Legacy of a Henderson County Soldier The Henderson County Public Library is proud to host a Paul Horace Kennedy re-dedication ceremony on June 17, 2023, at 11:00 a.m. (CST) at the Fernwood Cemetery, 920 Madison Street, Henderson, Kentucky.
The re-dedication will highlight Paul Horace Kennedy’s historical journey as a soldier in the 109th Regiment United States Colored Infantry and a prominent citizen of Henderson County.
The Henderson County Public Library’s Genealogy and Local History Department continues a monument restoration project funded by proceeds from historic cemetery walking tours and fueled by the desire to celebrate the rich history of individual citizens. In conjunction with repositioning Kennedy’s damaged monument to the final restoration, Kennedy’s life is at the center of a display at the library that is open to the public from April 25 through June 30.
Paul Horace Kennedy was born in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, and at the age of 15, he joined the 109th Regiment in Louisville, Kentucky, and his life’s work began. Kennedy was the Chicago World’s Fair 1893 designer of the Afro-American Chart, author of the Baptist Directory, Missionary Baptist Pastor, publisher, musician, and one of Kentucky’s first black Deputy U.S. Marshal.
He was a minister and a musician who authored and published the Baptist Directory and Year Book in Henderson, KY, and he was editor of the Kentucky Missionary Visitor.
Following the re-dedication, join us for a reception in the historic Carnegie area of the Henderson County Public Library beginning at 2 p.m. For more information, call the Henderson County Public Library at 270-826-3712 Ext. 214.
For more see Paul H. Kennedy in Who's Who of the Colored Race, 1915; and Rev. Paul H. Kennedy in the Afro-American Encyclopaedia: Or, the Thoughts, Doings..., by James T. Haley, pp. 613-614 [available online at the UNC University Library, Documenting the American South].