Charles Kennedy was my 3rd great granduncle. His sister was Nancy Adelide Kennedy my 3rd great grandmother. Charles was born 1 July 1807 in Hadley, Saratoga, NY and died 4 Jan 1890 in Newport Twp., Barton, MO. I chose him for Outcast because, at his own choosing he became a family outcast.
In 1830 his sister Nancy married John Gandsworth Wilkins and moved to Upper Canada where they joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Charles left New York shortly after his sister and was in Ohio by 1831 when he married Cornelia R Gates on 3 Feb 1831 in Ashtabula County, Ohio just 42 miles from Kirtland, Ohio, where the Saints would move in 1836. We know very litte about this marriage. Cornelia and Charles had two children: Eleanor and Charles Dota. Cornelia and possibly the child Charles Dota died in by 1840. Eleanor married and lived until she died in 1913 in Hancock Co., IL (but never joined the Church.)
On 11 Dec 1837 in Hancock Co., IL Charles married second, Frances (Fanny) Gates. Almost nothing is known about this marriage as it appears that Fanny. At this point he appears to have lost his first two wives and interestingly he again is living in a place where the Saints would soon move yet he was at this time not a member.
On 17 Feb 1841 Charles took a 3rd wife, Hulda Elvira Clark, in Adams Co., IL. They started their family there and eventually joined the church. In 1844 Hulda joined the Church (and Charles probably did too) and in early 1846 they took out their endowments in the Nauvoo Temple before they fled west with the rest of the Saints. The book Prominent Men in Utah states that during this time he was one of the guards for the Prophet Joseph Smith.
The Kennedys remained in the Winter Quarters area from 1846 to 1848 when they traveled on to Salt Lake City with the Brigham Young Company of 1848. Charles had become a confident of Brigham and was actually adopted by Young.
This was a period of extreme poverty. It was an almost day to day existence. It was during this time that Charles entered into polygamy when on 25 Dec 1853 in the Endowment House he was sealed to Celestia Marie Ellis. She was 22 years younger than Charles, having been born 7 Jun 1829 in Verona, Oneida, New York. At the same time as this marriage Charles and Hulda were also sealed, almost 13 years after they were originally married in Illinois.
It was at that point that the seminal event of Charles' life occurred. In 1853 Hulda had given birth to twins who both survived. On 3 Aug 1857 Hulda again gave birth to twins but this time both children and their mother died in their childbirth. This event was the final straw. It appears that Charles could no longer deal with all the poverty and death. After burying his wife and children in paupers' graves in the Salt Lake City Cemetery, Charles moved to Provo to be with his sister, Nancy Kennedy Wilkins. He was with his remaining wife Celestia, his 5 surviving children of Hulda's and Celestia's child. Over the next 8 years they would add 3 more children to thier family. Charles was a man of honor and remained in Utah until all the children of his third marriage were on their own or old enough to be farmed out to other families.
Around 1866 or so Charles and Celestia moved to Missouri with their 3 remaining children. It was interesting that these children were never baptized in the church. Charles spent the rest of his life in various counties in northwest Missouri probably as a tennant farmer. Life was challenging here but he was no longer affiliated with the LDS church. On 4 January 1890 he passed away at the age of 82 years 6 months and 4 days. He was reported to be of Scotch (sic) descent and was born in New York. He was listed as a widower and had resided in Missouri for 23 years. The cause of death was cholera for 4 days. He was buried at Round Prairie Cemetery the day after he died.
Interestingly there is an obituary that was found at the LDS Church History Library in the Journal History of the Church. It is from the Daily Enquirer 24 Jan 1890 - Charles Kennedy, one of the pioneers of Utah, died at his home in Benton, Arkansas, on the fourth of January. He was eighty-two years of age and was the only living brother of Mrs. Nancy K Wilkins of the Second ward. He came to Provo from Salt Lake in 1857 and left for the East in 1866. For a number of years he was superintendent of the Provo Canyon road. His death occurred just 4 days previous to that of his brother-in-law, Father Wilkins. (Note: The brother-in-law mentioned in this article was John Gandsworth Wilkins who died in Provo on 8 January 1890.) Thus ended the life of Charles Kennedy. He was born in New York, lived in Ohio, Illinois, Iowa and Utah before dying in Missouri. He was married 4 times and outlived all of his wives and long with several of his children. He was an early member of the LDS Church and was a bodyguard to the Prophets Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, yet he appeared to have left the church and lived for almost a quarter century in Missouri.
I wrote a detailed story of his life. It is found at: https://www.familysearch.org/photos/artifacts/15171065?p=5754506&returnLabel=Charles%20Kennedy%20(KLR7-Z4T)&returnUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.familysearch.org%2Ftree%2Fperson%2Fmemories%2FKLR7-Z4T
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