Life History

Notes

• Charles was the son of Edmond Kendall, whose familiy moved to Arkansas from North Carolina in 1855.
  
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  Here's Edmond Kendall's account of the move to Arkansas in 1855 as retold by his son, Benjamin Franklin "Frank" Kendall sometime about 1945. His niece, Anna Kendall Watts Moore wrote it down in a notebook. Anna was my maternal grandmother's sister.
  
  Several months after Reuben Kendall’s death in 1855, his sons, Alexander Franklin and Edmond, took their inheritance and moved their families to what is now Cleveland County, Arkansas. Edmond told his children that the move from North Carolina to Arkansas was quite an endeavor:
  
  "Alexander and Edmond Kendall with their families came to Arkansas in 1855, leaving Stanly County, North Carolina on October 15th. As each owned ten or fifteen slaves and as they brought most of their household goods, it took quite an outfit. I remember Father said each of them had two ox teams of two yokes, one mule team, and a team of horses to pull the family carriage, and he and Uncle Frank [A. F. Kendall] rode horseback. After being on the road two days, little Willie was taken seriously ill and died. Father and Mother had to turn back and take Willie back to the old home for burial and then rejoin the others on the road. No other bad luck happened on the trip and after fourteen weeks on the road, they reached Pine Bluff.
  
  After resting a few days, they decided to rent homes for that year. This gave them time to select permanent homes. They soon found two farms for rent within six miles of each other. They would visit each other once or twice a week and on the way home would kill a deer or two and maybe a turkey, thus providing meat for their tables for both their families and their slaves. He and his brother killed over 300 deer that year but didn’t keep a count of the turkeys. 1856 was a year they never forgot as crops were very short on account of a killing frost every month-a thing unheard of before or since. The next year, each purchased a farm. Father brought near Kedron about eighteen miles south of Pine Bluff; his brother brought a farm five miles from his.
  
  All went well for a few years. In the election of 1860, Alexander Kendall was elected sheriff of Jefferson County and served all during the Civil War. Father did not join the army being rejected three times on account of his health, but he joined the home guards and at times acted as scout for southern troops whenever any were in the area.
  
  Edmond’s wife, Emmeline, died on 1 April 1866 and was buried at Mt. Zion near their home. Uncle Frank Kendall [Alexander F. Kendall] persuaded father to bring his four children to his home instead of taking us to North Carolina to one of his sisters to raise. Then in August, Uncle Frank was returning home from Pine Bluff and was waylaid and shot to death by a man whom he had put in jail, leaving a wife and six children. Father then sold his farm and bought half interest in his brother’s farm, agreeing with his brother’s wife to look after the farm if she would take care of the ten children-her six and his four. So the two families remained together until all were grown just like one big family. Edmond was elected sheriff and served from 1874 to 1876. He died on 1 April 1866 at 4 p.m.-the same day and the same time as his wife died twenty-five years before."
  --  Ancestry Messaging to Orville Boyd Jenkins, 17 April 2016
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  1900 Federal Census, Cleveland County, Arkansas, 13 June, Niven Township, District 38, page 10B, Hse #184, Fam #185
  Kendall, Charles Head W M Feb 1857  43 Married 14 yrs NC NC NC Farmer Owns
  Kendall, Elizabeth Wife W F Sept 1862  37 Married 14 yrs 7 children/6 living AR NC NC
  Kendall, Anna Dau W F Nov 1885  14 Single AR NC AR
  Kendall, Lucy Dau W F Oct 1887  12 Single AR NC AR
  Kendall, Emma Dau W F July 1889  10 Single AR NC AR
  Kendall, Edmond Son W M Apr 1893  7 Single AR NC AR
  Kendall, Gay Dau W F July 1895  4 Single AR NC AR
  Kendall, David Son W M Feb 1899  1 Single AR NC AR
  
  Arkansas Death Index, 1914-1950
  Charles E Kendall
  Death Jun 19, 1915 Cleveland County
  Certificate #180
  
  Charles Edgar Kendall
  Birth Feb 21, 1858
  Death 1915
  Parents:
  Edmond Kendall (____ - 1891)
  Emmeline O Watkins Kendall (1830 - 1866)
  Spouse Martha Elizabeth McSwain Kendall (1863 - 1928)
  Siblings:
  Benjamin Franklin Kendall (1862 - 1945)
  Rosa Lee Kendall Lockhart (1864 - 1923)
  Burial Moores Church Cemetery, Rison, Cleveland County, Arkansas
  Created by macw Jun 30, 2009
  --  Find A Grave Memorial #38902525, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=38902525

Sources

• 1. Find a Grave Memorial Registry
• 2. 1900 Federal Census, Cleveland County, Arkansas
  • 13 June, Niven Township, District 38, page 10B, Hse #184, Fam #185
• 3. Arkansas Death Index, 1914-1950
• 4. 1920 Federal Census, Cleveland County, Arkansas
  • 2 January, Rison, District 201, page 3A, East 2nd, Hse #49, Fam #59