SYDNEY C.
KENNEDY, whose intense and well directed
activity has made him today one of the leading
representatives of insurance in his section of
Texas and who in the municipal life of Denison
has figured prominently and honorably, was born
in Warren County, Missouri, in 1866, his parents
being William T. and Mary (McGinnis) Kennedy.
The father is still living in Texas, but the
mother passed away in 1889 at the age of
fifty-nine years. Mr. Kennedy was a merchant in
early life and during the period of the Civil
War followed farming near Wright City, Missouri.
He also was a contractor and followed that
business in several counties in Missouri.
In 1887
he came to Denison, where for some years he was
engaged in contracting and building. In his
family were nine children. W. Lee, now living in
Kansas City, Missouri; Elizabeth Lee, the wife
of Charles J. Miller, of California, Missouri;
Marvin F., deceased, who married Joe Payton, of
Wellsville, Missouri; Robert E., who is living
in Dallas, Texas; Sydney C., of this review;
Celsus P., a resident of Alexander, Louisiana;
Emma, the wife of J. P. Austin, of Shawnee,
Oklahoma; Lucie B.; and Effie L., the wife of H.
W. Bramble, of Durant, Indian Territory.
Sydney C. Kennedy spent his boyhood
days under the parental roof, acquired his
education in the public schools of Missouri, and
in that state learned the carpenter's trade,
completing his apprenticeship when a youth of
eighteen. He was twenty years of age when in
1887 he came to Denison, and for a brief period
he was connected with building operations here,
but in 1889 turned his attention to the
insurance business as the agent for life and
accident insurance. He was the representative of
the Travelers' Insurance Company until 1894,
after which he was connected with the Fidelity
Casualty Company until 1903. He then became
agent for Travelers' Insurance Company of
Hartford, Connecticut, which is his present
business connection, his headquarters being in
Denison. He has thoroughly informed himself
concerning insurance, its possibilities, and its
benefits, and he annually writes many policies
representing a large investment. Indeed, he is
one of the leading insurance men of western
Texas, and his business has long since reached
profitable proportions.
In July 1894, Mr. Kennedy was married
to Miss Addie M. Francis, who was born in
Somerset, Kentucky. They have three children:
Robert Carr, Fred Arthur and Mary Francis, all
born in Denison. Mr. Kennedy is a member of the
Woodmen of the World, the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows, and the Masonic fraternity; and in
the last named he has taken the degrees of the
commandery and of the shrine. He has filled
various offices in the subordinate lodge in
Denison and is a worthy exemplar of the craft.
In politics he is an earnest Democrat,
and in 1901 was elected councilman at large for
two years but resigned before the expiration of
his term; and in 1902 was elected mayor, serving
until April 1904. He gave to the city a
public-spirited and progressive administration
that won him high encomiums from his fellow
townsmen. Deserving mention among the prominent
citizens of Denison, he is enrolled among those
men of business and enterprise in the great
Southwest whose force of character, sterling
integrity and control of circumstances have
contributed in such an eminent degree to the
solidity and progress of this entire section of
the country. His life has been manly, his
actions sincere, his manner unaffected, and his
example is well worthy of emulation.
[Source: B. B. Paddock, History and
Biographical Record of North and West Texas,
(Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1906), Vol. I,
pp. 613-614.]
