Kentucky Two-Step

I changed course again. Instead of the correspondence I promised in yesterday's post,  I thought some ancestral background should come into the picture. Hence, the name of this post brings Kentucky's path into the limelight amid the twists and turns heading toward the southern bypass. It brings the trail from the Kennedys to the Porters, and aha! James D. Porter, the star (so to speak) of this section.

The following entry is an excerpt from another document found in the proverbial "box". The author puzzled me. Who in the world is M.H. Krout and why would she be writing about the Kennedy family and Old Stone House? The question led me on an interesting hunt to discover a woman before her time in Mary Hannah Krout. She lived in Crawsfordsville, Indiana, an unlikely place to find someone with first-hand knowledge about an old Southern family from Kentucky. But after I researched her, I found that she was an author, poet, newspaper reporter, world traveler, AND a leading feminist of her day. The tie-in came with the discovery that her paternal grandmother was a Kennedy from Covington.

Hand-written circa 1871

M. H. Krout

Thomas Kennedy, Sr. was born in the North of England, 1703, of Scotch Irish decent, and Presbyterian. He immigrated to America at an early day and settled in Chester Co. Pennsylvania, on Brandy Wine Creek near a Presbyterian Church of the same name, Brandywine. He was probably the only child. Thomas Kennedy, Sr. was married in Chester Co., Penn., to Margaret _____(name not known) and had two children, Margaret Crawford and Thomas Kennedy, Jr. (the first settler of Covington, Kentucky)."

And a bit more:

"Hannah Kennedy, daughter of Dinah and Thomas, married William Porter about 1793. She started on a visit to Penn. was followed by Wm. Porter and they were married probably at Limestone, Ky., now Maysville. Thomas Kennedy Porter (born Feb. 19, 1801) was their child.(and the father of James Davis Porter)"

Ms. Krout's family sketch is extensive and in some places, hard to follow. These old tales about who had who can become tedious. Believe me. I enjoy the real life stories of the places the people called home--like The Old Stone House. Here's what M.H. Krout said:

"Thomas Kennedy, Jr. (and) his wife, Dinah, and their five children came down the Ohio River, and landed at the mouth of the Licking River, where the city of Covington (Kentucky) now stands, May 1791. There was then standing a small cabin of some hunters. Rob Kyle and his wife Sallie Piersal and William Porter were in company with them. The Stone House in Covington known as the Kennedy House and which is still in possession of the descendents of Thos. Kennedy, was commenced by him in 1795 and not completed until 1802, but was occupied several years before..."

Now we know exactly how James Davis Porter entered the trail. Right? Sure. More on the Old Stone House and James D. Porter in the upcoming posts.