William Kennedy was one of the first settlers of Truro, and a Grantee of the Township. His house lot was on the west side of the street running from Queen Street to the interval. Temperance Hall now partly occupies the site. His front wood lot, so called, is the one upon which Samuel Rettie, Esq., Dr. Samuel Muir, and a number of others, now reside. In the year 1768, he sold his house lot to Robert Hunter, his front wood lot to George Scott, and removed to Pictou. He built the first frame house that was in Pictou town. In 1776, he sold out in Pictou, and returned to Truro. In 1780, he removed and settled at Middle Stewiacke, on the farm which Mr. John Putnam afterwards owned. He was there one year without any neighbour. In the spring of the year 1781, Mr. Samuel Teas, who had recently come from Ireland, settled on the south side of the river, nearly opposite to his place. (The first settlers of Middle Stewiacke had their path or road through the woods from Truro, running along Young Street, up over the high land, passing through what is now Mr. Joseph Marshall's farm in Upper Brookfield and entering Stewiacke at Mr. Kennedy's). He continued to reside on this farm, enduring the hardships of settling in the woods, until the infirmities of old age came upon him. He then divided his farm between his three sons, James, Robert and John, and went to the South Branch to live, with his eldest daughter, Elizabeth, who was then the widow Dickey. When she married the second time, he removed to his son James', who then lived on the place which Mr. Jacob Layton recently occupied at Upper Stewiacke Village, where he died October, 1816. His wife died in 1813. He was married before he came to Nova Scotia, about the year 1758.
William, the eldest son of William and Janet Kennedy, was born in 1759. In February, 1792, he started from his father's house in Middle Stewiacke, and went up the river on the ice, with the intention of crossing from the South Branch to Musquodoboit, to see Miss Ann Archibald, daughter of John and Alice Archibald, to invite her and some others of the family to a wedding at his father's house, the time Robert Gammell was married to his sister, Margaret. When he got up about the mouth of the South Branch, the ice gave way with him, and he was drowned. Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of William and Janet Kennedy, was born in Truro, October 25th, 1761. It is said that she was the first who was born in Truro, after the settlement of the place by the British. She was married to James, son of Adam and James Dickey. They had three sons and two daughters. On August 22nd, 1793, Mr. Dickey was drowned, as described in another place. She married again to Adam Dunlap, September 28th, 1805. Mr. Dunlap died May 25th, 1808. She was married again to Mr. George McConnell, of the West River of Pictou. She died about the year 1815.
James Kennedy, their second son, was born in Truro, November 17th, 1763. He was married to Janet, daughter of Adam and Janet Dickey, in 1790. He inherited the homestead and middle part of his father's farm. About the year 1800, he exchanged farms with William Smith, and removed to Upper Stewiacke, where he spent the remainder of his days. They had five sons and three daughters. He died May 24th, 1845, in the 82nd year of his age. His wife died July, 1825.
Robert, the third son of William and Janet Kennedy, was born in Truro, August 1st, 1766. He was married to Mary Woodworth, December 28th, 1797. He inherited the east side of his father's farm, being that part on which Mr. William F. Putnam now resides. He sold this farm, and removed to Upper Stewiacke, and settled on the farm that is now owned by David McG. Johnson, Esq. He sold out and removed again to Mosquito Cove, where his grandson now resides. They had five sons and three daughters. He died in October, 1834, aged 68 years. His widow died June 10th, 1853.
Margaret and Jane, twin daughters of William and Janet Kennedy, were born in Pictou in 1768. Margaret was married to Robert Gammell, February 16th, 1792. Their family appears among the Gammells. She died October 21st, 1811, aged 43 years. Her husband died November 7th, 1853, aged 88 years. Jane, the other twin daughter, was married to James, eldest son of James and Mary Dunlap, in 1794. They had two sons and one daughter. Her husband died October, 1809, aged 42 years.
John, the youngest son of William and Janet Kennedy, was born in Pictou, in 1770. He was married to Ann, daughter of John Archibald and Alice Moore, of Musquodoboit, in 1795. He inherited the west side of his father's farm, being the same that John Putnam, Jr., now occupies. He died there May 2nd, 1817. His widow was married again to David Dickey, of Musquodoboit, February, 1823. Mr. Dickey died November, 1852. She died at her son, William's house, in Pleasant Valley, October, 1858, aged 86 years. William, the eldest son of John and Ann Kennedy, was born October 4th, 1796. He was married to Mary, daughter of William Carter and Nancy Cox, of Brookfield, February 7th, 1823. They had eight sons and one daughter. They are living at date (November, 1872) on the farm that he reclaimed from the forest in Pleasant Valley. Alice Kennedy, their eldest daughter, was born 1798. She was married to William Moore, of Brookfield, March, 1820. They had one son and two daughters. Mr. Moore died September 1856, aged 60 years. She was married again to James Murphy, of Musquodoboit. Mr. Murphy died, and she is now living a widow. Jane Kennedy, their second daughter, was born 1800. She was married to Daniel Carter, January, 1823. They had eight sons and one daughter. John, the second son of John and Ann Kennedy, was born April 6th, 1802. He was married to Eleanor McBride, January 1st, 1835. They had two sons and two daughters. Mrs. Kennedy died December 11th, 1861. David Kennedy, their third son, was born 1804. He was married to Hannah Aikens, March 1832. They had three sons and three daughters. He died July, 1845. His wife died May, 1845. James Kennedy, their fourth son, was born 1806. He was married to Elizabeth Cotton, of Lower Stewiacke, March 1842. They had four sons and four daughters. He reclaimed his farm from the forest in Pleasant Valley. He died there January 9th, 1870. Hugh Kennedy, their fifth son, was born 1808. He was six foot five inches in height, and very slender. He died a bachelor, May 1830, aged 22 years.
