My grandmother was Margaret Lucille Kennedy married to Harry William Rowland. She was the seventh of ten girls born to Daniel McCoy Kennedy (1852-1939) and Evaline Fleming (1855-1932). Her two youngest sisters, Pearl and Eva Kennedy, were my great aunts but were part of my life growing up. My sister Susan and I would visit them in the summertime in Saltsburg, Pennsylvania where they still lived in the home built by their father, Daniel McCoy Kennedy. When I started my quest to find my ancestors, I questioned them about their Kennedy relatives. They were able to give me little information other than the name of Daniel McCoy's father, James Kennedy. Daniel McCoy Kennedy had left home when he was sixteen since he and his father, James Kennedy, did not get along. James Kennedy was supported by the Overseers of the Poor in Young Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania in 1900. As a result, the Court ordered Daniel McCoy Kennedy and his brother William Smith Kennedy to pay 75 cents a week each towards their father's support. James Kennedy married Elizabeth F. Rosensteel in 1878 after his first wife, Nancy McCoy Kennedy, died sometime between 1870 and 1878.
I looked for the parents of James Kennedy for many years but could not find them. The clues to their identity were in my files all along. James Kennedy and his wife Nancy McCoy had the following children:
William Smith Kennedy (1850-1922)
Daniel McCoy Kennedy (1852-1939)
Sarah Agness born about 1855
Charles M. born about 1859-died before 1870
Howard J. Kennedy (1865-1918)
Margaret Alice Kennedy (about 1869-1900)
The following information was used to determine the identity of James Kennedy's parents: William Kennedy (born about 1775-died between 1858 and 1860) and Julia Ann Peddicord (born about 1789-died after 1870). James Kennedy's son, Smith Kennedy, was living with Daniel McFarland in the 1870 census in Brush Valley Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania. James Kennedy's son, Howard Kennedy, was living with Daniel McFarland in the 1880 census in Brush Valley Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania. According to a biography for Captain Daniel McFarland in the Indiana County History by Stewart, he was married to Sarah Kennedy. William and Juliann Kennedy are living near Daniel McFarland and his wife Sarah in the 1850 census in Brush Valley Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania. Julia A. Kennedy is living near Daniel McFarland and his wife Sarah in the 1860 census in Brush Valley Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania. Julia Kennedy is living near Daniel McFarland in the 1870 census in Brush Valley Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania. A biographical article on the Kennedy family of Indiana County, Pennsylvania in the Genealogical and Personal History of Beaver County, Pennsylvania by Jordan on page 381 states that the maiden name of William Kennedy's wife was Peddicord and that they had three children: Samuel, James, and Sarah.
Sarah Kennedy married Daniel McFarland. Two of their children's death certificates,William Hays McFarland and Elizabeth Catharine McFarland Stephens, give their parents names as Daniel McFarland and Sarah Kennedy.
James Kennedy married Nancy McCoy. Two of their children's death certificates, William Smith Kennedy and Daniel McCoy Kennedy, give their parents' names as James Kennedy and Nancy McCoy.
Since James Kennedy did not get along with his children, his son Daniel Kennedy was living with a neighbor Smith Templeton in the 1870 census. His son Smith Kennedy was living with his uncle Daniel McFarland by marriage in the 1870 census and his brother Howard Kennedy was living with his uncle Daniel McFarland by marriage in the 1880 census. This was what led me to determine the identity of James Kennedy's parents.
The other son of William Kennedy and Julia Ann Peddicord was Samuel Kennedy (1822-1898). He married Amelia Paige (born about 1827-1855) with whom he had four children. He married Harriet (1828-1904) after his first wife's death with whom he had additional children. He moved to Peabody, Kansas in 1877 and died in Winfield, Cowley County, Kansas in 1898. There is an article on this family in the Biographical and Historical Cyclopedia of Indiana and Armstrong Counties, Pennsylvania on page 196 and an additional article on this family in the Genealogical and Personal History of Beaver County Pennsylvania on page 381.
