KENNEDY: A published 1899 Tignish report informs us that the first Kennedy to settle here was John Kennedy who, it states, landed at Nail Pond in 1830 from County Kerry, Ireland. It would have been more correct to state that he actually landed at Norway nearer to North Cape according to Herman Kennedy, Johns great-grandson, and then settled permanently from there to Waterford, P.E.I. in 1853. Nail Pond had apparently not yet been named as such when John Kennedy arrived. This same report mentions at the time that his wife was Mary Phee, whom he married in Tignish in 1832, soon after his arrival and that he had several children, two of whom, Patrick and Mary, were in Tignish. This would mean that they were not living in the village itself but within the Tignish Parish of St. Simon and St. Jude. Kerry is the western most county in southern Ireland bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean and on the east by County Cork. County Cork gets part of its musical fame from its celebrated Kerry Dance. According to Dr. Brendan OGrady, whom we have already quoted in this work, Irish immigrants to Tignish from County Kerry make up a third of the total of this community but less than five percent of the province. To refer again to OGrady, he guesses that Kerrymen are more likely to have come here via Newfoundland because for generations they had fished on its Grand Banks. However, he cautions that further study on the matter is required. At least 25 Irish families came here between 1811 and 1840, among whom were the Kennedys (1830). While those were years of hardship in Ireland, it is true, they were well before the disastrous Great Potato Famine of the mid-1840s. Only four Irish families arrived here after 1850. The date of John Kennedys birth in Ireland is not yet known here, thus we do not know the names of his parents. Nevertheless, there is a report in the hands of local Kennedy families which states that he had two brothers who emigrated to America and settled at Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Local Kennedys tell us that they were related to the famous Kennedys there, among whom was the assassinated President of the United States, John F. Kennedy. The names of these two brothers remain unknown and nothing is known about their descendants, if indeed they had any. Moreover, we learn from this same report that he also had at least two sisters who figure in local Kennedy history. One was Mary (1793 - 1868) who married James McGrath in Ireland. They emigrated from Ireland and settled in Norway, P.E.I. The other was named Hanorah, who emigrated here at about the same time as her brother John. She married a widower named Patrick Nelligan who was formerly from County Kerry. They too settled in Norway. When John Kennedy relocated at Waterford from Norway he was in possession of three separate parcels of land, one of 50 acres, 81 acres and 57 acres as listed on Meachams 1880 Atlas. These lands did not border Northumberland Strait but were located on both sides of the Skinners Pond Road. A brook, being a tributary of the Black Pond and later named the Yankee Brook flowed through the 81 and 57-acre parcels of land. This brook is not named on the 1928 Cummins Atlas, but it is named on a James Kennedy land deed dated July 2, 1878. According to legend the Yankee Brook was said to be located at Nail Pond, whereas according to official documents such as land deeds, it is in fact located much further west at Waterford. It is of interest to note that about a half mile inland there exists an excellent spring of fresh water in the Yankee Brook which American fishermen used to replenish their supply. They thus gave the brook its name. There were indeed numerous American fishermen along our shores, many of whom were lost at sea, especially in the 1851 (Oct. 3 - 5) Yankee Gale along the North Shore. In 1994 while Nellie McCarthys grave was being dug at the Christ Church Anglican Cemetery at Kildare, a gravedigger accidentally fell upon a mass grave containing the bodies of 12 - 15 sailors wrapped in sails. A new monument was placed on the grave that same year and a suitable cairn was placed in the church yard the following year (1995) in commemoration of the 1851 Yankee Gale which claimed the lives of numerous sailors and fishing vessels. There were also other gales to follow, notably the one in August 1873. John Kennedy and Mary Phee raised the following children: Thomas (May 19, 1811 - 1923) married Ann Wade. Both are buried at Palmer Road; John Jr. (b. 1833 - d. 1906) married Ann Noonan of Palmer Road, both are buried in Palmer Road Roman Catholic cemetery; James (1837 - 1915) married Elizabeth Knox, who was born in Ireland. She came here with her mother at 12 years of age from England. Her father drowned either in Ireland or in England. James and Elizabeth are interred at Palmer Road; Patrick (1839 - 1906) married Elizabeth Wade. Both are buried in the present Roman Catholic cemetery at Tignish. Two brothers married two Wade sisters. Mary (July 26, 1844 - d. ?) married Jim Morrissey from Peter Road. They are buried in Tignish. John Kennedy and Mary Phee had four other children who went to the United States and little is known about them at present. They were Catherine (b. Aug. 11, 1846 - d. ?) who married _ Bartell; Cornelius (Sept. 1, 1848 - d. ?) marriage unknown; Bridget (June 1, 1852 - ?) married John Bigot; and Michael (no information). Thomas Kennedy, the eldest of the second generation of Kennedys to establish himself here, raised a family of eight children. They were Laura, who married John Harper of Christophers Cross, and thats where they resided. Then there was Eva, who married George Knox. They lived and are interred at Palmer Road. Next there was Betha, who married Al Watters. The latter moved to the United States after the death of his wife. She is buried at Palmer Road. Their fourth child was named Annie. She married Herb Crocker. It is believed that they settled somewhere in the United States; another child, Carrie, married Pat Hughs. It is likewise thought that they too moved to the United States. Other children in the family were Bernadette, who remained single and died young; Catherine (Kate) who married ??, and Olive (Olie) who passed away at an early age. Thomas owned two separate parcels of land at Waterford measuring 50 acres and 32 acres. These lands were located on both sides of the Skinners Pond Road and did not border the adjacent strait. By 1928, based on Cummins Atlas, his farm had been taken over by his son-in-law George Knox, who owned a 100-acre farm, having added slightly to the acreage he inherited through his wife Eva Kennedy. Thomass lands today are in the hands of his granddaughter, Mary Profit, daughter of Eva Kennedy and George Knox. Her husband was the late Gerald Profit Sr. and they lived across from the LeClair Garage at Profits Corner. Thomass original home, which he built, still stands on his land and has been renovated over the years. Mary Profit lives in it today and her son Gerald Jr. Profit lives in his own home nearby on the same land where he operates an auto body shop. Present day acreage there numbers about 132 acres on both sides of the Palmer Road. John Jr. Kennedy followed Thomas. He had a family of five children who were Patrick, Alonzo, Fannie, Marcella and Michael. Patrick married Winnie Gallant (Bob Maurices sister). They lived and are buried at Palmer Road. No information is known at present about Alonzo. Fannie married ----McMullins. It is believed they settled out of our region somewhere. Marcella became a nun and nothing is known about her at present. Michael did not marry. James was the third eldest of the second generation. Among all the Kennedys it was he who became the most well positioned settler at Waterford, judging from the extensive acreage he acquired bordering Northumberland Strait. No other Kennedy before him had land directly accessible to the sea with an excellent fresh water brook flowing into it, which we have seen was highly prized by American fishermen seeking replenishment from the spring it contained. For this reason it received its name as Yankee Brook. James, who married Elizabeth Knox, raised a family of five children who were Mary Ann (d. June 19, 1933) who remained single; Patrick (March 2, 1866 - Aug 31, 1942) who remained celibate; Albert (Hermans father)(March 20, 1881 - Aug 17, 1970) who married Maud OHalloran (1883 - 1931) of Dock Road; Elizabeth (1871 - Apr 11, 1881) who died of diphtheria at age 10, and Ida Celina (1874 - Apr 20, 1881), who likewise passed away from diphtheria within nine days of her sister. When it became possible to purchase ones land from the government of P.E.I. rather than paying rent for it, James purchased two parcels at Waterford - one measuring 75 acres on July 2, 1878 for $97.33 and the other measuring 60 acres which he purchased on Dec. 24, 1883 for $68.13. The land deeds for these acquisitions are carefully preserved today by his grandson, Herman Kennedy, who dwells on his lands. Before writing briefly about his children, we must note that it was James Kennedy who cut the four massive corner posts which support the main spire of the Roman Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception at Palmer Road, which overlooks the adjacent burial grounds where he lies interred with his wife. John Sr.s son Patrick, the third born, married to Eliza Ward, raised no family. We must now write about Albert Kennedy and his family. Albert and his wife Maud OHalloran raised a family of ten children. The first was Alvin who married Lucille Tomilson of Sault St. Marie, Ontario. The family lived in the United States and both are buried in Indiana. Eleven children namely Patrick, Marilyn, James, Hanora, Joseph, Paul, Catherine, Dolores, Ralph, Elaine, and Dorothy who were born to them, dwell in the Chicago area. A second child named Regina (Jan 19, 1908 - Feb 2, 1990) remained single and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery at Washington, D. C., having served in the American Army Nursing Corps during the Second World War. Austin Kennedy (May 31, 1909 - Jan 19, 1992) married Gladys Maillet (Myers), daughter of Tim. She resides today in the Perry Holdings Apts. in Tignish. Eight children named Lillian, Leigh, Joan, Angela, Patsy (killed in a car accident in Halifax in 1965), Leonard, Earl and Rita were their offsprings. Austin was a truck driver in the Irish Moss industry. A daughter named Lillian (March 14, 1911 - April 17, 1981) became a Sister in the Congregation of the Precious Blood, a cloistered order at Charlottetown, where she is interred in the nuns plot. The next member of the family was Patrick (Pat)(April 20, 1912 - Dec. 20, 1995) His wife was Kay Walker (d. Sept. 1955) of Halifax, N. S., where they are both buried. They raised two children, who were Stephanie and Neil. Russell was born after Patrick on March 4, 1914. He was married to Coletta Ellsworth, who still lives in Charlottetown. Russell served in the Canadian Army during the Second World War, then in National Defense. He died on July 29, 1983 and is buried in Charlottetown. This marriage produced no children. The next offspring was Rita (June 8, 1916 - June 16, 1996). Remaining single she lived and died in Massachusetts but is interred in her native parish at Palmer Road. Leo (b. May 13, 1918) was the next child. He still lives in Ottawa, Ontario with his wife Eleanor OBrien from the Center Line Road. Their three children, who are Peggy, Lloyd and Glenn, also live there. Roy Kennedy (Dec. 8, 1920 - July 14, 1950) was the ninth member of the family. His wife was Rosella OBrien from St. Lawrence, P.E.I. who lives at Waterford with her second husband, Paul U. Kenny. Roy and Rosella raised two children named Helen and Robert. During his lifetime Roy served in the Canadian Army during World War Two, worked for the C. N. Railway in Halifax, then operated a saw mill on the Center Line Road until his death. He is buried at Palmer Road. Finally we find ourselves at Herman Kennedys abode. He represents the tenth and final offspring of Albert Kennedys family. Born on May 25, 1921 he lives with his wife Evelyn Kinch (b. Jan 17, 1921) of Alma, P.E.I. They both reside at Waterford on the original John Kennedy Sr. acreage consisting of 85 acres. John, as we have seen, was the first Kennedy settler. The house which he had built there was torn down about twenty years ago after serving as a shed. It had been moved aside for a newer one he built some 128 years ago. Herman and Evelyn engendered the following children: Florence (b. Jan 3, 1947) who married Lloyd Gavin of Ascension-Tignish; Ronald (b. July 14, 1948) married Wendy Powers from Scarborough, Ontario; Gerard (b. Oct 8, 1950) married Gloria Profit (Janies daughter). They live at Profits Corner and have three children namely Jason, Beverly and David; Beverly (June 9, 1952 - Nov 5, 1970) was single and succumbed to cancer; Mary Catherine (b. May 16, 1955) married John Ramsay of Summerside where they live with children Michael, Leslie and Mark; their next child Eileen (b. Sept 16, 1958) married Donald Bernard from St. Edwards, P.E.I. where they live, having had Tammy, Holly, Derek, and twins Mitchell and Matthew as children; their last child is Carl (b. Aug 16, 1968) who is married to Catherine Poirier of Palmer Road where they have two children Stacy and Vanessa. We have once again been on a long journey tracing for posterity the local Kennedy clan. May our journey not be in vain.
Posted on: Sun, 12 Oct 2014 16:09:46 +0000
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