Presbyterian Minister

kennedy-david-stewart-1834-1898

Parents: James Bailey Kennedy (1794–1873) and Sarah Reid (1792–1873). Married: Nancy Wills Kelly (1837–1921). Children: Sarah Elizabeth Kennedy (1860–1949); Bella M. Kennedy (1861–1891); Harry David Kennedy (1863–1925); Reid Kennedy (1864–1953); Archie Goodwille Kennedy (1866–1943); Mary Kennedy (1868–1906); James B. Kennedy (1871–1879); Tillie Kennedy (b. 1873); Annie Margretta Kennedy (b. 1876); Thomas Walker Kennedy (1881–1963). Kinship: Great-granduncle of the post–World War II Smith generation.

Education David Stewart Kennedy entered Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, at age twenty-two and graduated in 1858, in the same class as his future wife, Nancy Kelly. He then attended Allegheny (Western) Theological Seminary in Allegheny City, now Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, completing his studies in 1862.

Civil War Era Church histories of his later Illinois pastorate record that Kennedy served as a chaplain during the Civil War before accepting his first pastorate. Although the exact regiment is not identified, his seminary class produced many Union chaplains, and his subsequent service pattern fits the movement of western Pennsylvania clergy into wartime ministry.

Pastorates Kennedy’s first charge was at Center, Washington County, Pennsylvania, where he remained for ten years. He then served the Sewickley congregation in the Presbytery of Allegheny for six years. In 1878 he accepted a call to the Somonauk United Presbyterian Church in DeKalb County, Illinois, and was installed there on September 5, 1878. He ministered faithfully for a little more than fifteen years, resigning in 1893 because of failing health.

Later Life and Death After resigning, Kennedy retired to his farm near Somonauk. He died in 1898 and was buried with his wife in Oak Mound Cemetery. Church and cemetery records confirm his service dates and burial site.

Assessment Kennedy’s career reflects the westward progress of nineteenth-century Presbyterianism: rigorous theological training, early service in Pennsylvania, and the establishment of new congregations in the developing Midwest. His long Illinois pastorate and Civil War chaplaincy gave him regional influence. His children continued the family’s tradition of public service, most notably Judge Archie Goodwille Kennedy.