Generations of the Prathers have heard the saga of their progenitor in America, Archibald Kennedy Prather. Family lore has asserted that he was the third son of Baron Angus, but sought his fortunes in America as his family had wealth only in the land that would come into the possession of his eldest brother. He prospered in the new country through farming, although he had been educated to do little but attend the courts of Lords. He learned from the earth with his practical nature, increasing his land wealth from 40 acres to 200 acres as he tilled the earth to fertility. Not only was he able to leave his land to his two eldest sons, but each of his living child with ninety dollars upon his death because he had been financially shrewd unlike his own father in Scotland.

Generations had known this to be true, but they had wondered as to the identity of the Scottish Baron. Genealogical inquiries began in the early 1950s with Mr. Gilliam K. Prather writing to other Prathers in Scotland, but he was unable to find any connections to the Prathers of Floyd County, Kentucky. Upon his death in 1964, his niece Mrs. Rowena (Prather) McClelland began doing more detailed genealogies of the American Prathers throughout Kentucky before she discovered the Prather Family Bible in the possession of one of Archibald�s great-great-grandson Mr. Gideon R. Prather, who has been blind since the age of twelve. Mr. Gideon Prather had been unaware of what valuable information was written inside the Bible, but he was pleased that it had not been lost to history.

From the information within the Prather Family Bible, more information was discovered about Archibald. His gravestone had given his birth year as 1775, but the Bible provided his exact birth day or November 12, 1775. The exact location of his birth was not given, but it said he was born in the South of Scotland to Lord Angus and Lady Eliza. Family lore stated he arrived in 1794, but within these pages were written the name of the ship that arrived in Virginia, the Marietta. With this additional information, Mrs. McClelland searched throughout Virginia for more information about his arrival to America to substantiate family lore, but she soon discovered it would reveal more about Archibald Prather�s origins than she ever imagined.

When she studied the original ship manifest for the Marietta, the name of Archibald Prather did not appear. She did further genealogical research on the ship�s passengers, narrowing done the candidates to Reginald Gilliam, Archibald A. Kenneth, and William Praytor on the assumption he traveled under pseudonym. The most likely candidate was Archibald A. Kenneth as his age was given as eighteen years and he was without occupation. Further speculation assumed that this may have been his birth name, but there were no Archibald Kenneths to be found in the peerage born between 1774 and 1776.

But among the pages of Berk�s Peerage and The Nobility of Georgian Scotland, there was Archibald Angus Kennedy. He was the son of the Third Baron and Baroness of Winchcombe, Angus Edward and Hannah Elspeth (MacGowan) Kennedy, born in November of 1775. He was the fourth son, with his third eldest brother dying the year he was born, and he had disappeared in the year 1793, believed to have joined the Royal Navy. This information was conclusive to Mrs. McClelland who included it within the pages of Two Centuries with the Prathers in 1978, with much joy within the family for their ancestor�s origins had been discovered at last.

With the advent of digital technology cataloguing historical documents, it allowed what once took decades to accomplish to be finished within months. The increase of information in all historical archives has permitted genealogical research to flourish, especially online as people branch out their family trees to find the families of their fore bearers in the Old Country. With the assistance of the Internet, Prather research was able to discover more history for the Kennedy Clan in Winchcombe, Scotland, but this treasure trove of data also brought controversy.

Sylvia (Pettibone) Kennedy, wife of the Ninth Baron of Winchcombe, asserts that the Prather information is incorrect based on the genealogy of the Kennedys compiled by her in-laws, which was being edited by her son Ian and herself. Her son alerted her to this information when he first read it online through various websites, but he was greatly concerned when it was printed in the pages of Two Centuries with the Prathers without detailed documentation.

I have been in contact with the Baroness of Winchcombe regarding the situation, which she has been researching alongside her son. They both refute any claims that their ancestor, Archibald Angus Kennedy, was Archibald Kennedy Prather, but only further research will decide as old facts are sorted out from sources on both sides of the Atlantic.

Angelina Prather: My Lady, why do you assert that Archibald Kennedy Prather is not Archibald Angus Kennedy?

Baroness Winchcombe: It is well documented in the Naval Gazette that Archie Kennedy died in Kingston, Jamaica of wounds sustained in battle, although he would have hanged for mutiny activities he participated in aboard the Renown.

AP: Why do you not substantiate the claims of the Prathers that he was descent from Scottish Lords?

BW: Among American genealogists, it is quite common to seek ancestors among passengers of the Mayflower. If they are unable to discover any connections there, they will go in search of royalty, nobility, and celebrities.

AP: Why do you discount what is written in the Prather Family Bible?

BW: I have not seen the document myself, but has anyone done detailed hand writing analysis of it? If not, I would recommend it to see if it conforms to the styles of the early 1800s because it has been my experience that people will invent evidence, whether weak or strong, so that they can claim genealogical connections to the Peerage.

AP: What about Archibald A. Kenneth on the manifest of the Marietta?

BW: That is the most convenient evidence, but my research has indicated that Mr. Kenneth resided in Elizabethtown, Virginia until 1795, after which he disappeared when being accused of impregnating Margaret Sebold.

AP: What about the other three candidates aboard that ship?

BW: Mrs. Rowena McClelland�s research is the same as mine regarding that matter, with all three having traceable family lines from England to America.

AP: How do you explain the naming patterns of the Kennedys and Prathers?

BW: It is another coincidence that the names Angus, Edward, Gerald, Gilchrist, Gilliam, Hannah, Malcolm, and Rachel appear in both families, but they are common enough names in Scotland.

AP: How is the name of Archibald Kennedy Prather explained as it occurs in my family numerous times?

BW: It may be possible that the Prathers had Irish blood, even if they were Presbyterians in the early 1800s.

AP: What else do you find faulty in the Prather connection to the Kennedys?

BW: The records you need from Augusta County, Virginia are unavailable since the Courthouse burned in the Civil War. Even the duplicate records do not provide any information regarding Archibald Prather, with the main source being the Bible believed to have been in his possession although dates may have been entered from memory and not by Archibald Prather himself.

AP: Thank you again, My Lady, for taking the time to clarify your findings with mine.

BW: My pleasure.