John J. Kennedy (Republic of Texas politician)

John Joseph Kennedy (1813–1880) was a Scotch-Irish American lawyer and sheriff of Harrison County, Texas that helped end the Regulator-Moderator War in East Texas. He was an artillery officer in the United States Army and a cavalry captain for the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. Kennedy was also a Freemason and member of Marshall Lodge #22.[1]

John J. Kennedy
Nickname(s)"Colonel"
Born1813 (1813)
Died1880 (1881) (aged 67)
Hallsville, Texas
Buried
Hallsville, Texas
Allegiance United States of America
 Republic of Texas
 Confederate States of America
Service/branch United States Army
Texan Army
 Confederate States Army
Years of service1832–36 (USA)
1836–1846 (Republic of Texas)
1861–65 (CSA)
Rank First Lieutenant (USA)
Captain (CSA)
Commands heldCompany K, "Clough Rangers"
17th Texas Cavalry
Battles/warsBlack Hawk War
Second Seminole War
Regulator-Moderator War
American Civil War
Other workSheriff of Harrison County, Texas

Biography

He served as a first lieutenant in the United States Army under General Abraham Eustis in the Black Hawk War and Second Seminole War. In 1836 he immigrated to the Republic of Texas receiving a 1,240 acre land grant from Anson Jones.[2] He and his brother-in-law, Joseph Upton Fields, ended the Regulator-Moderator War while he was sheriff of Harrison County, Texas.[3] Kennedy was also a Harrison County commissioner.[4]

Kennedy ran for the Texas Senate campaigning against the Compromise of 1850. He was initially declared the winner, but then was defeated.[5] According to the 1860 United States Census Kennedy owned 21 slaves, making him a planter.

During the American Civil War Kennedy served as Captain of Company K, 17th Texas Cavalry, also named Clough Rangers.[6][7] He fought in the Battle of Arkansas Post where he evaded capture.

Notes
  1. "TXHarrison/Civic/1857GrandLodge22". txgenes.com. Retrieved 2015-01-01.
  2. "GLO Home Page". glo.texas.gov. Retrieved 2015-01-01.
  3. Southern Community in Crisis, 161
  4. Turner Publishing (1995). Daughters of Republic of Texas -. 1. Turner Publishing Company. p. 80. ISBN 9781563112140. Retrieved 2015-01-01.
  5. "Texas State Gazette. (Austin, Tex.), Vol. 2, No. 13, Ed. 1, Saturday, November 16, 1850, Sequence: 3 | The Portal to Texas History". texashistory.unt.edu. Retrieved 2015-01-01.
  6. Southern Community in Crisis, 206
  7. Grear, C.D. The Fate of Texas. University of Arkansas Press. p. 124. ISBN 9781610751476. Retrieved 2015-01-01.

Sources
  • B. B. Paddock, History and Biographical Record of North and West Texas, 1906
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