Robert P. Kennedy

Robert Patterson Kennedy (January 23, 1840 – May 6, 1918) was a U.S. representative^[1] from Ohio from 1886 to 1891. He was also an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

Robert Patterson Kennedy
18th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio
In office January 11, 1886 – March 3, 1887
Governor	Joseph B. Foraker
Preceded by	John George Warwick
Succeeded by	Silas A. Conrad
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio's 8th district
In office March 4, 1887 – March 3, 1891
Preceded by	John Little
Succeeded by	Darius D. Hare
Personal details
Born	(1840-01-23)January 23, 1840 Bellefontaine, Ohio, U.S.
Died	May 6, 1918(1918-05-06) (aged 78) Bellefontaine, Ohio, U.S.
Resting place	Bellefontaine Cemetery, Bellefontaine, Ohio
Political party	Republican
Spouses	Maria Lewis Gardner Emma Mendenhall
Children	four
Alma mater	Geneva College Yale University
Signature

Biography

Born in Bellefontaine, Ohio, Kennedy attended the public schools and Geneva College in Northwood, Ohio. He was studying at Yale University when the American Civil War broke out.^[2][3]

Military career

He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 23rd Ohio Infantry on June 11, 1861. He served as a captain and assistant adjutant general dating from October 7, 1862, and was promoted to major and assistant adjutant general on November 16, 1864. He resigned on April 8, 1865.^[4] Kennedy was commissioned as colonel of the 196th Ohio Infantry, on April 14, 1865. He was brevetted as lieutenant colonel of volunteers and brigadier general of volunteers, both dating from March 13, 1865.

Political career

Upon the end of the war and his resignation from the volunteer army, Kennedy returned to Bellefontaine. He studied law with judge William H. West.^[2][3] He was admitted to the bar in 1866 and commenced practice in Bellefontaine. He was appointed by President Rutherford B. Hayes as collector of internal revenue for the fourth district of Ohio, serving from 1878 to 1883. He was the lieutenant governor of Ohio from 1885 to 1887.

Congress

Kennedy was elected from Ohio's 8th District as a Republican to the Fiftieth and Fifty-first Congresses (March 4, 1887 – March 4, 1891). He was not a candidate for renomination in 1890.

Later career

He was appointed by President William McKinley in 1899 as a member of the Insular Commission, which was directed to investigate and report upon conditions existing in Cuba and Puerto Rico and served as its president.

Death

Robert P. Kennedy died in Columbus, Ohio in 1918 at the age of 78.

Private life and family

Kennedy was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, a Scottish Rite Freemason, and a member of the Presbyterian Church.^[3] He was married on December 29, 1862 at Bellefontaine to Maria Lewis Gardner of that city. She died in 1893, leaving four children.^[3] He married at Wabash, Indiana to Emma (Cowgill) Mendenhall of that city on September 4, 1894. She survived him.^[3]

Despite his name and profession, he was not related to the Kennedy political family.^[5]

Kennedy was the author of The Historical Review of Logan County, Ohio, published in 1903 by The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago.^[6]

Further reading

• Reid, Whitelaw (1895). "Robert P. Kennedy". Ohio in the War Her Statesmen Generals and Soldiers. Vol. 1. Cincinnati: The Robert Clarke Company. p. 970.