David Ernest Kennedy (1873 - 1951)

Born 23 Mar 1873 in Janesville, Rock, Wisconsin, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Arminta Jane (Barnett) Kennedy — married 24 Feb 1897 in Mankato, Jewell, Kansas, United States

Descendants

Died 27 Aug 1951 at age 78 in Esbon, Jewell, Kansas, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Jim Kennedy [send private message]

Biography

Obituary

David Ernest Kennedy, the oldest of the five children of Margaret Jane and Charles Abbott Kennedy, was born in Janesville, Wisconsin, on March 23, 1873, and passed away at his home in Esbon August 27, 1951, at the age of 78 years, 5 months and 4 days.

In February, 1879 at the age of 5 years he and his father took a train to Red Cloud, Nebraska and then took a wagon to Kansas to establish a homestead in Odessa Township south of Esbon in Jewell County. Some of his mother’s family had already settled in the area. His mother, grandmother, younger brother, and younger sister joined them in the fall.

On February 24, 1897, he was married to Arminta Jane Barnett, and to this union thirteen children were born.

He and his family lived on the Kennedy farms in Odessa township until 1940 when they moved to a farm north of Esbon in Highland township.

After his wife’s serious illness in 1946, they moved to a home in Esbon.

Ern Kennedy was a quiet man who made his presence felt by his understanding friendliness. He was a considerate father, a faithful husband, and a loyal citizen. He had a wide variety of interests and kept informed on all current events. With quiet laughter he appreciated a joke and with quiet courage he accepted misfortune.

He enjoyed visiting with his children and grandchildren and his many friends, and they in turn found him interesting and enjoyed his company.

On February 24, 1947, the twelve children gathered at the Kennedy home to honor their parents on their Golden Wedding Anniversary.

He leaves to cherish his memory his wife; 7 sons, Dr. Charles of Paso Robles, Calif., Forrest of Tacoma, Wash., Byron of Superior, Wisc., Kenneth of Lebanon, Ks., Sgt. Morris with the United States Army, David and Donald of Esbon; 4 daughters, Mrs. Fred Muck of Marion, Ks., Mrs. Francis Obert of Red Cloud, Nebr., Mrs. Wiley Sloan and Mrs. Leo Obert of Esbon; 26 grand- children; 2 great grandchildren; and one brother, William, of Rogers, Arkansas.

He was preceded in death by 2 brothers and 1 sister; 3 grandchildren; and 2 sons, Lyall and James.
(Newspaper and date were not recorded for this obituary clipping. The obituary was probably written by Ern’s daughter Jessie (Kennedy) Muck.)

Additional Biographical Information

Ern’s sister Blanche was best friends with Minta Barnett when they both attended the rural one-room Lone Tree School in Odessa Township, Jewell County, Kansas. Ern later married Minta.

Ern’s father Charlie Kennedy purchased various parcels of land near his original homestead and in 1900 owned 560 acres with no debt. Ern farmed with his father. After their marriage, Ern and Minta lived on some of the family land. In the early 1900s Charlie divided his land among his five children. Ern remained on the farm and bought out some of his siblings until he had 360 acres. In 1906 Ern’s father Charlie initiated the construction of a large two-story wooden house for Ern’s increasing family. Ern’s father died in 1915, which was a major loss for the family because of the close emotional bonds and because he contributed significant wisdom and labor to the farming operation.

Farming in this area was productive in some years and very difficult or impossible in other years. The difficult times caught up with Ern. He had financial problems and lost the 360 acres and large house in 1922. The loss of the farm was a surprise to Ern’s adult children who would have helped him had they known of his financial problems.

Ern moved his family into a much smaller rock house his father Charlie had built on 80 acres of land for Charlie and his wife in their later years. The house and land were inherited by Ern and his four siblings after the deaths of their parents. In 1936 or 1937 the well on the land went dry during the severe drought and Ern had to haul water for all living and farming uses from a community well about 2.5 miles away using a horse-drawn 300 gallon tank. In 1939 it became apparent that the drought made it infeasible for Ern to repay a debt he owed and the bank foreclosed on the land.

With the help of their children, Ern and Minta moved to an 80 acre farm in Highland Township in a different part of Jewell County. This land had a good well, a windmill, and nice buildings. Ern and Minta lived there until they could no longer manage living in the country. Then they moved to a house in Esbon where they lived from 1946 to the end of their lives.

Farm foreclosures as happened with Ern were common during the severe drought of the 1930s. However, this was a symptom of a larger problem. The early settlers in Kansas were far too optimistic about how many people the land could support. The 1900 U.S. Census listed 19,420 people in Jewell County, Kansas. The population steadily declined over the decades to 3,077 in 2010.^[1] The land and weather simply could not consistently support the number of farmers who were trying to live there.

Over the years, Ern was elected to various positions in Odessa Township, including Trustee, Clerk, and Justice of the Peace. He liked to read and to keep up with current events, and had a knack for math. He served as Clerk for the Lone Tree School for most or all years from 1914 to 1933. Some of Ern’s children speculated that Ern would have been happier as a teacher rather than as a farmer.

Like most people in this area of Kansas in the early 1900s, Ern and Minta lived on the edge financially. However, their children grew up feeling loved and close family bonds, and did not feel the financial stress.

(The additional information was written by Ern’s grandson Jim Kennedy based on letters by Ern's grown children, newspaper articles, and deed records for Jewell County, Kansas available at the courthouse in Mankato, Kansas.)

Sources

1. ↑ Population numbers from “Jewell County, Kansas” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewell_County,_Kansas

• Sources are noted in the text above.

Acknowledgments

This person was created on 08 April 2011 through the import of HOWE(1).ged.