The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-06-04
COL. THos. S. KEENAN,.

lnOHldS - henan Was Dorm near
Kenansville, in Duplin county, n. c..
on the 18th of February, 1888. The
Kenan family are Scotch-Irsh. Thomas
Kenan, the founder of the family, came
TO this country about one hundred and
Seventy-fiVe years ago and settled IN
Duplin county. His son, James, was
colonel in the Revolutionary war ana
subsequently was appointed brlgad1er-
general of the militia, and the organ
iZation was kept up until the war OF
1861. His son, Thomas, was member
of the Legislature and member OF
Congress from 1904 to 1914. His son,
owen L., was a member of the Legis-
lature in 1834-35-36, and member OF
the Confederate Congress in 1851 he
lived the life of q Southern planter ana
died in 1887, aged SO years. saw
him while he was in the Confederate
Congress and he was a very handsome
man, stately, dignified and gracetul In
every movement. l have never seen
a more perfect type of the OLD Tune
Southern gentleman than he was. His
manners were easy and natural and
there were no airs about him. he
was about six feet high and would
weigh about $50 pounds. There was
no man in the Confederate Congress
who was more loyal to the Confederate
cause than he. He was not politician
after the style of some of the modern
ones but he was the soul of honor
proud, pure and patriotic. He was too
pure to do a mean act, indeed purity
was stamped upon his brow.
Moore, in describing purity in a
woman, says:
"A spirit pure as hers,
Is always pure, even while 1t e.rrs,
AS sunshine broken in the rill
Though turned around is sunshine
still"
Owen r. Kenan was the father of
Col. Thomas S. Kenan, and his mother
was the daughter of DR.. Stephen era
ham, also of Duplin county. Colonel
Kenan was prepared for college at
Grove Academy, near KenansVille,
then under the charge of Rev. James
M. Sprunt, who was Presbyterian
divine and was born in Scotland. He
was educated at the best colleges and
universities Of that country and was
q finished and cultured scholar.
heard him preach on one occasion and
his sermon was scholarly, with elegant
diction, chaste language, glowing
rhetoric and was a perfect literary
gem. Young Kenan was fortunate in
having a man of such culture and
taste as his instructor. The pupil Will
necessarily partake Of the qualities of
being prepared for college he went 20
Wake Forest and thence to the Uni
Versity, where he graduated in 1851.
He read law with Judge Pearson, re-
ceiVing his county court license in De-
cember, 1853, and his Superior Court
license in 1859 He Immediately COM
menced the practice of the law in
Kenansville. At that time Col W..
Houston and Col. w. A. Allen were the
L. Iat. Of in x n
vile. I never knew Col Houston, but
have heard him spoken of as an elo-
quent orator and a fine lawyer. He
was in the Senate of North Carolina
before the war and was solicitor of the
Second Judicial District. He was a
colonel in the Confederate army anu
was killed in battle. Col. Allen L knew
well. He was a good lawyer, not bril-
liant, but man of sound Judgment
and was a noble true and an honest
Christian man. He was modest, unas-
Stunning, easy gentle in his manners,
tender as a woman He was the father
of the two Judge Aliens, now on the
bench. Such were the men with whom
young Kenan had to contend at the
time he entered upon the practice of
the law, but he shrank not from the
contest.
In April, 1861, young Kenan entered
the military service of the State as
captain of the Duplin Rifles. IN
March, 1862, he was elected colonel
of the Forty-Third Regiment, North
Carolina Troops. He was also elected
colonel of the Thirty Eeighth Regi-
ment upon its reorganization at Colds
boro; but declined this and remained
with his old regiment until the 4th of
July, 1868, at Gettysburg, where he
was wounded, and being captured on
johnson
Island and was there confined as a
prisoner of war until March, 1865.
when he was released with several
hundred prisoners of war and re-
turned home just before the surrender
in 1S65-66 and 1861. In 1858 he
was the Democratic candidate for Con-
gress in the black district, but his dis
trict was hopelessly Republican. and
he made the canvass of it with no
other hope than to rally Democratic
forces and inspire them with the con-
fidence for future contests. In the
same year he married Miss Sallie
Dortch. daughter of DR.. Louis Dortch
and a niece of Hon. w. T. Dortch, of
Goldsboro. In June, 1863 he moved
to Wilson and resumed the practice of
the law. In 1872 he was delegate
to the National Democratic Convention
at Baltimore that nominated Horace
Greedy for President. In the same
year he was elected mayor of Wilson
and served as such after repeated cleo
TONS until 1876, when he was elected
Attorney General and was reelected
in 1880, serving for period of eight
years. After his term at Attorney
General expired he was elected clerk
of the Supreme Court, which office he
now holds.
Col Kenan had two brithers, James
c. Kenan, who was sheriff of Duplin
county, and w. r. Kenan, now dead,
and the father of Mrs. H. M. Flagler
and one sister, Miss Annie Kenan.
Under Cleveland's administration Will
liam r. Kenan was collector of Gus
toms at Wilmington. So it will be seen
that the Kenan family in all its history
has been a family of distinguished
men, who have always had the conf
dence Of the people, and occupied high
social and official positions. Col Kenan
is a product of the old South when
honor, chivalry, courtesy, culture and
hospitality were the leading character
istics Of her people. He was reared in
the Cape Fear section, where there
were refined and wealthy planters, and
the society of that region was probably
the most cultured in the State. l have
frequently noticed the men of that
f W.