Colonel John Thomas Kennedy was my great great great great grandfather. He actually was member of the Goldsboro Rifle militia unit, and at the beginning of the war, the unit was ordered to take over Fort Macon in Beaufort, NC..it was only manned by a single federal soldier, and elderly man. The unit, including John Thomas and his son, John Bryan, who was only 16, left on train to New Bern, where they learned a New Bern militia had already taken the fort.

Both father and son returned home, the Goldsboro Rifles were mustered in as Company A, 27th N.C. regiment, and later that year both transferred into the newly formed 35th N.C. regiment and saw action at the battle of New Bern, John Thomas was promoted to Lieutenant, John Bryan to Sergeant. John Thomas then transferred into a local cavalry regiment that he partially raised and equipped personally, this unit was mustered into the 62nd Georgia and saw action mostly in eastern NC and southeastern VA. Kennedy was promoted to Captain and then Major, and the NC companies of the 62nd Georgia grew so large they eventually formed into the 16th NC cavalry battalion, where Kennedy was made a Lt. Colonel.

Meanwhile, the son, John Bryan was discovered to be under the age of 18, after he had been serving with the 35th NC regiment in Virginia under Lee for a year, and promoted to Sergeant...He was discharged and sent home, but he reenlisted as soon as he turned 18, and was trained as a telegraph officer, and stationed at Fort Fisher in Wilmington.

The 16th NC cavalry engaged in minor conflicts in eastern NC, the Battalion was formed into a full regiment, the 75th NC, and Kennedy was promoted to full Colonel. The regiment was hastily called north to assist the Army of Northern Virginia at the siege of Petersburg. The regiment performed gallantly, and even took part in Hampton's great cattle raid to commandeer union beef for hungry confederate forces, but in one of the many engagements of the Petersburg campaign, was where John Thomas Kennedy was wounded, shot in the arm, thigh, and back, he requested to be carried to the upper floor of a nearby farmhouse so he could view his men in the battle. He was left with friends, eventually captured. General Burnside's doctor looked after him, and he was traded.

After breaking out of Petersburg, his health required him to take leave from the regiment from time to time. But the 75th NC cavalry regiment did fire the last shots at appomattox.

Kennedy was born of his fathers plantation in Wayne County, Oak Hill plantation, and he was given 100 acres by his father once he turned 18 and married. He was a prominent planter, builder, land owner, and founding trustee of educational institutes before the war, such as local colleges, and began to delve in politics, becoming Justice of the Peace...he and his father, John Kennedy III, were both quakers by birth but some sources state they were both kicked out of the church due to owning slaves. After the war John Thomas was a delegate to the failed 1865 State constitutional convention. He was elected High Sheriff of Wayne county for 8 years, and in 1885 was elected to the State Senate. He suffered physical pain and partial paralysis every day from his petersburg wounds, and his health continued to decline. After retiring his farm he took employment as agricultural administrator of the State hospital and assistant at the museum of natural science. He died in the Confederate Soldiers home in Raleigh.

His son, John Bryan, was still at Fort Fisher when the fort he fell. He swam the Cape Fear river to avoid capture, proclaiming that "No damned yankees are going to capture me". He rejoined with Confederate forces and was appointed telegraph officer and bodyguard to confederate president Jefferson Davis on his train during the retreat from Richmond. John Bryan was paroled from his service under Davis, where he then left for Texas to join with General Kirby Smith's forces in hopes of continuing the war, he was with the last Confederate army to surrender. Afterwards he attended Washington College in baltimore and what became Vanderbilt university in Naschville, got married, became a doctor, and returned to Goldsboro to set up practice. He was an old time country doctor but very involved in advance study of medicine, particularly tuberculosis. He practiced progressive farming methods and worked to advance public education, and was a close friend of Governor Charles B. Aycock. He had several children, one of which, my great great grandfather, James Matthew Kennedy Sr. was a prominent architect in the State.

Now, the meat and potatoes, I don't know much about John Kennedy III plantation home, Oak Hill, only that it once stood at the intersection of Highway 581 and Highway 70 near Goldsboro. John Thomas Kennedy also had a large plantation, called The Meadows, which sat on the present site of O'Berry center in Goldsboro. A sketch of The Meadows IS available online, drawn by my great great grandfather, James Matthew Kennedy, the architect, as a young man, in the late 1800's. As for John Bryan, he owned a 600 acre corn farm after the war, I'm not sure if it was on the same land as his fathers, or not. The land may have been donated by the family to the State for the O'berry center hospital. Doctor John Bryan Kennedy's small office IS on display at the Old Waynesborough state park in goldsboro, along with other buildings such as stores, churches, and schools..Very interesting. If you go into the visitors center, make sure to walk into the conference room, turn and look at the rear wall, there will be 2 paintings and some information of John Bryan, given by his great grand daughter.

Also, there is a complete history of the 16th NC cavalry Battalion, written by Colonel John Thomas Kennedy himself...very detailed, very informative..shoot me an E-mail and I'll send you the file.

Thanks fellow researchers, I hope I've helped! I crave this stuff...