Son of Joseph Kannaday and Clemency Denbow.
William Denbow Kennedy (Kenedy/Kannaday) was born in Maryland on 6 April 1819 according to the details on his death record. He was a Tailor by trade. It is listed in an 1880 Census Schedule for others with disabilities that he is blind at this point in his life.
William was married at least twice.
His first marriage was to Laura Van Tassel. Her last name is spelled a variety of ways over the years, too. Some records say she was born in New York and others say Michigan. It appears that she and most her siblings were born in NY and then migrated to Michigan when she was a child. They were married in 1842.
William and Laura's early life together started in Michigan and they have at least two children identified in the 1850 Census. William's occupation is Tailor. They live very close to Laura's Van Tassel family and they are identified in the well documented Van Tassel genealogy that goes back to the early Dutch settlements in the 1620s.
At this time I can identify two children from the 1850 Census. Charles A. Kennedy (abt 1844) and Sarah Kennedy (abt 1846). Both born in Michigan. I pick up the family again in Indiana by 1858 as they had at least two daughters, Alice Elvira Kennedy Wells (1858-1927), and Laura Belle Kennedy Neff (1862-1949), both born in Indiana. They are found living in Vincennes, Knox County, Indiana and some records list Perrysville, Indiana.
Laura died in 1867 but I haven't found her details at this time.
William's second wife was Miriam Kiddy. Their marriage was recorded in 1868 and they were together for 26 years. She was born Sep 1841 in Carroll County, Ohio and died 8 Aug 1928 in St. Louis Missouri but is buried here at Clay City Cemetery, as well.
William and Miriam's children include: Florence "Flora" May Kennedy Davidson (1868-1917), Jacob Franklin Kennedy (1871-1939), Bertha Jeanette Kennedy Bradford McCauley (1877-1948), and Fred Alfred Kennedy (1881-1954). All born in Clay County, Illinois.