|
|
Libraries Home | Mobile | My Account | Renew Items | Sitemap | Help |
|
Select a method to view the page:
|
954
Captain Mifflin Kenedy was born at Dowington, Chester county, Pennsylvania, June 8, 1818, and died at
Corpus Christi, Texas, March 14, 1895, aged seventy-six years. Early in life he became a seaman and followed that line of work for many years. In 1842 he went to Alabama and during one season on the Alabama River served as clerk of the Champion, a boat running from Mobile to Montgomery. TheChampion then proceeded to Apalachicola, Florida, and ran on the Apalachicola and Chattahoochie Rivers until 1846. While thus engaged in Florida he met Captain Richard King, then a river pilot and in after years his partner in steamboat operations on the Rio Grande, and ranching in Southwest Texas. In the early part of 1846 Captain Kenedy was placed in charge of the Champion and ordered to take her to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Upon his arrival at Pittsburg, he met Major Saunders, an engineer in the United States Army, and a friend of his, who was sent there by General Zachary Taylor to obtain boats for the use of the army on the Rio Grande. Major Saunders purchased the Corvette, Colonel Cross, Major Brown, Whitville and other boats for the service. Captain Kenedy was made commander of the Corvette and directed to proceed to New Orleans and report to Colonel Hunt of the Quartermaster's Department, U. S. A. The appointment was confirmed and Captain Kenedy enlisted for the war, as