Biography of Dr. Samuel Kennedy

Family Background

Samuel Kennedy was born in 1731, recorded as being born at sea while his family crossed the Atlantic to the American colonies. His family likely lived in County Tyrone, Ireland, though both parents were originally from Scotland.

His father, David Kennedy III, was born in Kirkmichael, Ayrshire, Scotland, and his mother, Annabella Montgomery, was born in Dumbarton, Dunbartonshire, Scotland. By the time their first child, Alice Kennedy, was born in 1718, the family had relocated from Scotland to Ireland, likely settling in County Tyrone.

While living in Ireland, the Kennedys welcomed several children. Alice Kennedy (1718–1785) was followed by Captain Joseph Kennedy (1718–1778), Jean Kennedy (1724–1800), and Montgomery Kennedy, who was born in July 1725 in Tyrone, Ireland. Sometime after these births, the family began preparing for migration to the American colonies.

During the long Atlantic crossing, Samuel Kennedy was born in 1731, recorded as being born at sea. After arrival, the family settled in the Londonderry area of Pennsylvania, where records place them through 1733, including documentation of the birth of Samuel’s younger sister Isabel Kennedy, born that year in Londonderry, Pennsylvania. Additional younger siblings followed in Pennsylvania: Lt. Col. David Kennedy II (1736–1809) and Dr. John Kennedy (1737–1775).

Samuel was a middle child, one of at least eight siblings, with four older siblings born in Ireland and four younger siblings born in Pennsylvania.

The Kennedy family were parishioners of Fagg’s Manor Presbyterian Church, a congregation founded by Job Ruston, who would later become Samuel’s father-in-law. Church records reflect a notable dispute involving Samuel’s father David Kennedy and his older brother Montgomery Kennedy, including an accusation that David Kennedy had stolen a pig. Despite this conflict, the family’s standing within the congregation improved over time. By 1760, Montgomery Kennedy appeared on a list of five gentlemen entrusted with creating a deed to preserve the church’s property in perpetuity, indicating that the Kennedy family had become influential within the church community.

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Biographical Timeline

1731

• Birth Samuel Kennedy was born in 1731, recorded as being born at sea during his family’s Atlantic crossing to Pennsylvania.

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1733

• Family recorded in Londonderry, Pennsylvania. The Kennedy family appears in records in Londonderry, Pennsylvania, including the birth of Samuel’s younger sister, Isabel.

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By the early 1760s

• Samuel Kennedy married Sarah Ruston, daughter of Job Ruston, by 1763. Around this period, Samuel was establishing himself professionally and socially in Chester County, though his medical training remains undocumented.

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August 1758

• Court record: Assault and Battery (uncertain identity)- Chester County court records list a Samuel Kennedy charged with Assault & Battery. Because there was also an indentured Irish servant named Samuel Kennedy from Chester County, born in ~1725, this charge may or may not refer to Dr. Samuel Kennedy. The record cannot be conclusively assigned.

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1763

• Thomas Ruston Kennedy was born in 1763 in Chester County, Pennsylvania, the first known child of Samuel and Sarah Kennedy.

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By 1764

• By 1764, Samuel and Sarah Kennedy were living on their Whiteland plantation in Great Valley, Whiteland Township. This move occurred before the birth of their son John, who was born there, and the plantation became the family’s primary residence for more than a decade.

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1764

• John Kennedy, second son of Samuel and Sarah, was born in 1764 at the Whiteland plantation in East Whiteland.

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1766

• Births of twins. In 1766, Samuel and Sarah had two children born in Chester County:
  • Sarah Kennedy, daughter
  • John Kennedy, son

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1768

• Birth of Mary Kennedy, daughter of Samuel and Sarah, was born in 1768 in Chester County.
• Tax records record Samuel Kennedy of New London in 1768. He owns over 100 acres, horses and cows, and is noted to have a servant who works as a tavernkeeper.

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1769

• Samuel Kennedy Jr. was born in 1769 in Chester County.

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February 27, 1772

• Advertisement at Yellow Springs: Dr. Samuel Kennedy and John Bayly advertise in The Pennsylvania Gazette that they are looking to let (seeking a tenant) at a “very commodious house” with a large garden at Yellow Springs, saying that it would be ideal for a shopkeeper. This predates when we know that Dr. Kennedy owned the property outright, but this indicates that he was probably in talks with Bayly to purchase and maintain the property earlier than we estimated.

November 1772

• Court record: Assault and Battery– In November 1772, Samuel Kennedy again appears in Chester County court records charged with Assault & Battery. Unlike the 1758 case, later records confirm that Dr. Samuel Kennedy was involved in related proceedings.

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December 2, 1772

• Samuel and Sarah’s son, John Kennedy, died on December 2, 1772, at the age of 8. No cause of death was recorded.

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December 4, 1772

• Court Date: An enslaved man named Prime, enslaved to the Kennedy household, is charged with stealing one pair of gold sleeve buttons from Mr. Richard Richison. He is found guilty and punished by whipping, and the Kennedy estate was responsible for paying back the cost of the stolen buttons to Mr. Richison.

May 1773

• Discharge from criminal accusation- In May 1773, Dr. Samuel Kennedy is recorded as being discharged from an accused crime, likely connected to the earlier Assault & Battery charge. This record clearly identifies him as a doctor by this date.

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1773

• Samuel Kennedy Jr., born in 1769, died in 1773, in Chester County, at the age of 4. No cause of death was recorded.

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August 1774

• Court records show “Kennedy, Samuel, Dr.” testifying or giving evidence in August 1774. He was acquitted the same year, confirming both his professional status as a doctor and his presence in Chester County legal affairs.

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1774

• In 1774, Samuel Kennedy purchased the Yellow Springs plantation, and the tavern- which was run by Samuel Culbertson, while still owning and residing at the Whiteland plantation. Yellow Springs was already well known for its mineral springs, tavern, and long-standing role as a gathering place. This occurred as tensions between the American colonies and Britain were rapidly escalating. In the same year, the Intolerable Acts were passed, and local militias across Pennsylvania began preparing for armed conflict.

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1775

• Outbreak of the American Revolutionary War. In April 1775, fighting broke out at Lexington and Concord, formally beginning the American Revolutionary War. As a physician living in a strategically important region of Pennsylvania, Kennedy would soon be drawn into military service.

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January 19, 1776

• Military appointment- Samuel Kennedy was appointed Surgeon to the Fourth Battalion of Pennsylvania troops, commanded by General Anthony Wayne.

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June–August 1776

• Active military service- Kennedy served with the Continental Army at Long Island and Ticonderoga. During this time, Sarah and the children were still living at the Whiteland plantation, indicating it had not yet been seized.

August 10, 1776

• While stationed at Fort Ticonderoga, Samuel Kennedy writes the following letter to Sarah

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September 1776

• British looting of the Whiteland plantation– British forces invaded and looted the Whiteland plantation, resulting in the loss of a large amount of Kennedy’s property. This personal experience likely intensified his patriot commitment and explains his later willingness to offer his property to the army without compensation.
• By September 1776, Samuel addressed letters to Sarah in Chester County, though he did not know her precise location. This strongly suggests that Sarah and the household had left the Whiteland plantation and relocated to Yellow Springs, following the British looting of the property.

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May 1, 1777

• Senior Surgeon appointment- Kennedy was appointed Senior Surgeon and Physician in the General Hospital of the Middle Department, placing him in charge of the planned Washington Hall.

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September 1777

• Battle of the Clouds– General George Washington and the Continental Army camped at Yellow Springs, using the Yellow Springs Inn as headquarters.

September 26, 1777

• Samuel Kennedy writes a letter to George Washington, though the letter itself has been lost to time. Details can be found here. While camping at Pennybackers Mill, George Washington writes Samuel back. His response, as archived by Founders Online, goes as follows:

“To Samuel Kennedy Camp at Pennybackers Mill [Pa.]

26 Sepr 1777

Sir-

I recd yours of this date at this place. If the sick cannot all be accommodated at Reading part ought certainly to be removed to Lancaster, but I beg you will be careful to remove none to that place who will be soon fit for duty or who only want shoes Stockings or other Cloaths to make them so now. If you are obliged to make use of Churches or Houses that have no fire places you should purchase Stoves to make them warm and comfortable.

I am Sir Yr most obt Servt

Go: Washington”

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December 1777 – January 1778

• Director of Washington Hall– Kennedy became Director of Washington Hall, overseeing one of the most important hospitals of the Revolutionary War.

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June 17, 1778

• Death– Dr. Samuel Kennedy died on June 17, 1778, from putrid fever (typhus), likely contracted through his close, hands-on care of sick soldiers. He was initially buried on the property, but was later reburied along with several other important soldiers.

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Post Featuring Dr. Samuel Kennedy

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Further research ongoing!

See our reconstruction of Dr. Kennedy’s family tree on Ancestry.com here!