Kenedy County, Texas Biographies

CAPT. MIFFLIN KENEDY was born in Downington, Chester County, Pa., on June 8, 1818, and died at his ranch, La Parra, Cameron County, Texas, on March 14, 1895. His ancestors immigrated from Ireland. In 1835, young Kenedy shipped before the mast on the ship Star of Philadelphia, on a voyage to Calcutta. In 1846, Capt. Kenedy proceeded to New Orleans and enlisted for the war with Mexico. He afterwards transported Gen. Taylor and his staff and part of his troops from Matamoros to Camarga, Mexico. Capt. Kenedy and Capt. Richard King,, during 1850 organized a steamboat company under the name of M. Kenedy & Co., and between 1850 and 1865 purchased and used on the Rio Grande 26 boats. In 1876 Kenedy, King, and Uriah Lott built the Corpus Christi, San Diego, and Rio Grande narrow gauge railroad from Corpus to Laredo, 163 miles. Afterwards Captain Kenedy assisted to organize the San Antonia and Aransas Pass Railway. Captain Kenedy supplied the money and credit for the construction of the first seven hundred miles. Captain Kenedy was married on April 16, 1852, to Mrs. Petra Vela de Vidal of Mier, Mexico. They had six children of whom two survive, John G. Kenedy, owner and head of the Kenedy Pasture Company, and Mrs. Sarah Spohn of Corpus. Captain Richard King was born in Orange County, New York, on July 10, 1825, and died April 14, 1885. In his tender years he worked as a cabin boy on one of the United States vessels during the exciting days of Indian warfare in Florida. He came to the mouth of the Rio Grande in June, 1846. In 1868 he moved to his now famous ranch, Santa Gertrudis, Nueces County, Texas. His widow and children have maintained the ranch since his death; it is one of the largest in the world. The immediate purpose of the organization of the Rio Grande Railroad was to break up the King and Kenedy monopoly. They had owned and successfully operated a line of twenty-six steamboats since 1850. These boats carried the freight and passengers that landed at the harbor, Point Isabel, from home and foreign parts down the Rio Grande to Brownsville and Mexico. Since King and Kenedy had the monopoly, they charged what the public considered exorbitant rates. The organizers of the railroad hoped to break up this monopoly. A company was formed, officers were elected, and a charter was granted by the Texas Legislature in 1870. In this charter the promoters of the Rio Grande Railroad were given the right to construct, maintain, and own a railroad and telegraph line from Point Isabel to Brownsville. The original stockholders were Simon Celaya, H. E. Woodhouse, Charles McManus, John S. Ford, David Maltby, and Joseph Kleiber. Many of their descendants are now among the delta's most influential citizens. Source: A BRIEF HISTORY of the LOWER RIO GRANDE VALLEY BY FRANK C. PIERCE; 1917