R. Y. Kennedy Family History

R Y Kennedy Family History
by Jayne Kennedy Sweger

Richard Yates "Dick" "R Y" Kennedy, was the ninth child of eleven. Of that eleven, seven were boys, but only R Y and his brother William E survived to adulthood. His oldest brother, Joseph Roberts, died during the Civil War and was buried at Natchez, Mississippi National Cemetery.

RY's parents were Robert McCay and Martha Piatt Roberts¹ Kennedy. The Kennedy's came from Franklin Co, PA, by wagon and Ohio River riverboat to Dearborn Co, IN, and from there to Whiteside Co, IL where R Y was born. The Roberts family immigrated from Maine in 1817 (the year with no summer²) by wagon train to Dearborn Co, IN, where Martha Roberts was born in 1826, and she and Robert were married in 1844.

From an early age, R Y had a thirst for knowledge, and he attended College in Dixon, IL. He returned to Whiteside County where he taught in District No 5 in Genesee Township. To quote his Dad³ during a school break, "Dick will occupy his time in pitching hay and playing "Winkum". In April, 1886, Robert wrote: "…look out for a wedding about sheep-shearing time", and a few weeks later,

"And we will go to Rich and Fiah's wedding,
And merry we will be,
For Rich is twenty-seven,
And Fiah's twenty-three".

…And so my grandparents, R Y Kennedy and Axaphia Wink were married April 27, 1886. Their first child, Ogle, died in infancy. In August, 1887, R Y and Axa, with all their worldly belongings boarded a train for Southeastern Kansas.

R Y wrote that he'd "gained 15 pounds in three weeks, and was wonderfully pleased with the country". He bought an improved 40 acre farm for $900.00 within four miles of Coffeyville [called Watermelon Ridge or Sandy Ridge]. He began teaching school that October for $40.00 a month, and when school wasn't in session, he farmed, and added another 40 acres.

In 1892, R Y wrote his parents: "…There is strong talk of a company with a capital of $251,000.00 erecting an immense elevator in our city soon. This is a great grain point, especially wheat. Coffeyville is now entirely heated by natural gas; it has three wells. It costs each store or residence $35.00 to get pipes laid…after that the cost is $1.25 per month. The supply is unlimited…. Coffeyville has the strongest flow in the state and no doubt will attract many manufactories in the near future…Without any boasting, we have the best town for its size I ever visited." Then he added: "I'm going to butcher my winters meat in a few days. One hog I am going to assassinate will gross 450 lbs. Axa has never yet learned to eat any meat but fish and fowl. Hogs sold as high as 5.75 per cent here the other day."

He soon wrote his parents that there was a 9 pound baby girl living in his house, and other children followed until he and Axa had seven living children.

By 1908, R Y had been a Professor of the High School for several years at $95.00 monthly, and secretary of the Montgomery County Fair. Since Grandpa was vitally interested in anything educational, he joined the directing board at the Carnegie Public Library.

The Kennedy family attended the Presbyterian church, and I've heard it said by family members, (tongue in cheek) that "Axaphia was the Presbyterian church in Coffeyville".

By this time, R Y had moved his family from the farm to a fine two story house at 106 W First (later 108). His daughter, Leah, followed him into the teaching profession, teaching Jr High at Pittsburg, KS. Flossie worked as a secretary in Bartlesville and Tulsa, and had also taught school. Dode worked in Montana and Idaho before her marriage. Gretchen married and happily raised her family in and around Coffeyville, living with her mother, Axa, throughout her widowhood. Flo married and lived on the East Coast. Mang raised four children, and worked in the oil industry in Wyoming and Kansas. Dude, after several years of 'wild oats sowing' in South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana, married and moved to Nowata, OK, where we lived on a an 80 acre farm.

Always interested in politics, R Y was forever bringing a surprise guest home for dinner, but with a big family there was always room for one more. One such guest was Windle Wilkie, who eventually ran for President. On this occasion, however, when he saw the spring fare of new potatoes and fresh peas, he said, "I could eat every potato and pea in the pot!" My Dad and his siblings cracked up; Wilkie and my grandparents had red faces.

R Y ran for mayor of Coffeyville and was elected April 4, 1933, taking office on April 15th. I have a photo from The Journal (a bit of nostalgia in the February 28, 1960 issue) of the WPA workmen working on Roosevelt Drive with dignitaries, including the Mayor, R Y Kennedy. The caption says: "…the drive, once a favorite for a Sunday afternoon outing, is now closed." R Y was in office from April 1933 to March 16, 1934, when he died.

FOOTNOTES

1. Martha Piatt Roberts was a lineal descendant of John Howland of the Mayflower, which makes all these Kennedy's Mayflower Descendants.

2. This was caused by the eruption of a volcano, Mt Tambora in the Dutch East Indies in 1815. In 1817, 15 families, 10 wagons, 24 horses, and 78 people left Cumberland Co, Maine for Dearborn Co, Indiana, in a "Land Caravan".

3. R Y's father, Robert M Kennedy, wrote a weekly column for The Whiteside Sentinel for 26 years, which I read and copied. He had a sense of family, and faithfully reported his family (ancestors and his children) as well as his neighbors, over the years.

Pictures of R. Y. Kennedy & Family