James O. Kennedy (born abt. 1827) emigrated from Ireland to Connecticut around 1850 and was naturalized on 31 March, 1855.
He married Margaret Hays (b. Mar 1836) in New Britain, CT, on February 16, 1858. The 1850 Federal Census lists James and Margaret Kennedy (an an Edward Fitzpatrick) living in Wallingford, CT, where James was found work as a burnisher in a large electro-plated ware-factory known as Simpson, Hall, Miller Company. On 14 April, 1861, Margaret died of childbirth complications at the age of 25. The baby is believed not to have survived as there is no record of its birth. Margaret was buried in Holy Trinity Cemetery in Wallingford.
The U.S. Civil War was in its second year when 36-year old James volunteered in the 27th Connecticut Infantry, a 9-month regiment raised in New Haven. He got his baptism of fire storming Marye's Heights at Frederickburg in December of 1862. His next big battle was at Chacellorsville (May, 1863), where he was captured-along with almost the entire regiment--when it was surrounded by the advancing enemy. After a brief stay in Libby Prison, James returned home, but an illness contracted while a prisoner of war often left him incapacitated. He successfully applied for an Invalid Pension.
The enlistment of the 27th Connecticut expired in July, after the two companies not captured at Chancellorsville fought in the Wheatfield at the battle of Gettysburg (1-3 July, 1863).
Shortly after his discharge, James married Mary Shannon (sometimes appears as "Shanahan") on 5 August, 1863, at the Church of the Holy Cross in New York City. She is said to have been born in November of 1847 in Ireland. They lived at 262 Ward Street in Wallingford, along with their 8 children.
James O. Kennedy died of respiratory problems (asthma being the prime culprit) on 18 June, 1893. His will (Probate #2837) left his estate ($1174.00) to his wife, Mary, and named daughter Margaret Kennedy Dunn as sole beneficiary after Mary.
Mary Shannon Kennedy died at her daughter Margaret's home in Bridgeport, CT, on 22 November, 1904. Her body was returned to Wallingford to be laid to rest with her husband and three of their children.
The children of James O. Kennedy & Mary Shannon were:
- James Kennedy (1864--??)
- Catherine E. Kennedy (24 Feb 1865--4 Dec 1893)
m. John J. Fitzgerald (14 Nov 1857 in Ireland--12 Apr 1901) on 14 Nov 1887 in Wallingford, CT - Margaret J. Kennedy (22 Oct 1866--1934)
m. William H. Dunn (25 Mar 1867 in Hartford, CT--13 Aug 1900) on 30 Dec 1897 in Wallingford, CT - John Timothy Kennedy (4 Feb 1869--3 May 1948)
m. Mary Huldah Jacobs Hawkes (19 May, 1893--1981) - William Patrick Kennedy (15 Dec 1870--27 Jan 1935)
m. Mary Margaret Landrigan (23 Mar 1878 in Charlottetown, PEI--5 Dec 1960) on 2 March, 1900. - Richard L. Kennedy (27 Dec 1872--26 Nov 1892)
- Mary J. Kennedy (2 Apr 1875--6 May 1898)
- Timothy Michael Kennedy (17 Mar 1880--bef. 1893)
James Kennedy
Little is known about James Kennedy. A family legend has it that one of James O. Kennedy's sons walked out of the house one day and disappeared without a trace. Young James was last seen in records on the 1880 Federal Census for CT (b. about 1864) as still living with his parents. In his will (1893) the elder James says of his son "address unknown." A birth certificate for young James has not been located.
There is a record of a death for a James S. Kennedy ("S" for Shannon??) on 26 July 1949 in Plainville, CT, aged 86--which would have placed his birth about 1864; never married.
Catherine E. Kennedy
Catherine Kennedy was born 24 Feb 1865. No record of her birth appears in Wallingford town records. She was 22 when she married 30-year-old John J. Fitzgerald of Carnas, Ireland on 14 November, 1887 in Wallingford. Catherine bore two daughters, Mary K. Fitzgerald and Margaret R. Fitzgerald before succumbing to tuberculosis in 1893 at the age of 28. Her husband died, also from lung disease in 1901, leaving the children to be raised first by Catherine's mother, Mary Kennedy (the girls were in fact already living with Mary according to the 1900 Census), and after her death in 1904, by Catherine's sister, Margaret Kennedy Dunn
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The 1880 Federal census for Connecticut lists John Fitzgerald living with his uncle, William Fitzgerald in Wallingford. On the 1900 Census, he is listed as a widower enumerated with his cousin, John Fitzgerald.
Margaret J. Kennedy
Margaret Kennedy was born 22 Oct 1866, but there is no record of the birth in Wallingford town records. At the age of 31 she married silversmith William H. Dunn on 30 December, 1897. They had one daughter, Marjorie H. Dunn, born 5 Aug 1900. Tragically, William died about a week afterwards from influenza att he age of 33. Margaret did not remarry after her husband's death and died in Bridgeport, CT in 1934. Margaret Kennedy Dunne was the Godmother to her nephew, William Allen Kennedy, the only son of her brother, William Patrick Kennedy.
John Timothy Kennedy
John Timothy Kennedy was born in Wallingford, CT on 25 Feb 1869 (on a 1919 passport application he lists his dob as 4 Feb 1873). He is the first of the Kennedy children whose birth certificate is on file at the Town Clerk'f office. His name appears in the records of Connecticut servicemen who served during the Spanish-American War. He entered the United States Navy on 15 January, 1900. Rising above his humble origins, he served in the Medical Corps as an assistant surgeon and earned his commission on 15 January, 1903. He is said to have interned as a doctor at Bellevue Hospital in New York. Commander Kennedy served during both World War I and World War II.
It would appear that John T. Kennedy married only once and the event occured late in his life. On the Federal censuses for 1900 and 1910, he is listed as "single." He was the second husband of Mary Huldah (Jacobs) Hawkes (4 Aug 1890--May 1981), whose father, Nehemiah P.M. Jacobs owned an oceanside resort in Ogunquit, Maine known as Sparhawk Hall, which still exists. Upon Nehemiah's death in 1931, Mary Kennedy inherited the property.
John and Mary, who married sometime after 1930 when he was in his 60s, had no children. Commander Kennedy died in Kittery, Maine, on 3 May, 1948, and is buried in the Jacobs Family plot in Wells, Maine (Oceanview Cemetery).
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Mary Huldah Jacobs (sometimes seen as "Huldah Mary") was the daughter of Nehemiah P. M. Jacobs (Apr 1863--1931) and Lizzie Howland (Jul 1863--1942). On 7 Sept 1910, she married William Cuyler Hawkes (b. Apr 1881, in Windham, ME)--d. aft. 1930), the son of Frederick S. Hawkes [b. May 1850--the son of Alley Hawkes and Ann Lousia Morris] and Annie L. ____ They had four children, all born in Maine: Dorothy A. Hawkes (b. abt. 1912), Culyer J. Hawkes (19 Aug 1914--7 Mar 2002, Rochester, NY) and twins Elmira Hawkes and Evelyn Hawkes (b. abt. 1921).
Nehemiah Jacobs was the son of Anthony D. Jacobs (c. 1821--??) and Hannah _____ (1827--1920). His siblings were: Edward Jacobs (b. 1849), Geneva Jacobs (b. 1854), John E. Jacobs (1857--1916), who married Elmira S. ____ and Sarah Moody Jacobs (1860--1936), who married Stephen A. Grant.
Richard L. Kennedy
There is no birth certificate filed for Richard L. Kennedy in Wallingford, CT, but he was born 27 Dec 1872. Died just short of his 20th birthday of tuberculosis in 1892. He is buried with his parents in Holy Trinity Cemetery in Wallingford, CT.
Mary J. Kennedy
Mary J. Kennedy was born 2 Apr 1872 in Wallingford, CT, and died at the age of 23 from a combination of appendicitis and septic peritonitis in 1898. She is buried with her parents in Holy Trinity Cemetery in Wallingford, CT.
Timothy Michael Kennedy
Little is known about Timothy Kennedy. Born in Wallinford, CT on 17 Mar 1880, it seems he died prior to 1893, as he is not mentioned in his father's will. Also, when Mary Kennedy applied for a Civil War Widow's pension in 1893, she had to list all of her husband's surviving children under the age of 16. Timothy Michael Kennedy is not mentioned. I have been unable to locate a death certificate for him. He is buried with his parents at Holy Trinity Cemetery in Wallingford, CT.
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