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.

After traveling extensively in Europe and living in Paris, where he met his wife Adeline de Valcourt, he and his family moved back to the United States; first to New Orleans, where the family only spent one year, and then to New Braunfels, Texas, in 1856. About 1860 the family once again moved, this time to Boerne, Texas, where Kendall would take up sheep ranching and introduce Merinos sheep to the region. He died at his ranch in Boerne from pneumonia on October 21, 1867.

He and Adeline de Valcourt had four children: Georgina (1850-1947), George William (1852-1876), Caroline Louise (1853-1899), and Henry Fletcher (1855-1913). After her father's death, Georgina de Valcourt Kendall Fellowes took up the task of preserving the records of her father and attempting to publish George Wilkins Kendall's manuscript, The War Between the United States and Mexico. She also preserved the records of her other family members, documenting their lives at the ranch in Boerne. Georgina Fellowes provided access to her family's records to a number of researchers.

The most substantial work based on the Kendall Family papers is Fayette Copeland's Kendall of the Picayune (1943). Georgina provided Copeland with full access to the collection, and a lengthy written correspondence between the two also sheds light on certain aspects of the life of George Wilkins Kendall and life of the Kendall family in early Texas.

Georgina married Eugene Fellowes in 1873. Eugene grew up in New Orleans, but had moved and become a member of the Illinois State Legislature. He and Georgina had one child, Kendall Fellowes, who had a career in acting in New York City. The family moved to Spokane, Washington, for the benefit of Eugene's health in 1883. He continued to practice law and was a member of the legislature when Washington became a state in 1889.

George William Kendall, like all of the Kendall children, was born in France and came to America with his parents in 1855. It was hoped that the climate in Texas would improve George's health as he was never strong. After his father's death in 1867, George assisted in the care of the ranch and of the large flock of sheep. He died, unmarried, in 1876 while visiting an aunt in Vermont.

Caroline Louise Kendall (Carrie) was discovered to be unable to hear or talk at the age of one year. When her family moved to America in 1855, she remained in France with her maternal grandmother in order to continue studies under Dr. Houdin, who was teaching her to articulate. She was able to make herself well understood in French. She came to America after the close of the Civil War and attended a school in Jacksonville, Illinois, where she learned to read and write English. She died, unmarried, on July 4, 1899.

Henry Fletcher Kendall graduated from West Point in 1878 and spent the majority of his service career in the Eighth Cavalry. He was stationed to a variety of posts in Texas, New Mexico, North Dakota, and Oregon. He married Mary Adair Jordan in 1887 and they had two children: Adeline and William Henry. While being transported to Manila in 1902, Fletcher became seriously ill and never fully recovered. He retired from the active service in 1905 and died in Portland, Oregon, in 1913.

Adolphe de Valcourt was born in Versailles, France, in 1828. He was the brother of Adeline de Valcourt Kendall. He was involved in the building of the Suez Canal and fought in the Franco-Prussian War. Their father, August Poirot de Valcourt, fought with Napoleon and was involved in the disastrous campaign in Moscow.

Nathan Kendall was George Wilkins Kendall's great great-grandfather. His will was passed down through the family, however, he had a son and a grandson named Nathan Kendall, which, sometimes, causes confusion.

From the guide to the Kendall Family Papers AR376., 1789-1949, 1846-1946, (Special Collections, The University of Texas at Arlington Library)