Owen Rand Kenan (1804 - 1887)

Ancestors

Husband of Sarah Rebecca (Graham) Kenan — married 12 May 1836 in North Carolina, United States

Descendants

Died 3 Mar 1887 at age 82 in North Carolina, U.S.

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Biography

from The Duplin Times September 2nd 1949 [1]

Major OWEN RAND KENAN was born in Kenansville, Duplin County, North Carolina on March 4th 1804.

He grew up in Kenansville and took over his father Thomas Stephen Kenan’s Plantation and home, Liberty Hall, which became the centre of a lively society.

He was a militia officer, a member of the State House of Commons and of the Confederate Congress. He served in the state legislature from 1834 to 1838. He also represented the state during the Civil War, in the First Confederate Congress from 1862 to 1864.

Major Owen Rand Kenan's wife was Sarah Rebecca Graham, daughter of Dr. Stephen Graham, a physician. Owen Rand Kenan was a successful and prosperous planter; he and Sarah had four children, three sons that served in the Civil War and a daughter.

Sarah (Graham) Kenan died in 1871

He died on March 3rd 1887

Their grave stones are located at Liberty Hall, Kenansville, North Carolina

their children were:-

(a) Colonel Thomas Stephen Kenan 1838-1911 who was one of the outstanding lawyers of the State. He entered the service of the Confederacy as Captain of the Duplin Rifles and later became Colonel of the 43rd N. C. Regiment. He was a member of the State House of Commons, Attorney-General of the State, and Clerk of the State Supreme Court. A portrait of him hangs on the wall in Duplin courtroom. Colonel Kenan's wife was Sarah Dortch and they had no children

(b) Captain James Graham Kenan. He was a Confederate officer, Sheriff and Legislator. His wife was Annie H. Hill and their children were: Col. Owen Hill Kenan; Emily Howard Kenan; Thomas S. Kenan, business man of Atlanta; Graham Kenan, lawyer, died in "flu" epidemic of 1918; and Fannie Hill Kenan, died in infancy,

(c) Captain William Rand Kenan. He was a Confederate officer from Duplin, and later located in Wilmington. His wife was Mary Hargrave of Chapel Hill and their children were: Mary Lily Kenan, married Henry Morrison Flagler, Standard Oil capitalist and founder of the Florida East Coast Railway, and after his death she married Judge Robert Worth Bingham, American Ambassador to Great Britain; Jessie H. Kenan, married J. C. Wise; William Rand Kenan, capitalist and philanthropist, of New York City; Sarah Graham Kenan, married Graham Kenan,

(d) Annie Dickson Kenan, never married. She became Mistress of Liberty Hall following the death of her father.

Sources

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owen_Rand_Kenan
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Hall_%28Kenansville,_North_Carolina%29

Sources obtained by Mary Atkins:

• "The Duplin Times. (Warsaw, N.C.)"

The Duplin Times 9-2-1949

• "KENAN VIVE*UT*VIVAS" Compiler: Mrs. Alvaretta Kenan Register "Kenan Family and some of allied families of the compiler" [2]