This post summarizes current family research that began with a goal of identifying the family of James Kennedy and his parents William Kennedy and Jane Gray of Allegheny County Pennsylvania. I strongly suspect that I am a descendant of James Kennedy, and we have DNA evidence that suggests connections between our family, other descendants of James, and descendants of William Kennedy and Jane Gray.
This research would be greatly bolstered by verifying that
Kennedy males who descend from James share the same Y chromosome as Kennedy
males who descend from other sons of William.
I start this review by summarizing the family of William and
Jane, as recounted in a family history letter by a great-grandson.
Generation 1: William Kennedy and Jane Gray
“A History of the Russell and Kennedy
Families”
A starting point is the Family History Letter written by
William Kennedy, a grandson of Hugh Kennedy and great grandson of William
Kennedy, the patriarch and immigrant ancestor for the family.
“A short account of the ancestry of
William Kennedy of Clay County, Indiana, originally of Allegheny County,
Pennsylvania. This embraces his ancestry, paternal and maternal as far as my
knowledge goes, then the ancestry of my wife Sarah Kennedy's, as I have
information. This is written at the request and for our son, Joseph Russell
Kennedy. William Kennedy Sept. 26th, 1858.
As far back as I have any account is my
great grandfather's father. William Kennedy was born and
raised in Scotland. When 18 or 19 years old he came in an army to Ireland and
was in the famous Siege of Derry by James, the Catholic King.
After the Battle of Boyne which
established Protestantism, he adopted Ireland as his country and married an
Irish girl and had a numerous family. My great grandfather was of these. The
balance I have no account of.
This William Kennedy married Jane Gray by whom he had four sons, James, Hugh, William, and Robert, and two daughters Rebecca and Isabel. [Authors then discusses the family of his grandfather
Hugh]….
…I will go back to my grandfather [Hugh]
Kennedy's brothers and sisters.
James Kennedy I know almost nothing of. They went
south in an early day. They preferred being Quakers. I think from what I can
gather he was apt to get drunk.
William Kennedy: his father set him
up well to the exclusion of my grandfather [Hugh] and while young drinking and
neglect of business reduced him to poverty but in his old days he reformed and
became a Methodist professed religion and was believed to die happy.
Robert was a quiet inoffensive man of poor health. He married
Polly Thompson a tyrannical tyrant. They had no children. She was thought
dishonest. She was an aunt to the Thompson in Bowling Green. Robert fell dead
in the road. [Allegheny County Deed Book 10-K, p. 494, settlement of the estate
of Robert Kennedy names siblings Hugh Kennedy (and wife Elizabeth), William
Kennedy (and wife Sarah), Isabella Sill (and husband George Sill), and Rebecca
Ryan (and husband James Ryan). The siblings signed a quit claim to deed their
share of their brother Robert Kennedy’s estate to brother William Kennedy’s
oldest son, Robert Kennedy Jr (b. 1773).]
Isabel married George Sill. I shall have more to say of her
when come to speak of my mother's parentage.
Rebecca their sister married James Ryan. They had a numerous
family. They were all wicked and never improved any that I know of.”
Figure 1: Family of William Kennedy and Jane Gray as
detailed in the Russell-Kennedy family history letter of 1858.Generation 2: James Kennedy and Rachel Baker
• James
Kennedy married Rachel Baker on 22 October 1755 at Swedes’ Church (now
Philadelphia Monthly Meeting) in Philadelphia.
• Rachel
may have died in the 1770s, and James may have remarried to Ann Sill, the
daughter of James Sill and Ann Baker. The will for James Sill identifies his
daughter Ann as “Ann Kennedy” in 1772. Ann Sill’s mother Ann Baker, who was a
sister of Jesse Baker. Rachel and Ann were 1st cousins.
• James
Kennedy lived in York County Pennsylvania at least until 1779 (see tax records
in the Appendix).
• In
the 1779 tax list, James Kennedy is listed as having 8 people in the household,
and his son Joshua Kennedy is listed separately as a single man. This suggests
that James may have had 8 children altogether.
Likely children of James Kennedy and Rachel Baker include
(but may not be limited to):
• Joshua
Kennedy born about 1761. Joshua Kennedy is listed in 1790 and 1791 property tax
in Frederick County VA. He married a
cousin Nancy Sill in Allegheny County PA after 1796 when and where she
administered her husband Robert Gray's estate. Joshua Kennedy and wife Ann of
Clermont County Ohio sold land to father George Sill of Pennsylvania, 1813. He
appeared in the Clermont County census in 1820 (with a boy born 1805-1810).
o
William Kennedy wrote, “Nancy [Ann] their oldest married Robert [G]ray a man of
Enterprise and was thought rich till he died insolvent and ruined my father he
being surety for him. They had several children. I know little about them. She
then married a cousin Joseph
[Joshua] Kennedy a son of old James. I
said would get drunk and he was a drunkard and lazy and they lived and died
poor.”
• Jesse
Kennedy born about 1765, more below.
• Jane
Kennedy b. circa 1766-1770. She married James Morford 12 Oct 1790 in Frederick
County, Virginia. They moved to Greene County, PA. Jane Kennedy’s birth in
various trees is given as November 1775 in Virginia; however, census records suggests
that Jane Kennedy was 26-44 in 1810 and 45+ in 1820, and 60-69 in 1830, so she
was likely born before 1770 and was the daughter of Rachel Baker.
• James
Kennedy (Jr.) born about 1770, lived in Licking County, Ohio
• (Possible son) William Kennedy
married Esther Romine on 4 Sep 1795 in Frederick County, Virginia.
• Unidentified
daughter, possible mother of David Kennedy and Thomas Long?
Mitochondrial DNA testing Confirms Connection between Jane Kennedy and
Rachel Baker
• Back
in 2015, we obtained mitochondrial DNA test results for a matrilineal
descendant of Jane Kennedy Morford-- X2b-T226C haplogroup.
• In
2023, a full mitochondrial match was found with a second matrilineal descendant
of Jane Kennedy Morford—through a second daughter. This confirms that Jane’s
haplogroup was X2b-T226C.
• Rachel
Baker’s mother was Ann Regester. Ann had a sister Lydia Regester. Both were
daughters of David Regester and his wife Lydia (Yarnall?).
Figure 2: Pedigree of Rachel Baker Kennedy from Wikitree (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Baker-62771).
• Results
for descendant of Lydia Regester were received in March 2024 (9 years after
getting initial result for Jane Kennedy descendant). She is also X2b-T226C. This
provides strong support for the hypothesis that Jane Kennedy was indeed the
daughter of Rachel Baker who married James Kennedy.
?Generation 3: Jesse Kennedy and Elizabeth Bailey?
•
Jesse
Kennedy is listed as a “single freeman” in association with a James Kennedy who
has 130 acres of land. Possible brother Joshua Kennedy, single freeman, is
taxed in that town in 1786.
o 1786 Jesse with James
Kennedy Newbury,
York, Pennsylvania
o 1787 Jesse with James
Kennedy Newbury,
York, Pennsylvania 100 lands,
2 horses, 2 cattle
o 1788 Jesse with James
Kennedy Newbury,
York, Pennsylvania 139 lands,
2 horses, 2 cattle
o 1789 Jesse Kennedy (Sho?) with
James Kennedy and Joshua Kennedy Taxed
for 130 acres Newbury, York,
Pennsylvania With Joshua Kennedy
•
Jesse Kennedy was likely was the Jesse Kennedy who
married Elizabeth Bailey 27 Oct 1789 at the First Presbyterian Church, Borough
of Carlisle, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania.
Figure 3: Marriage record of Jesse Kennedy and Elizabeth
Bailey, First Presbyterian Church, Carlisle, Cumberland County, PA.
•
Jesse
is listed in property tax records for Frederick County, Virginia, in 1793,
1796, 1798, and 1800, in the same rolls as a James Kennedy.
•
Jesse appears to the father of Daniel Kennedy below. This
suggests that he moved from Virginia in 1800 to Pennsylvania by 1806.
•
Jesse lived in Cumberland twp, Greene County PA by 1810: 1810
census: Males 1<10 (Daniel?), 1 16-25, 1 45+ (Jesse), Females 1<10, 1
16-25, 1 26-44
•
Jesse Kennedy married (2nd) Elizabeth Leach circa 1820-1821.
•
1830 census: Males 2<10 1 10-15 0 16-18 1 16-25 (Daniel
age 24?) 0 26-44 1 45+ (Jesse), Females 3<10 1 10-15 1 16-25 2 26-44 1 45+
(Elizabeth). In agriculture.
•
Jesse moved to Morgan County Ohio and is recorded there in
the 1840 census. Jesse Kenedy, York Township, Morgan, Ohio, United States, age
60-70, with 1 female 50-60, 2 females 15-20, and 1 female 10-15, residing next
to a Floyd Leech (a relative of Elizabeth’s).
?Generation 4: Daniel Kennedy and Hannah
Rouse
Daniel Kennedy was born 18 Jun 1806 in Greene
County, Pennsylvania. He and his wife, Hannah Ruse (or Rouse), came to Kentucky
between 1830 and 1840. Together, they had 10 children: James, Eli, Samuel,
Justice, David, Daniel, Mary Ann, Christopher, Lorenzo, and Christian. He died
12 Dec 1893 in Concord, Lewis Co., KY, USA
For more details, see: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Kennedy-12641
•
Figure 4: Daniel Kennedy, son of Jesse Kennedy and Hannah
Rouse.
Figure 5: Tombstone for Daniel Kennedy, his wife, and his
son Lorenzo and his wife. Photo by Randy Peffer at https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/34455404/daniel-kennedy
Y DNA Testing of Male Kennedy Descendants
from William
We recruited three Kennedy men whose family trees and
autosomal DNA results suggested descent from William and Jane, although each of
their trees had connections that required further investigation. After further
review, the three Kennedy testers appear to be descendants of William
Kennedy Sr. through his son William Kennedy Jr.
Each of the testers was assigned to Y haplogroup R-FT153290,
with an estimated date to common ancestor of 1750 CE. However, there is a
fourth tester who got the same haplogroup result, and he does not have a clear
connection to William Jr.
A family history letter dated Nov 24, 1931 from E.H. Kennedy
of Georgetown, Ohio to Dr. A.R. Kennedy of Lawrence, Kansas states: “I will
give you the names of [William Jr.] Kennedy’s children as I have them….Robert,
born 1773, John 1776, William, Thomas, James, Hugh, Catherine (married
Blackburn), Jane (married Flick), Sally (married Patton).”
To verify that James (William Jr.'s brother), Jesse (James' presumed son), and Daniel (Jesse's son) belong to this
Kennedy lineage, we need a male Kennedy descendant of that line to do a
high-resolution Y DNA test.
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