The Kennedys of Darlington District, SC
and Wilcox County, ALContributed by Thomas R. Bryant
The Wilcox County Kennedys were two first cousins who came in the 1840s, and one branch had a large family, with descendants still in the area. The other, David Kennedy, had only two daughters, who went back to SC after the Civil War, and raised their families there.
Thomas Kennedy, son of William, grandson of Thomas, Sr., also called in my book as "Thomas of Wilcox", was born in 1798, in Darlington or Sumter County, South Carolina. His modern gravestone in Wilcox County, Alabama shows a middle initial of M., but no one in the family knows if this is accurate. He was married first to a woman named Ann, in South Carolina. Ann and Thomas moved first to Florida, then to Monroe County, Alabama in 1839. Somewhere along the way, they had a son, and, then, shortly afterwards, Ann died. Thomas was unable to care for the son, and left him with relatives, possibly in Tennessee.
Later, on 18 May 1843, he married in Wilcox County, to Martha Elizabeth Pilkington, who had come to Wilcox County in 1835 from Marion District, South Carolina, with her parents, Elizabeth McCown and Dura Pilkington, Jr. Martha and Thomas lived in the area of Bell's Landing in Monroe County, where Thomas was said to have been a farmer and Presbyterian minister at the Bell's Landing Church. About 1851, they moved to Wilcox County, at Black's Bend, now known as Coy, where he owned Kennedy's Landing, on the Alabama River.
David Kennedy, son of Thomas Kennedy, Jr., became a prominent citizen of Wilcox County, Alabama, after emigrating there about 1840. He was proud of his Darlington roots, listing his birthplace on his tombstone, being born 23 May 1805. His first wife was Mrs. Sarah Warburton, who was born 3 May 1815, near Black River, in Sumter District. She died 11 July 1855. David married secondly, Sarah Isabella McDowell, the eighth child of Frances McCown and William McDowell, Jr., of Darlington District. Sarah Isabella McDowell Kennedy died 19 April 1874; David died 6 January 1878. All three are buried in what is now known as the Capell Cemetery, in Wilcox County. The land for the cemetery was donated by David Kennedy, but it, and the surrounding lands were later sold to the Capell family, hence its name. Also buried there is David's brother, Samuel, who died 7 October 1840, just following their arrival in Wilcox County.
ANNOUNCING PUBLICATION
OF
The Kennedy and Magarahan Family
of
South Carolina and Georgia
Thomas Kennedy of Darlington District, SC
and
James Francis Magarahan, of County Leitrim, Ireland, Philadelphia, and Augusta, Georgia
Hardbound, acid free paper, permanent ink
366 pages
6500 entry index,
35 pages of Bible records
30 pages of genealogical charts
179 illustrations
41 in color
Available now, only 100 copies printed
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Thomas R. Bryant
1602 Berry Knoll
Birmingham, Alabama 35226
205-945-1075
doowopdoc@aol.com
Other chapters concern
Other Kennedy Families of Darlington, Sumter, Kershaw, and Williamsburg Counties
Chewning, Patch, McClam, Shuford, Carroll, Waters, Coker, Ragin, Fullenwider, Duvall, Smith,
Corbett, Felder, Baker, Lowrance, Hoyle, Tilkey, McMuldrough/Muldrow, Frierson, McKenzie, Myer/Myers/Myre, Snell, Cheney, Jacob, Jenkins, Boone, Costner, Warlick, Wilfong
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8 Jun 2003 | 8 Jun 2003
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Wilcox County, AL Genealogy