J. T. Kennedy, of Blue Mound, has chosen one of the most responsible professions in the field of business activity as his line of life work, but has demonstrated in his efforts to secure a professional training that he possesses not only the strong intellectual force required of a successful physician, but also the energy, determination and pluck to overcome seemingly unsurmountable difficulties, traits of inestimable value, which presages for him a successful career as a physician and surgeon and a foremost place in his profession in Kansas. Dr. Kennedy was born on a farm seven miles north of Pleasanton and two miles west of Boicourt, Linn county, Kansas, Sept. 23, 1878. He is a son of John T. and Melissa (Carpenter) Kennedy, the former born in Natchez, Miss., and the latter in the State of Louisiana. Both parents were the descendants of old and prominent families of the Southland—the Kennedys being of Scotch-Irish descent. The father of Dr. Kennedy had been a tavern keeper but at the close of the Civil war he came to Kansas, where he was married and located on a farm near Boicourt, Linn county, and for a time engaged in agricultural pursuits. He subsequently engaged in the mercantile business but later returned to the farm, where he died Jan. 1, 1895. His wife preceded him in death about two years, she having passed away on Nov. 3, 1893, at the age of forty-eight.

Dr. Kennedy was their only child and upon the death of his father went to live with his mother's brother, a Mr. Carpenter, of Elk county, Kansas, where he remained until 1899, completing his public school education in the high school at Moline. He then returned to Pleasanton and spent one year diligently reading medicine in the office of Dr. Plumb, who was his preceptor. To complete his professional education and training he became a student at the University Medical College, Kansas City, Mo., where he graduated with the class of 1901. He did not have the funds to make his course there continuous, therefore lost one year's time while employed in Colorado and California earning the necessary means to complete his education. After graduation he entered upon the practice of his profession in Blue Mound and has already built up an enviable reputation as a successful physician and surgeon. His studies did not cease with the awarding of his degree but through professional works and current medical literature he keeps thoroughly informed as to the progress of his science. His laboratory is supplied with X-Ray and other modern electrical appliances and withal is one of the best equipped in Eastern Kansas.

In August, 1906, was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Kennedy and Miss Adaline Holmes, of Pleasanton. Fraternally, Dr. Kennedy associates with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and his church membership is with the Methodist Epsicopal denomination. Both Dr. and Mrs. Kennedy are active and popular participants in the social life of Blue Mound.