribed 'We sorrow not without hope.'
A slab memorial for George Kennedy, John's brother, is inscribed 'an emigrant from the County Antrim Ireland in the year [1781?] and departed this life the 7th of June 1827 aged 62 years.' George, who lived across the street from John on the road to Columbia, appointed him a guardian of his underage children in his Will, written in Chester in 1819.
'Chester churches at Christmas: Tour will celebrate holiday and history' (Shirley Gleicher, The Herald, Rock Hill SC, 22 November 2003) describes a tour of churches that includes Purity Presbyterian, 'the fifth house of worship for this congregation, which began before 1787,' and First Baptist, which is 'the host church for the tour. The church site has remained the same since it was established 1833. Major John Kennedy, "the father of Chesterville," donated the property on which the first church was built. This square building had a steeple with a weathervane topped with a fish. A sketch of Chesterville, done by Margaret Ann Kennedy in 1835, shows a church on this site. The twin tower brick church was built in 1885 but was destroyed by a cyclone and fire. The Sunday school building was built in 1930, the current church in 1958 and the education building in 1969.'
The history of the family is much enriched by women-written memoir. Catherine Kennedy (1829-1903), named after her mother and called Kate, wrote a family memoir that begins with her maternal grandparents Richard Evans and Catherine (or Catren) McCarter, whose birth is recorded as October 9th 1753 in an old leatherbound saddlebag Bible.
'Richard Evans was a Revolutionary soldier. . . . Grandmother had to make a living for the children, the eldest ten years of age. They were surrounded by Tories, some being near neighbors. Once when the children had small pox, the Tories came at night, smashed and put out the light, stripped the clothes off the bed and left the sick children without covering. Grandmother kept her spoons, knives and forks by taking up the stones of the hearth and hiding them there. They hid a jug of honey in the ground. The Tories could not find it so they told her little son, John, they would give him a gun if he would tell them where it was. Boy like, he wanted the gun, so he told, but they did not give him a gun.
'After the War, seated around the fireplace in their comfortable home, at night, the girls would card rolls to spin the next day. The boys would roast apples and potatoes and drink cider, while one would read . . . .
'Katie and Annie had benches inside the fireplace which was whitewashed. They could look up at night and see the stars from their seats. The boys made a big bench for Katie to walk on so she could spin on the big wheel.
'The old folks had a small plastered room for themselves, which was something in advance of the times, where they sat and read. Katie and Anna each owned a colt. They would run off to the pasture and make bridles of pea vines for the colts, and stand on their backs and gallop around the field. Katie was a grand rider when she was over seventy years of age.
'On Saturday they baked bread for the week. They filled the brick oven with bread, potatoes, and apples. They had coffee when the preacher came. They drank milk other times. They made their own butter and cheese. Grandma had an overhead shelf where the cheese was laid to dry. Saturday was spent rubbing the pewter which they kept as bright as silver. They traded in Charleston, and rolled their tobacco in hogsheads a distance of over 200 miles.
'The Evans sisters were a very handsome set. I have heard my father say that Aunt Hannah Curry was the most beautiful woman he ever saw. They were of the Grecian type, dark hair and eyes, fair complexion, splendid heads and almost perfect limbs. . . .
'I think Grandmother must have been superstitious. When one of her cows got sick she sent for one of her neighbors who professed to be able to cure cows. He would pass her cow through a blue bank [tank?] and she would be cured. . . .
'Katie married Major John Kennedy on 20 January 1807, when she was about eighteen years of age. They had nine children and raised them all but one. All settled in Chester but one. John Kennedy married Martha Potts and moved to Mississippi. My father and mother lived on the hill in Chester for 65 years. Father lived to be 97 years of age and mother 83. Grandfather Evans was a good Baptist. I have some of his writings—as good Baptist doctrine as I have ever read. I can recollect my Aunt Polly going to Woodward Church of which she was a member. Sunday morning she would mount old Jenny, a quiet old horse, and, buttoned up in her riding skirt until she looked like a sack of meal, and with her big black silk bonnet on, which was so big that she had no need of an umbrella, she would trot along the five miles to church, all alone most of the time. . . .
'I have a housewife made from a piece of calico of Grandma Evans' dress bought a short time after the Revolution. She paid 75 ¢ a yard for it. I also have a chest and table which was her dining table before the war. Uncle Curry brought from the Warm Springs the first hyacinths that ever were in Chester.
'My father hunted deer in the hills of Chester where the town now stands. There was no house except a blacksmith shop. The land was owned by a man of influence named Stewart and being the cross roads it was determined to have a town at that place. It is said that the community met at the Big Spring and had a jug of whiskey and that, influenced by Stewart and his guid whiskey, they decided the matter.
'Major Kennedy's house stood at the top of the hill in Chester, on Main Street. The front of the house remained the same as it was when Katie and her husband rode into the yard on the same horse. It was from the back piazza of this house that Mrs. Kennedy saw four cavalrymen come up the hill guarding Aaron Burr. The party stopped and Aaron Burr appealed for help. But the officer in command galloped off with him.
'Katie & Major Kennedy had Richard, who married Sarah de Graffenreid; Margaret, who married James Woods; Mary Ann, who married George Coleman; Catherine, who married Rev. L. C. Hinton; Jane, who married Dr. Girard Hinton and John who moved to Mississippi.'
Eugenia Coleman Babcock (1842-1929), the daughter of John and Catherine's daughter Mary Ann Kennedy and her husband George Washington Coleman, wrote a heartbreaking memoir called My Recollections of the War of Secession in which she describes the horrors of the Civil War and the toll it took on her family. A brief excerpt follows:
'But what were we, the women and girls doing at this time, knitting, spinning, weaving, scraping lint and to make money for our cause, the ladies would have entertainments, at one of these entertainments there were some beautiful tableaux, one I thought was particularly beautiful, it represented groups from all Nationalities. My sister was queen of one group, and very pretty she looked on her elevated throne. Daisy Robison a little girl about three years old, wearing the Confederate colors sang a patriotic song, Miss Ann Brady played the accompaniment of the song on the guitar. $600.00 in silver was realized that night. Committee's of ladies were formed some six or seven to a committee to take baskets of provisions to the depot, for, there were car loads of soldiers hastening, to the seat of war; Uncle Sam was mustering a tremendous army into the field, to whip the rebels, as we were called, back into the Union, and, Troops from all parts of the South were passing through here. The committee my mother was on was composed of: Mrs M.A. Coleman, my mother, Mrs. John Kennedy, my grandmother, Mrs. James Graham, Mrs. Middleton McDonald, Mrs. Jorden Bennett, Mrs. E.J. Hinton, my Aunt, Mrs. M. Woods, my Aunt and we girls. Our day was Friday. I always went, for, after the distribution of food, there was much flirting. I was shy about giving my name to the soldiers, but they would find it out, and I often received very gushing letters from them.'
Miss Hannah Wylie (1821-1882), the daughter of Peter Wylie and Annie Evans, Catherine's sister, wrote a brief memoir addressed to her 'Dear Relations' in 1860. Of her mother's family she writes:
'My grandfather Richard Evans had three brothers, John, Isaac, and Owen, and one sister. I think her name was Hannah. They were all Whigs and were in the army in the Revolution. They attended the Whig meeting at old Justice Gaston's and volunteered their services. They and I think three Walkers were all the Whigs that were in Sandy River, it being a hot bed of Tories. My grandfather married Katherine McCarter of a highly respected family. They were married before the Revolution and had several children. She was very much distressed and annoyed by the Tories. . . .
'My Mother's brothers and sisters. I don't remember who Uncle Isaac and Moses married. Moses has been married three times. Aunt Katie married John Kennedy. Hannah married William Curry. Mary, John, and Samuel died single.'
The Sketches and Reminiscences of Joshua Hilary Hudson, published in 1903, include as Chapter 8 'Recollections of Chester as It Was Sixty-five Years Ago.' Hudson writes that he loves 'old Chester, where my childhood and youth were spent.' He describes the large residence of George Kennedy bordering the square on the main hill. Across the street or road leading to Colombia, was the residence of Maj. John Kennedy whose house 'could not correctly be styled a hotel nor a regular boarding-house, but was the inn in which itinerant preachers, and especially Baptist ministers, and chosen friends and relatives were hospitably lodged free of charge. . . . Attached to the boarding-house of Maj. John Kennedy was a barroom presided over by his brother-in-law, Thomas Evans, who with his maiden sister, Mary, called Polly, were inmates of the family of their brother, Maj. John Kennedy, all being staunch members and, in fact, pillars of the Baptist Church.
'In his hall or entrance room Major Kennedy had a fine mahogany sideboard, on which sat his glasses and decanter. On the arrival of the way-worn preacher, he was warmly welcomed, and invited up to refresh himself with a glass of pure liquor, which was rarely ever refused, regardless of denomination or creed, for the travel-worn preacher needed it and liked it. But more faithful servants of the church are not now to be found than were the members of the household of Major Kennedy and the preachers he entertained. They were the brave pioneers in building churches and spreading the gospel—Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians and all whom he so hospitably entertained.
'Major Kennedy was indeed a man of public spirit, a friend to the poor, and charitable almost to a fault. He was a benefactor to my mother and family. I could relate many amusing incidents in his life falling under my own observation, and others resting in tradition, but time will not allow. He lived to a great old age . . . honored and beloved by all the people.' Regarding the women of Chester, Hudson makes 'special mention of Mrs. John Kennedy and her two daughters, then married—Mrs. Margaret Woods and Mrs. Mary Coleman. They were noted for kindness to the poor and fidelity to the church.'
Hudson remarks that he went to college with 'the Rev. Mr. Hinton, who married Catherine, daughter of Maj. John Kennedy, and a brother of Mr. Hinton, who married Eliza Jane, another daughter.'
The 1870 census for Chester, Chester County, South Carolina records that Catherine is 80 years old, the value of her real estate is 10,000 and the value of her personal estate 1,500, she was born in South Carolina and her mother was of foreign birth. She is living with her daughter Eliza Hinton (38) and her granddaughter Mary Hinton (18), Kate's daughter.
Jane Slaton, third great granddaughter of John and Catherine, writes that she became the unofficial family historian when she received a 'packet of over 200 letters and bits and pieces of written documents' from her aunt, Kitty Neff, in 2010. See Jane's article 'The Children of Major John Kennedy & Catherine Evans Kennedy,' Genealogy Trails, for photos, letters and reminiscences of Mary Jane 'Biggie' Coleman regarding Richard, Margaret, Mary Ann and Catherine.
'The Father of Chesterville' by Arthur Cornwall ran in The Chester News 5 March 1953:
Major John Kennedy was born Feb. 12, 1770, in county Antrim, Ireland. He came to America when he was 14 years old, and lived with his brother George Kennedy, whose home was in the neighborhood of Old Purity Church and near what would become Chesterville.
The Irish boy's pastime was spent in hunting wild animals that roamed the Chester district. One day he killed a deer near where the opera house stands. The boy grew to manhood and on Jan. 29, 1807 married Catherine Evans, a daughter of Richard Evans.
Major Kennedy's house built at the top of the hill was the second or third house in the town of Chester. He bought the property in 1797 from T.B. Franklin and built a modest home. It was small and unattractive at first, but through industry and energy, assisted by the thrift and good common sense of his wife, he accumulated property well to be proud of. It is said that the front of the house was never changed. He wanted it to remain just as it was when he and his wife rode into the yard on the same horse. Additions were made to the back of the house.
During the Mexican War John Kennedy raised a company of men in case they should be needed. He was elected Major and was ever after given that title. He was a man sensitive and unassuming in manner, with a quick Irish wit and full of jokes.
He was elected sheriff of Chester district on two occasions and with his son-in-law, George W. Coleman, organized the first Masonic lodge in Chester.
Though of limited education himself every one of his children received a college education. He also helped others outside of his family receive an education. One of these men was Judge Joshua Hudson.
Major Kennedy's house was the headquarters for all ministers regardless of denomination. Through his generosity the Baptist Church owns the property where a Baptist Church still stands in Chester. The deed states the property is to be used by the Baptist church as "a place of worship forever."
Major John Kennedy was also a collector of curios - some very valuable as historical relics. One was a silver bugle that had belonged to Lord Rawdon, one of the officers under Lord Cornwallis. It was captured in the Revolutionary war when General Francis Marion, with his brave and ragged soldiers, surprised the British camp at Camden, S.C. The British soldiers exited their tents in such haste that their belongings fell into the hands of Marion's men. In the tent of Lord Rawdon the silver bugle was found. In later years the bugle was sent to Major John by a friend from Camden. It was lost when the old family home burned.
In Old Purity Cemetery stands a tall, but simple shaft that marks the last resting place of one who gave generously and laid the cornerstone of Chester today.
lili li née Loretta McKay Masters, 4th great granddaughter of John and Catherine
9 August 2023
John Kennedy emigrated from Ireland to America at 14 years of age and initially lived in a home near Old Purity with his brother George Kennedy, who according to his grave monument on the same row arrived in three years or so before. Despite this Purity connection, John Kennedy was primarily a Baptist as an adult, whose last remains were still buried at Old Purity even after 1797 when John purchased a lot where one of the earliest homes were built in the newly established "Chesterville" or "Chester court-house" as it is sometimes denoted in the early decades. Due to this early connection with a barely existing county seat/county court-house site, a prominent positive civic attitude and longevity of a sort rare in the frontier areas, Major John Kennedy came to be called the "Father of Chesterville" during his last few decades.
John Kennedy helped raise company of men in response to the Mexican War in case there proved any local need and was elected their Major from which title Major Kennedy is now most commonly known
It seems clear Major John Kennedy was a noted and much-respected citizen of town and county. Upon his death on the 7th of April, 1867, presumably but not assuredly in his own bed in Chesterville, Major Kennedy returned to his childhood neighborhood and was buried with two of his children who died young and his brother and other family at Old Purity, then still just Purity Cemetery. The location of his wife's grave is undetermined. Likewise the likely kinship to the other Kennedy families at Purity is uncertain. The coincidences of so many of that surname locating in one small area of Chester District suggests possible kinship among them.
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Major John Kennedy (1770-1867) and Catherine Evans (1789-1872), married 1807
A handsome sky-reaching marble memorial at the Old Purity Presbyterian Church Cemetery, established in 1787 in Chester, South Carolina, is inscribed with the name Maj. John Kennedy. Born in Ireland 12 February 1770, John died 7 April 1867 in Chester where he spent most of his 97 years. He is said to have been given the title Major after raising a company of men should they be needed in the Mexican-American War.
The graves of four of John and Catherine's children are at Old Purity. George's stone tells us that he was the 'eldest son of John & Catharine Kennedy' and that he died 17 August 1825 at the age of 18. Hannah died 1 May 1827. Her stone is worn but she appears to have died at the age of 4? years, 2 months and 7 days. Margaret Kennedy Woods, 'Died 22 June 1886, in her 77th year,' and her husband Col James F Woods 'who departed this life the 26th of March 1831 aged 35 years' share a memorial slab. Richard E Kennedy's dates are 1811-1855 and his memorial is inscribed 'We sorrow not without hope.'
A slab memorial for George Kennedy, John's brother, is inscribed 'an emigrant from the County Antrim Ireland in the year [1781?] and departed this life the 7th of June 1827 aged 62 years.' George, who lived across the street from John on the road to Columbia, appointed him a guardian of his underage children in his Will, written in Chester in 1819.
'Chester churches at Christmas: Tour will celebrate holiday and history' (Shirley Gleicher, The Herald, Rock Hill SC, 22 November 2003) describes a tour of churches that includes Purity Presbyterian, 'the fifth house of worship for this congregation, which began before 1787,' and First Baptist, which is 'the host church for the tour. The church site has remained the same since it was established 1833. Major John Kennedy, "the father of Chesterville," donated the property on which the first church was built. This square building had a steeple with a weathervane topped with a fish. A sketch of Chesterville, done by Margaret Ann Kennedy in 1835, shows a church on this site. The twin tower brick church was built in 1885 but was destroyed by a cyclone and fire. The Sunday school building was built in 1930, the current church in 1958 and the education building in 1969.'
The history of the family is much enriched by women-written memoir. Catherine Kennedy (1829-1903), named after her mother and called Kate, wrote a family memoir that begins with her maternal grandparents Richard Evans and Catherine (or Catren) McCarter, whose birth is recorded as October 9th 1753 in an old leatherbound saddlebag Bible.
'Richard Evans was a Revolutionary soldier. . . . Grandmother had to make a living for the children, the eldest ten years of age. They were surrounded by Tories, some being near neighbors. Once when the children had small pox, the Tories came at night, smashed and put out the light, stripped the clothes off the bed and left the sick children without covering. Grandmother kept her spoons, knives and forks by taking up the stones of the hearth and hiding them there. They hid a jug of honey in the ground. The Tories could not find it so they told her little son, John, they would give him a gun if he would tell them where it was. Boy like, he wanted the gun, so he told, but they did not give him a gun.
'After the War, seated around the fireplace in their comfortable home, at night, the girls would card rolls to spin the next day. The boys would roast apples and potatoes and drink cider, while one would read . . . .
'Katie and Annie had benches inside the fireplace which was whitewashed. They could look up at night and see the stars from their seats. The boys made a big bench for Katie to walk on so she could spin on the big wheel.
'The old folks had a small plastered room for themselves, which was something in advance of the times, where they sat and read. Katie and Anna each owned a colt. They would run off to the pasture and make bridles of pea vines for the colts, and stand on their backs and gallop around the field. Katie was a grand rider when she was over seventy years of age.
'On Saturday they baked bread for the week. They filled the brick oven with bread, potatoes, and apples. They had coffee when the preacher came. They drank milk other times. They made their own butter and cheese. Grandma had an overhead shelf where the cheese was laid to dry. Saturday was spent rubbing the pewter which they kept as bright as silver. They traded in Charleston, and rolled their tobacco in hogsheads a distance of over 200 miles.
'The Evans sisters were a very handsome set. I have heard my father say that Aunt Hannah Curry was the most beautiful woman he ever saw. They were of the Grecian type, dark hair and eyes, fair complexion, splendid heads and almost perfect limbs. . . .
'I think Grandmother must have been superstitious. When one of her cows got sick she sent for one of her neighbors who professed to be able to cure cows. He would pass her cow through a blue bank [tank?] and she would be cured. . . .
'Katie married Major John Kennedy on 20 January 1807, when she was about eighteen years of age. They had nine children and raised them all but one. All settled in Chester but one. John Kennedy married Martha Potts and moved to Mississippi. My father and mother lived on the hill in Chester for 65 years. Father lived to be 97 years of age and mother 83. Grandfather Evans was a good Baptist. I have some of his writings—as good Baptist doctrine as I have ever read. I can recollect my Aunt Polly going to Woodward Church of which she was a member. Sunday morning she would mount old Jenny, a quiet old horse, and, buttoned up in her riding skirt until she looked like a sack of meal, and with her big black silk bonnet on, which was so big that she had no need of an umbrella, she would trot along the five miles to church, all alone most of the time. . . .
'I have a housewife made from a piece of calico of Grandma Evans' dress bought a short time after the Revolution. She paid 75 ¢ a yard for it. I also have a chest and table which was her dining table before the war. Uncle Curry brought from the Warm Springs the first hyacinths that ever were in Chester.
'My father hunted deer in the hills of Chester where the town now stands. There was no house except a blacksmith shop. The land was owned by a man of influence named Stewart and being the cross roads it was determined to have a town at that place. It is said that the community met at the Big Spring and had a jug of whiskey and that, influenced by Stewart and his guid whiskey, they decided the matter.
'Major Kennedy's house stood at the top of the hill in Chester, on Main Street. The front of the house remained the same as it was when Katie and her husband rode into the yard on the same horse. It was from the back piazza of this house that Mrs. Kennedy saw four cavalrymen come up the hill guarding Aaron Burr. The party stopped and Aaron Burr appealed for help. But the officer in command galloped off with him.
'Katie & Major Kennedy had Richard, who married Sarah de Graffenreid; Margaret, who married James Woods; Mary Ann, who married George Coleman; Catherine, who married Rev. L. C. Hinton; Jane, who married Dr. Girard Hinton and John who moved to Mississippi.'
Eugenia Coleman Babcock (1842-1929), the daughter of John and Catherine's daughter Mary Ann Kennedy and her husband George Washington Coleman, wrote a heartbreaking memoir called My Recollections of the War of Secession in which she describes the horrors of the Civil War and the toll it took on her family. A brief excerpt follows:
'But what were we, the women and girls doing at this time, knitting, spinning, weaving, scraping lint and to make money for our cause, the ladies would have entertainments, at one of these entertainments there were some beautiful tableaux, one I thought was particularly beautiful, it represented groups from all Nationalities. My sister was queen of one group, and very pretty she looked on her elevated throne. Daisy Robison a little girl about three years old, wearing the Confederate colors sang a patriotic song, Miss Ann Brady played the accompaniment of the song on the guitar. $600.00 in silver was realized that night. Committee's of ladies were formed some six or seven to a committee to take baskets of provisions to the depot, for, there were car loads of soldiers hastening, to the seat of war; Uncle Sam was mustering a tremendous army into the field, to whip the rebels, as we were called, back into the Union, and, Troops from all parts of the South were passing through here. The committee my mother was on was composed of: Mrs M.A. Coleman, my mother, Mrs. John Kennedy, my grandmother, Mrs. James Graham, Mrs. Middleton McDonald, Mrs. Jorden Bennett, Mrs. E.J. Hinton, my Aunt, Mrs. M. Woods, my Aunt and we girls. Our day was Friday. I always went, for, after the distribution of food, there was much flirting. I was shy about giving my name to the soldiers, but they would find it out, and I often received very gushing letters from them.'
Miss Hannah Wylie (1821-1882), the daughter of Peter Wylie and Annie Evans, Catherine's sister, wrote a brief memoir addressed to her 'Dear Relations' in 1860. Of her mother's family she writes:
'My grandfather Richard Evans had three brothers, John, Isaac, and Owen, and one sister. I think her name was Hannah. They were all Whigs and were in the army in the Revolution. They attended the Whig meeting at old Justice Gaston's and volunteered their services. They and I think three Walkers were all the Whigs that were in Sandy River, it being a hot bed of Tories. My grandfather married Katherine McCarter of a highly respected family. They were married before the Revolution and had several children. She was very much distressed and annoyed by the Tories. . . .
'My Mother's brothers and sisters. I don't remember who Uncle Isaac and Moses married. Moses has been married three times. Aunt Katie married John Kennedy. Hannah married William Curry. Mary, John, and Samuel died single.'
The Sketches and Reminiscences of Joshua Hilary Hudson, published in 1903, include as Chapter 8 'Recollections of Chester as It Was Sixty-five Years Ago.' Hudson writes that he loves 'old Chester, where my childhood and youth were spent.' He describes the large residence of George Kennedy bordering the square on the main hill. Across the street or road leading to Colombia, was the residence of Maj. John Kennedy whose house 'could not correctly be styled a hotel nor a regular boarding-house, but was the inn in which itinerant preachers, and especially Baptist ministers, and chosen friends and relatives were hospitably lodged free of charge. . . . Attached to the boarding-house of Maj. John Kennedy was a barroom presided over by his brother-in-law, Thomas Evans, who with his maiden sister, Mary, called Polly, were inmates of the family of their brother, Maj. John Kennedy, all being staunch members and, in fact, pillars of the Baptist Church.
'In his hall or entrance room Major Kennedy had a fine mahogany sideboard, on which sat his glasses and decanter. On the arrival of the way-worn preacher, he was warmly welcomed, and invited up to refresh himself with a glass of pure liquor, which was rarely ever refused, regardless of denomination or creed, for the travel-worn preacher needed it and liked it. But more faithful servants of the church are not now to be found than were the members of the household of Major Kennedy and the preachers he entertained. They were the brave pioneers in building churches and spreading the gospel—Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians and all whom he so hospitably entertained.
'Major Kennedy was indeed a man of public spirit, a friend to the poor, and charitable almost to a fault. He was a benefactor to my mother and family. I could relate many amusing incidents in his life falling under my own observation, and others resting in tradition, but time will not allow. He lived to a great old age . . . honored and beloved by all the people.' Regarding the women of Chester, Hudson makes 'special mention of Mrs. John Kennedy and her two daughters, then married—Mrs. Margaret Woods and Mrs. Mary Coleman. They were noted for kindness to the poor and fidelity to the church.'
Hudson remarks that he went to college with 'the Rev. Mr. Hinton, who married Catherine, daughter of Maj. John Kennedy, and a brother of Mr. Hinton, who married Eliza Jane, another daughter.'
The 1870 census for Chester, Chester County, South Carolina records that Catherine is 80 years old, the value of her real estate is 10,000 and the value of her personal estate 1,500, she was born in South Carolina and her mother was of foreign birth. She is living with her daughter Eliza Hinton (38) and her granddaughter Mary Hinton (18), Kate's daughter.
Jane Slaton, third great granddaughter of John and Catherine, writes that she became the unofficial family historian when she received a 'packet of over 200 letters and bits and pieces of written documents' from her aunt, Kitty Neff, in 2010. See Jane's article 'The Children of Major John Kennedy & Catherine Evans Kennedy,' Genealogy Trails, for photos, letters and reminiscences of Mary Jane 'Biggie' Coleman regarding Richard, Margaret, Mary Ann and Catherine.
'The Father of Chesterville' by Arthur Cornwall ran in The Chester News 5 March 1953:
Major John Kennedy was born Feb. 12, 1770, in county Antrim, Ireland. He came to America when he was 14 years old, and lived with his brother George Kennedy, whose home was in the neighborhood of Old Purity Church and near what would become Chesterville.
The Irish boy's pastime was spent in hunting wild animals that roamed the Chester district. One day he killed a deer near where the opera house stands. The boy grew to manhood and on Jan. 29, 1807 married Catherine Evans, a daughter of Richard Evans.
Major Kennedy's house built at the top of the hill was the second or third house in the town of Chester. He bought the property in 1797 from T.B. Franklin and built a modest home. It was small and unattractive at first, but through industry and energy, assisted by the thrift and good common sense of his wife, he accumulated property well to be proud of. It is said that the front of the house was never changed. He wanted it to remain just as it was when he and his wife rode into the yard on the same horse. Additions were made to the back of the house.
During the Mexican War John Kennedy raised a company of men in case they should be needed. He was elected Major and was ever after given that title. He was a man sensitive and unassuming in manner, with a quick Irish wit and full of jokes.
He was elected sheriff of Chester district on two occasions and with his son-in-law, George W. Coleman, organized the first Masonic lodge in Chester.
Though of limited education himself every one of his children received a college education. He also helped others outside of his family receive an education. One of these men was Judge Joshua Hudson.
Major Kennedy's house was the headquarters for all ministers regardless of denomination. Through his generosity the Baptist Church owns the property where a Baptist Church still stands in Chester. The deed states the property is to be used by the Baptist church as "a place of worship forever."
Major John Kennedy was also a collector of curios - some very valuable as historical relics. One was a silver bugle that had belonged to Lord Rawdon, one of the officers under Lord Cornwallis. It was captured in the Revolutionary war when General Francis Marion, with his brave and ragged soldiers, surprised the British camp at Camden, S.C. The British soldiers exited their tents in such haste that their belongings fell into the hands of Marion's men. In the tent of Lord Rawdon the silver bugle was found. In later years the bugle was sent to Major John by a friend from Camden. It was lost when the old family home burned.
In Old Purity Cemetery stands a tall, but simple shaft that marks the last resting place of one who gave generously and laid the cornerstone of Chester today.
lili li née Loretta McKay Masters, 4th great granddaughter of John and Catherine
9 August 2023
John Kennedy helped raise company of men in response to the Mexican War in case there proved any local need and was elected their Major from which title Major Kennedy is now most commonly known
It seems clear Major John Kennedy was a noted and much-respected citizen of town and county. Upon his death on the 7th of April, 1867, presumably but not assuredly in his own bed in Chesterville, Major Kennedy returned to his childhood neighborhood and was buried with two of his children who died young and his brother and other family at Old Purity, then still just Purity Cemetery. The location of his wife's grave is undetermined. Likewise the likely kinship to the other Kennedy families at Purity is uncertain. The coincidences of so many of that surname locating in one small area of Chester District suggests possible kinship among them.
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Major John Kennedy (1770-1867) and Catherine Evans (1789-1872), married 1807
A handsome sky-reaching marble memorial at the Old Purity Presbyterian Church Cemetery, established in 1787 in Chester, South Carolina, is inscribed with the name Maj. John Kennedy. Born in Ireland 12 February 1770, John died 7 April 1867 in Chester where he spent most of his 97 years. He is said to have been given the title Major after raising a company of men should they be needed in the Mexican-American War.
The graves of four of John and Catherine's children are at Old Purity. George's stone tells us that he was the 'eldest son of John & Catharine Kennedy' and that he died 17 August 1825 at the age of 18. Hannah died 1 May 1827. Her stone is worn but she appears to have died at the age of 4? years, 2 months and 7 days. Margaret Kennedy Woods, 'Died 22 June 1886, in her 77th year,' and her husband Col James F Woods 'who departed this life the 26th of March 1831 aged 35 years' share a memorial slab. Richard E Kennedy's dates are 1811-1855 and his memorial is inscribed 'We sorrow not without hope.'
A slab memorial for George Kennedy, John's brother, is inscribed 'an emigrant from the County Antrim Ireland in the year [1781?] and departed this life the 7th of June 1827 aged 62 years.' George, who lived across the street from John on the road to Columbia, appointed him a guardian of his underage children in his Will, written in Chester in 1819.
'Chester churches at Christmas: Tour will celebrate holiday and history' (Shirley Gleicher, The Herald, Rock Hill SC, 22 November 2003) describes a tour of churches that includes Purity Presbyterian, 'the fifth house of worship for this congregation, which began before 1787,' and First Baptist, which is 'the host church for the tour. The church site has remained the same since it was established 1833. Major John Kennedy, "the father of Chesterville," donated the property on which the first church was built. This square building had a steeple with a weathervane topped with a fish. A sketch of Chesterville, done by Margaret Ann Kennedy in 1835, shows a church on this site. The twin tower brick church was built in 1885 but was destroyed by a cyclone and fire. The Sunday school building was built in 1930, the current church in 1958 and the education building in 1969.'
The history of the family is much enriched by women-written memoir. Catherine Kennedy (1829-1903), named after her mother and called Kate, wrote a family memoir that begins with her maternal grandparents Richard Evans and Catherine (or Catren) McCarter, whose birth is recorded as October 9th 1753 in an old leatherbound saddlebag Bible.
'Richard Evans was a Revolutionary soldier. . . . Grandmother had to make a living for the children, the eldest ten years of age. They were surrounded by Tories, some being near neighbors. Once when the children had small pox, the Tories came at night, smashed and put out the light, stripped the clothes off the bed and left the sick children without covering. Grandmother kept her spoons, knives and forks by taking up the stones of the hearth and hiding them there. They hid a jug of honey in the ground. The Tories could not find it so they told her little son, John, they would give him a gun if he would tell them where it was. Boy like, he wanted the gun, so he told, but they did not give him a gun.
'After the War, seated around the fireplace in their comfortable home, at night, the girls would card rolls to spin the next day. The boys would roast apples and potatoes and drink cider, while one would read . . . .
'Katie and Annie had benches inside the fireplace which was whitewashed. They could look up at night and see the stars from their seats. The boys made a big bench for Katie to walk on so she could spin on the big wheel.
'The old folks had a small plastered room for themselves, which was something in advance of the times, where they sat and read. Katie and Anna each owned a colt. They would run off to the pasture and make bridles of pea vines for the colts, and stand on their backs and gallop around the field. Katie was a grand rider when she was over seventy years of age.
'On Saturday they baked bread for the week. They filled the brick oven with bread, potatoes, and apples. They had coffee when the preacher came. They drank milk other times. They made their own butter and cheese. Grandma had an overhead shelf where the cheese was laid to dry. Saturday was spent rubbing the pewter which they kept as bright as silver. They traded in Charleston, and rolled their tobacco in hogsheads a distance of over 200 miles.
'The Evans sisters were a very handsome set. I have heard my father say that Aunt Hannah Curry was the most beautiful woman he ever saw. They were of the Grecian type, dark hair and eyes, fair complexion, splendid heads and almost perfect limbs. . . .
'I think Grandmother must have been superstitious. When one of her cows got sick she sent for one of her neighbors who professed to be able to cure cows. He would pass her cow through a blue bank [tank?] and she would be cured. . . .
'Katie married Major John Kennedy on 20 January 1807, when she was about eighteen years of age. They had nine children and raised them all but one. All settled in Chester but one. John Kennedy married Martha Potts and moved to Mississippi. My father and mother lived on the hill in Chester for 65 years. Father lived to be 97 years of age and mother 83. Grandfather Evans was a good Baptist. I have some of his writings—as good Baptist doctrine as I have ever read. I can recollect my Aunt Polly going to Woodward Church of which she was a member. Sunday morning she would mount old Jenny, a quiet old horse, and, buttoned up in her riding skirt until she looked like a sack of meal, and with her big black silk bonnet on, which was so big that she had no need of an umbrella, she would trot along the five miles to church, all alone most of the time. . . .
'I have a housewife made from a piece of calico of Grandma Evans' dress bought a short time after the Revolution. She paid 75 ¢ a yard for it. I also have a chest and table which was her dining table before the war. Uncle Curry brought from the Warm Springs the first hyacinths that ever were in Chester.
'My father hunted deer in the hills of Chester where the town now stands. There was no house except a blacksmith shop. The land was owned by a man of influence named Stewart and being the cross roads it was determined to have a town at that place. It is said that the community met at the Big Spring and had a jug of whiskey and that, influenced by Stewart and his guid whiskey, they decided the matter.
'Major Kennedy's house stood at the top of the hill in Chester, on Main Street. The front of the house remained the same as it was when Katie and her husband rode into the yard on the same horse. It was from the back piazza of this house that Mrs. Kennedy saw four cavalrymen come up the hill guarding Aaron Burr. The party stopped and Aaron Burr appealed for help. But the officer in command galloped off with him.
'Katie & Major Kennedy had Richard, who married Sarah de Graffenreid; Margaret, who married James Woods; Mary Ann, who married George Coleman; Catherine, who married Rev. L. C. Hinton; Jane, who married Dr. Girard Hinton and John who moved to Mississippi.'
Eugenia Coleman Babcock (1842-1929), the daughter of John and Catherine's daughter Mary Ann Kennedy and her husband George Washington Coleman, wrote a heartbreaking memoir called My Recollections of the War of Secession in which she describes the horrors of the Civil War and the toll it took on her family. A brief excerpt follows:
'But what were we, the women and girls doing at this time, knitting, spinning, weaving, scraping lint and to make money for our cause, the ladies would have entertainments, at one of these entertainments there were some beautiful tableaux, one I thought was particularly beautiful, it represented groups from all Nationalities. My sister was queen of one group, and very pretty she looked on her elevated throne. Daisy Robison a little girl about three years old, wearing the Confederate colors sang a patriotic song, Miss Ann Brady played the accompaniment of the song on the guitar. $600.00 in silver was realized that night. Committee's of ladies were formed some six or seven to a committee to take baskets of provisions to the depot, for, there were car loads of soldiers hastening, to the seat of war; Uncle Sam was mustering a tremendous army into the field, to whip the rebels, as we were called, back into the Union, and, Troops from all parts of the South were passing through here. The committee my mother was on was composed of: Mrs M.A. Coleman, my mother, Mrs. John Kennedy, my grandmother, Mrs. James Graham, Mrs. Middleton McDonald, Mrs. Jorden Bennett, Mrs. E.J. Hinton, my Aunt, Mrs. M. Woods, my Aunt and we girls. Our day was Friday. I always went, for, after the distribution of food, there was much flirting. I was shy about giving my name to the soldiers, but they would find it out, and I often received very gushing letters from them.'
Miss Hannah Wylie (1821-1882), the daughter of Peter Wylie and Annie Evans, Catherine's sister, wrote a brief memoir addressed to her 'Dear Relations' in 1860. Of her mother's family she writes:
'My grandfather Richard Evans had three brothers, John, Isaac, and Owen, and one sister. I think her name was Hannah. They were all Whigs and were in the army in the Revolution. They attended the Whig meeting at old Justice Gaston's and volunteered their services. They and I think three Walkers were all the Whigs that were in Sandy River, it being a hot bed of Tories. My grandfather married Katherine McCarter of a highly respected family. They were married before the Revolution and had several children. She was very much distressed and annoyed by the Tories. . . .
'My Mother's brothers and sisters. I don't remember who Uncle Isaac and Moses married. Moses has been married three times. Aunt Katie married John Kennedy. Hannah married William Curry. Mary, John, and Samuel died single.'
The Sketches and Reminiscences of Joshua Hilary Hudson, published in 1903, include as Chapter 8 'Recollections of Chester as It Was Sixty-five Years Ago.' Hudson writes that he loves 'old Chester, where my childhood and youth were spent.' He describes the large residence of George Kennedy bordering the square on the main hill. Across the street or road leading to Colombia, was the residence of Maj. John Kennedy whose house 'could not correctly be styled a hotel nor a regular boarding-house, but was the inn in which itinerant preachers, and especially Baptist ministers, and chosen friends and relatives were hospitably lodged free of charge. . . . Attached to the boarding-house of Maj. John Kennedy was a barroom presided over by his brother-in-law, Thomas Evans, who with his maiden sister, Mary, called Polly, were inmates of the family of their brother, Maj. John Kennedy, all being staunch members and, in fact, pillars of the Baptist Church.
'In his hall or entrance room Major Kennedy had a fine mahogany sideboard, on which sat his glasses and decanter. On the arrival of the way-worn preacher, he was warmly welcomed, and invited up to refresh himself with a glass of pure liquor, which was rarely ever refused, regardless of denomination or creed, for the travel-worn preacher needed it and liked it. But more faithful servants of the church are not now to be found than were the members of the household of Major Kennedy and the preachers he entertained. They were the brave pioneers in building churches and spreading the gospel—Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians and all whom he so hospitably entertained.
'Major Kennedy was indeed a man of public spirit, a friend to the poor, and charitable almost to a fault. He was a benefactor to my mother and family. I could relate many amusing incidents in his life falling under my own observation, and others resting in tradition, but time will not allow. He lived to a great old age . . . honored and beloved by all the people.' Regarding the women of Chester, Hudson makes 'special mention of Mrs. John Kennedy and her two daughters, then married—Mrs. Margaret Woods and Mrs. Mary Coleman. They were noted for kindness to the poor and fidelity to the church.'
Hudson remarks that he went to college with 'the Rev. Mr. Hinton, who married Catherine, daughter of Maj. John Kennedy, and a brother of Mr. Hinton, who married Eliza Jane, another daughter.'
The 1870 census for Chester, Chester County, South Carolina records that Catherine is 80 years old, the value of her real estate is 10,000 and the value of her personal estate 1,500, she was born in South Carolina and her mother was of foreign birth. She is living with her daughter Eliza Hinton (38) and her granddaughter Mary Hinton (18), Kate's daughter.
Jane Slaton, third great granddaughter of John and Catherine, writes that she became the unofficial family historian when she received a 'packet of over 200 letters and bits and pieces of written documents' from her aunt, Kitty Neff, in 2010. See Jane's article 'The Children of Major John Kennedy & Catherine Evans Kennedy,' Genealogy Trails, for photos, letters and reminiscences of Mary Jane 'Biggie' Coleman regarding Richard, Margaret, Mary Ann and Catherine.
'The Father of Chesterville' by Arthur Cornwall ran in The Chester News 5 March 1953:
Major John Kennedy was born Feb. 12, 1770, in county Antrim, Ireland. He came to America when he was 14 years old, and lived with his brother George Kennedy, whose home was in the neighborhood of Old Purity Church and near what would become Chesterville.
The Irish boy's pastime was spent in hunting wild animals that roamed the Chester district. One day he killed a deer near where the opera house stands. The boy grew to manhood and on Jan. 29, 1807 married Catherine Evans, a daughter of Richard Evans.
Major Kennedy's house built at the top of the hill was the second or third house in the town of Chester. He bought the property in 1797 from T.B. Franklin and built a modest home. It was small and unattractive at first, but through industry and energy, assisted by the thrift and good common sense of his wife, he accumulated property well to be proud of. It is said that the front of the house was never changed. He wanted it to remain just as it was when he and his wife rode into the yard on the same horse. Additions were made to the back of the house.
During the Mexican War John Kennedy raised a company of men in case they should be needed. He was elected Major and was ever after given that title. He was a man sensitive and unassuming in manner, with a quick Irish wit and full of jokes.
He was elected sheriff of Chester district on two occasions and with his son-in-law, George W. Coleman, organized the first Masonic lodge in Chester.
Though of limited education himself every one of his children received a college education. He also helped others outside of his family receive an education. One of these men was Judge Joshua Hudson.
Major Kennedy's house was the headquarters for all ministers regardless of denomination. Through his generosity the Baptist Church owns the property where a Baptist Church still stands in Chester. The deed states the property is to be used by the Baptist church as "a place of worship forever."
Major John Kennedy was also a collector of curios - some very valuable as historical relics. One was a silver bugle that had belonged to Lord Rawdon, one of the officers under Lord Cornwallis. It was captured in the Revolutionary war when General Francis Marion, with his brave and ragged soldiers, surprised the British camp at Camden, S.C. The British soldiers exited their tents in such haste that their belongings fell into the hands of Marion's men. In the tent of Lord Rawdon the silver bugle was found. In later years the bugle was sent to Major John by a friend from Camden. It was lost when the old family home burned.
In Old Purity Cemetery stands a tall, but simple shaft that marks the last resting place of one who gave generously and laid the cornerstone of Chester today.
lili li née Loretta McKay Masters, 4th great granddaughter of John and Catherine
9 August 2023
Inscription
"THOU SHALT BE MISSED, BECAUSE THY SEAT WILL BE EMPTY."
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