John Irwin Kendall
John Irwin Kendall was born around 1841 in Grenada, Mississippi, to William Kendall and Mary Irwin. His father was a lawyer who owned $2,000 of real estate and $1,000 of personal property by 1860. He grew up and attended school in Jackson County, Mississippi, and by the early 1860s, he was working as a clerk in the Customs House in New Orleans, Louisiana.
 
When the Civil War began, an early biographer noted, Kendall was “fired with martial ardor,” and he was “among the first to enlist with the confederate forces.” He joined the Delta Rifles militia company, which eventually became part of the 4th Louisiana Infantry. According to his service records, he was 5 feet, 11 inches tall, with light hair and grey eyes. The regiment took part in the Battle of Shiloh, the siege of Port Hudson, the siege of Jackson, the Atlanta campaign, and the Battle of Nashville. He was promoted to 2nd lieutenant on September 17, 1862, and then to 1st lieutenant on May 25, 1864.
 
Union forces captured him at Port Hudson, Louisiana, on July 9, 1863, but he escaped soon afterwards. As one eulogist later noted, he secured a Unionist friend’s passport, “boldly presented himself before the provost marshal and succeeded in getting a pass to go down to Plaquemines parish.” He then “found passage aboard a sloop bound for Biloxi, Miss., where he was arrested on suspicion of being a Yankee spy, but as his father lived at Ocean Springs, a few miles distant…he was allowed his liberty.” He eventually reached Mobile, Alabama, where he rejoined his regiment.
 
He was captured again near Nashville, Tennessee, on December 16, 1864, and imprisoned at Johnson’s Island in Ohio. He was released on June 16, 1865, after swearing an oath of allegiance to the Union. After the war, Kendall worked as a telegraph agent for the Mexican Central Railway. He married Mary E. Smith, and they had at least four children: John, born around 1874; Josephine, born around 1876; Marian, born around 1878; and Harriet, born around 1879. His wife died around 1880.
 
He apparently divided his time between New Orleans and Mexico. In 1893, he became a “general agent” for the Waters-Pierce Oil Company in Mazatlan, Mexico. He died there on October 13, 1898.
 
Image: John Irwin Kendall (The Times-Picayune, 16 October 1898)
3559
DATABASE CONTENT
(3559)Kendall, John Irwin18411898-10-13
  • Conflict Side: Confederacy
  • Role: Soldier
  • Rank in: Private
  • Rank out: 1st Lieutenant
  • Rank highest: 1st Lieutenant
  • Gender: Male
  • Race: White

Documents - Records: 57

  • (9894) [writer] ~ DL1599.001
  • (9898) [recipient] ~ DL1599.005
  • (9899) [recipient] ~ DL1599.006
  • (9900) [recipient] ~ DL1599.007
  • (9902) [recipient] ~ DL1599.010
  • (9903) [recipient] ~ DL1599.011
  • (9904) [recipient] ~ DL1599.012
  • (9906) [recipient] ~ DL1599.014
  • (9907) [recipient] ~ DL1599.015
  • (9908) [recipient] ~ DL1599.016
  • (9909) [recipient] ~ DL1599.017
  • (9910) [recipient] ~ DL1599.018
  • (9911) [recipient] ~ DL1599.019
  • (9912) [recipient] ~ DL1599.020
  • (9913) [recipient] ~ DL1599.021
  • (9914) [recipient] ~ DL1599.022
  • (9915) [recipient] ~ DL1599.023
  • (9916) [recipient] ~ DL1599.024
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  • (9937) [recipient] ~ DL1599.045
  • (9938) [recipient] ~ DL1599.046
  • (9939) [recipient] ~ DL1599.047
  • (9940) [writer] ~ DL1599.048
  • (9941) [recipient] ~ DL1599.049
  • (9943) [recipient] ~ 1599.051
  • (9976) [recipient] ~ DL1599.052
  • (9977) [recipient] ~ DL1599.053
  • (9978) [recipient] ~ DL1599.054
  • (9979) [recipient] ~ DL1599.055
  • (9980) [recipient] ~ DL1599.056
  • (9981) [recipient] ~ DL1599.057
  • (9982) [recipient] ~ DL1599.058
  • (9983) [recipient] ~ DL1599.059
  • (9984) [recipient] ~ DL1599.060
  • (9987) [recipient] ~ DL1599.063
  • (9988) [recipient] ~ DL1599.064
  • (9989) [recipient] ~ DL1599.065
  • (9990) [recipient] ~ DL1599.066
  • (9993) [recipient] ~ DL1599.069
  • (9994) [recipient] ~ DL1599.070
  • (9995) [recipient] ~ DL1599.071

People - Records: 8

  • (3560) Kendall, William G. is the [parent of] (3559) Kendall, John Irwin
  • (3565) (?), Jennie is the [sweetheart of] (3559) Kendall, John Irwin
  • (3566) (?), Lizzie is the [sibling of] (3559) Kendall, John Irwin
  • (3567) Smith, Mary E. is the [wife of] (3559) Kendall, John Irwin
  • (3568) Kendall, Mary Philomena is the [parent of] (3559) Kendall, John Irwin
  • (3581) (?), Lou is the [cousin of] (3559) Kendall, John Irwin
  • (3582) Gray , Ben Edwards is the [cousin of] (3559) Kendall, John Irwin
  • (3583) (?), Nellie is the [friend of] (3559) Kendall, John Irwin

Places - Records: 2

  • (1257) [birth] ~ Grenada, Grenada County, Mississippi
  • (2449) [death] ~ Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico

Show in Map

Regiments - Records: 1

  • (957) [enlisted] ~ 4th Louisiana Infantry
SOURCES

1850, 1860, and 1880 United States Federal Censuses, available from Ancestry.com; Military Service Records of John Irwin Kendall, available from Fold3.com; The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, LA), 16 October 1898.