Memorable Manitobans: Samuel Kennedy (1825-1909)

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Samuel Kennedy
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Pioneer.

Born at Belfast, Ireland on 16 August 1825, son of John Samuel Kennedy and Mary Smiley, he emigrated to Canada circa 1830 as a child and settled on a farm in Hastings County, Upper Canada [Ontario]. He married Jane Sexsmith (1825-1900) in the 1840s and they had eight children. He came to Manitoba in 1870 as a voluntary labourer with the Wolseley Expedition. Rather than return home with the other men, he stayed behind and, in the fall of 1870, came to the area between present-day Carman and Elm Creek known as Rivière aux Ilets-de-Bois. After wintering over at Headingley, in the following spring, he took up a land claim along the Boyne River, which he claimed to have named, built a sod house, and cleared farm land. His wife and children joined him later in the summer and other family members arrived in 1872. They became prosperous farmers in the area. He died on his farm on 21 October 1909 and was buried in the Greenwood Cemetery. On his death he had had eight children by Jane, 43 grandchildren and 30 great-grandchildren.

See also:

The Confrontations at Rivière aux Ilets-de-Bois by Alan B. McCullough
Manitoba History, Number 67, Winter 2012

Sources:

Death registration, Manitoba Vital Statistics.

This page was prepared by Vince Kennedy and Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 25 February 2019

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

This is a collection of noteworthy Manitobans from the past, compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society. We acknowledge that the collection contains both reputable and disreputable people. All are worth remembering as a lesson to future generations.

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