Thomas S. Kenan Papers, PC.129

[Identification of item] in PC.129, Thomas S. Kenan Papers, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, N.C., USA

Consists of enlistment papers, military orders, scrapbook, letters to Kenan, autograph book, list of prisoners, and miscellaneous material. Topics in the military orders include cleanliness of the tents and camp, selling of surplus provisions, arms firing, ammunition and gun supplies, pickets and guard duty, hospital provisions, routines of camp and rules for leaving camp. The material on Johnson's Island includes an autograph book with the signatures of many of the officers in prison, a list of the Confederate prisoners from 1863-1865, copied in 1909 from a list owned by Colonel James W. Bowles, and a letter from Colonel Charles W. Hill (1865), commander of the prison. Of particular interest in the prison material is a pencil drawing of the prison and playbills of the entertainment presented by the "Rebel Thespians" and "Island Minstrels." Miscellaneous papers include the enlistment papers of 95 men in 1861, mainly from Wake County, ranging in age from 16 to 41; a list of casualties of Company A, 43rd Regiment, at Gettysburg; certification of Kenan's parole from prison, May 12, 1865; receipt from payment of salary from June 1, 1863-May 31, 1864, $2,340; and an envelope which contained a letter sent from Johnson's Island [n.d.].

Note that the records concerning the 43rd regiment do not go beyond October of 1862.

Chronological

Thomas Steven Kenan (1838-1911) was born in Kenansville, Duplin County, a son of Owen Rand and Sarah Rebecca Graham Kenan. He studied at Grove Academy and the Central Military Institute, Selma, Alabama before attending Wake Forest College for a year. Thereafter he enrolled as a sophomore at the University of North Carolina before graduating in 1858. After leaving the University Thomas studied law with Judge Richmond Pearson, at Richmond Hill, Yadkin County, then opened a law practice in Kenansville, I860.In 1859 Thomas and his brother, James, had organized the Duplin Rifles, a local militia company. Within three days after the attack on Fort Sumter, S.C., the Duplin Rifles volunteered for service and the militia was subsequently designated as Company C, Twelfth N.C. Regiment, with Thomas Kenan as captain. After six months the company was designated as Company A, Forty-third Regiment, and Thomas subsequently was promoted as colonel in April of 1862. He was wounded at Gettysburg Penn. on 3 July 1863 while leading an attack on Culps Hill. The following day Thomas was captured in the vicinity of the hospital wagon train. During the next months he was confined at several Federal hospitals until commitment at Federal prison on Johnson's Island (Ohio). Both Thomas and his brother, James, survived the cold of two winters at the prison. During the suffering of that period they joined other Confederate prisoners in an unsuccessful attempt to escape through a tunnel dug under the walls. In February 1865 Thomas served on a committee that sought permission to establish a form of self-government for prisoners. Though favorably received, the imminent end of the war prevented implementation. On 14 March 1865 Kenan was transferred to Point Lookout, Maryland, and later paroled.By May of 1865 Kenan was home in Kenansville and subsequently became a successful candidate for the General Assembly, 1865-66, and in 1866-67. In 1868 Kenan and Sallie Dortch (1845-1916) of Edgecombe County were married. The following year the couple moved to Wilson, where Thomas continued the practice of law. Though he lost a bid for Congress in 1868, Thomas returned to political service when elected to the office of Attorney General, 1876, and was subsequently reelected for an additional four-year term. During that period Thomas also served as reporter for the North Carolina Supreme Court.

Kenan, Thomas Stephen, 1838-1911

Kenan, Thomas S.

Lincoln, Abraham

Vance, Zebulon Baird, 1830-1894

Confederate States of America

Confederate States of America. Army. North Carolina Infantry Regiment, 43rd. Company A

Confederate States of America. Army. North Carolina Infantry Regiment, 43rd

Confederate States of America. Army. North Carolina Infantry Regiment, 2nd

Confederate States of America. Army. North Carolina Infantry Regiment, 12th

Confederate States of America. Army. North Carolina Infantry Regiment, 6th

Confederate States of America. Army. North Carolina Artillery, 10th

Confederate States of America. Army. North Carolina Artillery, 1st

Artillery, Engineering, and Ordnance (1861)

43rd Regiment, North Carolina Troops

Gettysburg, Battle of, Gettysburg, Pa., 1863

Prisoner-of-war camps

Prisoners of war

Ship captains

Colonels

Confederate Prisoners

Officer

Attorneys general

Governors

Presidents

Choctaw Indians

Prisoners

Military prisons

Prisons

Equipment and supplies

Regulations

Military discipline

Military supplies

Entertainment Events

Prisoners' Writings

Wages

Payment

United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Monuments

United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865

Duplin County (N.C.)

Wake County (N.C.)

South Carolina

Gettysburg (Pa.)

Point La Flore (Miss.)

Scrapbooks.

Processed by Betty S. Carter, 1967; rearranged and rehoused by Fran Tracy-Walls, 2012

Finding Aid by Betty S. Carter, 1967; additions and revision by Fran Tracy-Walls, 2012, and June 2019