I've been doing a lot of research lately into Irish, Scottish, and early Appalachian history, and looking at how it relates to my genealogy. Although I cannot yet prove it, I am becoming increasingly convinced that I am not Irish, as I had always believed; it is very likely that I am a Scottish Kennedy, having come to America by way of a 200 year layover in Ulster Plantation. This means that I am completely unrelated to the Irish Kennedys (and, thankfully, to the Massachusetts Kennedys).
I have run across a set of facts that tie together very interestingly . . . Tiffany disagrees with my conclusion. I wonder what others make of this . . .
- FACT – My Kennedy ancestors lived in Kentucky for nearly 200 years, from the early-to-mid- 1700s until my Great Grandfather moved to Portland in the early 20th Century. Much of this time the family seems to have been in the area of Lewis, Kentucky.
- FACT – As everyone knows, Daniel Boone was a very famous Kentucky explorer, soldier, businessman, and statesman. He brought many of the first settlers to Kentucky in the 1700s (about the time my family moved there), and established the first structured settlements. Later, he was a Revolutionary War hero, then a politician and successful Kentucky businessman. His first settlement, Boonseborough, was about 80 miles from Lewis; the city he later settled in as a businessman, Maysville, is 20 miles from Lewis.
- FACT – Daniel Boone died in 1820 in Missouri. Many Kentuckians were upset about Boone being buried in Missouri . . . so upset, in fact, that in 1845 a posse went to Missouri, dug him up, and brought him back to Kentucky.
- FACT - My Great-Great Grandfather, Daniel Kennedy, was born in 1845 in Kentucky.
- FACT - Although I cannot find a list of children born around 1845, I have found a list of marriage certificates about 20-some-odd years later, and it is FULL of the names Daniel, Daniel B., and Daniel Boone. Seems that nearly every family named at least one of their sons Daniel, Daniel B., or Daniel Boone.
I am not going to say that my family rubbed elbows with Daniel Boone. It's quite possible that they did, but there is no evidence. What I DO believe is that, around the time of Boones' death, Daniel became a very common name in Kentucky, and that my Great-Great Grandfather was very likely named after Daniel Boone.
The reason that this is so interesting to me is that my father, Daniel Kennedy, was named after HIS Great Grandfather.
My conclusion, which Tiffany does not completely buy, is that my father was named after Daniel Boone.
