Kendall Family.

George Wilkins Kendall, newspaper correspondent, writer, and rancher was born in Mont Vernon, New Hampshire, in 1809. He learned the printer's trade with Horace Greeley while still a boy and used this as a means of making his livelihood. Kendall co-founded the New Orleans Picayune with his friend Francis Alsberry Lumsum in 1837. Through this newspaper, Kendall provided readers accounts of his travels. Kendall joined an expedition from Austin, Texas, to Santa Fe, New Mexico, that claimed to be searching for new trade routes in the west. However, the party was captured by Mexican officials and forced to march to Mexico City, where the members of the expedition would spend the next two years in prison. Narrative of the Texan Santa Fe Expedition Comprising a Description of a Tour Through Texas (1844) is based on Kendall's experiences during this time.

War between the United States and Mexico was declared in 1846, and George Wilkins Kendall sent news from the front lines back to the New Orleans Picayune. Kendall attached himself, at various times, to the Texas Rangers under Ben McCullough and to Generals Taylor, Worth and Scott. He is the first known war correspondent. His manuscript, The War Between the United States and Mexico Illustrated (1851), is an account of his experiences during this time.

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