William Kennon Jr. (June 12, 1802October 19, 1867) was a lawyer, judge, and a

U.S. Representative 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 c ...

from

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. He served for one term from 1847 to 1849.

Early life

Born in Carrickfergus,

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

on the

island of Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

(the entirety of which was then part of

the U.K. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

), Kennon, known locally as 'Kenno', immigrated to the United States in 1816 with his parents, who settled near Barnesville, Ohio. He was a first cousin of fellow U.S. Representative William Kennon Sr. He attended the common schools and graduated from Franklin College, New Athens, Ohio, in 1826. Kennon studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1830.

Career

He commenced practice in

St. Clairsville, Ohio St. Clairsville is a city in and the county seat of Belmont County, Ohio, United States. The population was 5,096 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Wheeling metropolitan area. History The seat of justice of Belmont County was originally know ...

, and served as the prosecuting attorney of

Belmont County Belmont County is a county in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 66,497. Its county seat is St. Clairsville. The county was created on September 7, 1801, and organized on November 7, 1801.McKelvey, ...

from 1837 to 1841. Kennon was elected as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

to the Thirtieth Congress from March 4, 1847, until March 3, 1849. He was not a candidate for renomination, and instead resumed the practice of law. He served as judge of the court of common pleas of the fifteenth judicial district from 1865 to July 1, 1867, when he resigned.

Personal life

Kennon was married to Elizabeth Kirkwood (1818–1899), daughter of Joseph Kirkwood and granddaughter of Revolutionary War hero

Robert Kirkwood Robert Henry Kirkwood (1756November 4, 1791) was a United States officer who fought in the American Revolutionary War and the Northwest Indian War. He died in 1791 during the battle of St. Clair's Defeat. Early life Kirkwood was born in 1756 ...

. Together, they were the parents of: * Margaret A. Kennon (1852–1922), who married Allen C. Miller (1848–1892) in 1870. * Newell Kirkwood Kennon (1855–1937), an attorney. * Albert Wilson Kennon (1861–1949), an 1886 graduate of the Cincinnati Law School who married Ida Belle Updegraff (1868–1941), of Wheeling, West Virginia, in 1904. He died in St. Clairsville on October 19, 1867, and was interred in Union Cemetery.

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External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kennon, William Jr. 1802 births 1867 deaths People from Carrickfergus People from St. Clairsville, Ohio Ohio lawyers Irish emigrants (before 1923) to the United States Franklin College (New Athens, Ohio) County district attorneys in Ohio Kennon family (Ohio) 19th-century American politicians People from Barnesville, Ohio 19th-century American lawyers Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio