Historic Hood River
G. W. Kennedy
7-19-2019
Notes
You may be able to guess what this man did just from looking at his photograph. This image appeared with the obituary of Reverend G. W. Kennedy. Caption says, “The Rev. G. W. Kennedy, pioneer Methodist circuit minister, to whom fellow ministers paid last respects Thursday at Hood River.” Unfortunately we don’t have a date, but The Hood River Glacier didn’t start printing photos until later in the 1920s.
Charlott
Oh dear….here we go again……Believe it or not he would be a distant cousin of mine. His grandfather and my 3rd great-grandfather were brothers. His mother was Mary Ann Wells and his father was William Morris Kenady. (why he changed the spelling to Kennedy I haven't a clue.) Anyway, he was born on 5 September 1847 in Pike County, Illlinois , on the Mississippi River,where a great many of the Wells family lived at the time. When he was six years old, he along with his parents and siblings came to Oregon via the Oregon Trail. His parents took up a homestead near Woodburn in what is known as Bella Passe, where they remained.
George married Belle Small in 1879 and they had one son, William Small Kennedy.
He became a Methodist minister (probably at the time it was M. E.).. He also had a small farm, where he and Belle lived after they came to Hood River. It was located down below where the old Meredith Motel was on that flat area down by the river. It appears that he liked Hood River as this is where he was when he died on 11 May 1926. Both him and Belle are buried in Idlewilde.
Charlott
Rev. Kennedy also wrote a book about what he remembered coming across the plains as a little boy. I think it is called “By A Pioneer Camp Fire.” I do have a copy of it somewhere.
He was also very involved in the “pioneer” association.
Don't know what it was actually called in those days, but assume it was the forerunner to the historical society.
L.E.
Thank you for more of your fascinating history Charlotte.
I am familiar with the area of ghost town Belle Passe.
https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/life/2018/09/15/oregon-history-ghost-town-belle-passi-neill-johnson/37820287/
ArthurB
Great bio, Charlott. Do you have any idea what his “circuit” included? I wonder how far he ranged as a minister.
Charlott
I don't know how far his circuit was or what the dates for that was. I do know that in 1900 he was in Granite, Grant County serving a church, which would have been a small one. Granite is now basically a ghost town.
ArthurB
1900 was when Sloan Shutt, editor of the Hood River Sun newspaper, left Hood River to start the Granite Gem newspaper. There was gold fever in Granite then. Can't be a coincidence two Hood River residents chose the same flyspeck of a town at the same time.
I visited Granite last year. There are still some residents, but far fewer than 1900. The newspaper building and church buildings are still there– they were both for sale when I saw them.
Jeffrey W Bryant
I just finished reading G. W. Kennedy's, “The Pioneer Camp Fire” that was being advertised in the 1913 Hood River Glacier. It doesn't include anything about Hood River, since he arrived there after the pioneer days (after the railroad). But it is interesting to read, and ranges from 1853 to about 1880. As a minister he had several assignments, mostly in Eastern Washington and Oregon. You will have to read the book for more details.