Thomas Stephen Kenan (February 26, 1771 – October 22, 1843) was the son of Revolutionary War General

James Kenan James Kenan (1740–1810) was an American military officer and politician who served as a brigadier general of the Wilmington District Brigade during the American Revolutionary War and commander of the North Carolina militia after the war. He was ...

, a plantation owner and builder of the first "

Liberty Hall Liberty Hall ( ga, Halla na Saoirse), in Dublin, Ireland, is the headquarters of the Services, Industrial, Professional, and Technical Union (SIPTU). Designed by Desmond Rea O'Kelly, it was completed in 1965. It was for a time the tallest b ...

". He was a

U.S. Congressman The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

between 1805 and 1811. Born in

Kenansville, North Carolina Kenansville is a town in Duplin County, North Carolina, United States. Its population was 855 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Duplin County. The town was named for James Kenan, a member of the North Carolina Senate, whose family home ...

, Kenan was educated by private tutors at home. He married Mary Rand Kenan on January 3, 1800, and soon after the second Liberty Hall was built located in Kenansville after his father's home had been lost to fire., bicententennial edition, sect III, p 1. Kenan was a member of the

North Carolina House of Commons The North Carolina House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. The House is a 120-member body led by a Speaker of the House, who holds powers similar to those of the President pro-tem in the North Ca ...

representing Duplin County from 1798 to 1799. Between 1799 and 1803 he served in the

North Carolina Senate The North Carolina Senate is the upper chamber of the North Carolina General Assembly, which along with the North Carolina House of Representatives—the lower chamber—comprises the state legislature of North Carolina. The term of office for e ...

in 1804. In 1804, Kenan was elected to the

9th United States Congress The 9th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1805, t ...

and was reelected to terms in the

10th 10 (ten) is the even natural number following 9 and preceding 11. Ten is the base of the decimal numeral system, by far the most common system of denoting numbers in both spoken and written language. It is the first double-digit number. The rea ...

and

11th 11 (eleven) is the natural number following 10 and preceding 12. It is the first repdigit. In English, it is the smallest positive integer whose name has three syllables. Name "Eleven" derives from the Old English ', which is first attested i ...

Congresses (March 4, 1805 – March 3, 1811). He did not stand for reelection in 1810. He and Mary Rand had ten children and in March 1811 Thomas decided to move the family to Selma, Alabama, to start a new plantation. Thomas left behind his oldest son

Owen Rand Kenan Owen Rand Kenan, (March 4, 1804 – March 3, 1887) was a North Carolina politician. He was born in Kenansville, North Carolina in Duplin County, and served in the North Carolina House of Commons from 1834 to 1838. He also represented the state ...

to look after the Liberty Hall Plantation and start his own family. While in Alabama, Thomas served as an Alabama State Representative.Official Liberty Hall Archives Kenan later moved to

Selma, Alabama Selma is a city in and the county seat of Dallas County, in the Black Belt region of south central Alabama and extending to the west. Located on the banks of the Alabama River, the city has a population of 17,971 as of the 2020 census. About ...

in 1833, where he engaged in planting; he served in the

Alabama House of Representatives The Alabama State House of Representatives is the lower house of the Alabama Legislature, the state legislature of state of Alabama. The House is composed of 105 members representing an equal number of districts, with each constituency contai ...

for several years before dying near Selma in 1843, aged 72. He is buried in Selma's Valley Creek Cemetery. He died in October 1843. He and his wife are buried at Valley Creek Cemetery near Selma.Tombstones, Valley Creek Cemetery, Selma Alabama

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kenan, Thomas 1771 births 1843 deaths People from Kenansville, North Carolina Democratic Party members of the Alabama House of Representatives Democratic Party members of the North Carolina House of Representatives Democratic Party North Carolina state senators

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

Politicians from Selma, Alabama Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from North Carolina 19th-century American politicians