Wesley Canada
Wesley Canada was a Scott County man killed during the Civil War, according to historian Paul Roy’s Scott County in the Civil War. He was a Union soldier who held the rank of private in Co. G, 2nd Tennessee Infantry. According to Roy, he was 24 years old when he enlisted in the Union army on Dec. 5, 1861. He was killed on Jan. 8, 1863 by Confederate soldiers while at his home, sick on furlough.
Little additional information is available about Wesley Canada. Military records show a Wesley Canaday enlisted at London, Ky. on Dec. 5, 1861 and was assigned to the 2nd Infantry. Separate records show a Wesley Canaday enlisted in Tennessee on Oct. 1, 1861 and was assigned to Co. G, 2nd Infantry. A Wesley Kennedy from Campbell County died on Dec. 31, 1862 and was a private in Co. G of the 2nd Tennessee Infantry.
Separately, family genealogists point to a Wesley Kennedy, who married Jemima Patterson in Campbell County in 1855, who was killed by Confederates at his home at Lowe Gap on Jan. 8, 1863. According to one note: “He was mending shoes in his yard on the mountainside and was buried there.”
Wesley Kennedy?
Wesley Kennedy was the son of Madison “Matt” Kennedy (1815-1891) and Sarah Carroll (1808-1862). He was a brother to Brazilla Kennedy, Nisby Kennedy, William Jackson Kennedy, Celia Kennedy, Madison Kennedy, Nathan Kennedy, Richmond Kennedy, George Kennedy, Alex Kennedy, Isaac Kennedy, Calvin Kennedy, John A. Kennedy and Martin A. Kennedy.
Madison Kennedy was also a Union soldier assigned to Co. G, 2nd Tennessee Infantry. He enlisted at London, Ky. on Nov. 27, 1861, and mustered out on Jan. 9, 1865 in Knoxville, Tenn. His name is spelled Canady in some records. Following the death of his first wife, Sarah, he married Profanes “Faney” White, whose first husband was Thomas Marlow.
Some records suggest Madison Kennedy was buried at New River Cemetery. Others suggest he was buried at Marlow Cemetery in Campbell County, Tenn. Indeed, there is a headstone identifying Madison Kennedy at Marlow Cemetery; there is none at New River Cemetery.
When the 1850 census was taken, Wesley lived with his parents in Campbell County. When the 1860 census was taken, Wesley Kennedy and his wife, Jemima, lived in Anderson County with a 14-year-old named Madison and a two-year-old named Mary. Madison appears to be Wesley’s sister. Mary was his daughter. Wesley and Jemima, or “Mima,” were married in Campbell County on Feb. 12, 1855.
Still much is unknown about Wesley Kennedy. There’s a record from the U.S. military showing that a headstone was provided for Wesley Kennedy of Campbell County who died on Dec. 31, 1862 and served in Co. G of the 2nd Infantry. The contract was signed on July 8, 1887.
It appears that Jemima later remarried to William Hester and moved to Roane County, Tenn.
There are no records confirming that Wesley Kennedy lived in Scott County, or that he was killed by Confederate soldiers here. It should be noted that while there’s a community south of Huntsville called Low Gap, there’s a location along the Scott/Anderson county line above Smokey Creek that’s referred to as Lowe Gap.
There’s this story, shared by Bonnie Mauzy on Ancestry.com: “Wes and Lorenza Kennedy and Milton Phillips were on their way back to rejoin Union Army after a leave when a confederate patrol came up while Wesley was mending a pair of shoes in his yard. Wes ran inside and got his gun and was shot when he came back out onto the porch. His widow told they took their old milk cow and she could hear the bell fading in the distance as Wesley bled to death on the porch. They buried Wes below the porch, his grave is marked with a field stone, no scribed beside the old Footpath on Bootjack Mountain between Shea and Smokey Junction Tennessee, New River.”
Bootjack Mountain is located in Campbell County along the Campbell-Anderson county line just east of Scott County, above Smokey Creek Road. It is near Lowe Gap.
Conclusion
It appears that there was no one named Wesley Canada, but a Wesley Kennedy lived in the area near where Scott, Campbell and Anderson counties merge near Smokey Creek. It’s not clear which county he actually lived in. There’s nothing conclusive to prove that he was killed during the war, but he did disappear from records in the 1860s and his wife remarried.
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See Also: Scott Countians killed in war