Kenedy Family
340 linear feet
A1977-029; A1995-045; A1998-036; A2002-006; A2002-010
1890-1945 (unknown)
Mifflin Kenedy and his wife Petra Vela-Vidal, were instrumental in the history of South Texas. Mifflin Kenedy was born on June 8, 1818 in Downington, Chester County, Pennsylvania to Quaker parents. Petra Vela-Vidal Kenedy was born in Mier, Mexico on June 29, 1825 to Gregorio Vela, the Provincial Governor under the Spanish crown, and Josefa Resendez Vela. Petra was married to a Spanish Army officer, Lieutenant Luis Vidal when she first met Kenedy. She had eight children with Vidal. Vidal was murdered and Kenedy married Petra in 1852 in Brownsville, Texas.
He continued to work as a steamboat captain during the Mexican-American War and the Civil War. Mifflin was a Quaker, but he accepted Petra’s faith, Catholicism. Petra and Mifflin had six children along with her eight from Vidal, all of which Mifflin adopted. After the war, Miflin Kenedy partnered with Richard King and acquired hundreds of acres of land in South Texas which they began to settle. Kenedy and King were instrumental in taming the area; most notable was their campaign against Juan N. Cortina. One of Kenedy’s most significant contributions was the introduction of large scale ranching to the United States. He was among the first Texas ranchers to fence his land.
Three generations used the Kenedy laurel-leaf brand. Kenedy also helped Uriah Lott to establish the Corpus Christi, San Diego, and Rio Grande railway line form Corpus Christi to Laredo and contributed to the building of the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway. When Mifflin Kenedy died in 1895 without leaving a will, his only surviving son, John Gregory bought out the other heirs’ interest in the vast Kenedy Ranch, La Parra. John G. Kenedy and his wife, Marie Stella, had two children, John Jr. and Sarita. Sarita was the last direct descendant of Captain and Petra Kenedy when she died in 1961. Upon her death the estate, worth an estimated $50 million, passed to the John G. and Marie Stella Kenedy Memorial Foundation, a philanthropic foundation intended to benefit Catholic Charities.
The collection contains approximately 340 linear feet of documents, maps, photographs, books, blueprints, drawings and diaries. The documents include Spanish and Mexican land grants, military papers concerning the Mexican-American War and the Civil War, steamboat contracts with the federal government, legal agreements between Kenedy and King, and volumes of paper and correspondence on the building of the railways in South Texas. The railroad papers contain agent reports, business correspondence, maps, conductor reports, and legal papers. Ranching ledgers contain the breeds of cattle owned, birth of calves, branding information, and sale of livestock. Blueprints of La Parra, John Kenedy’s headquarters and home near Sarita, Texas illustrate the many phases of building of the structure. Drawings of the land and coast along with maps published early in the 20th century are included in the collection. An undated map of the waterways of the Gulf of Mexico and many maps of the Kenedy Pasture Company founded by Captain Kenedy are part of the collection. Ledgers by year contain the donations of the Kenedy Family to many charities.
The collection is arranged chronologically by year and then by format.
South Texas Archives, James C. Jernigan Library, Texas A&M University-Kingsville
Open for Research
Permission to publish, reproduce, distribute, or use by any and all other current or future developed methods or procedures must be obtained in writing from South Texas Archives, James C. Jernigan Library, Texas A&M University-Kingsville. All rights are reserved and retained regardless of current or future development or laws that may apply to fair use standards.
Kenedy Family Collection, A1977-029.XXXX; A1995-045.XXXX; A1998-036.XXXX; A2002-010.XXXX; A2015-057.XXXX, South Texas Archives, James C. Jernigan Library, Texas A&M University-Kingsville
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A1977-029 Elena S. Kenedy 09/21/1977,A1995-045 John W. Robb 03/30/1994,A1998-036 Father Francis Kelly Nemeck,A2002-006 Max Drwyer, Raymondville Museum,A2002-010 Unknown found in archives
A1977-029 processed by unknown,A1995-045 processed by unknown,A1998-036 processed by Cecilia Aros Hunter,A2002-006 processed by unknown,A2002-010 processed by unknown,Finding Aid created by Lori Atkins and EAD document encoded by Matt Tallant in 2016.