William Kennon Jr.

William Kennon Jr. (June 12, 1802 – October 19, 1867) was a lawyer, judge, and a U.S. Representative from Ohio.[1]

William Kennon Jr.
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio's 15th district
In office March 4, 1847 – March 3, 1849
Preceded by	Joseph Morris
Succeeded by	William F. Hunter
Personal details
Born	June 12, 1802 Carrickfergus, County Antrim, Ireland, U.K.
Died	October 19, 1867 (aged 65) St. Clairsville, Ohio, U.S.
Resting place	Union Cemetery
Political party	Democratic
Relations	William Kennon Sr. (cousin)
Alma mater	Franklin College

Early life

Born in Carrickfergus, County Antrim on the island of Ireland (the entirety of which was then part of the U.K.), Kennon, known locally as 'Kenno', immigrated to the United States in 1816 with his parents, who settled near Barnesville, Ohio. He was a first cousin of fellow U.S. Representative William Kennon Sr.[1]

He attended the common schools and graduated from Franklin College, New Athens, Ohio, in 1826. Kennon studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1830.[1]

Career

He commenced practice in St. Clairsville, Ohio, and served as the prosecuting attorney of Belmont County from 1837-41.[1]

Kennon was elected as a Democrat to the Thirtieth Congress from March 4, 1847, until March 3, 1849. He was not a candidate for renomination, and instead resumed the practice of law. He served as judge of the court of common pleas of the fifteenth judicial district from 1865 to July 1, 1867, when he resigned.[1]

Personal life

Kennon was married to Elizabeth Kirkwood (1818–1899), daughter of Joseph Kirkwood and granddaughter of Revolutionary War hero Robert Kirkwood.[2][3] Together, they were the parents of:

• Margaret A. Kennon (1852–1922), who married Allen C. Miller (1848–1892) in 1870.
• Newell Kirkwood Kennon (1855–1937), an attorney.[2][4]
• Albert Wilson Kennon (1861–1949), an 1886 graduate of the Cincinnati Law School[5] who married Ida Belle Updegraff (1868–1941), of Wheeling, West Virginia, in 1904.[6]

He died in St. Clairsville on October 19, 1867, and was interred in Union Cemetery.[1]

Sources

1. "KENNON, William, Jr. - Biographical Information". bioguide.congress.gov. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
2. Caldwell, John Alexander (1880). History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio: And Incidentally Historical Collections Pertaining to Border Warfare and the Early Settlement of the Adjacent Portion of the Ohio Valley. Historical Publishing Company. p. 244. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
3. Historical Society of Delaware (1896). Papers of the Historical Society of Delaware. The Society. pp. 74–75. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
4. The American Bar. J.C. Fifield Company. 1921. p. 811. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
5. The Weekly Law Bulletin and Ohio Law Journal. Capital Print. & Publishing Company. 1886. p. 370. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
6. "Social Calendar". The Index. XI: 16. October 29, 1904. Retrieved May 15, 2018.

External links

• United States Congress. "William Kennon Jr. (id: K000122)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• William Kennon Jr. at Find a Grave