The Kennedy Home stood at 221 South Second St. for over a century prior to being torn down in the 1960s.
It was a 2 story brick home built by David Newton Kennedy (1820-1904) and Sarah Ann Bailey Kennedy (1823-1900) in the mid-1850s. Kennedy came to Clarksville and went into partnership with John S. Hart as Hart & Kennedy dry goods merchants. David and Sarah Ann wed in 1843 and the next year, in 1844, Kennedy became a director of Branch Bank of Tennessee and was president from 1845-1851. He then became cashier of Branch until 1854 when he and James L. Glenn formed the Northern Bank of Tennessee. In 1855, Kennedy who was very influential in the Presbyterian Synod arranged for the Synod to purchase what became Stewart College. It remained in Clarksville until moving west in 1924 and being renamed Southwestern, The College of the Mississippi Valley.
In 1861, he was elected to the Tennessee State Legislature but did not take a seat due to the outbreak of war. About 1872, Kennedy partnered with his wife's cousin to purchase land and establish a permanent cemetery for Clarksville residents. He accumulated a total of almost 50 acres outside the city limits at the time and founded Greenwood Cemetery.
When battles approached, Kennedy took the Northern Bank assets and went south. He eventually saved the assets in the English bank system and afterward recovered them. During the Civil War, the home and property were occupied and abused. The Kennedy family stayed for a couple months at Cloverlands with the Barker family. Post Civil War, Kennedy served on the Tennessee Constitutional convention committee in 1870. In 1873, Kennedy partnered with J. W. Faxon to open Kennedy’s Insurance Agency. Later in 1885, he was appointed to the board of directors of Stewart College.
In 1999, the house was gone, and the site was home to Stone, Randolph & Henry, accountants. In 2023, the Aldred Law Firm was on the location.
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