University of North Carolina Chapel Hill - Yackety Yack Yearbook (Chapel Hill, NC)

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HON. THOS. S. KENAN, Ex-Attorney General, Class of KsoT

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ioloiui JEbomas Stepfjcn Kenan, ;i. 5?., iHfu, ;;i IToithy Keprcsfittatirc of ti t £ovaI lliimni of the llnirtrsity, it is ciiv pleasure to c icate this hoof.

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Sketch of Col. Kenan Thomas Stephen Kenan was horn near Kenansville, in DupUn County, North Carohna, on the twelfth day of February. 1838. His preparation for college was gotten at the Grove Academy at Kenansville. under Rev. James M. Sprunt. He took the Freshman course at Wake Forest College, but the following year, 1854, he entered the Sophomore Class at the Fnivcrsity of North Carolina, and graduated with the elas.s of 18.57, For two years after graduation he attended Judge Pearson ' s Law School at Rich- mond Hill. He received his County Court license in December, 1858, and his Su- perior Court Ucense in December, 18.59, and entered innnediatcly upon the practice of law in Kenansville. At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, a company of volunteers, the Duplin Ri- fles, was promptly organized, with Mr. Kenan as captain. This company was mus- tered into service for si.x months; at the expiration of that time it was reorganized and assigned to the 4.3rd Regiment of State Troojis, antl Captain Kenan was elected to the colonelcy of this regiment. He served until the Battle of Gettysburg; here he was wounded and captured, and was kept a prisoner of war until hostilities ceased. Since the war, Colonel Kenan has been almost constantly in public life, in the service of his State. He was member of the then House of Conunons from Duplin in 1865-66, and in 1866-67. In 1868 he was candidate for Congress. In this same year he married Miss Sallie Dortch, of Abertlcen, Mississipi)i. He changed his resi- dence to Wilson, N. C. in 1869. For two terms he was Attorney-CJeneral of North Carolina, from 1876 to 1885. At the jiresent time he is Clerk of the Supreme Court of North Carolina. A man of broad culture and scholarly attainments, and a speaker of rare force. Colonel Kenan is reckoned among the highest in the legal profession in the State. He has at the same time a charm of maimer which gains him wide popularity. His love for the I ' niversity has always been prominent ; there are few under- takings for her advancement in which his influence is not felt. For many years he has been a trustee of the University. His election to the Presidency of the General Association of the Alumni of the University is an indication of the esteem in which lie is held as an ahnnnus.